Leo Joseph (Szczudlo) age 16 or 17
Map of area where Dad grew up. The two yellow highlighted areas indicate land the family owned as of 1940. The original 118.66 acres on 19th Ave. and Hwy G, purchased in 1913 and 40 acres on Hwy G near Hwy 21.
I located these postcards taken during the 1910s and 20s and have included them in this post as I have only three photos of the Szczudlo family
Necedah, WI 1910
Dedication of the Hwy 21 Bridge, Necedah, WI 1919
Memorial Day Parade Necedah, WI 1927
Fish Lake near the original 118 acre farm.
Following the marriage of Leo’s father, Josef came three more siblings—Sophie in 1918, Theodore in 1919 and Mary in 1920.
Left to Right—Bernice, Theodore, Louis Havlovic, Jr., Mary, Leo*, Sophie and Josef, Jr.* * Leo and Josef, Jr. look so similar in this photo it’s difficult to tell who is who.
Left to right—Carolina, Theodore (Teddy), Louis Havlovic, Jr., Josef, Sr. Leo , Josef, Jr.
This photo shows Mary on the right and Frances on the left in the garden on the farm.
I have been unable to locate a record of the 1920 census, so the next record I have is children attending Hales Prairie School, Necedah District #3.
| School Year | Student | Grade | Age |
| 1917-18 | Frances | ||
| 1919-20 | Frances | 1 | 9 |
| 1920-21 | Frances | 9 | |
| 1921-22 | Bernice | 1 | 9 |
| 1922-23 | Frances | 3 | 13 |
| Bernice | 2 | 11 | |
| 1923-24 | Joe | 8 | |
| 1924-25 | Bernice | 13 | |
| Frances | 15 | ||
| Joe | 8 | ||
| Leon | 11 | ||
| Sophie | 6 | ||
| 1925-26 | Leon | 4 | |
| Bernice | 6 | 11 | |
| Sophie | 2 | 8 | |
| Theodore | 1 | 6 | |
| Joe | 1 | 10 |
Then beginning in 1926 the children attended Rock View School, Necedah District #4.
| School Year | Student | Grade | Age |
| 1926-27 | Leon | 5 | 13 |
| Theodore | 2 | 6 | |
| Mary | 1 | 6 | |
| Sophie | 2 | 8 | |
| Joe | 2 | 11 | |
| 1927-28 | Theodore | 2 | 8 |
| Joe | 3 | 12 | |
| Leon | 6 | 14 | |
| Mary | 2 | 7 | |
| 1928-29 | Joe | 4 | 13 |
| Sophie | 5 | 10 | |
| Theodore | 3 | 9 | |
| Mary | 2 | 8 | |
| Leon | 7 | 15 | |
| 1929-30 | Leon | 8 | 16 |
| Sophie | 6 | 11 | |
| Joe | 5 | 14 | |
| Teddy | 4 | 10 | |
| Mary | 3 | 9 | |
| 1930-31 | Sophie | 7 | 12 |
| Joe | 6 | 15 | |
| Teddy | 5 | 11 | |
| Mary | 4 | 10 | |
| 1931-32 | Joe | 7 | 16 |
| Sophie | 7 | 13 | |
| Teddy | 6 | 11 | |
| Mary | 5 | 10 | |
| 1932-33 | Sophie | 8 | 14 |
| Mary | 6 | 12 | |
| Teddy | 6 | 13 | |
| 1933-34 | Mary | 7 | 13 |
| Teddy | 7 | 14 | |
| 1934-35 | Teddy | 8 | 15 |
| Mary | 8 | 14 |
As these were the transcribed enrolment records, I cannot attest to the accuracy of the original transcriber or mine as I hurriedly jotted the information down. It might warrant a second look someday.
The 1930 U. S. Federal Census taken on April 8, 1930, does not list Frances and Bernice living with the family. It shows Leo age 16, no longer attending school The remaining four children, Joe, Sophie, Teddy and Mary are attending school.
1930 U. S. Federal Census
I remember Dad saying that the county used a half-track in the winter, I believe, for plowing the roads.
Dad told me that he learned Polish because that was all that was spoken at home.
Dad told, my Brother Jim that they would use boards as skis to get around in the snow.
I recall the story of Dad’s crooked arm. It involved a hornet’s nest, a bull and a veterinarian. The exact details are fuzzy but but the best I can remember is a bull got into a hornet’s nest and poor Dad was nearby and got his arm broken by the bull. A local veterinarian set it for him.
While I think times were hard on the farm, Dad did enjoy music and knew how to play polkas on the concertina.
Boy could Dad polka. I remember going to weddings and he would polka, but not with Mom—she wouldn’t or couldn’t polka.
Petenwell Rock/Dam
The Petenwell Dam was built in the 1940s, after Dad left home for the big city so the area would have been very different when he lived there than it is today.
This postcard of Petenwell Rock reflects the way it would have looked when Dad lived in Necedah.
The legend of Petenwell Rock holds that an Indian man and Indian princess named Clinging Vine fell in love. Clinging Vine's father frowned on the match, so the two lovers ran off. Pursued by the Chief and a band of warriors, Clinging Vine and her lover climbed the tall rock on the banks of the Wisconsin river. Rather than be captured and separated, the lovers leaped from the rock, into the water, never to be seen again. In fact, the Rock is named after Peter Wells, an early settler who owned it.
The Petenwell Flowage consists of 23,040 acres and is the second largest inland body of water in Wisconsin. It was built in the late 1940s for hydroelectric generation and flood control. The flowage is on Wisconsin's Central plain or Central Sand, the ancient bed of Glacial Lake Wisconsin that was a prehistoric one-million-acre body of water.
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