I am just going to copy the email that I got with the pictures from the Czech Republic, it explains much better than I ever could.  :)



I am writing to share some photographs I took two weeks ago on April 20th during a month long trip to Europe.  I have never visited Europe before now and I had the opportunity to go with a good friend who is an experienced traveler.  I convinced my traveling buddy, Dan Durning, to take a side trip with me (we were primarily visiting Vienna, Austria) to Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) because I wanted to find the "homeland" of our Great-Grandfather Joseph Sobotka, Sr.

Joseph Sobotka left Bohemia and crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1867 to finally put down roots in Cainsville.  In a following email I will also send the short two page description of his history  --  many of you already have this because it was previously printed in a Cainsville History volume.

Anyway, we successfully found  "Stremosice" in the Czech Republic (previously the Kingdom of Bohemia).  Pronounced (as best as I could follow what was told to me) . . .STREM-OH-CHEETZ-YA. . .the village is very, very tiny and as I note further below in a picture caption, we never could find a road sign until we were within one kilometer (about 2/3 mile) of Stremosice.

Stremosice is a quiet hamlet tucked beneath a ridge line in very beautiful country in Eastern Bohemia.  The weather was perfect as you can tell from the photos and those that will follow in a few minutes.

One thing I noticed immediately was how similar (at least to my eyes) was the land around Stremosice to North Missouri and Cainsville.  I suppose Joseph Sobotka knew he had found something like his home country when he stopped in Harrison County !

There was no cemetery in Stremosice and we were told to travel to the next little hamlet to the North (Repniky) to find the closest cemetery.  We did so and you can see the grave stones of Sobotka folks we found.  We identified about five or six such burials.

Each grave stone was marked "Rodina Sobotkova"  --  the word "Rodina" apparently means "family of" and this implies that several persons of the same family are buried in the plot but with only a single headstone.  The ending "OVA" on Sobotka apparently has somewhat of the same meaning, that is, the family name is Sobotka, however, it is noted on the head stones as "Sobotkova" to mean the larger family (several persons) named Sobotka.

We did learn from the first man we met that the old Sobotka homes in Stremosice were directly across the street from where we were standing at that moment, however, the Sobotka homes (two of them) he said were torn down about 25  years ago.  An entirely new home (see photo) has been built on these Sobotka house lots.  Directly next door to the new house, however, is a much older home and we thought it perhaps looked a lot similar to the Sobotka homes.  In the back yard of this older house I found handsome, healthy chickens ! !  

Of course I would be pleased to hear any response you might have to these pictures.  

Best Regards,

JIM LYNCH





Road signs were not plentiful.  We never saw a "Stremosice" sign until this one, 1 kilometer distant (2/3 of a mile)



View of Stremosice from the ridge line above the village.



A second Stremosice view.  The house lots for the old Sobotka homes is the first house to the left of the yellow bush in the center of the picture.





The newer house now built on the previous lots locating the earlier Sobotka homes.





This house is next door to the Sobotka lots and I think it probably looks similar to the now razed Sobotka homes.



Backyard of the house next to the Sobotka lots.  Do you reckon the Sobotka homes had backyard chickens, also?  I think so !



Very small church in center of Stremosice.  Man in blue shirt is my friend, Dan Durning.





Front view of Stremosice church.







Homes in Stremosice.  The house on the left was about the only one in very poor condition.





 



Old water pump in Stremosice.



A Sobotka grave stone in the church cemetery in Repniky.  The word "Rodina" means "family of"  --  that is, the grave contains several family members.

A grave of Sobotka family members who lived in Stremosice.  Definitely our family !

A grave stone in the Luze cemetery, another small town to the West of Stremosice.