Jan Kotas

1829 - 1897  (68 years)

• Name	Jan Kotas  [1, 2]
  Birth	26 Jul 1829	Kozojedy, Plzen, Bohemia
  Gender	Male
  Death	22 Oct 1897	Milligan, Fillmore County, Nebraska   [3]
  Burial	Bohemian Brethren Cemetery (AKA Cesky Bratri Cemetery), Fillmore County, Nebraska   [3]
  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).
  Person ID	I20420	Strong Family Tree
  Last Modified	17 Aug 2014

  
  

  Father	Martin Kotas,   b. 18 Oct 1795, Bohemia d. Yes, date unknown
  Mother	Mary Pipla,   b. 29 Jan 1802, Bohemia d. 22 Feb 1882 (Age 80 years)
  Marriage	They also had two daughters that stayed in Bohemia, Marie who married Jan Kotas, and Josefa who married Vaclav Prusik. They were also the parents of sons Matej and Vaclav who came to America. (Milligan, 1988-2008, p. 107).
  Family ID	F7302	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Barbara Svoboda,   b. 1 Apr 1829, Ivanov, Zbyrov, Bohemia d. 6 Mar 1899, Milligan, Fillmore County, Nebraska (Age 69 years)
  Marriage	Bef 1848	Plzen, Bohemia
  Children	1. Marie Kotas,   b. 13 Jul 1848, Kozojedy, Plzen, Bohemia d. 23 Dec 1928, Fillmore County, Nebraska (Age 80 years)   2. Frank Kottas,   b. 25 May 1851, Kozojedy, Plzen, Bohemia d. 14 Oct 1942, Nebraska (Age 91 years)   3. Joseph Kotas,   b. 1 Jun 1853, Kozojedy, Plzen, Bohemia d. 12 Feb 1924, Milligan, Fillmore County, Nebraska (Age 70 years)   4. Jan "John" Kotas,   b. 27 Aug 1859, Kozojedy, Plzen, Bohemia d. 21 Jul 1909, Fillmore County, Nebraska (Age 49 years)   5. Waslove J. "Vaclav" "W.J." Kottas,   b. 29 Jul 1862, Kozojedy, Plzen, Bohemia d. 6 May 1955, Lewistown, Fergus County, Montana (Age 92 years)   6. Alois Kotas,   b. 26 Jun 1865, Kozojedy, Plzen, Bohemia d. Abt 1884, Fillmore County, Nebraska (Age 18 years)   7. Anton Kotas, Sr.,   b. 26 Nov 1867, Kozojedy, Plzen, Bohemia d. 24 Oct 1959, Milligan, Fillmore County, Nebraska (Age 91 years)   8. Fred R. Kottas,   b. 28 Jan 1870, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois d. 17 Nov 1955, Fillmore County, Nebraska (Age 85 years)
  Family ID	F5876	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	9 Dec 2006

  
  

• Event Map		Birth - 26 Jul 1829 - Kozojedy, Plzen, Bohemia Marriage - Bef 1848 - Plzen, Bohemia Death - 22 Oct 1897 - Milligan, Fillmore County, Nebraska Burial - - Bohemian Brethren Cemetery (AKA Cesky Bratri Cemetery), Fillmore County, Nebraska  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Sources

  [S219] Milligan Centennial History Book Committee HISTORY OF MILLIGAN, NEBRASKA 1888-1988 (Walsworth Publishing, Marceline, MO), p 347, 359 (Reliability: 3). [S26] Milligan Centennial History Book Committee, "Milligan Nebraska 1988-2008, Centennial Supplement Book", p. 107 (Reliability: 3). [S219] Milligan Centennial History Book Committee HISTORY OF MILLIGAN, NEBRASKA 1888-1988 (Walsworth Publishing, Marceline, MO), p 356 (Reliability: 3).