Bio: Laken, Frank & Mary

Transcriber: stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Laken, Prill, Tolaney, Wegner, Dergance, Berg, Verschay

----Source: Family Scrapbook

Frank Laken was born in Bobne Poljce, Jugoslavia. When he was around six years old the family moved to Ottawa, Illinois. When he was in his early twenties he heard about the land opportunities in Wisconsin around Willard which Ignac Cesnik was advertising. The John and Tony Trunkel families and the John Bayuk family were from the Ottawa area and had come to Wisconsin earlier. Frank and his brother Mike took 2 horses, their belongings and some tools and bought a railroad ticket to Tioga. Frank bought eighty acres of woods four miles south of what is now Willard. Later he purchased another eighty acres from Albert Prill who lived across the road. Mike wanted no part of the woods up here but stayed to help Frank clear some land and build a house.

In 1917 he married the former Mary Tolaney, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Tolaney. She was born in Penn¬sylvania and her dad worked in the mines there, but when she was two years old the mine work slacked up and the family moved to Tower, Minnesota. Her dad worked in the mines in Tower until 1910 when they moved to a farm near Tioga with their seven children. Mary went to school in Neillsville and worked for the Frank Hewett family there before her marriage.

They continued clearing the land and built a barn and bought a few cows. Everyone burned wood for fuel to heat their homes and factories so firewood was usually in great demand. Frank would load up his sleigh with firewood and start before dawn with his big team of bay work horses to deliver wood to Neillsville. He would come home late at night because it was a twenty-eight mile round trip. One day he was not successful in selling his load of wood, so he went to the furniture store and all they would give him for the wood was a child's rocker. The rocker is still in good condition today.

In the winter many of the men hauled gravel from the gravel pits to the roads which were being built in the wilderness. The men arose long before dawn and hitched up their horses to the sleigh, even in the zero weather. The hours were long, but those early pioneer men and women did not complain but were content to have property of their very own.

The neighbors would get together for wood sawing, threshing, corn husking and quilting bees. Birthday par¬ties were big celebrations with neighbors getting together in the winter on a big bob sled and going to the party. Rugs were rolled back and Albert Prill and Art Wegner played the guitar and violin and everyone danced, sang, ate and drank and forgot their day's hard work. One of the families, who had several children thought they had bundled all the kids on the sleigh, came home without one little one who was left sleeping on the bed. They had to go way back several miles to get him.

Four children were born to this union. Helen married Matt Dergance and settled in Hillside, Illinois. George lives in Lyons, Illinois. Mary Ann married Otto Berg and they live in Washington D.C. Josephine married Joseph Verschay and lives in Greenwood.

The Frank Lakens sold their farm in the 1950's and purchased a house in Greenwood. There were several retired Slovenians living there so they enjoyed their retired years visiting them, playing cards, hunting, gardening and fishing. Frank passed away in 1971 and Mary in 1973.

 

 


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