John Kulas, II

https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=52209567

It's difficult to know whether to call this John Kulas, John Senior, or John Junior. He was known as John Senior, but his father was also John, which would have made him John Junior. But he also had a son named John, which the family called Johnny. John Kulas, the son of John and Mary Kulas, was one of forthteen children. He was born in January 1875 in Winona, Minnesota. The family moved to Warsaw, North Dakota, where he grew up. John only went to school three days in his life. The teacher gave him a "licking" (spanking) and he never went back.

In 1901 John came to Roseau County to homestead in Section 19 of Barto Township, one mile west of the Leo Church. That whole first winter he lived in a dugout with a cow skin for a door. John started farming with two horses, two cows, and two pigs. He saved his money until he could buy machinery. After 'he bought land across the road in Section 24 of Polonia township, he was on the Polonia town board.

John married Rose Kukowski, the daughter of Anton and Elizabeth Kukowski in February 1903, at St. Aloysius Church. Rose's siblings were: Frank, Peter, August, Leo, Victoria Stanislawski and Anna Pelowski. The first four of John and Rose Kulas' children died in infancy. The surviving children were Sophie, Angeline, Susie, Delphine, John, and Dorothy.

Sophie married Nick Pulczinski and had Cyril and Rosemary. Angeline married John Chrzanowski. She died young and left no children. Susie married Floyd Nesteby, and had six children, Walter, Ted, Jeanette, Janice, Allen and Joan. Delphine married Stanley Grabanski and had six children, Clarence, Donald, Mary Jane, Thomas, Michael, and Rose Ann. John, the only son, never married. Dorothy and husband Winslow Grabanski had Mark, Iris, Kay, Diane, Martin, and Cindy.

For years Mr. Kulas had the only threshing machine in the community. He went from one farm to the next all fall. He started threshing with a Rumley and separator (threshing machine) in 1910 and custom threshed for forty years. He threshed as far away as Roseau. One year he didn't finish until Christmas. He also used his machinery to do road work for townships. Later he became a telephone line man, a job that his son Johnny took later. Delphine said they (the children) often went along to help fix the telephone lines. By Myrna Sovde. Information: Dennis Sobtzak and Delphine Grabanski.