Histories: Trempealeau Co. Historical Accounts:
"History of Trempealeau County Wisconsin, 1917":
Chapter 10:
Polish and Bohemian Settlers
-As transcribed from pages 150 - 152
It
is impossible to obtain the exact date of the day, or even month of the
year, when the first Polish or Bohemian people came to this county, for
the reason that there cannot be found anyone that kept any kind of
data, and there are only three left in this county of the very first
ones that came here - two men and one woman. Those that are alive
are all past the age of eighty and their memory is beginning to fail
noticeably, and what information I was able to gather is such as these
people were able to give me from recollection only, except in one
instance, that of the woman I just mentioned. She fixes the dates
of their arrival by the age of one of her daughters. She has the
names of all her children and the date on which they were born written
down on the inside cover of a prayer book, and she seems to be sure
that the age of the girl I mentioned was three weeks.
It seems that the Polish and one Bohemian family settled in two
localities in this county at about the same time, and as near as I have
been able to learn, they did not know of the existence of each other at
the time, nor for a good many years after - the length of time no one
seems to be able to tell.
During the winter of 1862 and 1863, there came to what is now known as
Pine Creek, in the town of Dodge, several Polish families, as
follows: Paul Lessman, Paul Libera, Mike Lessman, Frank Weyer,
Joseph Lubinski, Joseph Wnuk, and some others whose names I did not
get. Of these, all but Paul Libera are now dead. With them
came one Bohemian family, that of Math Brom. He is still living,
although past eighty years of age and quite feeble. All of these
people came from the city of Winona, Minnesota.
You notice that there are several families that came at the same time
and they settled in close proximity and formed a colony of their
own. They claim the distinction of having the second oldest
colony in Wisconsin, one in Polonia, Wisconsin, being older, and they
claim their colony as the third oldest in the United States, one in St.
Mary's, Texas, being first.
The other settlement that took place, which I mentioned before, was in
the Town of Arcadia, what is now known as North Creek, and in what is
now known as the Town of Burnside.
Here is the history of the settlement in the Town of Arcadia and
Burnside as was told to me by the lone survivor, Mrs. Albert Bautch,
Sr. The lady is also past the age of eighty, and although her
memory is failing, and failing noticeably, yet after a little
conversation with her she recalled quite vividly some of the hardships
of pioneer life, and recalled a good deal of its history.
She told me that her daughter Johanna was three weeks old when they
came to this county, and, from the entry on the inside of the cover of
the prayer book I mentioned before showed by her to me, it appears that
the girl was born on March 19, 1863.
With Mr. Bautch and his family came his brother Lawrence and his
family, and Peter Sura and his family. those three families came
together from New Lisbon, Wisconsin, where they had lived seven years
prior to their coming to this county. Albert Bautch, Sr., settled
with his family in the town of Arcadia, what is now known as North
Creek, and Lawrence Bautch and Peter Sura settled with their families
in what is now known as the Town of Burnside. As near as she
could remember, no other Polish or Bohemian families came over to this
county, to her knowledge, until about two years later, when several
families came over from the State of Ohio.
All those speaking the Polish language settled in the different
localities I have mentioned, and came originally from the German
Empire, what was formerly Poland. They all came from agricultural
districts and quickly adapted themselves to this country. They
proved themselves to be sturdy, hard-working and thrifty fellows, and
they have greatly assisted in improving the localities in the colonies
that they settled in, and the great majority of them have accumulated
considerable property.
You may have wondered why I speak of the Polish people and do not have
much to say about the Bohemian race. This is the reason.
There are now, as near as I have been able to learn, only about a dozen
Bohemian families in this county, and those, particularly the younger
generation, after living among the Polish people and associating with
them, have all, without any exception, learned to talk, read and write
the Polish language. They belong to and attend the same church,
send their children to the same school, and to all intents and purposes
have practically become Polish themselves.
They have in this county four Polish churches, four Polish parochial
schools. The combined wealth of their churches, church
furnishings, school buildings, real estate, and other buildings
belonging to said churches is estimated at about $200,000.00. The
largest church is located at Independence, the largest colony of Polish
is in this vicinity of Independence, and the total number of all Polish
people in this county is about 3,700.
The principal business of the Polish and Bohemian people is
farming. There are a few engaged in mercantile affairs, but only
a few. The great majority of them, especially the early settlers,
were accustomed to farming, and being poor, came here looking for an
opportunity to better their conditions, jumped at the opportunity this
country offered them in the shape of homesteads, and went to farming as
best they knew how.
Some strong men were found among the early settlers. For example,
take Math Brom, the sole survivor of the Bohemian early settlers, a
giant in stature, a pleasant, lovable fellow to meet, well balanced
intellectually, of sturdy character, honest and upright in all his
dealings, a true and loving husband and father, a true man, and
respected by all who know him.
Another striking character was Albert Bautch, Sr., a big man in
stature, a kind, loving husband, father and neighbor, a man who was
absolutely true to the principles of American citizenship, a hard
worker. He rapidly accumulated considerable property - a
big-hearted fellow who was always ready to advise and assist his
fellowmen in so far as was in his power to do so.
There were other of the early settlers who possessed strong
characteristics and who became prominent in developing this county, but
time limit does not permit me to dwell on the individual cases.
It stands as the undisputed fact that the Polish and Bohemian people of
this county have prove themselves to be worthy men and women, have done
their share in the development of this county, have taken pride in and
have learned to love this country, and although a great many,
especially the younger generation, some years ago went West seeking to
better their condition and find cheaper lands, yet as they become older
you will find, by going back with me to some of their localities, that
after a number of years of absence and after accumulating some
property, they come back and settle in Trempealeau County in their
declining days. Only the other day I met one who is not very old
yet who has returned from the Dakotas and bought a farm in this county,
and intends to live here permanently. I asked him: "What is
the matter? Why did you come back?" "Ah," he said, "this is
where I was born. I love those trees and those hills, and I wish
to spend the rest of my life here and be buried here."
Although they, the early settlers, mostly all came from the German
Empire, they came from different provinces. Those living near
Pine Creek came mostly from the Province of Posen and Pomerania, and
those near Arcadia and Burnside came from the Province of
Silesia. They all speak the Polish language, but the dialect is
decidedly different. The great majority of them are of the
Catholic faith. One of the strong characteristics of the race is
they are cheerful givers to churches. Another is that they are
hard losers and do not readily forget when some harm has been done
them, and they frequently carry their animosities to their death
bed. One other prominent characteristic they possess, and that is
dancing. Not only the young, but in a great many instances men
and women past middle age, derive a great deal of pleasure and
enjoyment out of dancing.
(Written at Independence, November 12, 1912, by John F. Kulig.)