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m. 7 Nov 1899 Dolní Město, Havlíčkův Brod, Vysočina, Czech Republic
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The following text is from the St. Wenceslaus 100th Anniversary Memory Book, written by the two youngest daughters Anna and Albina: Joseph Sr. and Anna Vopalensky immigrated to the United States by ship with four children, Joseph Jr., Charles, Bessie, and William, from Czechoslovakia in 1910. They landed in New York and then settled temporarily with Dad’s brother in Wisconsin. Later they moved to a nearby town where Dad worked with masonry and carpentry. Ann was born in 1914 and Albina in 1920, both in Wisconsin. As the family grew up, they started farming, moving from place to place to make a living. Even as youngsters we realized that times were really hard. Sometimes in the 1920’s, Dad had the opportunity to get a newspaper or magazine called “Katolik” and read about a Novak family from Scappoose, Oregon, who was inviting families to come west, to a nice locality in a community of Catholic Czech people, who spoke the language, and even had a Czech priest. We all moved (eight of us by then) to Scappoose in 1925. When we arrived in Scappoose, we met the Novak family, but they were unable to find us a place to stay. There happened to be a vacant country store, with the front all in windows, and no beds, heat or water. That was our first home in Scappoose. Shortly after we found a rental house at “Norton’s Place,” and the men and Dad worked at the Clark & Wilson sawmill in Linnton. Later we moved to a farm in Dutch Canyon. We raised turkeys, chickens, and crops of peas for the cannery. Bill and Charley had a baler and threshing machine, and did custom work for local farmers. Brother Joe was our mechanic for our cars and machinery. Soon the boys were married, and we lost our Mother (only 65 years old) on February 17, 1945. By then Ann had married Mike Barta, and Bessie had married Joseph Fischer of the parish. Then Albina married Jerry Heindl in 1946. Dad eventually re-married, and lived with his second wife Rose in a house right across the street from St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church until his death in the 1960’s. Here are further details based on further research including interviews with family: According to Ellis Island records, the family (with the four children, at the time) attempted to enter the United States on 28 Jun 1910 aboard the ship Kaiser Wilhelm II which departed Bremen. They brought with them a friend's 10 year old son, Stanislav Popelak, whose family had emigrated earlier. This caused trouble with the Immigration Service ("That boy got us in so much trouble!" according to Albina), and their entries are crossed out on the ship's manifest. They must not have been permitted to board the ship in Bremen given the time between that ship and the next one they boarded. They, again, entered the United States on 3 Jul 1910 aboard the ship George Washington which departed Bremen. Once again, Stanislav was with them, but they were admitted to the country this time. According to the Ellis Island records, they were going to live with Josef's brother-in-law Josef Dostal. It is not fully clear who this was, his brother-in-law Anton Dostal had died 6 months earlier and lived 100 miles distant. According to the 1910 Census there was a Joseph Dostal living in Muscoda, but it isn't clear if/how he is related. According to Albina, the family arrived in Scappoose in 1925 after reading an article in a Czech newspaper about the growing Czech community in Scappoose. This article mentioned the Novak family. When they arrived in town, they went to the Novak's house with no previous contact. Housing was arranged for them in an unused storefront, which had large windows which they had to cover with bedsheets for some amount of privacy. They later bought a farm in town, and the old farmhouse still stands, as of 2025, at 52153 SE 4th St, misaligned with the street grid laid down around it years later. References
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