Auxiliary to American Legion Post #555

 This is a transcription of the history of the Auxiliary to Ely's Post #555 American Legion, written [we believe] by Ann Fuhrmeister [possibly written in 1971 according to date on envelope].

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Auxiliary to Post #555, American Legion; Ely, Iowa

Before and during WWI groups of women all over the U.S. organized by Red Cross met in homes, home-economics rooms in schools, etc., to sew and roll bandages, first to help England and France, then our own country. Then, after 1919 when the Legion was organized, these women who were already in service groups, became Auxiliaries to the Legion Posts.

In small towns and villages, one of the first objectives was a Legion and Auxiliary meeting place. As in other towns, Ely’s Post was organized in early 1921, named St. Quentin #555, and the women’s auxiliary charter was signed at Washington D.C. on August 1, 1922, countersigned at Davenport August 10, 1922.

National President - Edith Irwin Hobar
National Secretary - Pauline Currick
Department President (Iowa) - Mrs. Donald McCrae
Department Secretary (Iowa) - Mrs. M. Myron Skelly

The Charter members were: Mrs. George Clark, Mrs. Frank W. Elias, Mrs. David S. Fackler, Georgia Fuhrmeister, Mrs. Peter F. Fuhrmeister, Mrs. Sophia Hanus, Julia Hartl, Mrs. Edward Havlicek, Mrs. Joseph Jonas, Mrs. Alois Kadlec, Mrs. Frank J. Koss, Mrs. Frank J. Krob, Mrs. Alfred Minor, Mrs. Agnes Motycka, Mrs. John Phillips, Mrs. Thomas Phillipson, Mrs. Thomas P. Smith, Mrs. Joseph Stastny, Mrs. Stephen Stastny, Viola Stastny [Becicka written in pencil], Mrs. Lumir Truhlar, and Mrs. Frank A. Zahradnik.

The first president was Georgia Fuhrmeister. Early records show nearly every one served as President or as another officer at one time or another. Mrs. Stephen (Matilda) Stastny was a long time faithful secretary, often walking from her farm home to town for meetings - roads were still in the mud and rut stage.

When the Post bought a lot for a Legion building, the Auxiliary started making money by serving food at farm sales. Remember this was before R.E.C. and good roads and a later-acquired lunch wagon. A board laid over machinery, possibly in front of some shed or chicken house, was the counter - there was no heat for the workers and hamburgers were fried and coffee heated on an oil stove someone had brought from home. Many tales were told of the extreme hardships endured by the women serving these farm sales, and the tragedies, too, as when the pan of raw hamburger meat tumbled off some machinery into the debris below (chickens had roosted on the machinery!) These farm sales netted as little as $4.18 and $16.70 to $130.43 for a large sale. Quilting, rag rugs, bake sales, dances, suppers served, and ice cream socials were other sources of income.

After the lot for the Legion building was purchased on April 21, 1922, instead of building a new structure, two Ely wooden school buildings were available (since the district was putting up a new 2-story brick modern school) for $300. These were put together in such a way that the larger one was the hall - the smaller, placed with side to end of hall and raised several feet higher, was the stage, with the basement below serving as kitchen. Stoves in the hall, on the stage and in basement heated the hall - but water had to be carried from neighbors until the well was drilled near the outside door of the kitchen to save steps for the ladies! Also, 2 small structures were erected at the end of the lot near the alley - marked “M” and “W”. Lights were furnished by the local electric light plant. This set-up was a community center for plays - dances - programs - suppers - school affairs and commencements. In 1928, the hall was enlarged so that it was large enough for basketball, for which the school board rented the hall for many years.

From 1923 to 1930 the Auxiliary gave the Post a total of $791.23. All this money was laboriously made at farm sales, suppers, quilting, bake sales, dance refreshments, rag rugs, etc. The amounts were:

 6/13/23    $ 29.28     
12/2/24      105.30
2/1/28        121.65
11/20/28    300.00
12/12/28     50.00
4/8/29         50.00
1/13/30       35.00
3/10/30     100.00
TOTAL    $791.23

A new building was dedicated in 1955. Thus a new need for help from the Auxiliary. Annual fried chicken dinners and other dinners (as Prairie High School Athletic Banquets) and other projects - such as rummage sales, rag rug sales netted $22,374.83 given to Legion for paying the cost of the new Hall. [crossed off in pencil is “from Feb 1955 to July 1967.]

Besides helping the Legion pay for building expenses, the Auxiliary met all requirements as to assigned child [either a son or daughter of a Veteran], gifts to Veteran Hospitals, etc., and earned many citations through the years.

The Auxiliary has had one member at Iowa Girls’ State as counselor (Martha Phillips) and two Linn County Presidents (Martha Phillips and Dianne See.) 

Read more Ely Legion History at their website

Below are photos of the Ely Legion Hall dedicated in 1955. 

Nevin Duffe's contributions to Ely

Lloyd Duffe, a former Ely resident who moved to Columbia, South America, phones me (Barb) off and on about Ely history. He recently called to say that he had written a history of his dad, Nevin Duffe, that he wished to add to his collection at the Ely Community History Archives. I think this story also deserves to be published for people to read. Nevin certainly did contribute a lot to the Ely community in the 48 years he lived there. Here is his story.
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To The Ely Historical Society,

    The "Jim Miller Citizen of the Year Award" was started in the town of Ely, Iowa, in 2018 for present residing citizens who have demonstrated exceptional community participation. I feel past and deceased citizens who have contributed a great deal to the town also deserve remembrance.

    I therefore want to add information about My Father Nevin W. Duffe to various pieces of historical information my wife Nidia and I gave the Historical Society, when we left the Ely area in 2005. Nevin was a highly civic minded resident of Linn County and Ely for over 50 years.

    Nevin Duffe was born February 8, 1908 at Wilton Junction, Iowa. He attended Burr Oak country school until the age of 8, moving from a truck farm to Wilton Junction and attending the Wilton Public schools until graduation from High School.

     During his early boyhood years he did garden work mowed lawns, sold the Grit magazine and the Saturday Evening Post.

     He drove an oil truck for his father during the Summer during High School, making deliveries. During this time he also helped his father remodel their home. He was active in sports earning a total of eight varsity letters in football, basketball and track. In track he was one of the best distance ( half & mile runners) in the State. He also sang in the Glee Club choirs and taught a young boys Sunday School class and took this class on hikes and outings.

     Nevin gave up an opportunity to go on to college in Pella, Iowa after graduating from High School in 1927. His coach L.A.Winters went from High School to College coaching at Central College, Pella in 1928 and wanted to help Nevin attend there and participate in athletics. Instead he started to work substantially to help his older brother Jacob Duffe financially, in finishing his last two years of pharmacy school studies at the State University of Iowa in 1928 and 1929.

     Nevin worked his first Summer out of High School on a road gang filling slips and scrapers. He then started in carpenter work and formed his own business by 1931. In addition, many evenings he worked in a carpenter shop, where he designed an early roller type overhead garage door and a sump pump. During this time he began buying the business from the owner who was retiring.  

Nevin and Florence Duffe about 1931

It was a very good year, plus Nevin married Florence Booth, the mother of his two sons Lloyd and Ronald and who he celebrated nearly 59 years of marriage with!

     1932 was unfortunately a year to be remembered! Money was tight and building became non-existent. From 1932 till 1937 Nevin worked throughout four Eastern Iowa Counties, where any kind of work was available, His wife Florence and son Lloyd altered living with both the Duffe and Booth Grandparents. 

     In late 1937 he was able to make Linn County his permanent residence, first living in College Township. He designed a new type of country school for the College Township District called Rose Hill. Much work on the school required Federal government WPA worker participation. A huge crew of workers ( many with little building experience) made properly completing the project a real challenge.       

     Carpenter work was slowly picking up in College and Putnam Townships. In March of 1942 he moved my mother, me and brother Ronald who was born on June 20th 1941 to a rented acreage in Ely on the corner of Fuhrmeister and State Street. This is where he would live for over 48 years, until passing away on May19, 1990.
    

An early photo of the house on the corner of Fuhmeister and State Streets.

During the years as a building contractor from 1937 till 1973, he drew and designed most of the structures that he built. This covered agricultural, light commercial, churches and quality homes. Among those the Ely Lutheran Church (finished the summer of 1951, an expansion at First Presbyterian Church near Ely (1958) and expansion and improvement of the Hill Crest Country Club in Mount Vernon, Iowa.

     Besides his work in his Construction Company over the years, he was active in numerous community activities in both Ely and Linn County. He was instrumental in helping form local softball teams, donating his property for use of a softball field for many years, where the Ely Minor is now located. He also coached the local Putnam Pals 4-H basketball team, that were County and Eastern Iowa Champions in tournaments held in 1949 and 1950. 

     He worked for the formation of the College Community School District and was chosen as the first President of the Prairie High Booster Club. He was also active in political, social and fraternal work over the years that involved many community activities.
     He served on the Ely Town Council. Was a past President of the old Ely Public School Board. Mayor of Ely from 1960 to1972 and worked for acquiring the old Ely school for what is now the Community Center. He was a PastGrand and 50 year member of the I.O.O.F Lodge of Ely. During the 12years he was mayor, Ely started and developed its first city water and sewer systems. 

Nevin and Florence Duffe, 50th wedding anniversary, 1981

In later years and during retirement he served on the Linn County board of appeals, and served two terms as a delegate from Linn County on the Older Iowan’s Legislature. He was also on the Ely Planning and Zoning Committee and the Linn County Agency on Aging.

     The Ely Retirement Manor became a reality, when my parents donated 50% of the value of the their property that was used for the project, which allowed the community to qualify for a low interest 50-year government loan that made this development a reality.

     I feel my Father Nevin and his many activities during his 82 years of life, was a tribute to his love of family, community and country. That what he and other civic minded leaders did in the past, helped make Ely the community it has become today.

     I was also fortunate to have had the home life that I had with a lifelong housewife like my mother in charge. Florence Booth Duffe had two years of nurses training after graduating from Grant High School in Cedar Rapids in 1929.

    Marrying my Father in 1931 with the worst years of the depression about to set in, would alter her life for many years to come. She would continue to be a homebody housewife the rest of her life, with more than enough additional duties along the way, to keep a person busy 7 days a week! 

     She was Dad’s secretary, book keeper and check-writer for his business until he retired. Running the household through these difficult economic times and this additional involvement in his business did not leave time for a great deal of social involvement, although she was a charter member of the women’s Rebekahs arm of the I.O.O.F Lodge of Ely.

     Her most note worthy involvements from the mid 1970’s till she passed away on April 3, 1999, was volunteer work at the Ely Library, and the congregate meal site at the Community Center. Ely was blessed with a number of ladies, some in their 80’s and 90’s serving the needy, many who were much younger. The day she was hospitalized and fell seriously ill she had been working at the congregate meal sitet till early afternoon of the same day.

     Here again I feel blessed to have been a product of the Greatest Generation! The young adults of the 30’s and 40’s who instilled in me the guidance and underpinning that allowed me to live a much better and easier life do to their guidance.

Sincerely, Lloyd M. Duffe

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Nevin Duffe obituary from Solon Economist, He died May 22nd, 1990

Dvorak Hardware in Ely

Click the photo to enlarge it - then click again.

 

 

DVORAK'S STORE circa 1909

J.C. Dvorak, Hardware, Tinware, Farm Machinery and Pumps. On the side of the building - Moline Wagons. To the left of the man's head - Jewel Stoves and Ranges. On the second building, below the upstairs doors - Moline Wagons and small sign to the right of downstairs door - J.L.Case. The I.O.O.F Lodge met in the rooms above the store (Independent Order of Odd Fellows). Note the wooden slat sidewalks and unpaved street.

JC Dvorak was born February 9 1861 in Luzany, Bohemia and in 1865, came with his parents to Linn County. He worked on his fathers farm and married Mary Cerveny in 1884. In 1888 he began a hardware and farm implement business in Ely which he operated until 1935. He was a prominent member of the Odd Fellows Lodge (IOOF) and served on the City Council and as Ely's Mayor, known as the "barefoot mayor" because he apparently had the habit of going barefoot.

The building on the corner was built jointly by Dvorak and the Ely IOOF Lodge No. 531, each paying half the cost with the understanding that the upstairs would be the Odd Fellows Hall.

Lumir Biderman operated the business from 1938 to 1972. Clary Illian had her pottery there for many years. This is the building that in 2020 is painted black.

Old area photos

Thank you to Sharon Furler for submitting these old photos. Two of them appear to be taken at a school, most likely at the Buresh (originally Bureš) School which used to be located just south of the present First Presbyterian Church near Ely, on Spanish Road.

It could be that they are from George Motycka, who used to live near the church and Buresh School.

 Click the photos to enlarge them. Once enlarged, if you click it again,
it may enlarge more!

A teacher and her students (back of the photo says "George Motycka, 1904)

Inside the school. (back of photo says "Charlie, June 17, 1904)

No description on the back of this photo. The women at the top of the photo appears to be the same as in the first photo ... the teacher.

 1911 photo of Buresh School

This 1914 map slice shows where the Buresh School was located in College Township, Section 35.

Men of Ely

Click on the photo to enlarge it.
You may also be able to click on the enlarged photo to make it bigger.

This photo of men in front of a tavern in Ely, complete with their beers, may be familiar to some. Perhaps your parents or grandparents happened to mention who the men in the photo are?

UPDATED: At present the only known identities are:
 - 3rd from the left - Joseph Dvorak (aka JC Dvorak), the "Barefoot Mayor" of Ely, behind the big man's shoulder. He ran Dvorak Implement and Hardware Store on the corner of Dows and Main Streets, across from the present Ely Post Office.  
 - 4th from the left - Ely druggist Joe Lorenc
 - 7th from the left - Probably Louis Francis Konicek, (the tall young man)

We are looking for identities of the other men. Please help us out! If you know where the tavern stood we'd appreciate knowing that as well.



 

Ely High School Graduates

We have recently removed all the Ely High School graduation photos from their frames and stored them safely. Before storing them we took a photo of each year, 1930-1946. You may access the photos by clicking GRADUATION PHOTOS.

Click on the first photo and a slide show should appear with an arrow to the right, which advances you to the next photo.  There is a magnifier on the upper right above the photos. Note: The 1931 photo looks like 1951, but it is 1931.

View all the graduates' names below.

GRADUATES - FROM TOP MIDDLE, THEN CLOCKWISE

1930 - Chas. Becicka, Helen Sladek, Florence Netolicky, Adeline Horak, Adelaide Swenka, Georgia Jirasek, Kathryn Netolicky, Lillian Swenka

1931 - Walter Wagner (Supt.), Louis Stanek, George Lorenc, Gladys Holets, Rudolph Pisarik, Milton Kriz,

1932 - Walter Wagner (Supt.), Alma Netolicky, Robert Fajmon, Justina Fajmon, Frank Becicka, Chas. Konecny, Ernest Horak, Lester Horak, Mary Kadlec, Andrew Clark, Alma Klouda

1933 -Walter Wagner (Supt.), Helen Nemecek, Marvin Lustik, Joanna Buresh, Fred Telecky, John Phillips, Edna Sladek, Ivan Lorenc, Dorothy Lockwood, Victor Krob, Hilda Upmier

1934 - Walter Wagner (Supt.), Rose Mary Codec (or Codee?), Loren Frederick, Gilbert Hynek, Martha Krob, Norbert Vanorny, Martha Lorenc, Margaret Malatek, Marvin Horak, Wilma Skalsky

1935 - Walter Wagner (Supt.), Emily Binko, Verne Upmier, George Pisarik, Bessie Cesticky

1936 - Edward Osborn (Supt.), Florentine Lustik, Charles Vavra, Adelaide Nemecek, Joseph Becicka, Robert Krob, Norbert Krob, Dean Lockwood, John Clark, Lumier Skripsky, Olga Lorenc

1937 - Edward Osborn (Supt.), Keith Carson, Phylis Peet(?), Louis Jones

1938 - Supt. Osborn, Edna Fuhrmeister, Joseph E. Pennington, Charles S. Vanourny, David H. Clark, Frank C. Sladek, Hattie Ann Konecny, Joseph E. Kadlec, Leo H. Stahle, Wilbur W. Smyth, Henry F. Fisher, Mary L. McNamara

1939 - E.E. Osborn, Sup't, Doris Krob, Joe Zbanek, Evelyn Elias, Rose Skripsky

1940 - Edward E. Osborn, Sup't, Mildred Sladek, Charles See, Albert Konecny, Raymond Truhlar, Doris Zbanek

1941 - Anthony Blankers, Sup't, Rachel E. Truhlar, Emil W. Skripsky, Helen V. Burian, Vernon Neiderhiser, Margaret V. McNamara, Joseph J. McNamara, Annie M. Jonas, Ella J. See, George L. Kadlec, Olive R. Lorenc

1942 - Anthony Blankers, Sup't, Ozella J. Stastny, Maxwell D. Netolicky, Maxine D. Netolicky, Caroline Fuhrmeister, Wilmer L. Koss, Martha R. Horsky

1943 - Anthony Blankers, Sup't, Barbara Reif, Edmond Jones, Jean Dolezal,

1944 - Wm. H. Sedlak, Sup't, Mary See, Betty Langer, Evangeline Burian, Doris Becicka, Kenneth Lensch, Marie Moses, Georgia Dostal, Mary Jones

1945 - Nellie Krueger, Sup't, Juanita Hovorka, Marie Benesh, Eugene McNamara, Edna Randall, Irene Vanorny

1946 - Clarence E. Rundall, Sup't, Everett Spidle, Lorene Divoky, Wencil Bata

The baggage cart

Some of you may have wondered about the wheeled wagon that sits in front of the Ely Community Center. It is a baggage cart that was originally used at the Ely Train Depot back in the day. It once had a sign with a description, but that has disappeared.

Photo from City of Ely website, blown up to show the cart.

The baggage cart was donated to the Ely Community History Society by the late Jean and Don C. Brutsman. Below is a photo of what it looked like before it was restored by Orville Meskiman. A few years ago it was looking rather weather-beaten and it was painted and refurbished again, I think by Orville. If I am wrong, please let me know!
 - Barb Horak

It must have taken quite an effort to salvage this with all the trees growing up in it!

 

This baggage cart was refurbished once again and in 2025 sits at the Historic Krob Elevator.

 

History book index

Do you have a copy of the Ely Centennial history book from 1972? 
We have scanned an index for the book to print if you wish. 

Click this link which will bring up the index. You will see a print icon near the upper right of the page. Click and print for your use!

If you would like to own a copy of the book, full of history and photos of the town of Ely from 1872 to 1972, we do have a number of them for $20 each. Contact us via our email (on the right column).

1903 New Bank in Ely

The Ely Bank, about 1912, on the corner of Dows and Walker Street.  Click to enlarge it.

Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, January 31, 1903
ELY BANK OPENS MONDAY
Ely, Iowa. Jan. 3 - The Ely bank, J.H. Smith & Sons of Cedar Rapids proprietors, and Wm. Benesh, cashier, will open on Monday next. With a volume of business largely exceeding many other towns of greater size in Iowa, Ely has never had a banking institution of any kind, the merchants and other business men being obliged to do all their banking in Cedar Rapids. The Messrs. Smith have erected a new building and furnished it in becoming style.

Pictured to the left of the bank in the bank photo is the above building.  Anna (Holets) Jonas, or Mrs. Joseph Jonas, and a school teacher that boarded in the home are pictured.  Joseph Jonas also had a shoe repair shop at this location.  A barber shop and a billiard table were added. Finally the shop was moved to another lot.

Later, the bank was bought out by First Trust and Savings Bank of Cedar Rapids. Joseph Holets and his daughter, Gladys Holets worked there for many years. The below photo was taken by Gladys.

1937 Fire Truck

Click the image to enlarge it.

 

The Cedar Rapids Gazette, December 20, 1937

RURAL FIRE TRUCK IN USE AT ELY
It has paid for itself already, declared Mayor Lorenc as this picture of the rural fire truck at Ely was taken recently. The machine cost farmers of the Ely community approximately $3,500 and has been used three times since it was put in use last spring. Frank Krob, elevator manager is fire chief. Mr. Krob is shown at the wheel. Mr. Lorenc stands beside the truck at left and a third man is one of the farmer-owners of the machine, Ralph Smith.

Read another post about the Ely Fire Department
https://www.elyhistory.com/2019/10/ely-firemen.html

Read about the history of the Ely Fire Department (off-site link).

Ely Train Depot

Below are photos of the Ely train depot that once existed off Dows Street.

Also below are some memories of the train depot by Ely resident John Prastka. Prastka was born in 1885 in Oxford Junction but grew up in Ely.  Before the Ely Centennial in 1972 he hand-wrote his memories of early Ely.  He gave his writing to the Ely Legion, and they are now part of  the Ely Community History Society collections. Prastka died June 1, 1975 at the age of 89.

Click each photo to enlarge it.

John Prastka writes ...
There was the depot.  The agent lived on the second story with his family, and it was of a color like clay and into the paint fine sand was blown so the sparks from the engines would not set it afire.  It had a big pot bellied cast iron soft coal stove in the comfy waiting room from which you could purchase your ticket through a window waist high. 

In the telegraph room was a smaller cast iron stove, and the doors had to be kept open to help knock down the draft and I had seen them red hot in winter at times.  The room often was full of acrid gassy smoke that could make you cough gasping for fresh air.  There were built in benches to the south and west.  The entrance door faced the tracks to the east.  On the ends of this depot were white letters “ELY”.  A long ladder stood next to the north end and held in place by tilting the ladder and pushing it up straight.  The entrance to the second floor was by the outside steps.  The freight room with a pair of scales was to the north and a door at both south and east.  We kids often weighed ourselves there on the scales and looking somewhat wishfully at the candy buckets and boxes, also the sacks of peanuts.  The smell was quite pleasant there.

About 1911, looking west.

The plank platform was on blocks of timber to make it easier for people to board the passenger cars and this platform was all around the depot and extended 40 or 50 feet each way from the front part of the depot where the windows were built out so the telegrapher could see both down the tracks and also up.

A double latrine of same color was set up a little to the west of the depot, men to the west and ladies to the east with the lettering over the doors.

At this time no homes were as yet built east of the tracks, which consisted of the main line. A two switch tracks, and there was also a switch track to the west of the depot.  Just a few rods north from the depot was a wooden water tank where the engines refilled the water tanks of the engine.  The coal was in the center easy to get at by the fireman with his big scoop.

Looking toward Dows Street.

I forgot to write that down near the creamery [Note: where the fire station is now located] was the section house where the hand car and the dumpy [?] were housed and under lock and key, and a short way across the tracks was a tall windmill that pumped the water for the water tank.  The land sloped towards Willow Creek and they need not go so deep to strike water there as it was maybe 8 feet lower than the tracks.  Many were the times us kids climbed to this platform to take a look around and our folks would have worried about us for fear we’d fall, and it is really dangerous to get up on these small platforms as gusts of winds could topple you off.  We were sure-footed however.

For us kids the depot was a sort of hangout, just to see the trains and passenger ones also, come and go.  We noted the styles of cars, caboose and engine types, some had only 4 drive wheels and later came these with 6 and on and on to bigger models, as time passed.

At this time I must write that those engineers who laid out the roadway Ely to Cedar Rapids had committed a grave error and had chosen a bad route north of Ely and had a big incline and a S curve also and many a freight got stuck there.  We kids often would jump off easy there, and of course had to walk back and if barefooted we had to use the dusty road. 

====================

I ran across this account of a train wreck in Ely that happened in December 1887.

 WRECKED IN A SNOW DRIFT.
https://www.gendisasters.com/iowa/3704/ely%2C-ia-train-wreck%2C-dec-1887

A Collision Which Barely Comes Off Without Loss of Life.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., Dec. 30.----The cannonball express on the Albert Lea route, leaving Chicago at 12:05 p.m., was wrecked at Ely, Ia., twelve miles from Cedar Rapids, at 2:30 a.m. yesterday. A heavy drift of snow stopped the train at Ely, and while the track was being cleared, a heavy freight engine with a caboose attached, ran into the rear of the buffet coach, telescoping it and sending the second or rear sleeper into the first as far as the toilet room and turning over the stove.

By prompt action of the passengers and conductor the fire was put out before doing any damage. The other coaches were jammed together, and the second engine converted into a wreck. The freight engine and buffet car were demolished. Every coach was full of passengers and all were jarred and bruised, three seriously, but none fatally. A driving snow storm was in progress, and the passengers thrown out of the sleepers in their night clothing suffered from severe cold. The train left Ely fifteen hours late. The names of the injured are not known here.

The Ohio Democrat, New Philadelphia, OH 5 Jan 1888

 

 

Ely Firemen

A couple photos of Ely firemen.  Thanks to the identity help from Ely residents on the Ely Facebook group, I found an article in the Monday, May 28, 1956 Cedar Rapids Gazette of the top photo.  It reads: 

NEW HELMETS, NEW TRUCK FOR ELY FIREMEN - Members of the College-Putnam Townships volunteer fire department at Ely proudly display new equipment - which ranges from new safety helmets to a brand new fire truck. Picture was taken Saturday. In the photo are (front row, left to right): Ed Vavra, Bob Zeman and Dan McCune. Standing are (left to right) Assistant Chief Bill Hajek, Bill Kadlec, Bob Malatek, Ed Jones and Duane Tobias.

     Click the photo to enlarge: 
Back Row: Assistant Chief Bill Hajek, Bill Kadlec, Bob Maletek, Ed "Sunk" Jones,
and Duane (Toby) Tobias.
Front Row: Ed Vavra, Bob Zeman and Dan McCune, former Chief.
 

Click the photo to enlarge it.

1. Ed Vavra , 2. Bob Zeman  3.Dan McCune, former Chief  4. Assistant Chief Bill Hajek
5. Bill Kadlec  6. Bob Maletek, 7. Ed "Sunk" Jones, and 8. Duane (Toby) Tobias

Read another post about the Ely Fire Department
https://www.elyhistory.com/2019/11/1937-fire-truck.html
 

Read about the history of the Ely Fire Department (off-site link). 

Help identify

If your family has lived in the Ely-Shueyville area for a long time, please make some time to view the unidentified photos from our blog to see if you can help identify some people.  

Click for Unidentified Photos 

Thanks for looking!

Christmas in 1896

Merry Christmas 

from the Ely Community History Society!

Here's what was happening in Ely in 1896!

Cowboys terrorize Ely in 1900

Thanks to Ely resident, Rob Smith, for finding and sending in this article.  It is s story of some young men who delivered a number of broncos to the Ely area from a Montana ranch.  All was fine until they began drinking in the town of Ely.

From the Cedar Rapids Republican
September 29, 1900
"They had the whole town terrorized, compelling people to close their places of business, making them get down on their knees in the street .... They refused to be arrested ..."

Read the story by clicking the below image to enlarge it.

Old drawing of Ely CSPS Hall

View of the scan sent from the Czech Republic (Click to enlarge)

Recently Ed Vavra, ECHS Board President, received a scan of a line-drawing of the Ely C.S.P.S. Hall from a contact in the Czech Republic.  It appeared in the "Kvety Americke" published in 1887 in Omaha, NE.

Č.S.P.S. stands for "Česko-Slovenský Podporující Spolek" (Czech-Slovak Protective Society). It was a large fraternal organization supporting the welfare of Czech and Slovak immigrants to the United States. It offered a type of insurance for the Czech people.

The Ely C.S.P.S. was located on the east side of Walker Street between Dows and Traer Streets. (behind the library)

Read an earlier post about the Ely C.S.P.S.

A close-up of the line-drawing (Click the image to enlarge it.)

A view of the C.S.P.S. Hall from an old postcard.

Joseph Wojtishek

The Ely Community History Society has received a history on Josef Wojtishek (also seen as Vojtisek, or Woitisek) from Scott Phillips, a genealogical historian who has translated a large number of publications from the Czech language to English. 

The Wojtishek history appeared in Amerikán Národní Kalendář, Volume: XXI, Year: 1898, Pages: 196-208, under the heading of “Memoirs of Czech Settlers in America"

The1898 history appears on the following links on Phillips' site "Onward to Our Past". 

Link 1 (scroll down to find the Wojtishek history);  Link 2;   Link 3

Read more about Joseph Wojtishek in an earlier blog post.

 

Here is the transcript of the 1898 article:

 

Josef Wojtishek from , Linn County, Iowa, was born in 1837 in Jimramov, Moravia on the Bohemian border where his parents worked as farmers. He attended local elementary school there. When he finished that school he helped his parents until 1853 when they sold everything they owned in order to leave for America. They hoped that their hard work would be better rewarded there. Another reason was to avoid military service for Josef and his brother. None of them wished to see them wearing the tight jacket of an Austrian soldier.

They went via Bremen to Galveston, Texas where they landed after 8 weeks of fortunate sailing. They continued on to Houston where they then stayed for 2 weeks. A Protestant preacher Bergman, from Cat Spring in Austin County, tried to convince them to move there, but they did not like the intensely hot weather of Texas, which they were not accustomed to. They were also afraid of the lack of good spring water, a really rare commodity in Texas.

Due to these reasons they decided to go back to Galveston and from there continued on to New Orleans. From that town they sailed via the Mississippi River north to St. Louis where they planned to settle. But they did not like that town too.  During this time there were some riots and therefore they decided to go to Chicago.”
“In Galena, Illinois the father of Wojtishek became very sick and on the third day after their arrival in Chicago he died. Everyone can understand the feelings of these poor immigrants staying by the coffin of the man who was their main support and breadwinner.  After they buried their father for his eternal rest, they continued on as orphans to Caledonia, Wisconsin, near Racine.

In this town there lived some other Czechs including some of their friends from the Old Country. They went there to buy some land and settle there. But the land in Caledonia was already too expensive and for newcomers it would have been very difficult to start there. Several families from Caledonia were going to move to Iowa at this time because land was cheap there and the people who had already settled there sent them good news. So the Wojtishek family decided to move there, too.

They bought a pair of oxen and together with another four families started the journey. After two weeks of traveling they reached Cedar Rapids. This was about eight miles from the place called Hoosler Grove (now Ely). At this place they occupied governmental land and started to farm. In the surrounding area were a lot of redskins in those times and also a lot of wolves. This made it difficult for the newcomers. Their first summer Josef, together with his younger brother, built a hut. Despite the fact that the hut was a primitive one they were proud of it and having one made it feel like a palace to them.

Three years later their mother remarried and in 1862 bought 40 acres in the same neighborhood and Josef remained alone on the first farm. His brother helped at both places and also worked for other farmers. In that time (1862) he married Miss Anna Riegel,[also Rigel] who came from an old Czech patriotic family.

They worked hard on the farm until 1872 and being successful, they found themselves able to buy more land. In the mentioned year he already owned 280 acres and an additional 80 acres, which they later sold. But his wife suffered from gout and could not be of much help to him. Therefore he began thinking about starting a new business. In 1872, together with one American, they established a profitable drugstore [general store] in Ely. But they went separate ways some time later. From that time on Wojtishek has had his own store and thanks to his hard work it has flourished.”

At a later time later he (Ed: Josef Wojtishek) took advantage of an opportunity to join a grain store, where he successfully worked together with his co-partner for sixteen years. In 1888 he paid his co-partner for his portion of the store and since that time he has been the sole owner of the store.  Wojtishek became a wealthy man because in addition to owning the drugstore [general store] and grain store he is a stockholder in one bank in Cedar Rapids and for some time he was also its chairman. He also is the owner of 275 acres of great soil in Linn County.

He has a three living children. His son, Fr. J. Wojtishek, is a popular physician in Cedar Rapids and a daughter Marie works as a teacher in the public schools there. The youngest daughter, Anna, still lives with her parents.
However, Wojtishek is a cool-headed man who always works with invincible energy. This is the reason for his successes in business and in farming, too. His wife is alive too and she likes to talk about their hard beginnings in this country that they overcame.

 

Below: Daughters, Anna Woitishek (left) and Marie Woitishek (right)

 

 

Remembering Ely in the 40s and 50s

We have received an email from Lloyd Duffe, a long-time Ely resident who now lives in Columbia, South America. He tells of growing up in Ely in the 1940s and 50s.

10-18-13 Letter from Lloyd Duffe who lived in Ely for many years.

Trying to recall and write about the past is good medicine at times and I should try to push myself a little harder in this regard. This bit of writing and recall made me think back to the 40´s and 50´s in Ely and some of the things that took place that I am sure are not recorded and there are all too few left that would remember this time.

One interesting one, is the Summer of 1944 when a large group of Mexican´s were working on the Rock Island railroad both North and South from Ely. A side track was built along the rail line behind Vavra Lumber where their bunk and mess cars were located. I am not sure of the exact number of workers, but think it was close to 50 including foremen and workers who ranged in age from 16 to high 60´s.  I delivered news papers to several supervisors there on Sundays, when I had the paper route in town for the Des Moines Register. I got to know several of the younger ones well. I helped several learn to dog paddle in two excellent swimming holes in Rogers and Hoosier creeks near town that Summer. I could not walk by either tavern on Saturday without someone in this group of workers buying me a soda or ice cream cone. It was quite a Summer for a 12 year old. Many evenings and especially on Saturday night, there was guitar music along Main Street, in front of Les Philips and Rusty´s Tavern.

Pay day and Saturday night had the younger ones having the telephone central operator call for taxies to take them to Cedar Rapids and the brighter lights. The older one´s were more prone to be satisfied with Main Street Ely and be able to take the majority of their pay back to their families. Early nylon shirts and trousers were already in mode that summer and the younger workers liked to splurge on some quite expensive and wild color combinations they would come back with from their trips to Cedar Rapids.

Another thing that really livened up the town was the Tuesday night once-a-week movie. I worked for the fellow who ran this traveling theater for the better part of two years. Unfortunately I do not recall his name. He had a route of small towns in the area, where he and his wife put on weekly movies. She ran a pop corn machine and the movies were held in the old Legion Hall. My job was to set up the benches and chairs, take them down and clean up the place the next day. In the Winter, I stoked the two pot belly stoves, that was the hall's only heat.

Movies were extremely popular even though the majority were Cowboy & Western. Especially when the intermission drawing got up to 25 or more dollars - that was a lot of money at the time! Anyone who ever attended a movie signed a guest book and a number was placed in a wooden draw box. Five dollars was added progressively each week. If the person's number that was drawn was not in attendance, the following week's drawing went up another five dollars. Let the prize get up to 30 or 40 dollars and there weren´t enough seats for all the people coming to the movie in the hopes of walking off with a big prize. Many wives from the countryside would also come to town on Tuesday evenings to shop at the Sladek grocery store.

The Odd Fellows Lodge was extremely active in the 40´s and 50´s and their meetings were always on Tuesday evenings. At one time, Ely was the 7th largest Lodge in the State with a larger membership than the population of the town. I personally was signed up at 18 years of age like almost everyone else of this age group in the community and surrounding countryside. Sixty-three years later there are less than 20 of us still left and meetings are no longer held on any regular basis. Those in the community try to get together for a luncheon once a year to renew old times. Dick Netolicky was in charge of this for years and I think Bud Lingel, now handles what is left of Lodge functions.

The last graduation class in Ely High School was in 1945. After that students from the immediate area attended surrounding schools at Solon, Shueyville, Mt. Vernon or Cedar Rapids Schools until Prairie Schools started the first High School classes about 1957.

During the late 40´s a big thing for the farm boys and even myself living in town, was the Putnam Pals 4H Club. Living on what was my parents acreage on Fuhrmeister Street, we had room for livestock and I raised Hereford baby beef cattle to show at the All Iowa Fair for 3 years. The club had two basketball teams for several years. The younger members had a few games with surrounding area 4H Clubs. In 1949 and 1950 the older member team was made up of some of us in High School and a couple players that had just graduated from school. Over this two year period we played anyone we could schedule a game with; other clubs, church league teams in Cedar Rapids, Legion Clubs against older players and an occasional High School team. Right now, I think the only two left from this group are Bernard Erenberger and myself. I always considered Bernie the best player on our team. He played a lot of basketball and baseball at old Wilson High in Cedar Rapids. Others that rounded out this team were Bob & Richard Netolicky, Vernon Erenberger and myself. We played 30 games during the Winters and Springs of 1949-50 winning 29 or them. The only loss was when Bernie was absent because Wilson High had a game the same night he was committed to.

As I seem prone to usually do, I have managed to rattle on considerably and it is more than time to close.
 - Lloyd Duffe

Read a story about a murder that took place in the Ely area in 1898, from Iowa Unsolved Murders.

Tracks in the Night: Murder of Edward Moore
by Nancy Bowers

 

1860 Tornado

Taken from Cedar Rapids paper, "The Cedar Valley Times", June 7, 1860.  

Iowa experienced terrible loss from tornados on Sunday, June 3, 1860.  Below is the portion that tells of the tornado in the Ely area.  It was located at the Cedar Rapids Library newspaper archives.


"The cloud to the southward passed over the town of Shueyville, about 9 miles south of this city [Cedar Rapids], destroying 2 dwellings; and then passed on through Banner Valley, unroofing the Lutheran church.  No lives were lost at either of the above places.

It then took a southeasterly [should be northeasterly] direction towards the Cedar River, passing through the Roger's settlement, seven miles from Cedar Rapids, on the west side of the river, destroying the dwellings of Mr. Thompson and Mr. Carns.  Mr. Carns' son was instantly killed.  A child 7 years old was carried by the storm a distance of 2 miles over the Cedar River.  The destroying fiend then took a jump, and the next we noticed of its work was at St. Marys, a small hamlet 2 miles south of Mt. Vernon.

If you wish to read the full article, click here to download the .pdf file.