Anderson
St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Church, a brief history by Michael Kurtin
150th Anniversary of St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Church in Anderson, Texas
Bremond
Bremond – St Mary Catholic Church
Brenham
History of Pułaski School
St. Mary Catholic Church in Brenham, Texas
St. Mary’s Catholic School in Brenham, Texas (Washington County) by Michael Addicks
Bryan
St. Joseph Catholic Church in Bryan, Texas
Bryan
Early Polish History of St. Joseph by Jim Mazurkiewicz 2023 update March
Chappell Hill
St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Chappell Hill, Texas
St. Stanislaus, Chappell Hill, Texas Homecoming
Rev. Wesołek’s 1959 letter about the Chappell Hill Immigrants
2022 St. Stanislaus Dożynki in Chappell Hill, Texas
New Waverly
St. Joseph Parish and Church, New Waverly, Texas
Polonia
Polonia, Texas by Dr. Jim Mazurkiewicz
Stoneham
St. Joseph Catholic Church in Stoneham, Texas
American Polonia from Greater Poland – Chappell Hill, Texas
According to Dr. Jim Mazurkiwicz, a descendant of Polish settlers in Texas, professor at the Texas A&M University in College Station, an activist, and revitalizer of the Polish language among American Polonia; the first Poles from the Brazos Valley came to Texas in the 1830s, with the vast majority coming to Texas from Greater Poland after the Civil War beginning in the 1860s and also from Kujawy – in search of economic and religious freedom. This group is known as “for bread” emigration, they came to the USA in 1867. Until the late 1800s, the first Poles from the Brazos Valley attended Catholic churches previously founded by Catholic German immigrants. The oldest Polish parishes founded in the Brazos Valley are New Waverly (1867), Anderson (1867), and Brenham (1870). A little earlier, also in Texas, the oldest Polish parish in the entire United States was established, Panna Maria (December 24, 1854). Many immigrants from Chappell Hill and Brenham came from Poznań or around the villages of Pobiedziska, Węglewo, Sławno, Dabrówka Kościelna, Kłęcko, Imielmo, Dziekanowice, Dębnica, Kiszkowo, Łubowo, and Waliszewo. There were also families from around Bydgoszcz, such as Kcynia (Kujawsko-Pomorskie), Szubin (Kujawsko-Pomorskie), and Smogulec Wieś (Greater Poland). Also Jacewo near Inowrocław and a village north of Toruń. That group came from 1870 to 1890 to Chappell Hill and Brenham in Washington County, Texas. The first documented Polish child born in Chappell Hill was Marcin Piwonka on May 1, 1854.
In this section, we present selected materials collected during the meeting in Chappell Hill, Texas, where Katarzyna Klessa and Maciej Karpiński (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań) came on October 27, 2019, at the invitation of Dr. Jim Mazurkiewicz to document speech and music of the Polonia in Washington County – “Texas Birthplace” (to listen to the music – go to Success Stories section).
During the meeting, we recorded a conversation in Polish by the descendants of Polish settlers from Greater Poland: Piotr (Pete) and Paulina Mazurkiewicz, Anna Jóżwiak, and Blanch Jóżwiak Kołajajak (from Polish: Kołodziejczak). We are extremely grateful to our interlocutors and other meeting participants. We wish to express our gratitude to Dr. Jim Mazurkiewicz for his invitation, moderating the conversation, organizing the meeting, as well as for a lot of inspiration. We also thank Stephanie Ddughdhnemimnier for hosting us at the Chappell Hill Historical Society Museum, and Wojtek Klessa for his technical support during the recordings.
The photo below depicts the participants of the meeting:
The documents listed above contain stories and history about the Polish people in the region. We welcome your stories, photos, and narratives. Please submit them here.
Dziękuję!