THE JONES ISLAND KASZUBI
Kaszubek
THE JONES ISLAND KASZUBI
Among the sites of Kashubian settlement in Wisconsin were the Kashubs of
Jones Island. The island is actually a mile long peninsula in the City of
Milwaukee's harbor on Lake Michigan. The island was named after James
Monroe Jones, who was a large scale Milwaukee shipbuilder.
The majority of the Kashubs who settled on Jones Island emigrated from
the Hel Peninsula and the Puck area of Poland just north of Gdansk on the
Baltic Sea. The Hel Peninsula is 21 miles long and forms the Bay of Puck.
The peninsula is sandy and useless for farming. The chief occupation of
the Kashubs there has always been fishing. Some old tombstones on the
peninsula actually show fishermen marks of ownership. Today tourism is an
industry there too. Just west of the peninsula is the northernmost tip of
Poland at Cape Rozewie.
The Hel Peninsula was the site of the last battle in Poland where Polish
troops surrendered to the Germans in 1939. It was also the last place in
Poland to be liberated from the Germans by the Russian Army in 1945.
Reasons for the Kashubs to emigrate to Jones Island were many. The main
reason was intense Germanization imposed by the Prussians. The Kashubs on
Jones Island were a unique group because the majority of the Kashubs that
left Europe emigrated from the southern Kaszuby region. However Kashubs
from the Puck area of Poland also settled in Day County, South Dakota.
The first reported Kashub on Jones Island was Valentine
Struck. He visited the island before the Civil War (Poles had been in
Milwaukee since 1846). He liked what he saw and decided to return again
with his family after the war was over. He informed others about the
excellent fishing, free land (the Kashubs there were squatters), and
similarities with the Hel Peninsula at home.
In 1870 a severe storm detroyed all the buildings on Jones Island. In 1872
Kashubs arrived by the names of Michael Budzisz, Andreas Kohnke, John
Stein, and Jacob Muza. Muza was considered to be the "krol Kaszubow" (King
of the Kashubs) on Jones Island. He was often referred to as "governor."
Later Anton Kanski (an 1880's arrival) was bestowed the title of
"governor" of Jones Island. He made it his business to help the less
fortunate.
Several families by the surname of Budzisz lived on Jones Island.
Genealogists are working on the possible family connections. One Budzisz
family came from the village of
Chalupy on the Hel Peninsula (As late as the 1830's a witch was dunked at
Chalupy!). Ironically a descendant of this family, Alice Blue, lives on a
street named Peninsula Drive in Pewaukee, Wisconsin.
Another descendant of a Budzisz family from Jones Island, is a lady by the
name of Karen Gootjes of Corpus Christi, Texas. She is so proud of her
Kashub descent that she adopted the screen name of "La Kashube" on the
America Online computer service. Alojzy Budzisz (1874-1934) from Puck,
Poland, was a noted Kashubian writer. Today there are over 800 people with
the surname of Budzisz in the province of Gdansk, Poland where the name is
concentrated.
Later in the 1870's other Kashubs arrived by the names of Bolda,
Bartkowski, Ciskowski, and Parchem (1875).
Among the Kashubs who arrived in the 1880's were Bielot, Bialk, Buschke,
Cenova, Dettlaff, Jeka, Kanski, Kolp, Konkel (The surname of Konkel
appears in many areas of Kashub settlement in the United States and Wilno,
Ontario) Lenz, Patok, Paczocha, Rotta, and Zelin (Selin).
In the 1890's a great number of Kashubs arrived at Jones Island. Many
Kashubs were leaving Kaszuby at that time for all parts of America.
Alexander Majkowski (Kashubian poet) began to write and encourage Kashubs
to stay in Kaszuby. It was feared that the homeland of the Kashubians in
Europe would be completely Germanized and lost forever.
The Kashubs of Jones Island maintained their customs and
traditions from the Hel Peninsula. Kashubian wedding
celebrations often lasted from several days to a week!
A popular wedding toast was: "Many fish in the fishing season to make
heavy the purse and many children in the home to lighten the purse." The
Kashubian weddings on the island were great occasions for all.
The Kashubs of Jones Island belonged to the parish of St.
Stanislaus church. As always the Kashubs were excellent catholics! They
donated an ornamental rood to the church which can still be seen there
today. St. Stanislaus was the first Polish Catholic church in Milwaukee.
The parish was founded in 1866. Many early parishioners were Kashubs. The
first pastor was Rev. T. A. Weglikowski. The first Polish parochial school
in America was established here, and its first teacher, Sister Maria Tyta,
was the first Polish nun in America! Also from the pulpit of St.
Stanislaus came the first 100 volunteers for the famed Kosciuszko Guard
(Company K) in 1874. In addition to the Kashubs, Poles from Poznan,
Galicia, Lithuania, and other areas, belonged to the parish of St.
Stanislaus as well. Church records on microfilm from St. Stanislaus church
are available at Family History Libraries for the years 1866 thru 1921.
The Illinois Steel Company (which later merged with U.S. Steel) claimed
ownership to much of Jones Island. The Kashubs there were squatters on
land they did not own. In the 1890's the Company initiated a series of
court actions to assertain who actually owned the island. The lawsuits
continued for years. Unfortunately the Kashubs started to be evicted from
Jones Island. The island had a population of about 1,500 in 1896. The
population had been as many as 2,000. Germans and other ethnic groups were
living on the island as well.
In 1910 the City of Milwaukee started a bond drive for $250,000 for the
purchase of Jones Island for harbor improvements. Condemnation proceedings
were begun in 1915 In 1920 the city paid $400,000 in Condemnation
benefits. At that time only 25 families still lived on the island.
After the Kashubs began to leave Jones Island, some settled in the area of
S. 5th and W. Mitchell streets near St. Stanislaus church. Others settled
near St. Hedwig's church on Milwaukee's lower east side. Kashubs had also
been among the founding members of St. Hedwig's parish in 1871. Church
records on microfilm from St. Hedwig's church are available at Family
History Libraries for the years 1871 thru 1920.
Several Kashubian families continued in the fishing business after they
left Jones Island. Among the businesses they ran in Milwaukee were: Adrian
and Konkel, Anton Kanski, The Paczocha Market, and John Bolda and Sons, of
the prominent Bolda family (They ran their fishing business for over fifty
years!).
The last Kashub to leave Jones Island was 73 year old Felix Struck in
1944. He was also the first Kashub to be born on Jones Island. His father,
Valentine Struck, was the first reported Kashub on the island. Sadly,
Felix Struck died some months later after he left Jones Island.
Currently Jones Island is the site of the City of Milwaukee's sewage
treatment plant and harbor facilities. However the Kashubs have not been
forgotten. On the island is the small but very significant, Kaszube's
Park! It was designated by the City of Milwaukee as a historic site. Until
recently, ex-Jones Islanders and their descendants would meet once a year
at the little park and talk about the old times.
It is my hope that the descendants of the Jones Island Kashubs will never
forget their roots. With them I leave these words: "Nigde do zgube nie
przynda Kaszube!" ("The Kashubians will never perish!").
theupnor...@gmail.com
jpki...@gmail.com
gm...@hotmail.com
I just found your article about Jones Island. How interesting. I'm planning a trip to Poland and started doing some research with relatives in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and found that my long lost relatives came to Jones Island from Hel, Poland area. According to their research there may have been 2 Anton Muza's, one the governor, later jailed for giving away land that was not his and another one, which would be my Great Grand Father. According to your articular their research might be off a bit. Thank you for your information, I'm even more excited to go to the Kashubs area and send back photos to the rest of the Muza's. I've contacted Mary Muza that mentioned she goes to the park on Jones Island every year on Aug. 1st for the meeting. If you have any other information about the Muza family name I would really appreciate it.
Thanks for sharing this interesting article.
I'm Joseph John Muza's Grand Son. He immigrated to Alberta, Canada and homesteaded about 1905ish. I guess he was Anton Muza's son.
Gerald Muza
u2
>
> Gerald Muza
--
George Orwell :
"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people
what they do not want to hear"
nodu...@gmail.com
u2
>
http://nlp.actaforte.pl:8080/Nomina/Ndistr?nazwisko=muza
most "Muza" names appear in the Pomorskie voivodship
there should be some further evidence in catholic or protestant communes
