The Elzner Family

Howdy! This is a website devoted to the descendants of Frantisek Elzner and is a place to celebrate and compile our rich Czech-Tex history and growing lineage.

As this is an ongoing project, we encourage you to contact us with any additions, corrections, documents and old photos you see fit.

Frantisek "Frank" Elsner was born on April 24, 1864 to parents, Frank Elsner and Annie Svobada in the Veterove, Moravia, Czechoslovakia. He was the eldest of five children. Frank was married a total of three times, each time to a native Czech woman in the old country. In total, he fathered 15 children.

His first marriage to Kathrina Kolacek took place in Veterove, CZ. Together they had four children, losing one at birth.

Frank and his second wife, Marie “Mary” Palat, had seven children in all. After the first two children were born, the growing family immigrated to the United States in 1904. Setting sail from Breman, Germany on September 1, 1904 aboard the German Ship, the SS Frankfurt, they arrived in Galveston, Texas on September 26, 1904. It was on this journey where the “s” in Elsner was replaced with a “z”. The Elzners soon settled and farmed in areas around Brazos County until Marie’s death in 1922.

Frank returned to Veterove, CZ yet again to find and marry his third wife, Anezka Popelka. With “Agnes”, he entered the US through Ellis Island, NY and made his way back to Texas where his new family settled and farmed cotton in the south. Together he and Agnes bore two sets of twins. Frantisek died in 1943.