Grall, Brunig, Benishek, and Wellner Families

Benishek family reunion
Many of the Benishek, Brunig and Grall family members are in this photo. Circa 1949.

This photo of a Benishek family reunion was taken at Cislers (later Kohlbecks) tavern in Reifs Mills on May 23,1949.

All ID'd are descendants (and their spouses) of Wencel (alt. James) and Barbara Benishek of Branch, who both passed away in 1933. They had 7 children, including 6 daughters, who married into the Brunig, Hessel, Hall, Bolle, Mueller and Kukral families. More IDs needed, so far we have, Table closest: Elderly couple in foreground possibly August Mueller and Julia Benishek Mueller, then to left Sharon Kornely Ely-Roeber, Carol Grall Jindra, Pat Grall Balusik, Dorothy Brunig Grall, Roman Grall, Agnes Benishek Hessel, Ed Hessel, Sophia Benishek Brunig, Darlene Kornely Brown, with parents Elaine Mueller Kornely and Milton Kornely.

On near end is Don Brunig Jr., then around other side is Ned Swetlik, Eleanor Brunig, Gary Brunig, Don Brunig Sr., Calla Brunig Swetlik, Dick Swetlik, Steve Swetlik, next two unknown, then Marge and Loyal Mueller, unknown after. Possibly Joe Yohanek at far end of near table.

Back table: far back corner by doorway, Sally Bolle Walesh, then James and Thelma Benishek, Agnes (Andy) Benishek, James Benishek Jr; next two possibly Berlin and Evelyn Bolle, then possibly Bob Bolle, and Elaine Horstketter Bolle or June Mueller (under window), unknown after. Back to camera, fourth person in from right, Joe Hall and Jane Benishek Hall, Lucille and Orland Hall, Howard Hall, unknown, Everett Bolle, Don Benishek in white jacket, unknown, Otelia (Tillie) Benishek Kukral, Millicent Kukral, Gloria Kukral Pfeiffer, possibly Lewis Kukral, Rita Saum Kukral, Milton Kukral, Francis Bolle, Dorothy Bolle, Barbara Bolle Sieber (last one), possibly Charles Bolle Sr. sitting on far end (wife Lydia Benishek Bolle was deceased by this date).

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Carol (Grall) Jindra is descended from a group of farm families that extended from west of Whitelaw to Branch, Reifs Mills and towards Kellnersville, all settling there from the 1850s through the 1870s. The families include the Grall and Wellner families on her father's paternal side, and the Brunig and Benishek families on her mother's side. A further generation back, the families include Lemberger, Augustine, Nate, and Halama.

They were a mix of German and Czech, and some were German ethnics living in the Bohemian borderlands "Bomisch".

The Gralls/Krals were from the Všeruby area, south of Domazlice, Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic). Specifically, they were from the villages of Friedrichsthal, now called Chalupy, just NE of Hyrsov/Hirschau, and also nearby Fuschsberg (west of Hyrsov), very close to the German border. This area sometimes shifted between Bavarian and Bohemian control and the Grall/Kral family were German speakers, not Czech speakers, and were "Bohmisch". Their name was spelled Král, and likely only became Grall when they moved to the US in the 1850s, or it's possible that was used as the German spelling earlier. Other variations have also been noted, such as Krall, Groll, or Grill, which has made research complicated.

Descendants of these families were probably forced out of the Czech side after WWII when there were anti-German forced migrations out of Czech lands at that time. Also, the village of Fuchsberg was destroyed when Communist authorities built the wall sometime after WWII. Steve Grall visited this area (but only the Germany side) in 1981. Bob Pritzl also visited this area in 1999 and 2001, after the fall of the border wall in 1989. Bob did extensive research, which he distributed and put online.

There are many families from this area that settled on farms in Manitowoc County in Wisconsin, especially in the area from Whitelaw to Kellnersville. There is a Hershau Rd. just off of Hwy H southeast of Whitelaw, likely named after Hirschau village.

The patriarchs of two large branches were likely related, but we are not exactly sure how. The FamilySearch tree link below each name lists Anton and Johann as brothers, but that is quite possibly wrong, though they are almost certainly related another way, more likely as cousins.

Anton Grall Anton Grall (1839-1918), married to Mary Lemberger, was one of them. They settled on a farm just east of Whitelaw. Anton and Mary's tree can be viewed here (free registration needed to view).

Johann Grall The patriarch of another large branch was Johann Grall (1833-1904), married to Barbara Seidl (1837-1913). They lived on a farm just SW of Whitelaw. Johann and Barbara's tree can be viewed here.

More about the Grall, Brunig, Benishek, and Wellner Families