František Kališ Worked Two Jobs

Who is František Kališ? Superb question. František Kališ is no one special. Or at least no one special who will go down in history books. František Kališ lived in the little village of Nosadl, Bohemia, now known as Nosálov, Czech Republic. František was born in about 1826. He married Elizabeth Selinger, or some variation of that name. Elizabeth may have either been from Nosálov herself, or Mšeno which is about a 20 minute drive. Elizabeth was born in 1825. The young couple set sail for better horizons in America. They wanted to start a family and raise their children in the “Land of Opportunity.” They wanted the best for their offspring and decendants. They knew that things would not be easy for them right away. But they knew with hard work, things would be easier for their children’s children and even their children, until you get to yours truly. That’s right, if you haven’t figured it out, I am talking about my Bohemian/Czech ancestors.

Now that that has been established, let’s get back to talking about Kališovi (Czech for Kališ couple). I am not quite sure when it was that Kališovi arrived in the U.S. In fact, I am not quite sure where they arrived. This would have been before Ellis Island. There were other ports of entry, besides New York. A cousin said that he thinks they arrived in New York on a ship called Anna. Elizabeth gave birth to a baby girl, Marie, who died at sea.

What is known about that black hole time between leaving Bohemia and arriving in the U.S. is that they settled in Illinois. I do know they were here before 1860. František Americanized his name to Frank Kallis. The 1860 census has them listed with their first two sons, living in Grundy County with another couple from Bohemia, the Wylamoc’s or at least that’s how it is spelled in the census. Before I found the 1860 census, a cousin told me that Kališovi first son Joseph was born in 1857, in the U.S. According to the census, he was born in Illinois. So, they were definitely here before 1857. This same cousin said his side of the family found a letter from Frank’s brother, Josef, dated 1850. I have not found any proof of the Kallis’ living here in 1850. Perhaps they were somewhere else in Europe when Josef sent the letter.

According to my cousin with whom I have correspondences with, said that Frank worked at a saloon during weeknights and was an organ player at the Catholic Church on the weekends. Also in some of the census’ I have found, he has his occupation listed as potter or farmer, depending on which decade you look at. While the saloon and church jobs seem to contradict each other, there really was no other option for Frank. He had a wife and kids to support. Count ‘em, he had 11 kids to support, 12 if you count little Marie. He could not be choosy. He had to take what he could to support his family.

This was a different time and era. Man had to be man and take care of his family. If he didn’t he would be ostracized in the community and church. If a man would leave a woman and their children, the church and community would help out the woman and her family. But of course, the woman would do her damnedest to find ways to make money. Even if she could not get a study job with an employer, she would use her skills as a seamstress, bake, wash clothes for the local gentry, whatever it took, she would do it. Sometimes, if the kids were old enough, they would do whatever it took to help out.

According to what I have found in the 1860-1880 census’ the Kallis family moved around quite often. Mostly living in either Grundy County or Will County. Plus, the most telling is that the cousin I have been in contact with listed for me when and where the Kallis dětí (children) were born. They seemed to have been born all over the state, in the Will/Grundy County areas. Some of these places jive with the towns on the census’ some don’t. This would mean that they moved around more than every 10 years.

Here’s the point of my story. Back then there was no stickin welfare. People did what they could to survive. They did not eat out at fast food restaurants, have a bunch of nick-nacks to clutter up the house, keep up with the Joneses, be the most up to date on the latest technology, have to have the most fashionable clothes. No, they knew that they needed first and foremost a good mother and father to take care of children, food in the belly and a few clothes on their backs. If welfare had even been available back then, only the lowest of low would have taken it. Even then, those people who would have received the assistance would have hung their heads in shame when using WIC coupons. When a family was truly struggling, they would never ask for help. The people in their church and community would have gotten together to help out the family. Even then, the family would have been reluctant to accept any help.

As I mentioned about Frank above, he could either have let his family starve and be put on the streets because an available job was not his choice or it wasn’t going to be permanent. Or he could have taken any available job, which he did, and always stay on the lookout for something better. Even if that meant having to uproot the family and move to the next town, then the next town and then move back again.