Bohumila Filipina Lešovsky was born June 2, 1890, the sixth of nine children of Ferdinand and Juliana Lešovsky in Humpolec, Czechoslovakia. Humpolec is a small, rural town about 75 miles southeast of Prague with a population around 5,900. Her father, Ferdinand Lešovsky, was a cabinetmaker, and the family attended the Lutheran Church, also known as Evangelists.
Bohumila had as much education as was available in her hometown. Girls in their early teens were taught domestic skills, including handwork such as knitting, crocheting, embroidery and even art. All work had to be done over until it was perfect. In her late teens, she taught some primary classes.
It has been verified that in 1911, at age 21, Bohumila, with an 11-year old cousin, Milada Lešovsky, left Bremen, Germany on the S. S. George Washington April 15, 1911 and came to the United State via Ellis Island. We think Adolph Lešovsky, her brother, was established in Los Angeles and she came west to join him in a "land of opportunity."
It is likely she had a trunk for her possessions as she brought linens for a trousseau, in addition to her clothes, which were quite voluminous in those days.
In the Los Angeles area, Bohumila did housework for wealthy people to earn her living. Her social life would have been at the Sokol where she took part in their gymnastics and dances. Adolph was very artistic and did well in designing and making jewelry, at one time working for Tiffany's in New York.
When I was in my early teens, Mom sent him some gold jewelry she didn't use and had him make rings for each of us girls. Mine was a pretty elongated design with an imitation emerald (my birthstone) set in it. When we lived in Fullerton, California, the emerald fell out, and the jeweler, not having any green stone on hand, put in a faux blue sapphire. Adolph later did a lot of painting, watercolors as well as oils, and painted a mural in the Riverside Inn lobby, Riverside, California.
