On this date 170 years ago, January 27, 1846, an event occurred that, but to a few, would produce little in the way of fanfare or notice. A man only six weeks and a day shy of his 38th birthday would marry a woman from a nearby village who was 15 years his junior. It was on this date that my great great grandfather Josef Havel married Anna Jodl. Josef was born and raised in Dolni Chrastany, house #18, and that is the location in which it is believed he would live with his spouse Anna and raise their family. I suppose one could look at this marriage as similar to the part of “Fiddler on the Roof” where Tevye wants his daughter to marry the much older butcher Lazer Wolf. Of course, Lazer Wolf, as portrayed in film, looked much older than 38.
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| 18 Dolni Chrastany. Photo by Mary B. Hovel |
Economic and financial circumstances had much to do with timing of marriage as did love. Marriage was in a sense, sometimes at least, more a matter of convenience than of love in the hard scrabble times of the mid-19th century. Josef, not unlike much of the population at the time, made his living off the land. Farming in Bohemia was different than farming in the United States at that time, particularly the Mid-west. The most visible form of this difference was in the pattern produced by land tenure. Today plat maps of southern Bohemia are still marked by long narrow lots commonly used to divide property among children. A strip of land from the street or house back was created, rather than giving chunks. Over generations it became less pragmatic to farm the long narrow strips of land. Farming was hard work and a labor intensive operation. Anna and Josef had a large family to raise and feed—they would produce 9 children ranging over 20 years.
Marriage at middle age was not unprecedented. For example, Josef’s great great grandfather married later in life. Available documents appear to begin in 1694, but a review of Simon’s hometown, Lhotka (also Lhota), did not produce any prior marriages or children he fathered for the decade prior to 1703. A death record for Simon Havel places his death in 1749 at age 81, meaning that he was about 35 years of age on the day of his marriage on 8 July 1703 to Elizabetha. Unlike Josef who was born to a farm family (and would himself farm) 105 years after Simon’s marriage to Elizabetha, Simon was a weaver and a tenant. Humble beginnings for the family. Elizabetha and Simon would produce, at least from what I found, six children. At some point the family inherited, married into, or purchased land. The farming business for the family likely commenced with Josef’s great grandfather, Matheo Havel. We do not know, at least at present time, if Matheo was a land owner or a tenant. Josef’s father, Frantisek obtained the Dolni Chrastany property by his marriage to Teresa Jiral, daughter of Mathias Jiral and his wife Katerina. Frantisek was born in Lhotka, the same village in which Simon lived and where he and Elizabetha raised their family.
While Simon was married in the summer, an interesting and likely purely coincidental pattern emerges with some of his descendants. June is now one of the major months for a wedding. June, however, would not be the preferred month for many of my direct Hovel ancestors. Working back in time we find the following:
From the above table we see that only Simon was married in the summer. What more is interesting is that midwinter weddings were preferred from the mid-1700’s to mid-1900’s. Of the six noted marriages during that time span, all but one, Frantisek and Teresa’s, occurred during January or February. All of the grooms were, or in case of my father, had been a farmer. Perhaps it was better to be married during the winter when the crops had been brought in, and before the snow melt and they have to think of and do spring chores. Or, it could be purely coincidental. A small sample does not a pattern make. Whatever it was, from Josef and Anna to Roy and Mary J., the date of the year for the four marriages would occur within ten days of one another, even though they occurred two centuries apart. The three dates in January were less than a week apart.
Josef and Anna’s marriage in the mid-winter of 1846 would be the last for the direct family members in Bohemia. In 1868, with Josef at age 60, a common retirement age today, he and Anna would, with their eight surviving children, take the long journey to the United States. Of their nine children, one is buried in the old country having died a few years after his birth. Like Josef and Anna, all others are buried mainly in the prairie soils of northern Iowa, with one in southern Minnesota. The move to the United States may have been brought about by the potential difficulty of further dividing land from which to make a viable living. There would be changes. Much of the family would change the surname spelling to be “Hovel”, rather than “Havel or Hawel” as it is spelled in the records found in Bohemia. Family would spread from Iowa and southern Minnesota. Family members would move from farming to a variety of working and professional class occupations.
Did this couple, 170 years ago, who with their children were born in the hills and valleys of southern Bohemia, dream that they would pack up and move to live out their lives and be buried in the deep fertile soil of Iowa? Life produces patterns, some purely by coincidence, others determined by station or aspects of life. We do know that choices made 170 years ago can set a course for future generations. The marriage of Josef and Anna shows this. So does their decision to emigrate to the United States. The past informs the future. That is why we study history.
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| Plat map of Dolni Chrastany Source: http://nahlizenidokn.cuzk.cz/mapa.aspx?typ-IKU&id-642959 |
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| Marriage record of Josef and Anna Havel. Last entry on page. Source: digiceskearchivy.cz |
Person Relation Wedding date
Thomas & Antoinette Hovel 27 October 1990
Roy & Mary J Parents 25 January 1947
Rudy & Ida Paternal grandparents 4 Feb 1913
Martin & Amelia Paternal g grand 30 Jan 1877
Josef & Anna Paternal gg grand 27 Jan 1846
Frantisek & Teresa Paternal ggg grand 25 Oct 1796
Matthai & Marie Paternal gggg grand 17 Feb 1765
Matheo & Agnete Paternal ggggg grand 21 Oct 1735
Simon & Elizabetha Paternal gggggg grand 8 July 1703
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| Marriage record of Simon Havel and Elizabetha, 8 July 1703 Source: digi.ceskearchivy.cz |
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| Josef Havel birth record Source: digi.ceskearchivy.cz |
Josef and Anna’s marriage in the mid-winter of 1846 would be the last for the direct family members in Bohemia. In 1868, with Josef at age 60, a common retirement age today, he and Anna would, with their eight surviving children, take the long journey to the United States. Of their nine children, one is buried in the old country having died a few years after his birth. Like Josef and Anna, all others are buried mainly in the prairie soils of northern Iowa, with one in southern Minnesota. The move to the United States may have been brought about by the potential difficulty of further dividing land from which to make a viable living. There would be changes. Much of the family would change the surname spelling to be “Hovel”, rather than “Havel or Hawel” as it is spelled in the records found in Bohemia. Family would spread from Iowa and southern Minnesota. Family members would move from farming to a variety of working and professional class occupations.
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| Citizenship Declaration for Josef Havel Source: State of Wisconsin Archive Center, UW-Whitewater |
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| Anna Hawel gravemarker Bohemian Cemetery, Cerro Gordo County, IA Source: Iowa Gravestone Project Her Husband is buried in the same cemetery Notice the different spellings, of Havel and Hawel |
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