IF AMOS IS FAMILY TO YOU I WOULD APPRECIATE HEARING FROM YOU - PLEASE PRESS "EDIT" TAB AND SEND ME A MESSAGE - I HAVE HIT A BRICK WALL WITH RESEARCH ON HIS FAMILY OF ORIGIN IN CZECH REPUBLIC AND HAVE NEVER CONNECTED WITH ANYONE WHO IS CONNECTED TO THIS FAMILY

- T H A N K Y O U -

Amos Kubik (Kubic, Kubick)–

25 Mar 1870 - 19 Jan 1961

Born in Bohemia

Died in Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

son of Frank Kubik & Josephine Catherine ________

Frank and his wife married in Bohemia, abt. 1865

Josephine Catherine was born abt. 1837-1840

possible maiden names:

Thiuhos/Thruhos/Truehart/Trulas/Fox

m. Ellen E. "Nellie" Dunne 30 Aug 1893 at Springfield, Mass.

both aged 23y, both res. Springfield, Mass.

first marriage for both of them

Amos was a filer, Nellie an envelope maker

Nellie b. c.1870 Springfield, Mass. dau of Patrick Dunne & Nellie (__) Dunne

separated in less than 6 years as she is not with him in the 1900 U.S. Census. Amos filed for divorce in 1902. The case was originally dismissed but a couple of years later Amos refiled his libel against his wife Ellen at Hampden Superior Court on the grounds of desertion. The divorce was granted 6 June 1904. No evidence had been found that he ever remarried.

No records have been found to indicate Amos ever had any children.

Amos made quite a name for himself:

Provincetown, Mass. Town Crier

Famed National Rowing Champion

Amos E. Kubik was the winner of the Labor Day 1897 New England Amateur Rowing Association's Junior Singles Championship held on the Charles River, Boston Mass. taking the event by two lengths. He also won the 1898 National Intermediate Singles Scull Championship in Philadelphia at the age of 28. Rowing for the Springfield [Mass.] Boat Club, he participated in many competitions, including the July 1900 National Association of Amateur Oarsmen Regatta on the Harlem River in New York City as reported in the New York Times. According to a Springfield newspaper article, Amos retired from active rowing in August 1900.

You will find dozens and dozens of articles on Amos, particularly in the 1930's, in newspapers across the U.S.A. Amos was a guest in 1935 on Kate Smith's radio show. One article says that in 1936 more than 18,000 post cards with Amos in his Town Crier costume were sold in Provincetown, Mass. retail shops. In November 1937 he opened the Christmas Seal Sale in Boston and New York City selling the 1st seal in Massachusetts to Governor C.F. Hurley and the 1st seal in New York to Mayor LaGuardia. The seal that year was a drawing of the likeness of a town crier. The sales of the seals were to raise money to fight tuberculosis. He was "motion pictured for news reels" and appeared on WJZ radio; the story, with photos, was carried in newspapers across the country.

In 1938 Amos was selected by the Town Criers of Provincetown to aid in opening the International Airplane Exposition at Chicago that year. His picture is on the front page of the 1938 Folk Festival Edition of The Washington Post. He opened each of the afternoon and evening performances of the festival held at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. A forty second recording of Amos, calling the start of the session, is available at the Library of Congress, American Folklife dept., in Washington D.C. He continued his relationship with the Folk Festival over the next decade at venues that included Washington, D.C., St. Louis, Cleveland, and Chicago. In April 1939 he toured New York City with city officials and other persons of interest and appeared on radio from Radio City.

From all accounts, Amos was a colorful, outspoken and out-going individual. In a November 1938 article that appeared in the Lowell [Mass.] Sun, the Provincetown board of selectman were angry with Amos because he had "gone off" to New York City to appear on radio. Amos promised the board that he would "do no more wandering." Another time Amos was in trouble with a judge of the local court house because his announcements in the street were so loud it was disrupting court proceedings going on inside the court building.

A particularly interesting article about Amos can be found in the 9 August 1937 edition of the Provincetown Advocate, written by Joanne Carpenter titled "Town Crier is True Bohemian." In this article, as well as on Amos' Naturalization application and in his obituary, he is said to have been born in "SCOLCHAN," Bohemia, now the Czech Republic. When he reapplied for his citizenship papers in 1954, his birth place is listed as "BODOVITZ," Czechoslovakia No such villages or towns have yet been found. His place of birth could possibly be "Sedlcany" which some say has a similar pronunciation in German. Sedlcany is located south of Prague. Another birthplace possibility, based on pronunciation in the Czech language, is the village of "Skolka" which is located about 30 kilometers north of Prague in the parish of "Melnik." Skolka is now part of the village of Maly Ujezd, as the name Skolka disappeared sometime in the 1900's.

Amos was just 3 years old when he and his family arrived in the port of New York City on 20 Sept 1873 on the vessel S. S. Weser. They had departed from Bremen, Germany. The ship picked up more passengers in Southampton, England before continuing on to the U.S.A. The ship's manifest of passengers lists the family name as "Kubick." Along with Amos, whose name as listed as Emanuel, there was father and mother, Franz age 40 and Catharine age 36; and brothers Franz age 8, Josef age 5, and Wenzel age 11 months.

The family can be found in the U.S. Federal Census on 4 June 1880 living in the Manhattan area of New York City. The census taker recorded their name as "Kabeck." Their first names had changed to English versions: Franz became Frank, Josef became Joseph, Emanuel became Ameil [eventually Amos], and Wenzel became William. Mom is now listed as Josephine instead of Catharine. Because their ages are nearly the same in the records found, research so far indicates that Josephine and Catharine are the same woman - but it is possible that Catharine died and Frank married again to a Josephine. The census shows there is a new child, Charles, who was born in New York City just 2 months prior to the census in April 1880. Sadly, little Charles would die at age 2 years 7 months in West Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts on 14 Nov 1882.

Amos and his family can be found in West Springfield and Springfield, Hampden County, Mass. city directories beginning in 1888, but, since little Charles died here; they must have arrived, or at least visited, as early as 1882. Amos' mother Catharine or Josephine (or both, if 2 women) disappear sometime between 1880 and 1885 [no death or divorce records have been found]. Amos' father Frank apparently marries Mary Carpenter, a native of Bohemia, more than 20 years younger than him [no marriage record has been found]. Over the next decade, Frank has 6 children with Mary: Rosie, May, Charles, Annie, Anna, and Josephine. Do the math and you will see that Amos' was one of 11 children.

The family lived in Merrick, a neighborhood of West Springfield. In his book, History of Czechs in America, Dr. Jan Habenicht reports that more than 50 Czech families lived in Merrick at the turn of the century. According to Habenicht, the property they owned was valued at $100,000. There was a "spacious and nice hall there, built by the gymnastic association 'Karel Havlicek' for $10,000."

Like most of the Czechs that came to the area at that time, Amos' father and brothers were all cigar makers. But Amos tried several occupations. From census records, newspaper advertisements and city directories he was a cigar maker, laborer, filer, machinist, tool maker and blade sharpener, bicycle repairer and dealer, real estate agent, and salesman. He applied for Naturalization in October 1900 and, according to his obituary, he became a U.S. Citizen in 1954. Amos moved to Provincetown, Mass. sometime between 1916 and 1920. At that time he was a contractor which eventually led him into the Cape Cod real estate business. He began his career as Provincetown Town Crier in about 1930.

No records have been found to indicate Amos ever had any children. He was married in Springfield on 30 Aug 1893 to Ellen E. "Nellie" Dunne but it appears they separated in less than 6 years as she is not with him in the 1900 U.S. Census. Amos filed for divorce in 1902. The case was originally dismissed but a couple of years later Amos refiled his libel against his wife Ellen at Hampden Superior Court on the grounds of desertion. The divorce was granted 6 June 1904. No evidence had been found that he ever remarried. For most of the last decade of his life he resided with his niece Mrs. Mary (Kubik) Compton of Springfield, his brother Joseph's daughter. Amos died in a Springfield Mass. hospital on the 19th of January 1961 at age 90 years old.

Though his obituary states he was buried in St. Thomas Cemetery, West Springfield, he was actually buried in a grave donated by an unknown benefactor, in St. Michael's Cemetery, Springfield, Mass. His grave went unmarked for nearly 50 years…the famous rower and town crier went missing. In September 2010 a stone was installed that was purchased by descendants of his sister Rosie. The stone is carved: AMOS E. KUBIK; 1870 † 1961; P'town Crier.