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Biography
By
Jan Krtitel Vitous (John Baptist
Vitosh) was born on June 16, 1832 in the village of Ujezd
u
Svateho Krize, Bohemia. John was
the third of seven children born to Frantisek and Anna
(Autersky)
Vittaus, farmers in Ujezd u Svateho Krize. His grandparents
were Vaclav (Wenceslaus) and Kateriny (Kozeluhova) Vittaus (Witauss), peasants in Stupno.
This information was found in the parish register of births,
volume 11, page 379 of the Roman Catholic rectory in Radnice, Czech
Republic. A copy of the report written in the Czech language and a translated copy of the report can be
viewed at their corresponding links. These records were
obtained from the State Regional Archives in Pilsen, Czech
Republic. Otto Vitous, a friend of mine living in Ostrava, Czech
Republic was kind enough to help me get the report and translate it to
English. The names above are the Czech spellings as found in the
Pilsen report. Note that the names recorded in the parish
register were not always spelled the same. It is my understanding
that the scribe or priest who recorded the names may have used
different spellings with time. Such spelling irregularities are common in old church records.
John Baptist Vitosh is
my great grandfather, who brought his family to America in 1867.
I am telling this story of his life, as best as I understand it, from
the records found in Pilsen, a personal visit to his birth home on
September 4, 2000 and many other records I have found on his life in
Iowa and Nebraska. I want to acknowledge and thank my sister
Bernice
Ruyle, for her work on the Vitosh genealogy. I am greatly
indebted to her for the many records she has kept over the last 50
years.
John Vitosh's birth home, number 13, is still standing in the village of Ujezd u Svateho Krize. He grew up as a farm boy in the village of Ujezd u Svateho Krize. In his teen age years he met Anna Blecha, daughter of Vojtech and Anna (Razim) Blecha, peasants in Krise. Krise is a small village located approximately 5 miles southwest of Ujezd u Svateho Krize. He may have met Anna in the Stupno Roman Catholic church. The birth records of John's younger brothers and sisters were found in the Stupno parish register rather than Radnice. The village of Stupno is located about 2 miles southeast of Krise. The family must have moved to the Stupno area or started attending the Stupno church soon after John was born. All of these villages are located within a few miles of each other and can be found approximately 10 miles northeast of Pilsen, Czech Republic.
John and Anna were married in their early twenties. Their first child, Katerina (Kate), was born on November 10, 1854. My grandfather, Joseph was the sixth child to be born in Bohemia. He was born on March 8, 1866 in house number 16 in Krise. The house still stands today in the small village of Krise. The children born in Bohemia were, Katerina. Vaclav, Matej, Vojtech, Marie and Josef. These are the Czech spellings for Kate, James, Michael, Albert, Mary and Joseph as known in America.
It is a mystery as to why John and Anna Vitosh decided to leave their homeland and emigrate to America. They must have been faced with a hard and oppressed life. Bohemia at that time was under the rule of the Habsburgs, and was part of the Austrian Empire. The foreign rule over the once independent Bohemian kingdom was long resented and opposed by its inhabitants because it kept the peasants in slavery and poverty without political or religious freedom. In 1848, serfdom was abolished. This meant that the aristocratic families no longer controlled all aspect of village life. Marriages outside the parish were now possible. Peasants could move to another village without a special permit of the feudal nobility. Forced payments to the landlords, church and school were also abolished and the peasants could freely resettle or move. The farmers were set free, but were required to buy the land from their noble lords. There were constant wars and threats of war which added to the problems of a poor economy and most young men were called to fight for the Austrian Empire in far away lands and died in masses. In the 1866, war broke out between the Austrian Empire and Prussia. Prussia defeated the Austrians in eastern Bohemia at Hradec Kralove. Things did not look good for people in western Bohemia. Under this difficult situation news of cheap land came from America, the land of opportunity. The US needed farmers and other experienced people to colonize the rural states such as Iowa and Nebraska. A few Bohemians started emigrating to the United States in the 1840's. Large numbers of Bohemians started arriving in America in the 1870's with emigration to the United States reaching a peak in the 1890's.
On June 9, 1867, the family boarded the German Bark, Wieland for America. Documentation of their departure was found on microfilm No 889442, ship No 41. This Quebec Passenger List of 1867 was obtained from the Later Day Saints Archives in Salt Lake City, Utah. On the microfilm list, I found the name Joh Witousch, male 35, female 30, male children 10, 8, 6, and 4, female child 12 and a one year old infant. Joh was listed as a farmer from Bohemia. The spelling here is German rather than Czech. Interesting enough, the next name on the list is Jrg Blecha or George Blecha. This could have been a brother of John's wife, Anna. I have no further record of this individual.
The clue to finding this passenger list was found in the Johnson County Courthouse in Iowa City. Iowa. In the fall of 1999, I stopped in Iowa City to find John Vitoush's naturalization papers. There I found two documents, his Declaration of Intention to become a citizen of the United States and his Naturalization papers. Reproductions of these documents are found in the Appendix. Note that the spelling of his last name at this time was Vitoush. In the Declaration of Intent to become a citizen, he states that he entered the United States through the Port of Chicago. In order to do that, he would have been required to disembark in Quebec, Canada and take a smaller boat to Chicago via the Great Lakes.
I know very little about the voyage from Germany to America, but I can only imagine from other accounts that it must have been very uncomfortable and possibly a life threatening trip especially with my grandfather who was one year old. He must have been a strong and healthy baby. The trip across the Atlantic could have taken 7-8 weeks. In my search for a picture or description of the German Bark, Wieland, I was able to obtain a reproduction of a painting and history of the ship from the German Maritime Museum, Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum.
I have no information
of their
trip from Chicago to Iowa, but at that time there were many Bohemian
emigrants
living in Chicago who could have helped them get to Iowa City.
The
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad from Chicago to Iowa City was
in
service prior to 1867. The family may have taken the train to
Iowa City. In 1875, John Vitoush applied to become a citizen of
the United States. On January 16, 1878, he received his
Naturalization papers. This document also gave citizenship to his
wife and children. In the 1880 census, John Vittosh was living in
dwelling
number 353,
John and Anna returned to Iowa City around the turn of the century to be with their oldest children, James, Michael and Mary. There are many descendants of these three children who are still living in the Iowa City area. I do not have records on all of these descendants. The 1900 census showed that John and Anna Vitoush were living at 828 Fairchild St., Iowa city. Anna Vitoush died at her home on East Fairchild St., Iowa City on August 28, 1911. John Vitoush died on January 2, 1912 at his home in Iowa City. They are buried in the St. Joseph Cemetery in Iowa City along with three of their children (Vojtech, Anna and Wilem).
It is important to note how the surname Vitosh has evolved with time. In the early 1800's the Czech name was Vittaus, then Vitous. On the passenger list you will find the German spelling Witousch. In American I found it on the 1880 census as Vittosh and on the 1900 and 1910 census it was spelled Vitosh. On the naturalization papers and obituary it was spelled Vitoush. On the death certificate and the tombstones in Iowa City, the name is spelled Vitosh. To my knowledge all descendants of Jan Krtitel Vitous, who live in the United States, use the name Vitosh.
It is also interesting to note that there are several discrepancies in my great grandfather's age. His birth record from the Pilsen Archives puts his birthday as June 16, 1832. When he boarded the German Bark Weiland on June 9, 1967, he would have been 34 not 35 as he was listed on the passenger list, seven days short of his 35th birthday. The June 1, 1880 census lists him as 50 years old. His correct age at that time should have been 47. On June 9, the 1900 census lists his age as 67 which is correct. I could not read the age on the 1910 census. His obituary and death certificate lists his age as 78 which I believe to be incorrect due to the birth record found in the Pilsen Archives. His correct age at his death should have been 79. My interpretation of this is, that he had difficulty in determining his age and may not have known his exact birth date. His son, Michael, who signed his death certificate, did not know his exact birth date.