Home » Articles

Articles

All Saints’ Day in Poland, November 1st

Culture / By /

Tradition and origin of All Saints' Day and Halloween is the same but these two days are so different in their atmosphere! Although All Saints' Day is celebrated among catholic all around the world this celebration is Poland has especially solemn manner.

All Saints' Day in Poland is a holiday for everybody except of transportation and emergency services. In spite of its religious roots it was also observed during communistic times as a Day of Deceased. The traffic on the roads and streets is very high since almost everybody had to commute to reach
the family's graves.

…

All Saints’ Day in Poland, November 1stRead More »

All Saints’ Day in Poland, November 1st Read More »

History of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, Chappell Hill, Texas

History / By /

Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in St. Hedwig Texas

St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, Chappell Hill, TexasRoots: There is a Polish, melancholic song which describes the reason and origin of the emigration from Poland to the United States:

Goralu, czy ci nie zal odchodzic od sron ojczystych;
Swierkowych lasow i hal i tych potokow srebrzystych.
Goralu, czy nie zal…Goralu, wracaj do hal.

A goral no gory spoziera, i lzy rekawen ociera;
dla chleba, panie, dla chleba, i gor porzucic trzeba.

Loosely translated, it means:

Mountaineer, aren't you sad to leave your homeland; its spruce forest, mountain pastures and silver brooks?

Mountaineer gazes at the mountains and wipes the tears away with his sleeve; knowing that for "bread" (livelihood) he must leave his mountains.

…

History of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, Chappell Hill, TexasRead More »

History of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, Chappell Hill, Texas Read More »

Pages: 1 2

Polish Mountaineers – Folk Costumes, Tradition and History

Culture / By /

goralups.JPG

In the tourist area of the Polish Mountains people wear regional costumes on a daily basis.

Podhale is probably the only region in Poland where folk costumes are used commonly. It is partly due to a rich tradition of this region, partly to attract tourists. All horse cabmen wear traditional folk costumes. Here wearing a folk costume help with the business since the business rely mainly on tourists.

Mountaineers are called in Polish górale, are well-known not only for their regional pride but also for their patriotism and even anti-communism. Gorale allegedly saved a life of a Polish king Jan Casimir when he was escaping Swedish deluge invasion in XVII century.

…

Polish Mountaineers – Folk Costumes, Tradition and HistoryRead More »

Polish Mountaineers – Folk Costumes, Tradition and History Read More »

Genealogy The Easy Way

Genealogy / By /

I got started in this whole genealogy thing by accident; I simply wanted to find out if my grandfather Smock was dead or alive. I hadn’t seen him since I was 2 or 3 years old and my dad didn’t care to talk too much about his father who had deserted his family when he was a child. To make a long story short, in a period of a few short months, I visited several county courthouses and found my grandfathers grave and got to meet my dad’s half sister who didn’t even know I existed. While I was on a roll, I decided to trace the Smock name back as far as I could. In the next few months, I researched at Clayton library and on several of the old genealogy bulletin boards (this was before the internet) and traced the Smock family back to a Dutch immigrant who came to New Amsterdam in 1640.

…

Genealogy The Easy WayRead More »

Genealogy The Easy Way Read More »

History of the Founding of the Polish Colony in Bremond Texas

History / By /

Written by Joseph Bartula in the year 1894
(translated by Katherine and Teana Sechelski)

JosephCatherineBartula.jpg"In the year 1873 I left my native country on 16 May with my entire family from the town of Brzostek, obwod Tarnow, powiat Pilzno (Poland). My family was composed of my wife, Katherine Panciewicz, my sons Stanislaw, Wladyslaw, Mieczyslaw, Bronislaw and Czeslaw. Also with us was our maid, Katherine Gasior.

On June 16 we passed through Bremond and Houston on our way to New Waverly where my brother-in-law, Kasper Szybist, lived with his family. On my journey I lost all my belongings and two sons, Czeslaw and Bronislaw. They rest on American soil in Danville, Montgomery County. Our maid also perished there somewhere. In the same year I came with my wife and three sons to the vicinity of the city of Calvert, Texas. There our oldest son, Stanislaw, died and was buried about five miles from Owensville or six miles from Calvert. The rest of our family was weak and sick.
…

History of the Founding of the Polish Colony in Bremond TexasRead More »

History of the Founding of the Polish Colony in Bremond Texas Read More »

History of St. Mary Catholic Church – Bremond, Texas

History / By /

Original St Mary Church in Bremond Texas

Genealogists who research Catholic Poles soon realize the importance of sacramental records of the Catholic church. Often they are the only records which exist on our ancestors, Generally speaking, the early church records are more reliable than civil records. For those with ties to Bremond, St. Mary Catholic church is of prime importance.

In 1875 Jozef Bartula and his family as well as Frank Bainski came to Bremond to work as tenant farmers for John C. Roberts. There was no Catholic church. However, a priest was coming from the church of St. Mary of the Assumption, Waco TX to minister to the Catholics in Bremond. Jozef tells us that Father Biusant (?) came four times a year for services which were held in the home of John and Mary Louisa Roberts.

…

History of St. Mary Catholic Church – Bremond, TexasRead More »

History of St. Mary Catholic Church – Bremond, Texas Read More »