Parishes and Churches

Parishes had constituted basic cells in the social structure of immigrants before they came to this country. The majority of them considered it a necessity of life to establish their own parishes here in this country. This was a command of the old country. "Before they would leave their country, they usually or very often would be attending a mass in their parish church; they would listen to a sermon of their pastor who would wish them well but also would remind them about their basic obligation to retain religion, language and customs of their forefathers.

This admonishment corresponded with their needs. Thus, when Polish immigrants settled anywhere in this country, they immediately started to build a chapel, parish hall, a presbytery (rectory) and a classroom for a school. Slowly nice churches, parish buildings and schools were built. This concern and effort was strengthened by the fact that these parishes made possible for the non-English speaking Polish immigrants to overcome the feelings of isolation and alienation.

The first Polish parishes were established in the larger cities--New York, Detroit, Milwaukee and Chicago, as well as in the oldest agricultural settlements. In Panna Maria a parish existed since 1855, and a stone church was ready for use in 1858.

By 1932 approximately 800 Polish Roman Catholic parishes with around 1,000 priests existed throughout this country. By the 1950’s there were 1,300 Polish priests ministering to 900 Polish parishes. From that time one, the Polish parishes in the United States were in decline and amalgamated with other ethnic groups.

Polish parishes also mushroomed in Wisconsin concomitantly with the developing Polish settlements. In Portage County, Polish immigrants first participated in the building and maintaining of the church of St. Martin along with the German and Irish parishioners and in Poland Corner (Ellis) in 1857. In the beginning, St. Martin’s church was not a self-sufficient pariah but rather a filial of St. Stephen’s in Stevens Point. Father John Polak from St. Stephen’s was the first pastor of that church in its ascent stage.

It was previously mentioned that as a result of some difficulties in accommodating people with various needs regarding the language used in the songs and sermons, in 1864 the Polish immigrants of Poland Corner (forty-four families --- 44 x 5 = 220 parishioners), decided to build their own church. After receiving approval from Bishop Henni from Milwaukee and after appointment of a Polish priest, Father Bonaventure Buczynski (a Franciscan missionary), as pastor of this new parish, a new and exclusively Polish church, St. Joseph’s (In Ellis or Poland Corner. PCHS), was built in 1865. This was the first Polish church in Portage County and, in fact, in Wisconsin.

This parish was considered somewhat of a problem parish situated among those taverns, which we mentioned earlier. We should note that no pastor stayed there longer than three or four years and all were glad to resign and be relieved of their duties. The successor to Father Buczynski was Father Weglikowski who coped with the saloons and other problems from 1866 until 1870.

In the meantime, in 1868 some important changes in the Catholic Church came about. A new territorial organization was introduced by Rome. The state of Wisconsin became the province of Wisconsin with one archdiocese located in Milwaukee and two dioceses, one in La Crosse, and another in Green Bay to which Poland Corner and Portage County belonged. The first bishop of Green Bay was Joseph Melcher.

Under the same heading, Parishes and Churches, we should briefly glance at the outstanding personality, Father Joseph Dabrowski, who came to Poland Corner in 1870. Joseph Dabrowski was born in Zoltauce, in the Lublin region on January 19, 1842. His father was a civil engineer who died when Joseph was 12 years old. His mother, Karolina Borucka, moved to Lublin where young Joseph finished his high school years with outstanding results. In 1862 he enrolled in mathematics and natural sciences at the University of Warsaw. A scholarship was awarded him, and he was on the road toward his goal.

However, this was a time of political tensions, as we already know, which resulted in the outburst of the January Uprising or the 1863 Uprising. Joseph Dabrowski joined the insurgents and participated fully in the military operations. He was wounded but escaped both arrest and death. This was an exciting period of his life to which we cannot devote more time.

The result was that he had to leave the country in 1864. He went to Drezden in Germany and then to Switzerland where he worked as a common laborer, studied in various programs and saved money to go to Rome. In Rome, of course, he met other people from Poland and especially the Resurrection Fathers and their Collegium Polonicum, the Polish College, founded by Pope Pius IX and its rector, Father Semenenko. He decided to become a priest, studied diligently and was ordained on August 1, 1869.

As we know from our studies of modern European history, the famous first Vatican Council took place that same year in Rome. This council was attended, among other prelates of the world, by Bishop Joseph Melcher of Green Bay. Bishop Melcher complained to the Roman Curia that he didn’t have enough Polish priests to administer to the growing number of Polish immigrants. He was directed to Semenenko, rector of the Polish College, Collegium Polonicum, who introduced the young Father Dabrowski to him. Bishop Melcher wanted Dabrowski to come to Green Bay immediately, but of course Dabrowski wanted to say goodbye to his mother before going on such a distant trip to the United States

In considering this detail, we see that it fits the puzzle of his life; it plays an enormous role, not only in his life, but also in the lives of the Polish community in the United States. He could not, of course, go to the Russian part of Poland since he was on the list of "wanted persons" of the Russian political police, He arranged the reunion with his mother and with part of his family in Cracow in a convent of a newly established order of Felician Sisters. Those sisters deeply impressed the young priest and patriot during his two-week stay in their convent in Cracow, not only by their outstanding and glorious reception but also by their social objectives and religious, as well as national, devotion. He recalled this visit later when he decided to invite the sisters to the United States. Father Dabrowski’s mother fully and heartily supported his plans.

He came to the United States at the end of 1869. For a few months in 1870, he was appointed as an assistant at St. Stanislaus parish in Milwaukee with residence at the St. Francis Seminary. He was then given various options by Bishop Melcher of Green Bay. He selected Poland Corner which he took over in 1870. ‘Poland Corner was also called Poland Center". This was a settlement of Irish, German, French and Polish people and also included hundreds of Indians. He remained there for 13 years, from 1870 through 1882.

At the very beginning of his service, he denounced the alleged avarice, greed and bigoted conspiracy of the saloonkeepers. Unable to change the situation, he decided together with a group of lay helpers to dismantle the wooden church of St. Joseph and to move to a more secluded and peaceful spot, 20 acres of land he received from McGreer, which was named Polonia, located two miles north of Poland Corner. There he built the new Polish church first called the Annunciation of Mary Virgin and then Sacred Heart of Jesus, along with a rectory. He built a convent for the Felician Sisters whom he was permitted to invite from Poland. Five of them came to Polonia on November 20, 1874. We certainly have to notice that this was a great financial accomplishment on the part of the Polish immigrants of this region.

The saloonkeepers in Poland Corner (today’s Ellis) remained deeply offended and antagonized. In that atmosphere, the church and all the buildings of the Polish parish were twice burned to the ground -- the first time on May 18, 1875, following the coming of the Felician Sisters to Polonia. The church and convent were then rebuilt and again burned and rebuilt once again. Several attempts were made on Father Dabrowski’s life.

An independent church was then established in Poland Corner in 1872 and officially called the First National Independent Polish Church (Also called "The Red Church" -- PCHS). A priest, Reverend John Frydrychowicz, who was excommunicated from the Catholic Church and who came from Texas, became administrator of this church. However, he died suddenly after his arrival and the action was stopped. In 1932 the Independent Church had about 20 parishes in the United States.

Father Dabrowski had under his care the church in Polonia, the parish, the convent, the school and the missionary activities to the Indians who called him "The Black Robe". All three tribes of the region were affected by Father Dabrowski -- the Chippewa, the Sioux and the Fox. Their children attended the school in Polonia, a matter to be discussed later.

Additionally, Father Dabrowski constructed a printing shop in 1873 and another one after the fire of 1875. He printed Polish calendars containing much practical information and information on Poland, compiled and printed a Polish reader for the Polish schools in America and a geography in l879. (Dabrowski, Joseph, Geografia dla szkol polskich w Ameryce, Polonia, Portage County, Wisconsin, 1879 (copyright entered according to an Act of Congress A. D. 1879 by Rev. Dabrowski in the office of the Librarian of Congress in Washington.) In 1880 Father Dabrowski compiled an arithmetic book to be used in the schools. Other publications followed in Detroit, for example, Ogrodnictwo dla wszystkich (Orchard Care for Everybody).

In 1882 Father Dabrowski was appointed chaplain of the Felician Sisters who had built their motherhouse in Detroit. Father Dabrowski followed them to Detroit.

In Portage County and throughout Wisconsin we observe new Polish parishes. The Sacred Heart parish in Polonia, the oldest Polish church in this region, had 4,000 members. As early as 1871 a chapel was built in Casimir, town of Hull, where a parish was established in 1875; they celebrated their 100th anniversary not long ago. St. Peter’s in Stevens Point was organized in 1876; St. Paul’s in Mosinee, in 1878; St. Bartholomew’s in Mill Creek, in 1883- St. Mary’s of Mount Carmel in Fancher, in 1884; St. Michael’s in Junction City, in 1885; St. Ladislaus’ in Bevent, in 1886; St. Michael’s in Wausau, in 1887; St. Adalbert’s in Alban (Rosholt), in 1894; St. Mary’s in Torun, in 1895; St. Bronislava’s in Plover, in 1896; and St. John the Baptist in Belmont, in 1896. Often the inscription on the gates read: "Boze zbaw Polske," (God save Poland).

In the diocese of La Crosse we see the second oldest parish in Wisconsin in Pine Creek (Dodge, Wisconsin). St. Wenceslaus and Sacred Heart parishes were organized in Pine Creek on February 7, 1864; St. Bartholomew parish in Trempealeau was organized in 1870; St. Peter and St. Paul in Independence and St. Michael’s in North Creek were established in 1875; the Independence parish then established its mission in City Point (Spaulding); St. Joseph’s parish in Poniatowski vas organized in 1876; Holy Family pariah was founded in the same city in 1890; a mission became the Sacred Heart parish in Cassel in 1886; Holy Cross parish (the new one) was established in 1887; St. Hedvig’ s parish in Posen (Thorp) was organized first as a mission of Mill Creek in 1891 then as a parish; St. Methodius parish (appealing to other Slavs as well) was organized in Pilot Knob in 1884, first as a mission of Briggsville, Wisconsin; then the Methodius parish organized a mission in Plover from 1895-1898; Holy Rosary parish in Sigel was attended as a mission of the Marshfield parish from 1883 and became a permanent parish in 1890-1910; St. Lawrence parish in Wisconsin Rapids was organized as a mission of Junction City in 1910, later becoming a permanent parish; St. Florian parish in Wausau was organized from St. Michael’s in Wausan in 1901; St. Peter and St. Paul parish in Weyerhauser was organized in 1895; also the same year Assumption parish in Strickland was started; St. Stanislaus parish in Superior was organized in 1899; St. Adalbert parish in McMillan was organized in 1904; St. Mary of Czestochowa was organized in Stanley in 1908; St. Stanislaus in Arcadia was organized in 1911; St. John the Baptist in Ripon in 1916; St. Stanislaus Kostka in Stevens Point in 1917; St. Francis Xavier in Knowlton in 1918; St. Joseph’s in Galloway in 1928, twice rebuilt, the last time in 1974.

This is part of the Polish contribution to the building of the Catholic Church in Wisconsin alone. Major achievements include the building of parishes. There are thousands of tasks and accomplishments, which preceded the establishment of those parishes, and here we should interject that everything was occurring at a time when the people were hardly established in this country and were barely harvesting the first fruits of their diligence and hard work.

In the entire United States at the beginning of the 20th century, we already see about 600 Polish parishes. Even this number was increasing. By 1926 Americans of Polish origin had over 800 Polish parishes. As a comparison for the same period, there were 456 German Catholic parishes, 282 Italian and 175 French. The total number of Catholics in this country reached 28,000,000. Why such a preponderance of Polish parishes? After all, the Polish immigrants came later and yet did not completely amalgamate with other ethnic groups associated with the Catholic Church in the United States. The ideal of the Catholic hierarchy was by that time an American Catholic church, not a Polish, German, Irish, Italian or French one.

The earlier immigrants supported this ideal with more determination than Polish immigrants who had a serious national and ethnic interest in maintaining national parishes. Nevertheless, the highest figure reflecting the Polish Catholic parishes in this country is around 850-900. This number has been progressively declining in recent times. The majority of the parishes passed into the hands of interethnic communities.

A great need for Polish priests was evident to many Polish immigrants. It was keenly sensed by Father Dabrowski, particularly when he moved to Detroit, and conceived of an idea to create a Polish seminary to educate priests with a better knowledge of the Polish language and culture for their work among the Polish immigrants. Similar convictions were shared by Father Leopold Moczygemba whom we already identified for his contribution to the foundation of Panna Maria in Texas. By the time the idea of a Polish seminary had matured, Father Moczygemba was in Rome acting as a plenipotentiary for German and Polish speaking confessants in St. Peter’s Basilica. The idea of creating a Polish seminary in the United States was presented to the Resurrectionist Fathers in Rome and to the Collegium Polonicum and the Pope. The Roman Curia’s commission to build the Polish seminary in the United States was given by Pope Leo XIII through Cardinal Ledochowski who was recalled to Rome from a Prussian prison as we recall from our reference to Bismarck’s Kulturkampf. It was given to Reverend Leopold Moczygemba who had, with the Pope’s permission, already committed all his alms for this purpose.

The project of building a Polish seminary was approved on January 14, 1879. When Father Moczygemba came back to the United States, he entrusted his commission from Rome to Dabrowski; he himself was already too old to do the job. Also, Bishop Borgess of Detroit confirmed the project and the commission on March 14, 1884. Father Moczygemba paid his personal contribution to this project in the amount of $4,000 in 1884. The third person deeply involved in the project from the very onset was Father Machdricki.

Dabrowski threw himself into the work of the project and on July 22, 1885, the blessing and lodging of the cornerstone for the future Polish seminary in Detroit took place. It was to become St. Cyril and Methodius Seminary. In the erection act prepared in Polish and embedded in the cornerstone we read: "Therefore, the Polish clergy unite themselves with the older nationalities, the Czechs and Moravians, in celebrating the thousandth anniversary by bringing the Catholic faith to the Slavic people and place this address at the foot of the altar of these saintly Apostles in Velehrad as a token of the unity of faith and brotherly love." The act was signed by Joseph Dabrowski and the priests who had closely supported him. They were J. Pitass, S. Marcinkowski, F. Ciszek, A. Jaworski, P. Gutowski, E. Slowikowski (from the Apostolic Mission in Wisconsin), C. Domagalski, H. Klimieck, S. Wieczorek (from Berlin in Wisconsin).

Wisconsin, therefore, significantly supported this action. Bishop Caspar H. Borgess of Detroit gave reasons for his support in a letter to J. Dabrowski March 14, 1884. I quote it: "There were half a million Catholics of the Polish tongue in the United States of America and the immigration of the Polish people continuing to grow more numerous."

In 1885, the first year the seminary was open, it had six students; two years later, 26 students; in 1897, 131 students; in 1903, 217 seminarians; in 1926, 582 registered in that seminary; in the years 1939-1949, the average enrollment was approximately 350 students each year.

Father Dabrowski went to Europe in 1885 to recruit professors for his seminary. From Rome came Reverend W. Buchaczewski from the Gregorian University who became rector of the seminary after the death of Dabrowski.

Dabrowski used all means to maintain that school. He also published a Polish weekly, Niedziela (Sunday) in his own printing shop, which he had established in Detroit. This weekly was printed from 1891 until 1908 when it was discontinued and the printing press was purchased by the Franciscan Fathers in Pulaski, Wisconsin.

The seminary was accredited by the University of Michigan under the name SS Cyril & Methodius Seminary and St. Mary’s High School.

Father Dabrowski died February 10 or 15, 1903. There were 217 seminarians in that school at that time. He was succeeded by Father Witold Buchaczewski who was rector beginning in 1903. The third rector was Msgr. Michael J. Grupa who served until 1927. Anthony Klowo served from 1927-37. After his death, Msgr. Z. Krzyzosiak was rector and then, Msgr. K. Szumal.

In 1909 a private military academy in Orchard Lake was put up for public auction for $83,000. It was purchased by the administration of the seminary, and the seminary moved to that island. Today it is already an impressive center of ecclesiastic scholarship and Polish culture.

In 1938 the first Orchard Lake alumnus was elevated to episcopal dignity. This was Bishop Stephen S. Woznicki. In 1947 the next alumnus, Father Henry T. Klonowski became bishop.

Today this is a strong center of Polish culture, of liturgical movement and of ecumenical movement.

One parish is exterritorial and special - the Shrine of the Holy Mother of Czestochowa in the city of Doylestown, Pennsylvania. In 1966 a dedication of that shrine took place with President Lyndon B. Johnson addressing the crowd and speaking on the Polish heritage of Americans of Polish origin.