The Early 1890s
In 1889, Vaclav finally decided it was time to settle in the United States. And although other data implies that he came in May and that perhaps Katerina was with him, the only ship arrival record found to date implies he came alone. In June 1889, he traveled from his parent's home in Kolence, probably to the nearby rail center at Ceske Budejovice. There he traveled to Bremen, Germany where he booked passage on the newly built Munchen, a steamship about 400 feet long and about 45 feet wide. After a several week voyage, Vaclav arrived in Baltimore on 18 June 1889. It was the Munchen's fourth voyage to the United States. After arriving in Baltimore, he traveled by rail to Chicago.

While it is finally known that Vaclav arrived in June 1889, there is still much uncertainty as to where Katerina and their son John was during the interim and whether they went back or stayed in Chicago. The Munchen manifest hasn't been looked at yet, so there is some possibility she was with him, but the index to his manifest implies that he traveled alone.

Some of the confusion comes from later records that implied that both of them arrived in May 1889. This arrival date is stated clearly on Vaclav's 1911 Passport Application and is confirmed by Katerina's 1914 and 1929 Passport Applications. Various census records also support the 1889 date, although some quote an 1883 and an 1882 date. I think part of the problem with the multiplicity of arrival dates in the different censuses is the Filipek's interpretation of the immigration question on the census. The problem was that since one or both of them came twice they could have been unsure of what was meant by immigration. This confusion actually helps us by providing some support for the multiplicity of trips it is believed they took. What is clear is that there is strong support from citizenship papers and three Passport Applications that they came to stay in May 1889. Thus the question though is whether Katerina was in Chicago already.

Why Vaclav finally decided to come remains a mystery. Perhaps he finally decided he didn't like farming. Perhaps Katerina spoke of the friends she had made in Chicago in 1882 and 1883 and the better life there. Or perhaps she was still in Chicago and went back to get him. Or perhaps there were continued problems with the military draft Vaclav wished to avoid.

On 10 December 1889, six months after Vaclav's arrival, the Filipeks had their 2nd child. She was named Maria Filipek. Like her brother John, she was baptized at St. John Nepomucene. Her baptismal sponsors were Katerina's brother, Frank Nemec, who had arrived about 1884 and Marie Dedina, daughter of Vojtech and Rosalie Dedina. The short time after Vaclav's arrival and the birth, suggests that Katerina either arrived with him, or went back a few months earlier to finally convince him to come, or she had an unusually brief and successful pregnancy for the times. More research is needed on this very confusing period from 1882-1889 to sort out who was where and when.

Sometime between their arrival in 1889 and early 1891 the Sokolik boys, John and Theodore were brought or sent to the Filipeks in Chicago. Their mother died about 1887 in St. Paul and they went to stay with their aunt, Katernia Jana also in Minnesota. Sometime after July 1889, their Aunt Katerina Jana died, possibly shortly after childbirth. It is then thought that Katerina's husband Frank Jana brought the family to Chicago where he put his newborn daughter, Elizabeth in a Catholic orphanage and left the two Sokolik boys with the Filipeks. He then brought his four other children to Colorado, possibly Pueblo to work on the railroad. By 1891, the oldest Sokolik boy, John, is listed in the Chicago Directory as a clerk at 34, 144 Vanburen. His address was 218, 25th Place, the same as the Filipeks.

On April 18, 1891, Milada Katerina Filipek, the Filipek's third child was born. Milada was baptized at St. John Nepomucene on April 26 and the sponsor was Marie Dedina.

Later that summer of 1891, Frank Nemec married Mary Novak on August 24, 1891 at St. John Nepomucene. Frank had arrived about 1884 and Mary about 1887. The marriage record indicated that Frank was born in Budejovice and that Mary's parents were Joanni (John) Novak and Anna Koranda. It is unknown how the John Novak who was the baptismal sponsor for John Filipek in 1882 connects with Mary Novak.

On August 15, 1892, James Albert Filipek, the Filipek's fourth child was born. James was baptized at St. John Nepomucene on August 21 and the sponsors were Vojtech and Rosalie Dedina. It is believed that Vojtech and Rosalie Dedina were long time friends of the Filipeks, perhaps going back to when John was born in 1882. Katerina now would have been 29, James 28, John 9, and little Marie 2. John Sokolik would have been 16 and Theodore 13.

On January 1, 1893, little Milada Filipek died at age 1 year and 8 months; the cause is unknown. Her little brother Jim was only 5 months old.

The Filipeks then had another child, their fifth and last, on August 1, 1894, Rosalie Katerina Filipek. Rosalie was baptized at St. John Nepomucene on August 21 and the sponsors were Vojtech and Rosalie Dedina, the same as for James Albert Filipek. Unfortunately, Rosalie did not live long as she died on October 13, 1894 at only 2 months and a few weeks. This was their last child. Katherine was 32 and James 31.

There seems to be a pattern in the naming of the Filipek children. Each appears to be named after one of the baptismal sponsors in some way. John Filipek after John Novak, Marie Filipek after Marie Dedina, James Albert after his father and his middle name after Vojtech Dedina (Vojtech translates to Albert), and Rosalie Katerina Filipek after Rosalie Dedina and Katerina her mother. For only Milada is there no connection.

During this period Vaclav and Katerina were learning the new language and customs of the area. In the records, a transition of their names begins to take place and Vaclav consistently uses James and Katerina varies among a number of different Anglicized spellings. For consistency I will use James and Katherine when referring to them in America and Vaclav and Katerina when referring to them in Bohemia.

Early Chicago Locations
The first address in the Chicago Directory for James Filipek was for the year 1890 at 218 25th Place. The Directory lists his occupation as a butcher, which in a way makes sense given his farm background. There are no James or Vaclav Filipek addresses in the Chicago Directory for the years 1882 to 1889, and if they arrived in May 1889, they would have missed the 1889 Directory printing. They continued at the 218 25th Place address until 1891 and then moved to 187 24th Place for Directory years 1892 and 1893 and then to the rear of 187 24th Place for 1894. From 1891 through 1894, James is listed as a laborer, which does seem to be a step back from being a butcher. Unfortunately, the 24th Place no longer exist, as it appears that part of the Stevenson Expressway goes through the area where they lived and that the area was used for a new north south road. The 218 W. 25th Place no longer exists but the street does and there are a sprinkling of old and new houses. Some of the narrow brick multistory buildings on the streets with small concrete front porches look as if they are original buildings.



Connections with the Novaks, Dedinas, and Nemecs

What's interesting about the Filipek early addresses is the similarity of the addresses to others connected with the Filipeks.

218 25th Place
The first address Vaclav and Katerina lived at in Chicago was 218 25th Place; this was from around 1889 to 1891. What's interesting about this address is that Frantisek Nemec, Katherine's brother, was living at 218 25th Place in the early 1900s. It is possible that Frantisek, who arrived in 1884, lived there for many years and when the Filipeks arrived they moved in with him. What could be more logical but for Katherine to move in with her brother. However, in August 1891 Frantisek Nemec married Mary Novak and perhaps the quarters became too tight with Frank's marriage, or perhaps this is when the Sokolik boys arrived and the Filipeks moved to 187 24th Place.

187 24th Place
The Filipeks lived at 187 24th Place from about 1892-94. There are three areas of interest about this address. First, it is next door to the 1883 185 24th Place address of John and Theresa Novak. Earlier it was noted that John and Theresa Novak were the December 1882 baptismal sponsors for James and Katherine Filipek's son John and were thus probably long time friends or relatives.

The second area of interest about this address was the Dedinas were long time occupants of 187 24th Place. In fact, they can be placed at this address from as early as 1883 through the early 1900s. The Dedinas tie in because Marie Dedina was the baptismal sponsor for Marie Filipek in December 1889 and Vojtech (Albert) Filipek was the baptismal sponsor for James Filipek in August 1892. Thus it appears that Katerina knew the Dedinas from her early days in Chicago, chose them for baptismal sponsors for their children Mary and James, and in 1892 chose to live in the same flat when they needed to move.

The third area of interest is that Frank Nemec, Katherine Filipek's brother lived there in 1886.

Thinking Again about 1882
The fact that the Dedinas and Novaks lived next door to each other in 1883 and that the Novaks became John Filipeks baptismal sponsors suggest that Katerina stayed with the Novaks in 1882 and 1883 but also became friendly with the Dedinas who lived next door. Vojtech and Rose Dedinas both born around 1850 came over in 1873. They had a number of children. One, Edward, was born in October 1881 about a year before Katerina Nemec arrived pregnant with John. Thus Rose Dedina, about 12 years older than Katerina, an experienced mother, living next door, and with a small child at the same time, might have become a good companion to a young girl experiencing her first.

Given all these connections, it is likely that James and Katherine first lived in the same building or same apartment with her brother upon their arrival in 1889 at 218 25th Place. However, Frank's Nemec's marriage in August 1891 may have then prompted the Filipeks move to 187 24th Place, a location which was nearby and in the same building as the Dedinas, friends that Katherine was familiar with from as early as 1882.

Even with a lot of research by Terry Nelson, no relationship with the Novaks or Dedinas has yet been found. The only connection was Frank Nemec marrying Mary Novak, a presumed relation to John and Theresa Novak. It is possible the Novaks or Dedinas had been neighbors of Martin and Katerina Nemec in Mazelov or Budejovice and had kept in touch with them after they left for the USA in 1873. And because of that relationship, that is why they sent Katerina to Chicago in the fall of 1882. At this time, very little has been found in Chicago for John and Theresa Novak. They are John Filipek's baptismal sponsors in 1882 and they show in the 1883 Directory, but in a search of the St. John Nepomucene Baptismal Records for 1880-1900 there are no children listed and they are not sponsors for other Filipek or Nemec children. Perhaps they moved away.

St. John Nepomucene
An important part of any immigrant neighborhood was the church. St. John Nepomucene was originally located at the northwest corner of 25th and Princeton in December 1871. The original church was a frame built just before the zoning change to brick because of the Chicago fire in 1871. Princeton Avenue is the same as block number 300 West and would have been only a few short blocks from the early Filipek, Nemec, Novak, and Dedina addresses. James and Katherine were lifelong Catholics and the church was part of their heritage and activities. Their children were baptized at St. John Nepomucene and Mary and James made their first communion and confirmations there also. This is where their daughter Mary was married and where the funeral mass for James also occurred. James was also a member of St. John Nepomucene Court, perhaps an organization similar to the Knights of Columbus. In May 1914, the church relocated to 2953 South Lowe. The Filipek events that took place at the new location were Mary's funeral mass in 1916 and her daughter Mary Barrett's baptism, a few days later.