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Krolczyk Family History




Mike Krolczyk was the third of ten children of Mathias and Catherine (Grencz) Krolczyk. He was born September 19, 1836 in the small village of Slawno, near Gniezno in the province of Poznan, Poland. Mathias Krolczyk was a farmowner.

In 1860 Mike married Katarzena "Katie" Kendziora in the parish of Wronczyn, near Slawno. Katie was the daughter of Michael and Frances (Baranowski) Kendziora. She was born December 9, 1840 in the parish of Kiszkowo, just west of Slawno.

Mike and Katie had nine children: Stanislawa "Stella", Stanislaus, Wladyslawa, Piotr Pawel (died as an infant), Rosalia, Anna (died as an infant), Andreas "Henry", Josepha "Uda", and Mary, of which five were living in 1900, Stella, Mary, Henry, Uda, and another child, name unknown. At the age of 7, Henry had a fever that left him deaf, after which he lost the ability to speak.

About 1883, Mike left Poland to seek a better life for his family in the United States. He settled at Chappell Hill, among many other Polish immigrants. At least two of Mike's brothers, John and Casimirus "Charles", also came to Chappell Hill. Katie and the children made the trip to America on the ship Waesland, which left Antwerp for New York, arriving on March 23, 1883. Also on the ship were Joseph Gutowski and his daughter, who were also headed for Brenham, Texas. Perhaps they were relatives, or friends, as the Gutowski family came from Klecko, just a few miles north of Slawno.

Two years later, on November 15, 1885, Mike's daughter Stella married Ignac Brzymialkiewicz in St. Mary's Church, Brenham. Her sister Mary married Pete Grabarkiewicz on November 25, 1900. Uda married Wallace Kaliszewski in October 1903. In those days, virtually all Polish marriages happened in October or November, after the harvest was finished. Henry, who the family called "Nie Mowa", which is Polish for "mute" or "the one that doesn't talk", never married, but became a skilled blacksmith, living with his nephews Pete and then Mike Brzymialkiewicz until his death in 1959. No more is known of the other Krolczyk children. There were many Krolczyk cousins in Chappell Hill, and it is difficult to sort out the different families. On July 30, 1887, Mike filed his Declaration of Intent to become a U.S. Citizen in Washington County. On September 18, 1906, he became a U.S. Citizen.

Mike Krolczyk died in 1919 and is buried in St. Stanislaus Catholic Cemetery in Chappell Hill. Katie lived to see some of her great grandchildren. She died on March 8, 1925, and is buried next to her daughter Stella in Chappell Hill.

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This page was last updated on 7 February 2012

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