Frank Peshek(1840-1913):Oconto Pioneer

Frank Peshek is my 3rd great-grandfather, father to Rose Peshek-Jolley, my 2nd great-grandmother. Rose's mother, Mary Woodruff, divorced Frank Peshek sometime after Rose was born in 1882 and remarried Frank Joseph Jolley, who then adopted Rose. I'm intrigued by the story there. Mary and Frank had six other children together between the years 1863 to 1879, before they were divorced. Their children are Sophia(1863), Frank(1868), Mary(1869), John Albert(1872), William(1875), and Robert James(1878). Frank never remarried.

1880 Census of Ft Howard, Wisc.

Frank Peshek was born in Bohemia around the year 1840. In 1854, at the age of 15, Frank sailed to America, with his parents and siblings. They sailed on the passenger ship, Clio, from Bremen, Germany heading to Wisconsin. Frank's parents are listed as Jacob and Cat?, and siblings Rosalia, John, and Joseph.

New York Passenger List, Dec 26, 1854

Frank and his family lived in Milwaukee, where he met and married Mary Woodruff. The family moved to Green Bay sometime in the 1870s. Frank worked various jobs throughout his life as a laborer, huckster, and drayman. After his divorce, Frank moved to Oconto, Wisconsin, a town north of Green Bay. I found Frank Peshek in the 1910 Census living with his brother, John Peshek. He died in 1913, at the home of his son Robert James Peshek, in Wausaukee, Wisconsin and is buried at the Wausaukee Evergreen Cemetery.

1910 Census of Oconto, Wisc.

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Mary E Woodruff (1843-1920)

Mary Woodruff was born 1843 in Bohemia. Her father was Martin Woodruff and she had a sister named Sophia(1842) and a brother, Frank(1851). Mary and her family immigrated to Milwaukee in 1860. 1870 Census of Milwaukee, Wisc. She met and married fellow Bohemian Frank Peshek. They had seven children together before divorcing sometime after 1882; Sophia (1863), Frank (1868), Mary (1869), John Albert (1872), William (1875), Robert James (1879), and Rose M (1882). By this time, they had moved north, to Green Bay. 1880 Census of Fort Howard, Wisc. Mary Woodruff remarried sometime after Rose is born, to a Frank Joseph Jolley, who then adopts Rose. It's unclear what happened between Mary and Frank Peshek, and why they separated. The Federal census of 1890 was destroyed by fire, and the next census I have to go on is the state census of 1895. In 1895, Mary Woodruff Peshek is now Mary Jolley and she is living in Appleton, a widow, wi...

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