Esther Zvacek Music Teacher

Zvacek Homestead once located at 2800 Wright Brother's Blvd East, south of Cedar Rapids, 
across from the Airport Golf Course.

Click below photo to enlarge it - once open, click it again to enlarge. 

Memory from Kris Benesh:

Today I drove past Esther Zvacek’s home in rural Ely, Ia.

I am filled with emotion over the sale of her land and residence to Kirkwood College. My desire would be a salvage of the homestead.

Over the past 40 plus years, I have heard family stories from my husbands siblings about taking piano lessons from Ester at this home for a small fee. She had no children of her own, so every student had a place in her heart.

It was told that every year, a recital was given at the Ely Legion Hall by her students. The girls were instructed to sew identical dresses to perform in.(probably from a huge bolt of fabric)

If you were one of the fortunate to have experienced this memory, pass on your stories to your families. Our Czech heritage. 

Former student memory from Wendy Benesh Walton:

It is with great sadness to learn that the walls of this farm house that were once witness to the plunking out of a song on piano keys, the tic-toc of a metronome, or numerous genres of melodious melodies, will soon be crashing to the ground. Music teacher, Esther Zvacek, lived on this family farmstead with her sister, Alma, and her brother, Harold, who, along with farming, ran a TV repair business. I am one of the "siblings" that took piano lessons from Esther for .35 a lesson...but the cost eventually increased to .50--due to inflation, I'm sure! (My daughters also began their music journeys with Esther.) Esther taught both piano and accordion. She would have yearly recitals in which every student performed a memorized solo and a duet. Esther also had an accordion band that consisted of several accordion players accompanied by a pianist...often me. The usual song choice for the "band" was a Czech polka or waltz. Esther loved to showcase her students and give them a chance to perform. She often "booked" us at both the Linn County Home (a care facility for those elderly experiencing extreme poverty) or at the Oakdale Medical Facility (built to treat tuberculosis patients.) The benefits of these programs were twofold: they gave us experience in performing and the audiences greatly appreciated our entertaining programs as it gave them a brief respite from their reality. So, for those of us who entered this house weekly for a music lesson that would cost a mere .50, we are left with memories that are priceless!

From  Barefoot Becky https://barefootbecky.com/about/

In 1980, when she was ten years old, Becky took her first accordion lesson from Esther Zvacek. Esther was an elderly lady who still only charged a dollar for a lesson! Becky was very close to her teacher. Both Becky and her mother would go over to Esther’s house every Friday night for supper before having their lessons. Her mom even kept a garden there for Esther and Becky 

mowed her lawn. Becky loved to play the accordion and would practice for hours each day. 

Published in the Cedar Rapids Gazette on November 6, 1991.

Esther Zvacek, 86, of 2800 Wright Brothers Blvd. E., died Monday in St. Luke's Hospital following a short illness. Services: 10 a.m. Thursday, First Presbyterian Church, near Ely, followed by a service by Ely Rebekah Lodge 56. Burial: church cemetery. Friends may call from 3 to 8 p.m. today at Turner Chapel East where the family will greet friends from 3 to 5 p.m.

Survivors include two nieces, Dorothy Evans of Cedar Rapids and Marlene Loeltz of Des Moines; a sister-in-law, Anne Zvacek of Cedar Rapids; and several nieces, nephews and cousins. Esther was born Oct. 13, 1905, in her home at 2800 Wright Brothers Blvd. E. and had resided there all her life. She taught piano, organ, accordion, and guitar for over 60 years in the Ely area. She was a lifelong member of First Presbyterian Church near Ely, and a member of Johanna Society, American Legion Auxiliary and was Past Noble Grand of Ely Rebekah Lodge 56. The Rev. Deborah Paton will officiate. Memorials to First Presbyterian Church near Ely.

View additional info:https://www.elyhistory.com/2021/08/esther-zvacek-recital.html

New Officers

At our Annual Meeting, the following changes were made:

Ed Vavra - remains as President
Rob Smith - Elected Vice President, replacing Barb Horak
Sarah Raser - Elected as Secretary/Treasurer, replacing Clary Illian
Directors are now: Mark Krob, Clary Illian, Barb Horak, David Raser & Kris Benesh 

Some history behind Fackler's Grove

Iowa became a state in December 28, 1846.  In the Ely area, settlers started arriving in 1837-1838, before statehood. Some were from more eastern states, and some came directly from Germany.

Since there were no towns in the area, people used landmarks, such as groves of trees, to get their bearings and give directions; and so three groves – Roger’s Grove, Hoosier’s Grove and Fackler’s Grove – came into common use. 

Hoosier’s Grove eventually became the town of Ely. Roger’s Grove is where the Roger’s Grove Cemetery is now. 

Fackler’s Grove, south and east of Ely, lay partly in the north part of Big Grove Township in Johnson County and across the line into Putnam Township in Linn County.

Some of the early families near Fackler’s Grove were the Lingle, Fackler, Durrow, Startzer, Eppenbach, Fuhrmeister, and Upmeier families.

With all their worldly possessions, including 27 teams of horses and 27 cows, the Thomas Lingle and Valentine Fackler families came from Zanesville, Indiana, first to Cedar County, then moving on to the grove which later was called Fackler's Grove.  They came in a prairie schooner drawn by oxen, the father, and the older children walking most of the distance.

 Valentine Fackler & his wife Elizabeth Miller

Valentine Fackler and his wife Elizabeth Miller built a log cabin containing just one room, no larger than a single room in a modern farm house, and there they and their 10 children lived.  When the Facklers came, the land had not been surveyed and the settlers were known as squatters until they could file a claim.  The nearest town where they could get supplies and sell their produce was Muscatine.  Cedar Rapids and Iowa City were villages, barely starting.

LETTER FROM MRS. VALENTINE FACKLER  - There are no market towns nearer than Muscatine.  The neighbors are few and miles apart.  There are many Indians, fortunately friendly to us.  
…. We built a log cabin of one room.  In this little cabin we live with our many children.  We have a dirt floor and not much furniture.  The house is heated by a fireplace and I bake with a “dutch oven” over the fire.  
…. We made the chimney by wrapping mud about straw and putting this around sticks which were piled one above another.  
…. We eat a lot of hominy, and corn bread, but wild game is easily obtained.  We make sugar from the sap of the maple trees.  
…. I make all my own cloth by carding wool, spinning and weaving it.  I use walnut stain and various natural dyes for coloring it.

The Fackler’s eldest son, George, died in 1839 at age 17, and is said to be the first person to be buried at Fackler’s Grove Cemetery.  The last burial was Sarah (Fackler) Startzer in 1917. As far as we know, there are about 36 burials in the cemetery, but we suspect there may be more.  Early grave markers may have been of wood which disintegrated.  

At some point the land upon which the cemetery sits was sold out of the Fackler family.  In March, 1860 the cemetery was deeded to the Big Grove Trustees by Frederick Wm. Vornholt and his wife as follows:

“Know all men by these presents, that we Frederick Wm. Vonhold, and Anna Maria Elizabeth, his wife, of Johnson County and State of Iowa, in consideration of the sum of Twelve dollars and fifty cents, in hand paid by the Trustees of Big Grove Township, do hereby sell and convey unto the said Trustees and their successors of office the following described premises situated in the County of Johnson, and State of Iowa towit: (legal description ) consisting of 1 and 1/4 acres."

Malinda Dettberner, a descendant of the Facklers, told us in about 2012:

“The cemetery used to have wrought iron fencing around the plots, but this was taken down for iron to go toward the war effort.  There were once two rows of Douglas Firs.  A tornado went through and knocked many down and the CC boys cleaned it up.  We used to have a picnic every memorial day with the family at the cemetery.”  

 View a pamphlet about Facklers Grove 

Stream Family History

UPDATE: We now have a book of the Stream family  - "History of the Stream Family"
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The Ely Community History Society Archives has recently received a digital version of the Stream Family History.

Part I (19 pages) of this historical narrative chronicles the Stream family from its origins in Germany, to Loudoun County, Virginia, then Licking County, Ohio and westward to Iowa in the mid-19th century.

 It is the work of the late Wendell W. Stream, and his son, Douglas K. Stream, who took on his father's research, expanded upon it, and wrote this narrative.

Part II of this booklet (25 pages) is a continuation of the story, focusing on the lives of the pioneer brothers, in addition to a few of their descendants who contributed to the development of Linn, Madison, Greene, and Union counties of Iowa. They are, Wilhelm Strehm (later referred to as William Stream), Samuel Addison Stream, Grafton Caywood Stream, and Elias Stream.

Two of those with ties to Ely are pictured below.

Elias Stream

Samuel Stream

 

 

If you are interested in reading this family history, please contact us at the email listed in the right column.  

The Naming of the St. Quentin Post

(UPDATE BELOW!)

Be sure to read "The Naming of the St. Quentin Post", researched and presented by Post Historian Rob Smith this past Veterans' Day.  It tells the story of two men from Ely, Joseph Dvorak and Charles Noska, who died near the city of St. Quentin, France in World War I.  Smith does a wonderful job of taking us back in time and describing  the conditions of the war the men experienced, as well as conditions back home.  Other Ely area men who died in World War I were Joseph Filipi, Joseph F. Kriz, and Frank Moses, Jr.  Read the story at St. Quentin Post website

Read other history posts at the Legion blog.  Click the drop down under the tab "History" to see all the articles offered.  Great job!

UPDATE:

From Judy Daubenmier

Charles Noska was my great uncle. He was a twin. He was drafted despite having a withered arm. My grandmother kept his photo and pointed it out to me often. She never forgot him. The information on the post website is very informative. It does leave out several other children in the family, including my grandmother and her twin sister.

Here is a photo of his grave (provided by Rob Smith, who says - I visited his grave at the Somme American Cemetery in France. It is a gorgeous place.)