⟨Reprinted⟩ from Vol. XIII, Collections Kansas State Historical Society.
BOHEMIANS IN CENTRAL KANSAS.
Written by Francis J. Swehla, for the Kansas State Historical Society.
FRANCIS J. SWEHLA.
IT is truly said that the best memory is fact recorded. “Black on white”—cerné na bilem.”[1] The human mind retains early impressions with wonderful indelibity. But that power of the mind weakens in old age, and we do not become alarmed or aware of the fact till much of our past experience and knowledge has slipped or faded away from us. Recollections of great variety as to value. We value them according to the amount of happiness they yield us, or knowledge that renders us intelligent, wise, powerful for good. Unhappy recollections serve as a warning lesson.
“Oft in the stilly night
Ere slumber’s chain has bound me,
Fond memory brings the light
Of other days around me.
The smiles, the tears of boyhood years,
The words of love then spoken;
The eyes that shone, now dimmed and gone.
The cheerful hearts unbroken;
Thus in the stilly night,
Ere slumber’s chain has bound me,
Fond memory brings the light
Of other days around me.”
I was born November 5, 1845, at number 42 in the large village of Albrechtice, near Vltava-Tyn, in southern Bohemia—the heart of Europe. My father was a master wheelwright or wagon maker. My mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Moudrá, died when the subject of this sketch was less than four years of age, he being the first born—and his younger brother,
- ↑ In the Bohemian language the accented c stands for the sound of ch as in church, and accented s for sh as in English; j has the sound of y, and z accented takes the sound of zh. It has not been possible to use the proper accent marks in all cases, therefore italics have been resorted to.
