Here are some of the original immigrants and their family.
The history of Dardanelle goes back a little farther than my family, but once we had immigrated from Bohemia, the family became a great influence in the town. This town of Dardanelle has a lot of historical significance, from Col. David Brearley founding the town, to the longest pontoon bridge in the world, to a rich cultural diversity with a town based on immigration. This page is to document the founding of Dardanelle, and how it relates to my family.Much later, in 1885, my family originally immigrated to the Dardanelle area from Bohemia. At this time, Bohemia was split into 3 provinces, Czech, Slovak, and Moravians, each with their own slightly different dialect. The original immigrants, Martin Pheifer, Vlaclam Masek, and Frank Brabetz were all sponsered by C.M. Freed, who was a prominant Dardanelle businessman at the time. The Freed brothers, C.M., Joseph, and Moritz were of Jewish ancestry, but it has been told that they could speak Czech. It has also been told that one of the Freed brothers came to Bohemia to try and get people to settle in this region.
Here are the original documents from the Dardanelle Court system showing sponsership of Bohmeian immigrants.
Many original pictures of my family still exist, and even show some of the original immigrants that came to Dardanelle.
Dardanelle was a growing town during the time period, and these photos reflect some of the events and cultural influence from immigration.
The immigrants had many trades and professions, both before they left and after they came to Dardanelle. Many were landowners and farmers, and some worked in coal mines. All of them, however, first settled in farms when they arrived. After a while, some continued their former work in coal mines near Russellville, some worked part time jobs at businesses, and others continued their farming.
Others had their own trades that they chose to practice, such as Martin Wesley in the above picture. He was a master cobbler, and his bench is still owned by his descendants today. Most of them, during their free time, played a musical instrument of one type or another. A few years later, under the supervision of Joseph Sevic, the Dardanelle Bohemian Band was formed, and lasted for many years. This musical talent has lasted for many years, and many of our relatives today are still musically inclined.
Catholicism was the primary religion of the Bohemians, and when they came here, there was no church. A priest would occasionally stop by to baptize children or to hold services. Later, a church was built, and named St. Augustine. The church has been moved, but still holds mass today. Also, a large building was also built for social events, business meetings, and band rehearsals for the community. It was built on land donated near the Pfeifer home, from the Pfeifer family. Because of this, it was commonly called Pfeifer Hall.
There were many things from the founding of Dardanelle by Col. David Brearley to the immigration of the Bohemians that made Dardanelle a very rich and cultural town.
Many of the original structures from the founding of the town are still in existance, such as Dardanelle Rock and Brearley Cemetary, and many others are not, such as Pfeifer Hall, The old Catholic church, and some of the old records of immigration. Without the founding of Dardanelle by Col. David Brearley and the cultural influences by the Bohemian immigrants, the town would probably have not become what it is today, if at all.
Bohemian immigration was a large part of the United States culture as well,
primarily in the upper mid west and northern regions. Click here
to find out more information on exactly where and how these immigrants came to settle
there.
Here are links to other related pages on Bohemian immigration. Also try searching for "Bohemian immigration" on Web search engines such as Altavista and Yahoo.
Feel free to email me at any time.... Ian Nelson
Further updates will come shortly.