Larry,
My interest in genealogy was rekindled after 15 years just recently when I found out I could access some pay sections of ancestor.com through my local library. Since then, I’ve been able to trace my paternal line back to two Jenners that came to America in 1635. I was amazed at the genealogical resources now available online.
Thanks to your 2001 post, I can confirm that Jacob Mrachek, my great grandfather, is indeed the son of Lawrence and Josephine. I have a record indicating that Jacob’s parents were named Lawrence and Josephine, and were both from Bohemia. I didn’t know Jacob had so many siblings, and do not have any information about them. They would have been my mother’s great uncles and great aunts, so I will have to ask her if she has any memory of them.
I’ve been writing up my maternal line as far back as I can find it, and you might find this paragraph interesting:
The 1920 US Census of Rochester Ward 2, Olmsted County, Minnesota, lists a household, the head of which is Jacob L. Mrachek, age 47. Mrachek is listed as hailing from Bohemia (immigration date unknown), like both his parents. Jacob Lawrence Mrachek was born July 16, 1872 in Bohemia, married Gina Knutson November 26, 1895, and died March 26, 1962 in Rochester, Minnesota.3 Household members were:
Name Age
Jacob L Mrachek 47
Cina Mrachek 48
Harold J Mrachek 22
Mildred J Mrachek 21
Doris C Mrachek 18
Ramond J Mrachek 17
Helan V Mrachek 13 (actually Helen, my maternal grandmother)
Ester W Mrachek 11
Marion R Mrachek 6
I have anecdotal information on most of Jacob and Gina’s children both from my personal experience, and talking with my mom. My notes are chicken scratches that I need to type in. My mom told me that Esther settled in Ohio, and had one child, a boy. And that Marian settled in Dallas and had a boy and a girl. I haven’t had a chance to research them. Harold, Mildred, Doris (who died young, ~1948 of tuberculosis), and Raymond all stayed pretty close to Rochester, Minnesota.
Helen Mrachek married Arnold Norman Anderson June 27, 1930. They had two children in Rochester, Janet Mae Anderson (my mother) on January 23, 1932, and James Mrachek Anderson a couple years later, who still lives in Rochester with his wife Gretchen (Dale) Anderson. My maternal grandparents moved to Evanston, Illinois, probably in the early – mid 1950s, presumably for my grandfather’s job with Great Western Railroad.
My mother married Theodore Luke Jenner, Jr. December 3, 1955, whom she likely met while visiting her parents in Evanston. He was an Air Force pilot, and died in a B-47 crash in Ohio in 1958 when I was 15 months old. After the crash, my mom moved us in with her parents in Evanston, and we’ve been in the Chicago area ever since. My grandfather retired in 1965, and moved with my grandmother (Helen Mrachek) back to Rochester where they thrived till their passing in the early 1990s.
Many of the Mracheks noted above were cremated and their ashes interred at Oakwood Cemetery in Rochester. I hope to visit some relatives there this summer and if we make it up there, I’ll stop by Oakwood Cemetery and bring my camera. I hope you found this of interest. Feel free to email –
cjenner00@yahoo.com.