In the roundabout way described, Mrs. Jenine Vrtiska mailed the following letter on Dec 28 1972. I had been helping Mom with family history, though I was actually at post-graduate school at Bowling Green University in Ohio. (Mom forwarded the letter from Center to Weston, Ohio, where I lived that year.) As well established in earlier entries, Martin Hlinovsky was the father of Great Grandmother Francis Hlinovsky Koftan, and I have photos of the family graves in the Beranek Cemetery outside Table Rock in Pawnee County, Nebraska, and the old cemetery just west of Tyndall, South Dakota. I also have a photo of Mary McNeill, taken at Running Water, South Dakota, though I was glad to re-read what Mrs. Vrtiska wrote, because now Draper in central South Dakota has potential cemetery interest. Also, Czechoslovakia in the mid-1800s was part of Austria, so don't let Austria as the country of birth startle you. We're still from Bohemia.
I also got a lengthy response from Grandpa Koftan's youngest sister, Margaret "Babe" Koftan Langhammer, before she composed the booklet of memories handed out at a Koftan reunion. I was going to retype it but decided no, the family deserved to read her easy conversational style as she's remembering. She is not a good speller. Always spelled Grandpa's name Lawrence rather than the Laurence he used. I make the same mistake with Micheal and Lindsay Ellingson's names sometimes.
Gary, My name is Jenelle Koftan married to Kenneth Koftan son of LeRoy Koftan. We are interested in getting pictures of the Joseph Koftan family. We recently traveled to Pawnee City, Neb. and obtained the US patent of the 160A homested of Frank Kaftan, visited the Bohemian cemetary at Table Rock and drove by the homestead property. Any of your information that pertains to our side of the family would be much appreciated. Jenelle Koftan