Louis Vokoun - The Gopher

"Where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average." - Garrison Keillor

I love Prairie Home Companion on NPR and the news from Lake Wobegon. Since the Louis Vokoun family has strong Minnesota roots, I think it appropriate to review Minnesotan stereotypes. The most important of which (in my mind, anyhow) are: 1) they are exceedingly nice, 2) they hate the movie Fargo which dismays me since it along with Lake Wobegon serves as my cultural reference to the state, and 3) their diet consists primarily of 'hot dish' which I fondly remember from my own Minnesotan grandmother and can best be described as an entire meal's ingredients thrown into a 9x12 pan and baked for exactly one hour. They also have quite an affinity for cute, burrowing rodents but then nobody is perfect.

Louis John Vokoun was born on January 31st 1862. His mother Anne Bechyne would die 9 months later. He was the fourth child and third to live to adulthood and make the journey to Chicago. Louis started out as a shoe maker according to the 1880 census, probably working for his father. He moved to St. Paul, Minnesota some time between 1880 and 1890. I don't know if he was a good shoemaker but he clearly had other talents that would serve him well professionally.

Louis spoke English, Czech and German. He seemed to have a fierce independent streak. He was the first family member to leave Chicago. He was also the first to marry outside a non-Czech which was likely a bigger deal in that time than we probably can appreciate today. He was also may have been the first to abandon Catholicism. 

Louis married Martha Isabelle Kratz in St. Paul. Mattie, as she was known, was born in 1865 in New Britain, Pennsylvania. The Kratz family descended from a Mennonite community in Bucks County, Pennsylvania with Swiss immigrant roots that predated the American Revolution. My immediate family happens to be distantly related to Mattie Kratz and the Kratz family.

The Mennonite denomination descended from the Central European Anabaptist movement. The Anabaptists of the Reformation were unique in that they eschewed allegiance to governments. As such, they were persecuted throughout Europe by both Roman Catholics and other Protestant denominations. It is no surprise that they were among the earliest American immigrants seeking religious freedom. Their beliefs tend towards pacifism, simplicity in dress and lifestyle (the Amish are a Mennonite sect), conservative worship, chasity, and avoidance of alcohol. It is not hard to imagine that a union between an 'old blood' Swiss Mennonite, Mattie, and a new Bohemian Catholic immigrant, Louis, probably was characterized by some differences of opinion!

Louis started out in a craft, but the record suggests that his flair was sales. He first appears in the St. Paul city directory in 1890 as a salesman for Allen, Moon & Company. Allen, Moon & Company was a wholesale grocery distributor. The founder had the foresight to realize the market potential of the upper plains as waves of settlers and immigrants moved into Minnesota, Iowa, and the Dakotas. Following the mantra that in the gold rush, the most gold is not found by the prospector but instead by the person selling pick axes, so would fortunes be made by suppliers. Louis looks to have caught the wave.

St. Paul Minnesota 1883. Allen, Moon & Co building lower left.

The family recollects that Louis worked as a middleman, he had a horse and cart and would purchase produce from the farms on the outskirts of St, Paul and then drive through neighborhoods and sell to individual households. 

Grocery delivery Minneapolis circa 1898

He must have been exceedingly well at it. He obtained a building permit for his home in 1892 at a cost of $3500 over $100,000 today. He and Mattie married the same year. He is mentioned in the society section of the newspaper several times including a farewell party for the son of a local alderman in 1893. In 1897 he is mentioned as a committee member for the Order of United Commercial Travelers, Saintly City council. That doesn't sound too exciting to us. Now days the UCT sells insurance to its members but in that day it functioned like a Masonic lodge for salesmen. 

Louis and Mattie started their family in 1893 with Clarence John Vokoun and in 1896 Janet Evelyn Vokoun was born. Clarence was known as 'Clinker' and Janet was known as 'Bucky'. (The family of Frank Vokoun's daughters, Loretta 'Sparkie' and Florence 'Mousie', will especially appreciate a good nickname).  As I alluded to, Martha’s Mennonite upbringing must have made for some interesting marital dynamics with her Bohemian Catholic husband in at least one area - Prohibition. Mattie was a supporter and Louis was...err...not.

One famous figure of Prohibition was Carrie Nation, also known as Hatchet Granny. Carrie was a radical member of the temperance movement which opposed alcohol before the advent of Prohibition. She described herself as "a bulldog running along at the feet of Jesus, barking at what He doesn't like." Predictably, perhaps, she claimed a divine ordination to promote temperance by destroying bars. And that she did. The Carrie Nation Group was  known for attacking alcohol-serving establishments with a hatchets. I did some reading on Carrie Nation and as crazy as she might seem at casual glance, she seems to deserve a little more respect for her views. For one, she came to support temperance after observing the effects of alcoholism on families as part of her early ministry. She was also something of a feminist particularly with respect to suffrage. She was concerned about tight clothing for women; she refused to wear a corset and urged women not to wear them because of their harmful effects on vital organs. 

Carrie Nation. Bible in one hand, axe in the other.

In Topeka, Carrie attacked multiple bars and was arrested more than 30 times.

Mattie is remembered by her family to have been a member of the Carrie Nation Group. Louis had a different outlook. Did I not mention the Czech outlook on beer in my last post? While Mattie was out demonstrating for temperance, he took up home brewing and made beer in the basement!

More evidence of Louis' success comes from the education of his children. At a time when about 3 percent of US men had a bachelors degree and the percent of women with a bachelor degree was too low to even have been recorded, both Clarence and Janet graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul. As best that I can tell, Louis was the only one of the siblings that managed to provide a college education for his children.

In 1927 Louis and Martha made a trip to Paris for the 9th American Legion Convention. The American Legion was founded in 1919 by World War I veterans. Clarence served in the war and was an active Legionaire throughout his life. France hosted the convention by way of thanking American war veterans for their role in defeating Germany. It is interesting that Louis and Mattie attended this convention but I can't confirm that Clarence did. The American Legion has traditionally required war service to join so, at most, Louis and Mattie would have been some kind of affiliate members perhaps as financial supporters. In any event, it looks to have been quite a trip. The video below is from the American Legion website and tells some of the story of that convention.

Clarence married Harriet Cauldwell. They had one son, Clarence Jr. and no grandchildren. Nonetheless 'Clinker' turns out to have been an interesting character who deserves his own post at a later time. All of Louis and Mattie's living descendents are through their daughter Janet. Janet married Arthur Davidson. 'Bucky' and 'Poppop' would have go on to have three children, nine grandchildren, and a lot more grandchildren. Mattie died in 1928 and Louis moved in with Janet and Arthur to their home at 1405 Osceola Ave about three blocks from Macalester College where he lived out the rest of his life. Louis would go on to be one the longest lived of his siblings. He died in 1952 at the age of 90.

Louis and the Davidsons, 1940 census

I don't have any photos of Louis and Mattie at this time but hopefully we can add some down the line. Here is the family tree.

As I already mentioned, Minnesotans are famously nice. Louis must have agreed. He lived in the state for nearly 70 years and succeeded there beyond expectations for an immigrant with no education but plenty of talent and ambition. No doubt, he would have been a proud Gopher.