Ely School Kids 1930s

 Click the photo to enlarge it

                                         Ely school kids outside the building in the 1930s

The girl on the right with her legs crossed is Edna Sladek, who graduated in 1933.

We would appreciate if people can identify others (in comments below) or email HistoricEly@yahoo.com.

Ely School Kids

      Below is a photo of children and teachers standing in front of the Ely School House. We estimate the year to be about 1935. It would be great if we could get some identities for the kids!
     Click this link for a close-up of the  people in this photo. https://photos.app.goo.gl/iNeJHLFDKBxr4KMa8

Janine Norman
Fourth row, 3rd from left is Evelyn Elias Stastnyl. 2nd girl next to her is Doris Krob Buresh.(I think)
Third row from the right 5th girl is Rachel Trular Garnant.
Top row from the right is Chuck Varva & third guy is Gilbert Hynek!

Mary Vavra Haster
In the upper right area, do I see Vernon Erenberger and Inez Hartley?

Mark Krob
Bob Krob -3rd row, 4th from right.
Norb Krob - 3rd row, 3rd from left.

Pat McNamara
I think I see three Sladek girls.
Helen Sladek Walshire Second row from top third from right.
Maxine third row from top fifth from left.
Mildred Sladek Staley is third row from bottom and sixth from left.

Thanks to Darren Ferreter for colorizing this photo!

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 Rebekahs Photo

Above is a photo, perhaps from the 1950s, of a group of women belonging to the Ely Rebekahs Lodge. We need help identifying them! Click the photo to enlarge it!

Top Row: left to right    1. Margaret Luny 2. Faye Benda 3. ? Irma Modracek? 4. Olga Vavra 5. Leona Poduska 6. Gladys Malatek 7. Katherine Worley 8. Jean Dolezal 9. Margaret Stastny

Middle Row: left to right     1, 2. Mina Randall 3. Mary Jones Martin 4. 5. 6. Agnes Benda

Front Row: left to right    1. Helen Sipe 2. Julia Sladek 3. Esther Zvacek 4. Irene Vavra 5. Bess Rigel 6. ?Mabel Riddle? ?Flora Kermenak? 7. Florence Brokel

Thanks to Facebook followers of our page, and the "card players" at Ely Community Center for help!

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!

Help identify

Hazel Green country school

This photo is from Vern and Kay Erenberger and shows children in front of Hazel Green School.  The Erenbergers recently celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary.  Kay said that this is the first time they met.  Kay is the small girl on the left in the front row and Vern is the boy in the suit at the far right of the second row.  We could use some help with the identities of the other children.  Be sure to click the photo to enlarge it!

 

IDENTIFIED: 
Front row: from left -1- Kay Erenberg; 2-Theresa McNamara, 3 unknown, 4 unknown, 5 unknown; 6-Kenneth Erenberger

Second row: 1 unknown, 2 unknown, 3 unknown; 4 unknown; 5-Donald Erenberger (face toward camera); 6-Vern Erenberger

Back row: 1 unknown; 2 unknown; 3 unknown; 4-Donald Erenberger 5 unknown; 6 unknown, 7-Gene McNamara; 8 unknown

Identities needed

These photos of children in Ely were donated to the ECHS recently. We hope someone will be able to help identify them.

Please click on a photo to enlarge it.  If you can identify someone, please open your email, address it to HistoricEly@yahoo.com.  Go back to your browser & copy the link; paste the link into the email and then identify the child you know and his/her position in the photo.  (For example:  Photo #1 -  Name Surname - 3rd from the left in the back).  Thank you for your help!

Click each photo to enlarge it.

Photo #1

Photo #2

From Don Elias, who formerly lived in Ely, but now lives in Minnesota:  I believe these photos are not of "school children;" they are actually photos of "church children."  The background of these 4 photos is the present brick building that was used as a school [Jappa School] for many years but I think the photos are of the children who attended Sunday School in the school building during the time when the old wooden structure of St; John's Lutheran Church was being torn down and replaced by a brick building.  I think this occurred about 1950.

Photo #2 has 4 young men in front who are (left to right)

Carl Jensen who now lives in Texas and whose family lived with their grandpa Monroe Hemingway

John Tessman (I think) about who I have no current information

Carl Klinsky who was the son of Willie and Stella Klinsky and he passed away at a young age

Gene Erenberger who the son of Milo and Rosemary Erenberger

In back is Martha Krob Phillips and Roger Trpkosh whose family lived with their grandma Lizzie Clark and also died young

Photo #3

From Don Elias:

Photo #3 has in the front row (left to right) [Jappa School in the background]

Larry Trpkosh who was the grandson of Lizzie Clark and died young

Joan Tessman 

Karen Clark who was the daughter of Andy and Grace Clark

Rita Becicka who was the daughter of Leonard and Viola Becicka

Mike Albaugh who lived with Forest and Ann Fuhrmeister

The back row has:

Lavina Nederhiser (I think)

Nargi Rayman Steinbrech

Marilyn Jensen Cook

Elaine Jensen (I don't know her married name - she had a clothing store in Solon many years ago)

Norman Rayman (I think)

Photo #4

From Don Elias:  Photo #4 -  I cannot identify the adult or any of the children except that the boy in the front row on the left looks like a Trpkosh.

Photo #5

From Don Elias:  [Jappa School in the background]
Photo #5 - The 3 girls in front are

Joan Tessman (I think)

Rita Becicka 

Karen Clark

The boys in back are

Larry Trpkosh

Marvin Stastny who was the son of Hubert and Margaret Stastny 

Page Worley (although I don't ever remember him with that much hair) who was the son of John and Katherine Worley and later the husband of Shirley Worley. 

Norman Rayman (I think)

Denny (or Bruce?) Erenberger

Mike Albaugh

Western Hall and early band

Click the picture to enlarge it.

This 1891 photo was donated to the ECHS archives by the late Leo Modracek, who lived very near or on the original grounds of the old Western College that was once in Western.  It shows an early band standing in front of a wooden building with wide steps.  It is labeled "Western Hall (Dance)."  

The man in white standing by the door is Joseph Witousek, who owned the College Square at the time this picture was taken. 

Some of the men in the band are identified: 

(l to r) Frank Buresh(?);  Frank Netolicky, Sr;  Unknown; Unknown; Unknown; Frank Andrle (drum);  John Krejca; Unknown; Joe (or Frank?) Hronik, Sr.; Unknown; Wes Bys; Unknown.

If you recognize any of the band members, please let us know.  Our email address is in the right column.

Help Identify

The below photo donated by Adeline (Jansa) Volesky is of the L. J. Palda C.S.P.S. Lodge organized about 1890 in the town of Western, Iowa.  The lodge moved to Swisher, Iowa in 1916. 

If you recognize an ancestor in the photo, please let us know.  The only identity we have is Frank Jansa, who is in the second row, third from the right, with his hands in his lap.

C.S.P.S. stands for "Česko-Slovenský Podporující Spolek" (Czech-Slovak Protective Society)

Please click on the photo to enlarge it.

July, 2022 - Ed Vavra found an old photo of the CSPS Lodge in Western. (Photo circa 1940)

 

 

School children

(Click the photo to enlarge it)
Photo of unknown school children and their teacher found in the Vornholt
Family collection of photos.  If anyone recognizes children in it, please
contact us via email.  Thank you!  (Photo sent in by Sharon Farnsworth of Iowa City.)

Unknown photos

Attached are two unidentified postcards that have the back that appears to be from the 1907 - 1914 era.  One is of a classroom, and the other is of some men who have been working in the fields.  You are welcome to share these to see if anyone might have any info on who or where they might have been taken.

The other attachment is a family photo that is not labeled and we do not recognize.  Please feel free to share that one also. These were all from photos my grandmother Libbie had, so they are from the Erenberger-Kust-Trpkosh family.  The Kust family lived on Jappa Road.

 - Julie Brouwer

Could this be the old Jappa School since the family lived nearby?

Farm scene near Ely, IA

A wedding - people unknown.  Please help identify.

Kust-Erenberger Photos

Below are photos from a Kust-Erenberger family, and a Zach family, but there are no identities.  Does anyone recognize the people.  If so, please email us at

KUST-ERENBERGER PHOTOS

Click the photos to enlarge them.

 

 The child in the photo is Martha Kust Waldebauer, and her mother Anna Erenberger Kust is standing behind her.  Seeking the identity of woman on the right.

Unknown woman above "could" possibly be the same woman on the right in the photo above.

ZACH PHOTO

Below is a photo believed to be "Grandma Zach and daughter" who lived north of Ely.  If you know the identity of the women, please email us.

Click for all unidentified photos

Unknown Area Photos

Submitted by Gayle Van Dyke

My maternal grandmother's family is from the Solon / Ely area and I have a few photos of people from my great grandmother's photo album who I cannot identify. I am requesting assistance from anyone with ties to the area who may be able to assist.  I would like to put some names to the faces with the eventual possibility of returning the original photographs to the family.

Below is a link to a multi-page PDF of about 20 images and I have numbered them to ease communication.

These photos come from the album of my great-grandmother, Anna Moel Stochl, 1869-1928.
Some background: she was married to James Frank Stochl 1863-1925.
His parents were Frantisek [Frank] Stochl and Katerina Brosh.
Her parents were Charles Moel and Anna Ilick.

Thank you so much.

Gayle Van Dyke
1204 Allen Avenue
Saint Louis, MO 63104
314.436.7175 landline
gvand@sbcglobal.net

Please click here to open a larger window and view all photos.

Click for all unidentified photos

Unknown Wright family photos

Please CLICK HERE to see all the photos

One of the collections at the Ely Community History Center Archives contains a folder of scanned photos labeled "Unknown Wright Family Photos".  The collection was donated by Wilma Carson, formerly of Ely.   Does anyone recognize people in these photos?  If so, please email us at the address in the right column.

I have found the following family in the 1900 Census.  I do not know if this is the same Wright family.

(From www.familysearch.org)
1900 U.S. CENSUS
name:     Z L Wright
event place: ED 86 Putnam Township, Linn, Iowa, United States
birth date:     Jan 1867    birthplace: Wisconsin
relationship to head of household: Head
father's birthplace:     New York     mother's birthplace:     Canada Fr
race or color: White     gender:     Male
marital status: Married     years married: 10    estimated marriage year: 1890

Household / Gender / Age / Birthplace
head     Z L Wright     M     33     Wisconsin
wife     Clara Wright    F     28     Wisconsin
son     Floyd L Wright   M     9     Wisconsin
daughter     Zella Wright     F     8     Wisconsin

Citing this Record: "United States Census, 1900," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M92K-XWY), Z L Wright, ED 86 Putnam Township, Linn, Iowa, United States; citing sheet 8A, family 146, NARA microfilm publication T623, FHL microfilm 1240443.

Graham / Hall photos

UPDATE - 2/8/2020
 

Linda Hey, a local historian has verified that when they built the house where Robert Novotny formerly lived in Shueyville, they built it behind this old house. They moved the old house to the east of the main Shueyville corner (120th and Curtis Bridge Road) where Leonard Zalesky lived.   The address of this house today is 2914 120th St. NE, Cedar Rapids, Ia.  This is a picture from Google Maps of what that house looks like today, just east of the 120th and Curtis Bridge Rd.

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

The below photos were sent in by Pat Vichas, hoping that someone could help identify them.

The first is a gathering of people in front of a house believed to be the home where Pat's great-grandmother Elizabeth (Hall) Graham lived in Shueyville, Iowa or nearby.  (Jefferson Township, Johnson County, Iowa)

Pat has identified Frank and Edith (Graham) Popham are 7th and 8th from left in the top row.  Elizabeth Hall Graham was Edith Popham's mother; in all, Elizabeth had 5 daughters.

Pat would like to know any information on the house - if it is still there.  Also information on the people in the photo.

Click on the photos to enlarge them.
Once open in another window, you may need to click
on the photo again to get the largest version.

The below is a later photo of the house. Is this house still standing in or near Shueyville?  Please let us know.

A blow-up from a 1900 Johnson County, Jefferson Township map shows the approximate location of the J.W. Graham property and house. We do not know if it is the same as the above house.

 Some background:

Copy of an article by Elizabeth (Hall) Graham (Memories of Elizabeth (Hall) Graham, who came to the Shueyville area in 1855 and lived near Shueyville for 91 years. The newspaper is not identified, but the author is listed as Louise Johnston. Year it was written is estimated about 1946.)

From History of Johnson County, Iowa, 1883. - Biography:

Father of Elizabeth (Hall) Graham:   Thomas R. Hall (deceased), was born on the 15th day of December, 1819, in Albermarle County , VA ; was the son of Richie and Sarah Hall; was raised on a farm; learned the carpenter trade. August 10, 1843.  He was married to Miss Nancy M. Martin of Augusta County, VA. They have six children; John W., Elizabeth E., wife of J.W. Graham; Robert C., Eliza C., Cinderella C., and Cora A. In January, 1855 he came to Iowa , and settled in Johnson County; first in Shueyville, where he followed his trade. He purchased 240 acres of land in section 9 and moved there, where he farmed and worked at his trade up to the time of his death, which occurred November 22, 1871 . He was a member of the Methodist Church , and held the office of Justice of the Peace and trustee of his township. He was a good citizen, a faithful husband, and a kind father.

Click for all unidentified photos

Country schools-Hazel Green School

 

Hazel Green School (pictured above) was located east of Shueyville, Iowa in Big Grove Township, Section 3.  If you have information or photos to share on this school, please contact us!

We are also looking for information and photos on the Sulek country school, located  east of Shueyville in Jefferson Township Section 1.

If you have memories, photos or information to share on any of the country schools in our area of coverage (Ely, Western and Shueyville plus surrounding countryside), please contact us.

Hazel Green country school

This photo is from Vern and Kay Erenberger and shows children in front of Hazel Green School.  The Erenbergers recently celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary.  Kay said that this is the first time they met.  Kay is the small girl on the left in the front row and Vern is the boy in the suit at the far right of the second row.  We could use some help with the identities of the other children.  Be sure to click the photo to enlarge it!

 

IDENTIFIED: 
Front row: from left -1- Kay Erenberg; 2-Theresa McNamara, 3 unknown, 4 unknown, 5 unknown; 6-Kenneth Erenberger

Second row: 1 unknown, 2 unknown, 3 unknown; 4 unknown; 5-Donald Erenberger (face toward camera); 6-Vern Erenberger

Back row: 1 unknown; 2 unknown; 3 unknown; 4-Donald Erenberger 5 unknown; 6 unknown, 7-Gene McNamara; 8 unknown