History of the Kalich Family


 

by Gloria Schwenke East

 

In 1883, Josef Kalich (also spelled Kahlig/Kahlich) 51 years old, with his wife Magdalena Hauptmann Kalich, 39 years old, came with their families to Galveston from Moravia, Austria, now the Czech Republic, having left Bremen, Germany, on the vessel Weser on the ninth of September, and arriving on the First of October. They brought the following children: Josef, 19 years; Franz, 17 years; Anna, 14 years; Eduard, 7 years, Stefan, 5 years, and Antonín, 2 years.

They were a German-speaking family from Haebendorf (Polouvsi), a little village near Jesenika n/Odrou, not far from Nový Jicín. This area of northern Moravia was colonized by German families as early as the 14th and 15th centuries. A group of German Moravians from this area of Moravia emigrated to the High Hill area of Fayette County as early as 1860.


The Josef and Magdalena Kalich Family

Josef Kalich was the son of farmers in Jesenika. In November, 1863, he was commander of Patrol 332 of the Field Foresters. He married Magdalena Hauptman, daughter of Antoni and Elizabeth Hauptman from Jesenika.

The Kalichs lived near Weimer for three to four years and then bought 299 acres of land situated 17 miles southwest of La Grange in Muldoon League # 13 on Rocky Creek, a tributary of the Navidad River, in Fayette County. They purchased the property from William and Theresa Herder on June 12, 1888, for $4,300--payable in ten years.

 

The following gives an account of their children:

Josef Jr. married Ludmila Grohmann; they had twelve children, most whom lived near Victoria and Cuero.

Franz married Mary Schenek; they had four children. Franz bought 117 acres of the family homestead across the creek, but then died in 1903 at 37 years of age from tuberculosis. Mary later married Frank Florianic an remained on their farm.

The red arrow marks the location of Polouvsi in north Moravia

Annie married Rudolph Kretschmann; they had four children (one died), but Rudolph died early, so Annie was left a widow with three children to rear. Anita, Ella, and Hattie lived part-time with Edward and Marie Kalich while Annie worked in the hotel in Schulenburg. Annie later married Dick Fishbeck.

In 1904, Edward, the grandfather of Gloria Schwenke East, married Marie Lux, who immigrated from Mittlewald (Strdolesí) County of Prerov, Moravia. They had six children: Edna (1909 - 2000) who married Otto Schwenke whose mother was Anna Sulak; the daughter of John Sulak, Adela (1910 - 1970) the mother of the Gloria Schwenke East; Alfred (1912 - 1975); Harvey (1915 -1943); Marvie (1919 - 1998); and Ruben (1925 -1984).

Edward and Marie remained on the homestead with their family and grandparents; Magdalena died in 1918, and Josef died in 1930 at 98 years of age. Edward and Marie’s oldest daughter, Edna, married Otto Schwenke and moved away. Alfred married Hattie Humplik and left the farm. Harvey died at age 26 of a heart attack while having a sprained knee treated. Marvie served in WWII as a cook in a Tank Division of Patton’s Third Army; his division landed on Normandy Beach on D-Day. This left 18-year old Rubin and his parents to run the farm. Adela and Marvie never married; they both lived out their lives on the farm. Marvie died in 1998 and Adela in 1970. Rubin married Lillian Krenek. They lost an infant daughter. Their son Jonathon, who married Peggy Barta, now lives on the old homestead farm in a house adjacent to the place where the old dwelling donated to the TCHCC was located. Jonathan and Peggy have two daughters, Karey Ann and Christina. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University and works as a banker in Flatonia and manages to keep the farm going as well. His father, Rubin, died in 1984, and his mother, Lillian, remains on the farm.

Edward Kalich died in 1957 at 81 years of age. Marie (Gutta Mama) died in 1970 at the age of 89, having lived as a faithful wife, mother, grandmother, and caretaker of relatives who needed her. She loved to grow flowers and always had a beautiful garden near the house. The grandchildren loved to go visit the farm in the summer, especially to eat the good food produced on the farm, such as homemade molasses, milk, eggs, ham and sausages from the smokehouse, honey from the beehives, and fruit from the many trees on the farm. If it could be grown, they knew how to grow it.

Stefan Kalich married Bertha Ladewig and settled in Freyburg. They had five children. One son Nolan, died in a Japanese Prison Camp.

Anton married Mary Strnadel and they also had five children. They settled near Engle. One son, Marvin, was killed in an accident in Houston at the age of 28.

The Kalichs have always been a hardworking, fun-loving, simple and peaceful people. They immigrated to Texas to escape the wars and battles of the Old County. Their farm survived the depression, the wars, and other hard times. The family has a letter written by Edward’s father-in-law, John Lux, asking them to move the family to Los Angeles, California, where he would start them out in one of his rent houses, which is now a part of Hollywood. They refused the offer and stayed on the farm. Many of the neighboring farms have been given up and sold to “city people” from Houston. Ironically, the Hollywood property was later lost during the depression, because of the inability to pay taxes.