Born at PRAHA (Prague) AUSTRIA "KNOWN as BOHEMIA". The time is 1850s, the place is near Praha, Czeky, under the domination of the HABSBURGS, and involuntarily functioning as part of the AUSTRIAN EMPIRE. On the west are high mountains, with only a few passes so the border stays fairly stable through history; on the east no such natural boundaries exist and so the border is in a constant state of flux. In the 1860s, pressure led the Habsburgs to transform the Austrian Empire into the dualist Austro-Hungarian constitional monarchy. This was OK with the Hungarians, but was not liked by most of the other ethnic nations within this area. The Czechs were united in their opposition to this dual system, but divided among themselves as to what to do about it. As the 19th century progressed, the division grew deeper. There was over 10 separate parties, each with a different idea of how to unite the country. During this period, from the late 1840s, after the feudal system was abolished, waves of emigration took place... especially to the New World, The United States.
The records of CZECHOSLOVIA always have remained in the locale where they originated and were kept by the Catholic Church, reguardless of which religion you were. The church records, MATRIKA, were and are considered legal proof of ancestory, used for military conscription and for tax purposes.
The language we think of as BOHEMIAN, or CZECK, or SLOVAK, is probably more accurately described as being mixed with Bohemian, Czek, Slovak, French, Russian, German, Polish, Latin, and English. MATRIKA was kept primarily in Latin by the Priests, but some is in German, some in Czek. Many times the record is a combination of all 3 with many abbreviations. Many of the immigrants to US recorded Prague, Austria as their homeland for the above reasons. Research in Czeky demands that one know an exact location to start..there are 112 places called Nova' Ves; 60 with the name of Lhota
Therefore, if one worked in Prague but lived nearby, an address of only Praha, Austria, would make it nearly impossible to locate the records. Traditionary, it was a 4 year apprenticeship per job to open a shop or even hire on as an assistant. The Czeks are a hard working, GOD fearing people, they love to socialize. Thus begins to address our ancestors life in the early years.
Our "MARIE" was born "out of wedlock", a totaly unacceptable happening at that time as far as church and family was concerned. When Christening an out of wedlock baby it was forbidden to list the fathers name unless he admitted fatherhood and was willing to accept responsibility, the child would go through life using the mothers surname. The MATRIKA of the christening often included such reprisals or attempts at humor as: "mother a bad monkey"; "father fuc"(split); "father drowned under ice in the summer"; "father drowned in a puddle behind the kitchen stove"; if nobility was involved the term listed was "christened from the left hip".
Still, it was easier than life on a potato farm for a landlord who sold potatoes for the making of a whiskey. Part of their pay was the right to glean certain rows after the main harvest was finished.
Home was a room in a barracks type building that housed several families, with a brick floor that got cold enough in the winter to freeze a babys wet diaper to it. One of the stories Hattie and sister Evelyn Doskocil Greene repeat from their grandparents is that when the river that flowed by the towns bakery overflowed, the baker would dump old bread into the water to be rid of it, the children would be sent out to retrive what they could for family consumption. This leads to a possible location of the family, geographically speaking, the river which flows through Prague is "Vltava" , which is said to come from the Celtic "Vlt" meaning wild, and "Va" meaning water.
If the family story about the town bakery dumping the bread in the river has substance, then it would follow that the Doskocils lived "south" of Prague. 1891: YEARS BEFORE, it had been illegal to emmigrate to the US., but political change made it possible to go now; IF you could steal away in the night from the landlord.
Like so many unskilled workers, landing in the US, processing at ELLIS ISLAND and then being sent to CHICAGO IL, it must have been a trying experience; civil rights and the processing "stations" are a whole story in themselves. The year is 1891, JOSEF and MARIE, their children: MARY (b.1879), J0HN (b.1882) JOSEF [B. 1883], FRANK [B. 1888], and ALOIS [LOUIS] (b.1890]. We are in the US of A.... 2 more children were born in Il.: BESSEY, who died about 3 to 4 years old, and ANNIE (b.1893).
. 1905 For our MARIE, life was tough from start to finish. Of this much I am sure, to this writer it appears that MARIE DOSKOCIL was the BACKBONE of our immigration to the US. SHE was the fabric of the family tapestry. We can indeed savor the memory of this LADY as our "DOSKOCIL MOTHER"...MARIE, 1891 immigrant to the USA. Court documents and death certificates prove that on the day Josef commited sucide, he signed the property, house, over to Marie...the rational having to do with a homestead and property bill that had needed to be dealt with. The signatures were notarized and found by the court to be legal and proper. Josef's death certificate lists his death as "sucide by taking rat poison while in a state of dementia".
Exactly why the story of: "Marie died and Josef commited sucide" was all that was passed down to the various descendants will probably always be a mystery. At least we now know the truth... but this writer felt that the oral history that had been perpetuated through the years should be left intact; as long as the real story was presented so that the truth be known.
The inquest into Joseph's death by juriors, John E. Traeger, Corrner, found thar there was no intent or involvement other than Joseph hinself. His funeral was at St. Adalbert and burial at their Cemetery. Marie continued living at the same place for several years, but lived the last 6 years with son, John Doskocil, at 2938 Turner Avenue, Cicero/Oak Park of the Chicago area. One year before she died she was diagnosed as having "carcinoma of the stomach"...6 months later she had an operation...another 6 months later, the Dr. was called to her bedside at Turner Ave. [May 10, 1913], she died there on May 23, 1913.
Marie had been a resident of US and the Chicagoarea for 22 years. Her occupation was listed as "Housewife", from 1878 to 1913. Perhaps the most illuminating facts that are now in evidence are also just as puzzling...John, their son, at whose house she lived and died, listed her father as JNO PODASKY and her mother's maiden name as MARIE TUNKL... what is the illigitimancy story that was handed down through family stories??? The church records probably would not have listed both parents...but John apparently knew the names and reasons for what we have been led to believe. Further research may release the facts, more time is needed to find the truth. DOSKOCIL, pronounced "Dos Ko Chil" in Bohemian means, "MADE THE JUMP".
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