Panna Maria Photos of Dziuk Ancestors

Most people who have read my blog know that my ancestor, Catharina Dziuk had a brother that was one of the original settlers in Panna Maria.  Last August I went to Panna Maria for the second time in my life and was there during the FGS conference at the time a group from the conference gathered there.  And of course, I was not going to be left out of this great event.  So I met up with the group in Panna Maria.

This time I took my daughter Jamie with me and we had a really nice time in San Antonio and Panna Maria and all over that part of Texas.

When the group came to Panna Maria, Jamie and I were already there.  We were happy to meet Bishop John Yanta.  He is also a descendant of the Dziuk family and therefore we are related.

Here is the picture of the heart of the community, the Catholic parish where we met Bishop Yanta and took pictures together.  He told me that he had some papers to give me regarding a Family Reunion in October 1981.  I recently received this and Bishop Yanta has said that I can post these pictures on my blog.  I was really excited that I could share these pictures with you.  So my first blog entry will be of the Dziuk family that was featured in this special newspaper.

Here we are.  This is last August 2014.

And so here are my Dziuk family pictures, all courtesy and with permission of Bishop J. Yanta.  Thanks so much for allowing me to share these!

Filip Dziuk and Mary Ann Moczygemba

Annie Dziuk, wife of John Urbanczyk.

Henry Dziuk Sr. and Julia Moczygemba.

Katherine Dziuk and Lawrence Pollok. And their family below, Felix, Annie, Sam, Katie and Mary.

 Mary Dziuk and Frank Olenick.

Carolyn Pollok and Ignatius Moczygemba

 Peter Pollok and Annie Moczygemba.

 Charles Dziuk and Mary Moczygemba.

 Joseph Dziuk and Gertrude Moy.

Louis Dziuk and Elizabeth Urbanczyk

There are more pictures and I will work on them in the next few days.

Just Another Tombstone Tuesday

I almost forgot that I was going to post a few more stones from the past.  I just remembered and so here they are:

Here is a Photo of the gravesite of Jacob Hofheins in the Levan Cemetery.  A comment that I would like to make about the date:  It has Dec. 4, 1812 as his birthdate.  The German record in the birthplace of Rueppuhr in Baden Germany gives 14 Oct. 1812 as his birthday.  All the US records I have seen and family "tradition" have 4 Dec. as is seen above.  But the birth record disproves this.

Here is the grave of Elease and Clarence Hofheins, also in the same cemetery.  The little Hofheins peeking over the top, is Tyson.  He was quite a bit younger when this photo was taken.

Here is a picture of the Levan cemetery.

Here is a picture of the Panna Maria, Texas gravestone of Jan Dziuk.  One would think Tyson likes cemeteries?  Or is his mean gramma taking him to some "scary" places?  Actually, I want him to develop  a love for his ancestors and all the things they experienced so that he could have this nice life he has today.

Here is stone from the birthplace of my grandmother, Otillie Gralla.  The parish is in Koschentin, which is now Koszecin in Poland.  It is Florian Dziuk born 1920 and died 1981. 
So that is all for today!

Peter Dziuk Wanted To Go To Panna Maria

At the grave of Johan/Jan Dziuk.  Tyson and Grandma

I read an article found at the following link called Notes and Documents Four Letters from Texas to Poland in 1855.  http://www.jstor.org/pss/30238282 In this article are 4 letters, 2 written by John Moczygemba, 1 by Thomas Moczyemba and Johan/Jan Dziuk and the last by Father Leopold Moczygemba.  These were very interesting letters to read because they were communications with the people at "home" in Pluznica Wielka. 

My ancestor Jan Dziuk and his brother Peter and then later his mother settled there and from this village Jan followed the advice of Father Leopold to head to Texas.  In the first letter written by John Moczygemba, he addresses Johan Dziuk and Piotr, his brother and mentions that they had written him in order to have John Mocygemba obtain land for them.   His letter gives advice as to what will occur when they arrive and what will need to be done, such as clearing your own land and building your own house.  He tells them what they should bring from the homeland because it is not readily available.  Leather seems to be a much needed item.  However, here is the first indication that Peter, brother of Jan had originally planned on coming to America with his brother in 1855.

In the letter signed by Thomas Mocygemba and Johan Dziuk, they again greet the people of Pluznica, including Piotr, brother of Johan.  They give advice as to how Piotr should make his arrangements to come to Texas.  He advises him to bring gold and money for railroad tickets.  These are the two mentionings of Piotr/Peter Dziuk.  He doesn't come to America.  I can only wonder why he changed his mind.  What caused him to remain in Pluznica despite the hard times in Silesia?

Peter was a blacksmith by trade and apparently followed or joined his older brother, Jan, also a blacksmith, from Koszecin, where they were born, to Płużnica Wielka where they both worked in this trade. Jan must have moved from Koszęcin to Płużnica Wielka by or before 1832. This move was a major factor that led Jan Dziuk and his family to Texas. Here in Płużnica Wielka he would have come in contact with Father Leopold Moczygęba who was so instrumental in this large movement of Poles to America.

I have not found an actual passenger list showing the departure or arrival date of Jan Dziuk and his family, however, on the Agent F. H. Schuler list for the year of 1855, Johann/Jan Dziuk and family members, Alexander, Anna, Franciska, Johanna and Philipp are listed. Schuler was an agent that arranged for passengers to come to America.

Although Jan chose to leave for Panna Maria, Texas around 1855, his brother Peter stayed in Płużnica Wielka. Their sister, my ancestor, Catharina (Dziuk) Ochmann, stayed in Koszęcin.

Peter married Agnes Kruppa from Płużnica Wielka on 5 Oct.1852. Their marriage document, which I have translated into English from the original German text, reads as follows:

Marriage record Płużnica Wielka parish. LDS film 2089245
5 Oct. 1852
The blacksmith, Peter Dziuk from here, son of the inhabitant of Koschentin (Koszęcin) Franz Dziuk with Agnes, the daughter of the local cottager, Peter Kruppa, from here, were legitimately married. Witnesses were the farmer Leopold Moczygemba and Joseph Olscher. The groom was 27 and the bride was 22.
.
It is interesting that the letters written also mentioned Peter Kruppa, undoubtedly the father-in-law of Peter Dziuk.  He is addressed along with them as though he was also planning to come to America.

Marriage record Płużnica Wielka LDS film 2089245
6 Feb. 1854
The bachelor Franz Ochmann, son of the free gardener Carl Ochmann of Koszęcin with the unmarried woman Eva Palus, daughter of Bernard Palus of Nogoschuetz were married. Witnesses were Father Leopold Moczygemba Church pastor and Peter Kruppa, from here. (Father of Peter Dziuk’s bride, Anna Kruppa, in the entry above)
Groom age 24, bride age 22.
It appears that Jan’s younger brother, Peter, was living in Płużnica Wielka by or before 1840, as he appears in the communion register of Płużnica Wielka with his brother Jan and his mother Elisabetha. At this time, Elisabetha is a widow, which is the only indication of an approximate date of the death of her husband, Franz. The death record was found for her husband, Franz, in Koszęcin on 16 Aug 1836.  He was buried on 19 Aug. It is my “guess” that after Franz died Elisabetha moved to be with her son Jan in Płużnica Wielka. It is not clear whether Peter moved there with Jan or with his mother.
He was survived by Elisabetha and 3 children. These were then the children I was able to find. I thought that there would have been more considering the spacing... He died of Lungensucht.

Peter Dziuk and Agnes Kruppa had 8 children in Płużnica Wielka:
Johanna born 24 Jun. 1853 and died 3 Aug. 1917 in Płużnica Wielka,
Joseph born 23 Sep. 1855
Pauline born 18 Jun. 1857 and died 26 Jul 1858
Johann born 9 Jun. 1859
Franz born 6 Oct. 1862
August born 15 Sep. 1863
Florentine born 10 May 1865 and died 13 May 1865
August born 14 Jul. 1866

The first child, Johanna Dziuk, married Anton Moczygęba on 17 Sep. 1888 in Płużnica Wielka. Their marriage document states that Anton was related to Johanna by the 3rd grade of consanguinity. They received a dispensation to marry from Breslau on 11 Sep. 1890. But by this time, they were already married. Anton was born 1 Jun. 1857. He was a son of Franz Moczygęba and Carolina Felux. I have not yet traced back this Moczygęba or Felux line to find the family relationship as indicated above. Johanna Dziuk died in Płużnica Wielka 3 Aug. 1917. It is about this same time period that the Dziuk name seems to stop appearing in the Płużnica Wielka church records.

Father Constantine Dziuk of Parisville

Father Constantine Dziuk was a Priest at Mt Carmel in Wyandotte and St. Mary’s in Parisville from 1926-1931.  In 1930 he lived near the Susalla families in Parisville, Michigan.

From the book of Parisville Poles:p 235

"His successor was Fr. Constantine Dziuk who soon after his arrival began making needed improvements in the parish buildings. The following were some of his undertakings: He covered the roof of the church and the rectory with asbestos shingles and installed new stained glass windows. His energetic undertakings were halted by his transfer to St. Louis Parish in Detroit. Father Koper arrived in 1932 to continue the work begun by his predecessor."

The records from the parish show that he performed his first Baptism there in Parisville on April 1, 1927 and the last one on September 3, 1931.

The Polish Origins of the Johann Dziuk Family

I first came in contact with members of PGST several years ago while working at the International Reference counter at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Many of the PGST members came up to ask me questions. I couldn’t help but notice the names on their pedigrees. The names were all so familiar to me and so I inquired as to where their ancestors were from. I discovered that they were all from parishes in Poland relatively close to where all my Polish ancestors had lived. This was an area known as Schlesien, or Silesia and in Polish known as Sląsk. Many of the ancestors of this group were even from the same towns as some of my ancestors. I found it fascinating as they told me of Father Leopold Moczygemba of Płużnica Wielka, who led so many of them from that area to Texas in the early 1850’s. I took a great interest in the group and stayed in contact with several members of PGST that came to the Family History Library on that occasion.

Over the years, a committee from the Panna Maria Historical Society, working on the two volumes of Silesian Profiles would ask me to do look ups to help document some things for these volumes. Because of my interest in the Polish area they were from, I happily helped. For one such request, I was asked to look up an early pioneer to Panna Maria, Texas, Jan Dziuk, who was born 6 July 1806. I was given a town where he was supposedly from and asked to find a birth record, if possible. This request especially interested me as I have Dziuk ancestry from a town known as Koszęcin today, which was formerly known as Koschentin during Prussian times. However, the town I was to search for Jan Dziuk was not Koszęcin and so I didn’t make an instant connection. After checking the requested parish for Jan Dziuk, it was quickly determined that there was no one in that village by that surname. On a whim, I opened my personal genealogy database to see if I had a Jan or Johann it my family records. I found one and he was the brother of my third great-grandmother, Catharina Dziuk. He was born 6 July 1806. I was so surprised. I had the needed subject in my own file the entire time. I had no idea that one of my ancestors had come to America. I tried to continue the research of Jan Dziuk before his coming to Texas, as my file had only his birth date and parents in Koszęcin with no other information on him. There were no further documents of Jan Dziuk in Koszęcin.

Jan, or Joannes as his Catholic baptism record refers to him, was born in Koszęcin to Franz Dziuk and his wife Elisabetha Dudek. Franz was born 2 Oct. 1779 in Koszęcin. Franz and Elisabetha Dudek (b.5 Aug 1780) daughter of Jacob Dudek and Barbara Pirreck married in Koszęcin on 23 Jan. 1803. I have only been able to find three children of Franz and Elisabetha. Those children are Catharina Dziuk, who was born in Koszęcin 6 Nov. 1803 and baptized there 8 Nov. 1803. Her death occurred 28 Jan. 1887 and her burial at the Koszęcin church cemetery was on the 31st of January. Catharina Dziuk is my 3rd great-grandmother.

The next child which I have in my records is Johann/Jan Dziuk, born 6 Jul. 1806 and baptized in Koszęcin on 7 Jul. 1806. Research in Panna Maria, Texas shows his death as 5 May 1886.

The only other child found for Franz and Elisabetha Dziuk, was a son, Peter, who was born much later on 1 Aug. 1824 in Koszęcin. It is very strange that no other children were found between the years 1806–1824. It would seem very possible that the family may have moved from Koszęcin to another village for this time period. However, searches in some of the nearby parishes have not turned up any other children for this couple.

Peter was a blacksmith by trade and apparently followed or joined his older brother, Jan, also a blacksmith, to Płużnica Wielka where they both worked in this trade. Jan must have moved from Koszęcin to Płużnica Wielka by or before 1832. This move was a major factor that led Jan Dziuk and his family to Texas. Here in Płużnica Wielka he would have come in contact with Father Leopold Moczygęba who was so instrumental in this large movement of Poles to America.