1-12. Van Vodrazka, Dardanelle, Arkansas, a
retired farmer, was born in Besdekov, Czechoslovakia, December 10, 1871.
In 1891, he immigrated from the “Old Country” (Czechoslovakia) to the
United States to visit relatives. He made his voyage on the ship “First
Bismarck”. After arriving in New York he decided he could make a better
living in the United States than he could in the “Old Country” as there
wasn’t anything there for the youth to do. After spending a few months
in New York, he became dissatisfied with his location. Catching the
first train out he began to ride and finally landed in Arkansas where he
had other Bohemian friends and relatives. Later he married Miss Anna
Wesley and became the father of nine children. He has eleven
grandchildren.
13. When Mr. Vodrazka came to Arkansas the homes
were common frame buildings of one to three rooms. There were only a few
log cabins left standing at the time he reached Arkansas. Most of them
had been torn down or boarded over and sealed. 14. Kerosene lamps were
used and (15) wood was used for fuel. Van says he “knows the women in
those days were much easier to get along with than they are today
because they would cook with green wood”.
17. When Mr. Vodrazka came to this country he was
much surprised to find people eating potatoes, corn, beans, and
tomatoes. These foods were thought to be poisonous in Czechoslovakia.
Poppy seed is a favorite food ingredient with the Bohemians but is very
poison when green. On his farm Mr. Vodrazka raised wheat, corn, sorghum,
rye, barley, and potatoes. He raised his own hogs and chickens. Fish and
game were plentiful.
18. The clothing was all made by hand. The men wore
“jeans” made from blue denim.
21. Sharing of foods, etc. in those days was called
“doing good deeds for the needy”. Van says for example just a short
while after his marriage he was going home from town one afternoon and
his neighbors kept stopping him and giving him things until by the time
he reached home he had one hundred chickens and fifteen hogs.
26. Some of the interesting customs in Mr.
Vodrazka’s youth were charivaris with lots of music, and dancing, brush
arbor meetings, quiltings, and feather pickings. All the neighbors would
gather at one place and pick feathers from their geese until they became
tired, then they spent the rest of the night eating, drinking, and
dancing.
30. In the “Old Country” all children between the
ages of six and fourteen were made to go to school and they studied the
same grade two years. One teacher taught from sixty to seventy pupils.
After the eighth grade tuition had to be paid to complete high school.
42. Van saw his first motion picture when some
people passed through the community with one and the parents and
children persuaded them to stop and show it at the school house.
38– 40. In the year 1898 the first Yell County
Fair was held about ˝ mile south of Dardanelle. It covered 40 acres of
ground and here Van saw his first car and airplane. The car was owned by
a man from Russellville who had it there to show the people. He
also remembers seeing Frank James who was there to judge the horse
racing. After hearing he was in town hundreds of people went to see him.
60. Van is now writing a book in Bohemian language
about the Bohemian settlement out from town here and when completed he
plans to send it to Chicago to be published.
