Rose Marie Kotas

Notes:

A 1943 graduate of Milligan High School, she worked in many farm homes and also as a clerk-typist with the Quartermaster Corps at the Fairmont Army Air Base. (Milligan, p 313).

She continued to farm after Merlin entered the Exeter Care Center in 1989, where he passed away in 1992. When Rose Maried turned 65, she retired from farming. She was the volunteer librarian for the Nebraska State Genealogical Society for twenty years, and complied twenty-two publications for them. She also organized the Fillmore County Genealogical Society. Other memberships include the Milligan Fraternal Lodge #76 and the HSSK American Legion Auxiliary Unit.

(Milligan, 1988-2008, p. 177).

Rose married Merlin K. Hulse on 14 Oct 1947 in Milligan, Fillmore County, Nebraska. Merlin was born on 19 Nov 1925 in Monroe Twp, Saline County, Nebraska; died on 31 Mar 1992 in Exeter, Fillmore County, Nebraska. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
They were married at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church. Attendants were her brother, Joseph John KOTAS and his sister, Neva Irene (Lowell) JENSEN of Exeter. (Milligan, p 313-314).

1. Kenneth Lavern Hulse was born on 21 Dec 1948 in Friend, Saline County, Nebraska; died on 29 May 2020 in York, York County, Nebraska.
2. Living

Notes:

John graduated from Milligan High School in 1913, after which he farmed with his father. He was drafted into the U.S. Military on May 28, 1918, and was sent to Camp Dodge, Iowa for training. He was sent to France with Company D, 350 Infantry, 88th Division in August, 1918, from Long Island, New York, where he came down with influenza. He was sent to the front line the day the Armistice was signed, on November 11, 1918. He remained in France for police action, returning home in May, 1919. He was discharged in June. After marrying his sweetheart, Anna KOCA, the couple made their home on the Kotas family farm in Section 3 of Glengary Township. They moved to town in 1925. (Milligan, p 358-359).

John married Anna Rose Koca on 2 Sep 1924 in Milligan, Fillmore County, Nebraska. Anna (daughter of Vaclav Koca and Marie Bernasek) was born on 6 Apr 1903 in Tobias, Saline County, Nebraska; died on 17 Jun 2002 in Friend, Saline County, Nebraska; was buried in Bohemian Brethren Cemetery (AKA Cesky Bratri Cemetery), Fillmore County, Nebraska. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Anna continued to help her family at home after her marriage to John KOTAS. She helped care for her sister, Emilye, after her mother had surgery. She also helped her sister-in-law Mayme care for her infant son, Jimmy KOCA. (Milligan, p 359).

Obituary

Kotas - Anna Rose, 99, Milligan, widow of John H., died Monday (6/17/02) in Friend. Born, Tobias (4/8/03) to Vaclav and Marie (Bernasek) Koca.

Survivors: son, daughter-in-law, Joe and Grace, Milligan; daughter, Rose Marie Hulse, Exeter; two grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; two stepgrandchildren.

Services: 10 a.m. Thursday, Saint Wenceslaus Catholic Church, Milligan. Father David F. Bourek. Milligan North Cemetery. Visitation: beginning 1 p.m. today, Farmer & Son Funeral Home-Kotas Chapel, Milligan. Rosary: 7 p.m. today, Milligan funeral home.

(Courtesy of Dennis Belohlavy, Lincoln Journal Star)

Note: It assumed she is bured in Cesky Bratri with her late husband, John Kotas.

Notes:

Married:
They met at a dance, and were married at 9 am Tuesday at the St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Milligan. Their attendants were a sister of the groom, Anna KOTAS and her boyfriend, Louis SUDA, a cousin of the bride, William KOCA and his sweetheart, Emma KUCERA. A wedding dinner was served at the home of the bride's parents at noon. The next day, the newlyweds spent their honeymoon at the State Fair in Lincoln, accompanied by Anna's brother and wife, James V. and Mayme KOCA (Milligan, p 358).

Notes:

Anton attended rural school district #44 which was a dug out in the northwest corner of his father's homestead. Anton was making his home, as a young lad, in a dug out on the SE 1/4 of Section 3 when the blizzard of 1888 struck. Several of the big boys were sent to Anton's farmstead to weather out the storm. Anton valued education, wanting his sons to become professors. He sent them to town school after they completed elementary school. (Milligan, p 347).

Anton married Antonie Volmut on 31 Jan 1893 in Milligan, Fillmore County, Nebraska. Antonie (daughter of Joseph Volmut and Anna Vanis) was born on 6 Jul 1870 in Pisek, Bohemia; died on 16 Apr 1922 in Glengary Township, Fillmore County, Nebraska; was buried in Bohemian Brethren Cemetery (AKA Cesky Bratri Cemetery), Fillmore County, Nebraska. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The daughter of Joseph and Anna VOLMUT, and older sister to Barbara. Her parents lived with she and Anton as of 1900, and his father continued to live with them after his wife died (Milligan, p 347). Grandson John H. "was a constant companion of his grandfather, Joseph VOLMUT, who made his home with the Kotas family." (Milligan, p 358).

She was said to be born in Zivoticich, Pisek, Blatna, Bohemia.

Notes:

Married:
They were married at St. Wencesclaus Catholic Church by Father James BARTIK, with John STEINACHER and Joseph SUDA as witnesses. They made their home with Anton's parents, moving into their new home in Section 3 on April 10, 1893. As of 1987, part of the home was still standing. Besides the land gifted to Anton by his parents, he purchased additional land in the Milligan area from his brothers and from the KUSKA family. He also owned land in Montana, where his brother W.J. lived. (Milligan, p 347).

Notes:

Vaclav, his father, and brother Joseph filed their first naturalization papers in Geneva, Nebraska on February 27, 1882. They were naturalized on November 28, 1892, with Joseph MOTIS and Vaclav TYNER as witnesses. (Milligan, p 343).

Vaclav married Marie Bernasek on 9 Jul 1889 in Glengary Township, Fillmore County, Nebraska. Marie (daughter of Josef Frantisek Bernasek and Josefa Urbankova) was born on 25 Mar 1868 in Bohy, Plzen-Sever, Plzensk? Kraj, Bohemia; died on 1 Dec 1960 in Friend, Saline County, Nebraska; was buried in Bohemian Brethren Cemetery (AKA Cesky Bratri Cemetery), Fillmore County, Nebraska. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
They were married in the the Koca home, with Frank TENOPIR and Albert BIBA as witnesses. Vaclav's brother Joseph, a widower, was married on the same day in a double ceremony. They repeated their vows in the Catholic Church on January 6, 1891 before it was completely plastered and finished. Attendants were Frank TENOPIR, Frank KOCA, Josephine BECK, and Mary PRIBYL. They farmed in Section 19 of Atlanta Township for many years, buying a home from Frank STECH in Milligan to retire too. They moved into this home in 1923, with their two youngest daughters. In February, 1950, their home caught fire due to a glowing ember from a stove. The were away from home, and arrived with the kitchen floor ablaze. Marie went to get help, and Vaclav attempted to douse the flames. A hole the size of a basket was left in the floor. He died of respiratory problems related to the smoke he inhaled a few months later. His brother Joseph died of pneumonia as well, a few days after Vaclav (Milligan, p 343).

Notes:

He was born to Martin or Mattias KOTAS. He emigrated from Bohemia in 1868, settling first in Chicago for two years. The family left Illinois in October, 1870, arriving at the homestead of his sister and brother-in-law, Katherine and John PLACEK, who lived in Section 12 of Big Blue Township in Saline County. John and sons Frank and Joseph walked to Fillmore County to claim homesteads, which they filed in Beatrice on October 17, 1870, at the same time filing their naturalization papers. They lived with bachelor homesteader Frank ZNAJEMSKY until their dugout was built on October 25, 1870. John received his patent on May 16, 1878. The first dugout school of District #44 was on the KOTAS homestead. John was also instrumental in getting a Catholic Church built on his land, serving in the puplit occasionally as their was not resident priest. He also helped establish Ceski Brati, a Catholic Cemetery. Later in life, John purchased addtional land from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, making it possible to give each of his 7 surviving children a farm. He and Barbara retired to Milligan. While repairing the roof of his home, he fell and was impaled on their picket fence. The funeral was conducted at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church and he was buried in Ceski Brati cemetery near his son. More than 100 buggies followed the hearse to the cemetery. He is buried under the name KOTTAS, even though his railroad documents and homestead documents were executed using KOTAS. His son, W.J. was administrator of his estate, so this may account for the change in spelling. (Milligan, p 356). He was the son of Martin KOTAS and Mary PIPLA. (Milligan, p 357).

Jan married Barbara Svoboda before 1848 in Plzen, Bohemia. Barbara was born on 1 Apr 1829 in Ivanov, Zbyrov, Bohemia; died on 6 Mar 1899 in Milligan, Fillmore County, Nebraska; was buried in Bohemian Brethren Cemetery (AKA Cesky Bratri Cemetery), Fillmore County, Nebraska. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She was the aunt of Josephine SAUFL. (Milligan, p 316). After the death of her husband, she lived with her son Joseph in Milligan. (Milligan, p 356). She was the daugther of Josefa SVOBODA. (Milligan, p 357).

Notes:

Joseph and Anna Volmut came to the United States in 1889 with their two youngest daughters, Antonie (19) and Barbara (16). They lived with their oldest daughter, Mrs. John (Mary) Holpuch, of Altanta Precinct in Saline County. Two of the Volmut daughters, Mary and Anna, had come to Saline County earlier where they were married. (Milligan, p. 574).

Joseph married Anna Vanis. Anna was born on 11 Nov 1835 in Bohemia; died on 27 Mar 1903 in Nebraska; was buried in Bohemian Brethren Cemetery (AKA Cesky Bratri Cemetery), Fillmore County, Nebraska. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The son of Victor KOCA. They sailed from Bremen, Germany aboard the steamship "Ohio" with 454 aliens and 77 citizens aboard. Anna's sister, Katherine SOPR was traveling with them. They headed to Braidwood, Illinois, working in the mines for 17 months before heading farther west to Fillmore. When first in Fillmore, they made their home with Frank KOTAS and Mary BERNASEK. Vaclav purchased the SW 1/4 of Section 11 from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company.

Vaclav married Anna Sopr on 20 Feb 1860 in Bohemia. Anna (daughter of Frank Sopr and Veronika Urban) was born on 18 Jul 1842 in Bohemia; died on 18 Jun 1902 in Ohiowa, Fillmore County, Nebraska; was buried in Bohemian Brethren Cemetery (AKA Cesky Bratri Cemetery), Fillmore County, Nebraska. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
Vaclav and Anna were determined to give each of their children a farm, so made several additional land purchases. All of this land was still owned by the Koca family as of 1987. (Milligan, p 342).

Notes:

"Josef Bernasek was born in the village of Prodeslady, town of Kravovice, county of Plzen in Bohemia on June 20, 1831.

His death certificate lists his parents as Ondrej Bernasek and Katherine Vcela. He was married in Bohemia to Josefa Urbanek. He came to the Milligan area from Europe twice, his name being first recorded in a book of Homestead records at the Nebraska State Historical Society in Lincoln as filing a claim to 80 acres in Section 10 of Glengary Township on October 17, 1870. John Bernasek cliamed 80 acres in the same quarter on the same day. Vaclav Bernasek, a son of John's, recived the patent on the farm Joseph Bernasek claimed. It is not definately known how John and Joseph were related. They could have been brothers. MILLIGAN NEBRASKA 1988-2008 indicates that the claim for 80 acres in section 10 used a 3 letter abbreviation for his first name, probably read as JOS. for Joseph, but may have actually been Jas. for James, with his given name actually being VACLAV. The patent on that land would later go to Vaclav Bernasek. (p. 113).

Josef and Josefa and their three children, Frank 16, Cyril 13 and Marie 10 came to the United States a second time on the Steamship "Zoffie," leaving Hamburg, Germany on March 20, 1879 and docking in the New York Port on Good Friday April 10, 1879. Daughters Emilye, Marie, Frantiska, Josefa and Kristina died of diptheria in Bohemia. This is possibly why Joseph did not prove the homestead. He may have received word from Bohemia of the illness of his daughters, and returned for sometime with his wife and children before returning to the United States. When the family returned, they migrated to the homestead of John Bernasek (assumed to be his brother by this compiler) where they lived until they were able to move to their farm. Joseph contracted 80 acres, the E 1/2 NE 1/4 of Section 21 in Glengary Township on July 1, 1879, with the Burlinton and Missouri River Railroad Company. He received the deed on October 3, 1889. The farm was given to his son, Frank, on July 11, 1895. It is still in the Bernasek family, owned by Ervin and Carol Bernasek. Joseph and oldest son Frank went to Geneva on July 3, 1879 to file their naturalization papers. Joseph was sworn in as a citizen on Mary 31, 1887.

Joseph contracted another 80 acres, the E 1/2 NE 1/4 of Section 17 in Glengary Township on October 24, 1879, with the Burlington and Missouri. This contract was made for 10 years at $5.50 an acre. Joseph received the deed on July 9, 1887 from the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. This farm was given to his son Cyril. (Milligan, p 202). He made a stipulation that Cyril must give his parents one-third of the crops raised and a comfortable room in the house. Cyril and his wife sold the farm to Frank Kassik on April 30, 1908 for $7,600. (Milligan, p 199)

Joseph met with a fatal accident on July 17, 1906, at age 75. He and his wife were riding in a buggy when the horses were frightened by a pile of manure at the stockyards on the south end of the city limits. Joseph was thrown from buggy, killed almost instantly. Josephine was also thrown, but escaped with a few bruises. The funeral was conducted from the Catholic Church. (Milligan, p 202).

[Note: Ken Chromy instead has his location of birth as Babina (Plasy), Bohemia.]

(Research):

Census Listings:

FamilySearch 1880 National Census

Census Place:Glengary, Fillmore, Nebraska
Source:FHL Film 1254748 National Archives Film T9-0748 Page 51 RelationSexMarrRaceAgeBirthplace
Joseph BENNESEK Self M M W 52 BOHEMIA Occ:Farmer Fa: BOHEMIA Mo: BOHEMIA
Josefine BENNESEK Wife F M W 51 BOHEMIA Occ:House Keepe rFa: BOHEMIA Mo: BOHEMIA
Cirrall BENNESEK Son M S W 15 BOHEMIA Occ:At Schoo lFa: BOHEMIA Mo: BOHEMIA
Mary BENNESEK Dau F S W 12 BOHEMIA Occ:At School Fa: BOHEMIA Mo: BOHEMIA

Josef married Josefa Urbankova. Josefa was born on 16 May 1831 in Bohy, Plzen-Sever, Plzensk? Kraj, Bohemia; died on 25 Apr 1914 in Atlanta Township, Saline County, Nebraska; was buried on 26 Apr 1914 in Bohemian Brethren Cemetery (AKA Cesky Bratri Cemetery), Fillmore County, Nebraska. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

After her husband's death, Josephine made her home on the farm with a grandson, Cyril Bernasek. When she became ill, she went to live with her daughter and son-in-law, Marie and Vaclav Koca in Atlanta Township of Saline County. She died at the Koca home on April 25, 1914, at the age of 83. A "Card of Thanks" in the Milligan Times expresses the family's thanks to Charles Smrha for the impressive speech at the mourners home and cemetery, to Messrs. Frank Hrdy, Charles Smrha and Norbert Svatos for the beautiful song service, to Vaclav Koca for the religious ceremony, the undertakers Frank Rozanek and Joe Matejovsky for last service rendered, and to Mrs. Josephine Rohla for loving service in time of sickness and comfort in the final hours. (Milligan, p 202). Ken Chromy shows she was a daugheter of J. DUSKOVA and Mr. URBANEK, and that she was born in Bohy.