Part Two: The Kubiceks settle in Sheffield Township

Since last week’s column on the first part of the story on the Kubiceks coming from Czechoslovakia to Sheffield Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio, I have heard from several readers whose family members came about the same time to Sheffield. Jennifer Kulko, Conneaut, said that her grandfather, Joseph Kubicek, was brought over by Louis from Czechoslovakia to join his Kubicek brothers, Louis and Ladimer. Another reader said he was related to the Kubicek family. It’s amazing how many descendants still live in our county from a family that left Czechoslovakia for a better life. It took time and money, but family members were faithful to each other and made it their goal to bring over as many of their family members as they could who wanted a new life in the United States. You will see the name Kubicek spelled several ways, including Kubichek. The spelling was changed by the individual, by accident, by misprint and other choices. You will see it both ways in this text according to how it was given. Louie and Lottie bought the Sheffield farm with Lottie’s brother, Charlie Priesler and his wife, Julia, in March 1919, but by the fall, Charlie and Julia sold out to Louie and Lottie. When Louis was interviewed by a county newspaper in 1941, it was written that “his face is known to thousands who have come into contact with him during his 22 years of residence in Ashtabula County.” It was also stated that his Sheffield Township farm was a model of modern, scientific farming. Groups of students from the Conneaut schools made annual visits to the farm to learn “the many lessons in thrift, perseverance and hard work.” The barn foundation was built with field stones gathered from the property with the sand coming from Whitman’s Creek on Lake Road. How they hauled the sand up the hill would be a story shared for years among the family. They hauled the sand from Whitman’s Creek to the hill on Route 20 with a horse drawn wagon and then unloaded at the base of the hill. The process was repeated over and over until they had enough sand for the base. But in 1945, the family farm dynamics would drastically change when Louis decided to move from farm life to owning a home in sunny in Florida. He lived in Eustis and Mt. Dora. In 1950, the farm was put in Ladimir and Mary’s name. The road in front of the farm had been known as Route 170 then Route 90 and finally Route 193, which it is called in 2024. The family took pictures of the changes as it was being paved. I have included some of the photos with this column. In 1955, Louis and Lottie returned to the farm for a visit. While there, Lottie fell and broke her hip and died from a blood clot. The following year of 1956, Louis married Mildred and they lived in Mt. Dora, Florida, where they maintained fruit trees and other crops until his death in 1961. Mildred died in 1979. The original 1800s Sheffield Post Office, which had been used at the Kubicek farm for a home for Louis and Ladimer’s parents, was moved by Latimer to his new brick home across the street from the farm on Route 193, south of Kingsville. Ladimer and Mary sold the farm but kept 40 acres with their new home. The little building had been used for making honey by the first owner of the Kubicek farm in the late 1800s, Horace Sheppard gaining it the title, “Honey House.” It was now repurposed into the Hobby House and used by Latimer’s wife, Mary, for her many jobs and interests, including making rugs. Her loom was set up in front of the wood burning cast iron stove where she spent years perfecting her craft. She recycled the hay twine and used it in her rugs. Mary had also dressed her chickens in the little house as part of her chicken and egg business which the family operated for 25 years from 1945-1970. Mary and Ladimer took over the business when Louis moved to Florida in 1945 and the couple continued to run the family business for a total of 50 years. In addition to caring for 1,000 chickens, Mary churned 123 pounds of butter every week from their dairy herd. Folks sure knew what hard work was back then. It was the life they had moved half way around the world to obtain and worked hard to have. Ladimer always had a great interest in photography and loved to take pictures of Ashtabula County’s covered bridges. The Jefferson Historical Society has an entire three-ring binder of his beautiful photos of all our bridges in different seasons. What an historical record he left behind. He enlarged many of the photos and had them displayed in the Hobby House and in his home. Ladimer and Mary retired from farming in the early 1970s. They reared two sons and two daughters; Emilie and Marjorie, Kenneth and Ladimer, Jr. Mary passed away at the age of 89 in 1999. Ladimer, Sr. died at the age of 87 and a half in 2002. In 2003, the former “Honey House” was moved again when the children of Ladimer and Mary donated it to the Jefferson Depot Village. In its 150-year history, the building had stood at Sheffield Center as a grange hall and a post office, then moved to the property of Horace Sheppard. Later owners, Ladimer and Mary Kubicek, moved it to their property across the road. In 2007, the new farm owner took down the barn and the other farm buildings. The buildings may be gone, but the legacy of the Kubicek family lives on in the lives of their descendants and the faithful recording of their lives through pictures, written accounts and the wonderful covered bridge collection of Ladimer Kubicek. If you have the records and pictures of your family and would like to share their Ashtabula County history, please contact me to set up an interview at the Jefferson Historical Society. You may contact me at onesouthernwriter@gmail.com or call Gazette Newspapers, Inc. at 440- 576 -9125 and leave a message with our secretary.

Part Two: The Kubiceks settle in Sheffield Township

Ongoing Series: They called Ashtabula County, home

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