THE CZECHS OF CLEVELAND
from a hostile government, the Bohemians have been for years one of the two or three best educated races in Europe; and among those coming to America the percentage of illiteracy is only one and a half,—less than that among the native born of any state in the Union, even those with compulsory education laws.
First Immigration.
After the failure of the Revolutionary movement of 1848, some Czech leaders were compelled to flee the country, and others, despairing of the future under the House of Hapsburg, were disposed to give up the seemingly hopeless struggle. These were the pioneers of the Czech emigration to America. From 1850 to 1870, most of them came with the idea of taking up land and developing homesteads in Nebraska, Iowa, and Wisconsin. The journey in those days was a long and tiresome one, and Cleveland was a convenient resting place on the way. Some who stopped only to rest, found it good to stay; in 1850 there were three families here, in 1860 there were fifteen, and in 1869 the number had grown to 696 families, including 3252 persons. Thus the Czech immigration was from the first an immigration by families.
Its industrial value may be judged by a selection from some statistics regarding the 3252 Czechs here in 1869. This number included 1949 men and their occupations were as follows: masons, 76; carpenters, 72; tailors, 56; shoemakers, 44; coopers, 39; locksmiths, 25; blacksmiths, 19; merchants, 15; professional musicians, 13, besides many others who had music as a side-line; harness makers, 9; weavers, 9; stonecutters, 8; wheelrights, 7; tanners, 6; tinsmiths, 6; bakers, 5; painters, 5; booksellers, 2; printers, 1; clockmaker, 1; while 90 men and 50 women were employed on nearby farms.
Location in Cleveland.
It is hard now to imagine what Cleveland was like in the 60’s and early 70’s, when everything east of East 30th street was farm land. A history of the location and growth of the Czech settlements in Cleveland is actually a history of the growth of the city. In the first years of the Czechs in Cleveland, they lived in the old district of Hill, Cross, and Commercial streets, but as soon as they had become assured of the means of subsistence, they began to reach toward their natural rural environment. The Czechs love the country. It is a saying among them here that when out early in the morning for a walk, for mushrooms, for a swim in the lake, or for fishing, you can speak in Bohemian to whomever you meet and he will answer.
It follows that the Czechs never live in congested districts if they can help it. On the contrary they are always to be found on the edge of the city, where town and country meet; when the city follows, they move on. The older Czech still loves his own fenced-in yard, where he can have a vegetable garden, some bright colored flowers, and a few ducks or geese. In settlements on the outskirts of the city, flocks of geese still roam vacant allotments and hiss viciously at the timid American.
As early as 1853, J. Capek and J. Doubrava bought farms and became the pioneer Bohemian farmers of the county. Their fellow countrymen built up two sections on what was then the outskirts of the city. The first was “Brooklyn,” a term at that time applied quite loosely to the west bank of the river south of Ohio City. Land there was cheaper than in Cleveland, and
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