Bio: Trunkel, Anton & Anna

Transcriber: stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Trunkel, Stalzer, Cesnik, Hintz, Prestar, Koschak, Wuethrich, Marincic, Zallar, Laykovich, Schmidt, Peroshek, Zupancic, Snedic

----Source: Family Scrapbook

Mr. Anton Trunkel was born in the village of Gradicek, parish in Kirka, near Sticni. He came to America in 1902. His wife, Anna Stalzer, was born in Vavpce, a village near Semic, area of Belokranjskem. She came to America in 1905. They were married in 1907 in St. Joseph's church in Joliet, Illinois. Born to them were three sons, John, Anton and Edward, and one daughter Ann. A second daughter died in infancy.

Mr. Trunkel first came to Morris and then Ottawa, Illinois. He stayed in that area for five years. From there he went to Aurora, Minnesota where he worked as a logger. He made a few dollars so he could make the trip back to Joliet. Somebody told him that there was a man by the name of Mr. Cesnik who told dad that there was land for sale in Willard. In July 1908, dad purchased land north of Willard. He started out for that area with his small suitcase and an ax.

When my mother came to America in 1905, she traveled by ship which took three weeks to get to America. All the passengers on the ship got sea-sick. When she arrived in New York she said they were all so weak, they wondered if they would survive. In New York they all had to go through customs and were all checked for illnesses. Some were lucky and would go on while others stayed on for treatment. Mother was one of the lucky ones.

On arrival at their destination they had interpreters who went around questioning different ones if they could speak more than one language. Mother told them that she could speak German so they asked her if she would like to work for a German family in Brooklyn. Mother was introduced to this family and all were happy. She stayed with these people for 1 1/2 years. She then told the German family that she wanted to go to Joliet, Illinois where her brother Frank Stalzer lived. The people she worked for took her to a studio to have her picture taken, bought her train fare, and new clothes. When she arrived in Joliet, her brother hardly knew her.

It was in Joliet where mother met my father. They were married in 1907. Later dad left for Willard and mother stayed in Joliet until dad had something partially built to live in. There was little money so dad went back to logging to make money to pay for the train fare for mother and himself. When they came back they stayed at Ignac Cesnik's place until their place to live was completed. Mother did not realize how things were. When she saw such huge forests, she would turn around and say that there was nothing to see but trees and a blue sky above. She knew there would be hardships and there were moments when she had thoughts that she should have stayed in New York. There was no way of going back, no money for transportation.

In 1909 my folks made lumber to build a barn. They bought some horses, of which my father was very fond. One day one of the horses got sick so dad walked to see Mr. George Hintz, who was a self-taught veterinarian. Dad learned what to do from Mr. Hintz if any of the animals got sick.

Mr. Cesnik told my parents that more people would be coming to settle here. He was told that a Mr. Koschak and Mr. Prestar would be coming. Dad was glad to hear about them as they were neighbors in Kirka. When they did arrive everyone helped one another.

The nearest neighbors to the folks were Mr. and Mrs. Peter Schmidt who lived a 1/2 mile south of Willard. Mrs. Schmidt came over to get acquainted, mother and she both spoke German. She helped and showed mother how to can and cure meat. One thing canned were the wild blackberries. They were so beautiful people came by carloads from Fairchild to pick the berries. Mother wanted to get some hens so they could have eggs and raise some chicks. When Mrs. Schmidt heard the story she came over with six hens. Mother set the hens to hatch some chicks and we also had eggs. It wasn't long before rats came broke the eggs and killed the chicks. Dad bought a cow, she got sick and died. Thus, he had to pay for this cow even before she was productive, how sad.

In those days there were no dress shops. Mother heard that Mrs. Marincic and Mrs. Laykovich did sewing. So mother would go to Zallar’s store to get material to make me some dresses. Mrs. Zallar was a very kind woman. She would give an extra yard of goods and include some thread to complete a dress. She felt sorrv for the folks in those days.

Dad would walk to Greenwood, eight miles away, on the railroad track to buy groceries. He often carried home a bag of flour on his back. Sometimes he would borrow Mr. Cesnik's hand-car to bring more groceries home. Mr. Drummond, who owned the store (which is now the bowling alley) also helped the people around here by putting something extra into their grocery bags. Mr. and Mrs. Drummond were the parents of Mrs. John Wuethrich Sr.

Mrs. Marincic started a night school to teach English classes. My folks did attend them and it was a great help for them.

In 1914 Dad cut logs and made them into lumber to build a house. He had to buy some extra lumber and he built the house by himself with the aid of his brother John and their father. For a while, after the house was completed, we still carried water from Cesniks which was through the woods over a half mile away. Of course a path was brushed to Cesniks and one to Willard.

Traveling through the woods was rather scary because of wolves or maybe a bear. This did not help matters for mothers and children. Later dad dug a well and cleared a spot between the stumps for some crops. All this was done with simple and crude tools.

My father, Anton Trunkel, was also active in church affairs, giving the first $30.00 down payment on land upon which the first church was built. He spent many days working on the church and parish house. It wasn't easy then as the work was done by hand. With a heavy heart, he saw the church go up in flames years later. Let's not forget the past!

When the folks had some time off from their day's routine, they would go into the woods to make wood for winter. Upon one occasion in summer, mother told me to stay in the house and take care of my brother. The screen door had a big hole on the bottom. Pretty soon something was crawling in and I didn't know what it was. So I picked up my brother and ran out toward the woods to call the folks home. They asked me what was the matter and I described what was the matter and I described what crawled into the house. My mother said it was a large pine snake and that it was harmless. I didn't know that it was a snake, never having seen one. It certainly was large. It took time but they got it out.

Our folks were with the first Slovenian farmers who settled in Willard. Pioneering was hard work and no immediate cash. Many stumps were dug out by hand and most early buildings were of logs. The folks told us that in Slovenia preservation of forests was strictly practiced. If a forester from Slovenia saw what was happening here he would have cried.

The folks finally got a horse and a cow, paid for with cord-wood money. In clearing the land the large stumps looked like bears at twilight so that kept the kids near home at night. The depression in 1929 saw many farms being foreclosed. It put everybody backwards for a few years and more hard work.

In later years my brother John and his wife Sophie bought the farm owned and developed by our parents. Our folks had left Europe for a better life in America but the pioneer days were just as rough. In America, however, there were opportunities for all the hard work.

As a girl we didn't have much entertainment. As we grew a little older, we girls would climb the south mound. We also started a ukulele club which included Caroline and Angeline Zupancic, Mary and Angeline Koschak, myself, and Molly and Mary Peroshek. We would practice on Sunday afternoons or evenings taking turns at various homes. In the summer time the neighbor boys would hide in the culverts and draw ropes or long chains across the road to scare us. Or they would hang an effigy on the trees so when we came close they would dip it up and down from the trees. Also they made noises like wolves, anything to scare us. It didn't work too good boys!!

The folks would tell us kids that in the summer they would sit outside the shack and gaze at the blue sky and listen to the Bobwhites and Whippoorwill in the evening twilight. We very seldom hear these birds today. When mother didn't have the blues, she would sing those beautiful Slovenian songs from Semic. This was the entertainment that the folks had. In the winter they stayed put, as the winters were harsh and cold, but on warmer winter days, they would be clearing land and making wood.

Submitted by: Anne Trunkel (Snedic)