A One-Name Study for the BARNUM/BARNHAM Surname
Emil was a mechanic, dairy farmer and worked for John Deere in Horicon, Wisconsin, for 22 years. He was an avid hunter and fisherman.
Emil’s parents were Louis Cikanek (8/14/1872-4/19/1951) and Theresie Svetnicka (6/11/1873-1/17/1937) of Black River Falls, Wisconsin. Louis was born in Bohemia, Austria, and Theresie was born near Pehrimov, Bohemia. They were married on 2/14/1896 in Chicago. They farmed in Brockway Township. Louis came to the U.S. from Prague in 1889 at age 17. According to Janice (Olson) Capper, granddaughter of Louis and Theresie, Louis and his family came to America for freedom from Austria’s compulsory Army and because of restrictions of the church. Theresie came to the U.S. in 1885, settling with her family in Muscoda, Wisconsin. The 1910 census states that Louis and Theresie had 6 children, with 5 still living; one son had died prior to 1910. The sixth child is Louis Cikanek, who was born 12/1904 and died at two years of age. After living in Chicago for eight years, Louis and Theresie moved to Brockway, Wisconsin, in April of 1897 and eventually settled in Jackson County in 1897 to take advantage of the low cost of land. They had 160 acres in two parcels in Section 35, Township 22N, Range 111W). They were dairy farmers. Theresie’s brother, John Svetnicka, settled on 120 acres of farmland that bordered the Cikanek farm. Louis served as chairman of Brockway’s Town Board of Supervisors [1914], Assessor of Brockway and Komensky and as a member of the town board. He was very active in Komensky affairs; he named Komensky after Bohemian theologian and educator John Amos Komensky. Louis carried the mail to the depot in Merrillan in the 1930’s. After farming in Snow Creek in Albion, Wisconsin, from 1915 to 1932, Louis and Theresie moved into Black River Falls and lived in “a little white house on a hill” on Tyler Street. They both enjoyed gardening and flowers.
Louis’ obituary says he was “ambitious and hard working and always at work when his health permitted.” Theresie “loved to work among her flowers, and
her unusual garden at their home in the city attracted the attention of all who passed, with its old fashioned flowers growing to the very sidewalk.” Louis and his two granddaughters, Mildred and Fay Kresmery, cleaned the old ZCBJ Hall in Komensky after the dances. Louis Cikanek worked at Camp Douglas, Wisconsin, during World War II, repairing shoes.
A Research Guide to the Genealogy of the Barnum/Barnam/Barnham Family Worldwide
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