A few months later, on July 9, 1888 August bought 40 acres of land from Nehemiah and

Caroline Clark for $325. The land was directly west of his old farm containing the NW ¼ of the
SE ¼ in Section 35, Holdingford. (Book 67, Page 262)

In a little more than a month August was dead at age 59.

Freda: “Later they were on a farm, but I don’t know exactly where it was. It could have
been the farm near Theador Wolney’s in Holdingford.”
Note from LDW: My mom’s memory was correct about being next to the Wolney farm, but the “they” she was
referring to was not the August Philipsek’s farm, but her parents, Charles and Frances. It was the farm they bought
after Charles got out of the saloon business (see below).

Freda: “Grandpa (August) died before I was born. All I can remember about my
grandfather August is what my dad (Charles) said to me. My dad remembers that one day his
father came in from the field from working all day. He sat down at the kitchen table, dropped his
head into his hands and said. ‘I’m so sick, I can’t go on!’ He died shortly after that. When my
dad told me this, his eyes filled up with tears and I never brought up this topic again.”
 2

Sw.P
August
Philipsek
Uro (born)
28 Strep (Aug) 1829
Umar (died)
17 Grod (Dec) 1888

Monument in St. Anna Cemetery in St. Anna, MN

Freda: “Then Grandma (Clara) ran the farm with her family. She had two boys (Note from
LDW: John, who would have been 26 and Charley who would have been 12) to
help.”

Charles Mary Clara Eva (Agnes?) Caroline

Note from LDW: August , John, and Anna are not in the picture. Since August died in 1888, about six years after
coming to America, it is assumed that this picture was taken after August died in 1888. Charley looks like he was about 13-14
years old, so 1889-1890? John was probably married, possibly Anna and Agnes (if Eva is the one pictured) as well. Because of
the special bond between my mom and Eva, I am persuaded that it is Eva in this picture, not Agnes.)

On June 1, 1891 Eva Philipczik sold 40 acres of land to Frank Litchy for $370. This was
the North West quarter of the South East quarter of section 35. This was a little over three years
after August died and was the final piece of land which August bought (Book 75, page 378). Note
from LDW: I could not find how Eva inherited the land.

Perhaps this was the time when Clara moved to St, Cloud. Freda: “Aunt Eva got sick on
the trip to America. They called it “long (lung?) fever" and it left her deaf.” The Litchy Family
 3

History has a somewhat different take on the story: “Eva lost her hearing because of a childhood
disease.”

Eva and Freda Philipsek

Freda: “She learned to read lips in Polish and German and some words in English. You
couldn’t put anything over on her. She could read lips across two rooms! She had a boyfriend,
but she never married. The family didn’t want it, because she wouldn’t be able to hear if her kids
were crying in the night.”

Litchy Family History: “For a while, she lived with her mother, Clara, where they ran a
candy store in St. Cloud. She went to school and learned to be a seamstress. She had her own
little apartment, and she supported herself the rest of her life. Later she lived with Celestine
Fuerstenburg, and also upstairs in the Frank Litchy home in Holdingford.”

Freda: “She was my godmother. There was a special bond between us.” Note: Lita Casalino
says that Eva lived above Magdalin Cipala’s home in the middle 1940s. “Aunt Celestine (Froelich) told me
that Eva knew all the stories about the trip to America, but nobody cared, or listened, or
remembered. Oh, how I wish someone had written those stories down.”

Litchy Family History: “Clara moved to a two-room upstairs apartment in St. Cloud
after her husband’s death. She ran a candy store and was a midwife in the St. Cloud area.
Magdeline Cipala remembers that she and her sister Clara would go with their mother, Agnes, to
visit their grandmother, Clara. Magdeline remembers that her grandmother always wore a long
white apron.”
 4

A year later, in 1892 on the 29th of June, at age 16, Charles bought 80 acres of land for
$500 from F.T. Day and Alcy Day, his wife. The land was located on the North West half of the
North East quarter of Section 26 in Holdingford. (Book 74 Page 143)

About four months later, November 21, 1892, Charles also purchased 40 acres from the
St. Paul and Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway Co. for $280. The last was located on the North
West quarter and the South West quarter of Section 25 in Holdingford. (Book 100, Page 96)

1896 Plat Map of Holdingford

Freda: “My mother (Francis Lucy Pyka) and my father (Charles August Philipsek)
applied and were granted an application to marry on September 20, 1897. (Note from LDW- My
mom went to St. Cloud and looked this up in the records.) They were married on Oct 12, 1897 in Opole,
MN. It was a double wedding, because my dad’s sister, Caroline, married my mother’s brother,
Frank, in the same service. Everybody called my dad ‘Charley’, but my mom always called him
‘Karl’”. Charles was 21 and Frances was 20.

Note from LDW: In a postcard sent to Frances Philipsek from Celestine (Froelich) Fuerstenburg, Frances
is addressed as “Knatch”. The word means something like “softness”, like bread rising or something like a
“marshmallow”, perhaps “Fluffy”?
 5

Marriage Picture

Frances Charles

Freda: “In 1897, my dad was in the saloon business in Holdingford MN with his brother,
John, who married Elizabeth Strutman. The saloon was located on Main Street, where the
Legion Club is now. My dad did not like that kind of business, so he sold out to Uncle John in
1902.”

Inside the saloon owned by Charles and John Philipsek

 6

John Philipsek (Sure looks like Grandpa Charley!) is third from the left.
Freda was sure one of the men was Mike Cipala, but she didn’t know which one.

Freda: “During this time, Mom and Dad lived where the Dullinger place was built in
Holdingford.”

House

Main Saloon (Legion Club)

St

A diagram of where Charles and Frances lived

Freda: “It was a small house, two rooms, and very close to the sidewalk. If you opened
the front door and stepped out, you would be right on the sidewalk. My sister, Lucy, was born
there February 1, 1899. It was still standing when I was going to catechism at St. Hedwig’s and
at least until 1919.” (Note from LDW: In August, 2007, the old house is no longer there.)
 7

Charles’s application for intent to become a an American citizen

In 1899, April 14, Charles Philipsek purchased 40 acres from the St. Paul, Minneapolis
and Manitoba Railway Co. for $280. The land was located on the North West quarter of the
South West quarter of section 25 in Holdingford. (Book 100 Page 96). Charles was 23 years
old. Then about seven months later on December 26, 1899, Charles sold these 40 acres to his
brother Frank Philipsek for $350. (Book 107 Page 316)

The 1900 Federal Census records:

Charles age 24
Frances age 22
Lucy age 1
Monica Kuklock, 13 born 13 May 1887. A non-resident born in Poland/Germany.

Freda: “Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle John lived in an apartment above the saloon. Once I
stole a sugar cookie from Aunt Lizzy (Elizabeth). I always stopped in on my way from
catechism. One day, Aunt Lizzy had to go to the bathroom, so she went outside to the outhouse.
 8

I grabbed the cookie and went home, but it really bothered me. I would have caught hell, if
anyone would have found out and she had told on me.”

Lizzie Strutman

Freda: “So in 1902 my dad bought a 40-acre farm about 5 miles southeast of
Holdingford on the way to St. Wendel. There are no buildings standing there today. The rest of
the family was born there: Anton (July 17, 1903), me (Freda on February 25 1905) and Louie
(Dec 30, 1908).” That would have been on 21 November, 1902, when Charles bought 40 acres
from the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway Co. for $280. The land was in the North
West quarter of the Northwest quarter of section 25 in Holdingford. (Book 100, page 378).

1902 Plat Map of Holdingford

 9

Holdingford Fourth of July Parade (1902)

On 16 December 1903, Frances Philipsek bought 80 acres from Frank and Caroline Pyka
(her brother and sister –in-law) for $2600. It was located North West quarter and the North West
quarter of section 25 and the North East quarter of the North East quarter in Section 26 in
Holdingford. (Book 118 Page 214) Note from LDW: Why was the land in Frances name? On the J. Lichy
farm is School District No. 174, where at least Lucy and perhaps Anton and maybe Freda attended school until
about 1912.

1912 Plat Map

 10

Wedding of Robert Schneider on April 19, 1904 in Opole, MN. Charles Philipsek’s band provided the music. On the groom’s left
are two trumpet players. Between them (partially hidden but lightly circled) is Charles Philipsek.

Freda: “Grandma (Clara) died in 1906, less than a year after I was born, so I never knew
her”

We miss thee from our home, dear mother

We miss thee from thy place,
A shadow o’er our life is cast,
We miss the sunshine on thy face.
We miss thy kind and willing hand,
Thy fond and earnest care,
Our home is dark without thee-
We miss thee everywhere.

Grave Marker in Calvary Cemetery in Clara Philipsek’s death card

St. Cloud, MN.