The Ech Bohemian Community of New York; With Introductory Remarks on the Echoslovaks in the United States (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1921 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XVII The Pioneers The first arrivals to New York were soldiers who had run away in 1847 from the Mainz Fort in Germany, garrisoned jointly with Prussians and Austrians. Political refugees, who had taken an active part in the revolutionary movement of 1848-49, came next. After 1850, immigration became general. The within register of the pioneers who made New York their home in the ten years between 1847-57 was compiled by the author from reminiscences of old settlers, private letters and unpublished manuscripts. The author does not claim that the register is complete; or, that the life stories of the argonauts, given in brief, are in all particulars accurate. The persons concerned are dead and gone, even the surnames of many of them have been forgotten. Their children who perhaps could supply the missing particulars are scattered throughout the length and breadth of the country or live out of touch with the nationals of their foreign-born fathers and grandfathers. The outstanding occupations of the first settlers, the reader will notice, were those of cabinet making, tailoring, jewelry, watch making. Many are put down as being saloon keepers; it is safe to assume, though, that not one of the men so designated was a trained inn keeper from home. Music was a common vocation. This will not surprise one who knows the inherited bent of the people for music. It is impossible to state how many were professionals and how many were amateurs who resorted to music as a side-line, because of the extra revenue it yielded. That cigar making is an old trade, as old as the immigration itself (as was made clear in another chapter), is proved by the fact that Korbel, Mracek and Juranek were engaged in it years before the Sedlec men had been heard from. By...