Biography of Joseph Andera

Joseph Andera, deceased, was numbered among the pioneer residents of Howard county who settled in this section of the state when it was a wild and undeveloped region, giving little promise of future growth and improvement. Mr. Andera was born in Bohemia on the 10th of August, 1850, a son of Frank and Catherine (Chekal). Andera, who crossed the Atlantic to the new world in 1862, settling first in Canada. A year later they crossed the border into the United States and established their home at Spillville, Winneshiek county, Iowa, where both the father and mother continued to reside until called to their final rest.

Joseph Andera was reared under the parental roof and in Spillville, in 1873, was united in marriage to Miss Mary Kovarik, a native of Bohemia, who came to the United States in 1868 with her parents, John and Marie (Jira) Kovarik, who settled in Winneshiek county and subsequently took up their abode in the town of Spillville, where they remained until called to the home beyond.

In 1886 Mr. Andera with his family of six children removed to Howard county and purchased a farm in New Oregon township six miles west of Protivin. He then bent his energies to the further development and improvement of that property but afterward sold the farm and bought the northeast quarter of section 32. He also rented other land and lived in the section across the road to the north, where his death occurred on the 9th of March, 1904. Mrs. Andera survives and occupies a comfortable home in Protivin.

To Mr. and Mrs. Andera were born eight children, seven of whom are yet living, namely: Joseph, a resident of Protivin, who is living with his mother and owns a farm; John F., a carpenter and building contractor of Protivin; Agnes, the wife of Lewis Pecinovsky, a farmer residing in New Oregon township; James L., a mechanic employed in the garage of the Klimesh Automobile Company; Bozena, the wife of Joseph Michalec, a horse breeder of Protivin; and Charles J., who is a road grading contractor, and Frank S. is a mechanic and owns an auto livery; likewise residents of Protivin.

All of the family are members of the Catholic church and the three sons, Joseph, James, and John, have membership with the Catholic Workmen. The Andera family is one of the well known families of Howard county, where they have been represented from pioneer times.

History of Chickasaw and Howard Counties,
By Robert Herd Fairbairn (Published 1919 - Volume II)
S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois
Transcribed by Janice Sowers