The Employee Picnic

[St. Louis]

Andrew got work at the Shaw Gardens in St. Louis.  Since he was a groundskeeper in his youth with his father, it suited him fine.  Once a year the Gardens had a beer fest for it’s employees.  They and their families were free to roam the grounds, drink free beer and eat sausages. 

Anna felt that her youngest daughters shouldn't drink.  She felt they were too young and it was not proper for them to drink in public.  Daughter Anna Marie, decided that she was going to find a way.  She went around the park and when as people left their beer glasses behind, she finished them off.

Half-way through the afternoon, Anna missed her daughter.  They found her lying on a park bench, passed out with her hoop skirt standing straight up and a clear view of her bloomers.

A Little History

After coming over on the Bark Capella in 1867, Andrew Rezabek, his wife Anna Hora, their children (Marie, Anna, Theresa, Mathew, Ann, Joseph, Albert and John) found a home in the United States.  They settled in the St. Louis until 1872.  Andrew found a job at the Shaw gardens as he was trained in taking care of landscapes. 

There were jobs for everyone.  The two youngest children got a job in a factory that produced cotton thread for the garment industry.  The thread would roll onto big commercial spools.  When the spool was full, the children’s job was to stop the machines and get one of the men to put on a new spool.  The spools were too large and heavy for the children to lift.

Nebraska had recently been opened to homesteading.  Towns, good rich cleared farms and opportunity awaited the hard working.  Andrew moved his family to Wilbur Nebraska in 1872.  Having been homeless twice in his life, Andrew worked hard in St. Louis and in Nebraska and was able to buy each of his sons a farm before he died guaranteeing they would not be homeless.

The Rezabeks stayed in the Saline County area.  John grew into a fine young man.  Ten years later, John married an 18-year-old jewel, Anna Sasek.  She blessed him with 10 children before dying at the age of 36, leaving John with a lonely, heavy burden.

In 1874, on Dec. 16, a meeting was called in Wilbur Nebraska for the purpose of founding a cemetery.  Sixty-one members enrolled and each agreed to pay $4.75 in payments as a fee.  Joseph Kobes agreed to sell 40 acres of school land that he had taken in Section 16.  The first payment per member was 70 cents in order to make the first payment on the land.  The association borrowed money to purchase the land.  This debt was paid off in time. 

Andrew was the first sexton (caretaker) of this cemetery.  This is where Bessie’s parents are buried as well as Bessie and her husband Ludvik.

[End]

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