occasionally ride the passenger 400 train to Milwaukee, to visit 
relatives. Mike played the concertina and did carpentry work, 
including  turning  old  radios  into  dressers  for his 
granddaughters. Prior to working on the railroad, he worked for 
the WPA, building Hwy 13. He was a clever mechanic and often 
fixed his Uncle Joe's Model T Ford, along with many other 
vehicles. He picked up a 1922 Chevy in crates at Coloma, 
Wisconsin and put it together for his Uncle Anton Sipla. Marie 
read the directions, while Mike put it together. It was Anton's 
first car and he paid $300 for it. 
Marie Capek was born August 20, 1896 in the area of 
Magdalina, Bohemia, the daughter of James Capek and Agnes 
Lukas. Their family of six came to the United States from 
Liebnitz, Bohemia. They came on the ship called Chemnitz, 
leaving Bremen, Germany and landed at the port of New York, 
on October 26, 1906. They came directly from New York to 
Friendship, Adams County, Wisconsin. Marie was only ten 
years old when they came over from their homeland. According 
to the ship's Manifest of Alien Passengers, they knew exactly 
where they were going before they left the old country, as it 
states their final destination was Friendship, Wisconsin. 
Mike Sipla and Marie Capek were married on November 
13, 1913 at Friendship, Wisconsin. To this union were born 
seven children, Josephine Sipla in 1914; Charles in 1916; Otto 
in 1917, Victor in 1920; Alice in 1923; Clara in 1928 and James 
in 1931. 
Mike and Marie had cows, pigs, and chickens on their farm. 
Marie would separate the milk for cream, and buttermilk. She 
would chum her own butter and make her own ice cream. She 
had a very large garden, which included a large patch of 
strawberries and rhubarb. Having a family of nine, she canned 
a lot of her garden surplus for the long winter. She made beer 
and rootbeer, using a capper for bottling. Of course with that 
large of family there was plenty of washing to be done, using a 
wooden tub. Some of her homeland recipes were used, including 
kolatches, which were fruit filled roll deserts and klimpers, 
which were egg pancakes with cinnamon and sugar. She also 
liked to crochet doilies and the edges on pillowcases. 
Marie died June 26, 1947 of uterine cancer at the age of 50. 
Mike died March 20, 1961 in Adams County, at the age of 69. 
They are buried at Fordham Cemetery, Friendship. 
By Carol Setliff 
Nels and Alice Warp Smedbron 
Nels Smedbron was born near Kongsberg, Norway, August 
18, 1859, the son of Nils and Buhl Smedbron. He was born in a 
small place with thatched roofs, his home included a small 
dwelling house, a small stable just large enough to keep two or 
three cows and a blacksmith shop. It was located in the slope of 
a mountain, along a highway made of stone at a place where the 
mountain stream crossed the highway about one mile above the 
City of Kongsberg. His father was a blacksmith, living near a 
bridge, hence the name Smed (smith) broen (bridge) which 
became Smedbron in English spelling. Nels attended school 
there and finished Middle Skole. He was confirmed in the 
Lutheran faith and ranked third in a class of 350. He also sang 
 
in the choir at Kongsberg. 
Nels' father died suddenly from a heart attack and his 
helper then ran the business. It had been Nels' expectation to 
 
inherit the shop but before he was of age his mother married the 
hired man. Then Nels decided to come to America as he had 
heard that many opportunities awaited the "newcomer" to 
America. It was against his mother's wishes that he came to 
America. October 9, 1880, at the age of 21 years, one month, 
and two days, he arrived in America and came directly to 
Arkdale, Wisconsin arriving in November 1880. 
Upon Nels' arrival in Arkdale he went to work for Hanson 
and Hegna (acquaintances from Norway) who were wagon 
makers and general blacksmiths. When they moved to 
Washington State, Nels purchased their business. By then they 
were making lumber wagons in addition to blacksmithing and 
a carpenter was needed to do the woodwork so James Larson 
joined him in partnership. When wagons became manufactured 
in quantity, Smedbron and Larson could not compete with the 
prices so they discontinued that part of the business. 
Nels was an expert in his work and granddaughter Clara 
describes the following: "Tire setting was a big share of the 
work then and I still remember the thrill it was to see the tires 
heated to red in the forge, carried outside by long iron tongs then 
cooled in a water trench to right contraction to be dropped over 
the wooden wheel laid on a round stone, with a hole in the center 
for the hub to fit in and left to cool over the wheel. The winters 
were occupied with horse shoeing; roads were frozen and horses 
needed iron shoes to protect their feet. He knew how to handle 
horses and had very little trouble with even the most ornery of 
them. For his horse shoeing he had a slate on the wall to keep 
record of the jobs, sometimes as much as three and four weeks 
ahead. After Mr. Larson's death Nels worked alone until his 
sons could help. Although he was offered work in other places 
he stayed in Arkdale the rest of his life". 
Granddaughter Beulah adds: "Father had a gift of helping 
the injured which were so numerous at the mills. The doctors (so 
few) could not take care of all so they had father setting broken 
legs and arms using splints. They said there never was one 
single crooked leg or arm that father set. He also relieved many 
an individual of an aching tooth and jaw by acting as the town 
dentist. He worked as an investigator for many insurance 
companies in regard to eligibility and also answered inquiries 
about people who had applied for jobs near home and far away. 
Also the political factions in Madison, Wisconsin regarded 
Nels' opinion and advice highly and he served the Republican 
Party in many cases on the local level. 
Nels was united in marriage to Alice Warp of Strongs 
Prairie in June of 1882. To this marriage eight children were 
born: Clara (1884) married Hans Urtis, Bena (died at three years 
of age), Marie (died in infancy), Norval (married, unknown 
spouse), Thomas (married Nora Paulson), Beulah (1894) 
married Elmer Tabor, John (married, unknown spouse), and 
Carl (1899) married Ida Mattison. 
Alice died in 1932. It was at this time that his son Carl and 
family moved into the home with Nels. He passed away at home 
on February 17, 1941 after a long illness at the age of 81 years 
and six months". 
Lorenzo Dow and Eliza Fisher Smith 
 
The following info is taken from an article from the 1928 
newspaper. 
 
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