1800s Bouska Log Cabin Schoolhouse Moved to and Restored in Spillville

The Bouska Family History

Martin Bouska was born in Borovany, Bohemia on November 5, 1808, and attended school to become a teacher in Krumau. In 1840, he married Katerina Brail, whose father was also a teacher in Lety. They had five children born in Bohemia. In 1853, Martin started making arrangements to sail to America on the German Ship "Hansa". By October, they left Bohemia for good. They arrived in New York in December and wintered in Cleveland, Ohio. In April, 1854, they crossed into Winneshiek County and stayed at the Fort Atkinson Fort while Martin built their home on the parcel of land he had purchased in Spillville. When he finished, he decided to build a separate structure for a schoolhouse. Martin and Katerina had two more children in America, Anna born at Fort Atkinson, and Barbara four years later.

Martin was a teacher, farmer and expert violinist. Katerina was a nurse in a time that had few doctors. This helped make them invaluable members of the pioneer community. When Martin stopped teaching in 1861, he moved the schoolhouse and added it on to the existing house. The original cabin is on the right, and the school was added to the left.

Bouska Cabin Schoolhouse restored to original condition
behind the Bily Clocks Museum/Antonin Dvorak Exhibit in 1993

Some of their children had moved to Prairie du Chein by now. Martin asked if there was any property for sale in that area as "there was no priest here" in Spillville. In 1866, Martin, Katerina, and the rest of the Bouska family moved to Crawford County, Wisconsin, and sold the schoolhouse log cabin to Wenzil Kopet. They were happy there until Katerina's death in 1873. Martin passed away in 1881 and are both buried in St. Gabriel's in Prairie du Chien, WI.

The Cabin/Schoolhouse Structure

1854 Martin Bouska Cabin/School on the original

site east of Spillville, Iowa

The log cabin on the right was built in a typical European style. The school on the left was a simple shed built of logs, mud and sod. When joined together, the school was numbered, dismantled, and reattached to the house. At that time, they sided the building in the wood siding you now see.

The entryway of the cabin was probably a cooking/laundry area since the stove pipes lead to the chimney. Also called a summer kitchen, this is where all the meals were prepared and wash water heated in the winter; in the summer it was done outdoors to keep the house cool. All the necessary utensils were hung on the walls of the entryway: laundry tubs, ladels, cooking, kettles, pitch forks, shovels, and hoes.  The loft was never used. In the winter, it would have been freezing cold. In the summer it would have been sweltering, but could have been used as a storage area to dry herbs, hang clothes, and keep seasonal items.

The room to the right of the entryway is 16 x 16 feet and was used as a bedroom, dining room, and sitting room. The walls of this area were chinked with clay and white-washed.

The Move and Restoration of the Bouska Cabin

In 1993 James and Richard Riehle gave the cabin to the town of Spillville in memory of their late brother, Michael. The town decided to move the structure from its original site and restore it to original condition. It was set onto its new location behind the Bily (pronounced bee-lee) Clocks Museum/Antonin Dvorak Exhibit. The logs that were replaced were all replaced with the same type of wood from the same time period - 1850 to 1860. They were hand hewn and the mud and chinking was mixed and applied in the traditional manner. The interior spaces were were all whitewashed and painted as they had been over 100 years ago. The windows were all reinstalled with original six over three and two over two style fixtures. The schoolhouse side of the cabin was furnished in original style of furnishings for the period, which consisted of long wooden planks for desks set onto tree stumps for support while the seats were crude benches. The living quarters was also furnished as close to the period as possible.

(Click on any photo to enlarge it
and escape to return.)

In the very first photo at the top of the page, the school bell to the left of the door was originally located at the Spillville Public School which stood at the present site of the Spillville Public Library. The bell was donated to the Bily Clocks Museum after it was purchased at an auction by Robert and Joan Humpal.

The above photo was taken when the cabin-schoolhouse was moved from its original location. The wet weather caused many problems, but were overcome so the building could be relocated on its new foundation behind the Bily Clocks Museum.

This concludes our visit to Spillville, Iowa.

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