THE EARLY HISTORY OF PANNA MARIA, TEXAS ... - Repositories

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everywhere, so that if anyone took a few steps, he was soon lost to sight. Every step of the way you'd meet rattlesnakes. Oh, I tell you, in those days we knew what it was to be poor! Sometimes people died of hunger. ... If anyone took a step away he'd be driven back by hunger. And several people died of snake bites. The crying and complaining of the women and children only made the suffering worse. . . . How golden seemed our Silesia as we looked back in those days 140 Very soon after its founding, the Poles gave their 20 settlement a name, Panna Maria. The name translated to English means Holy Mary. exact origin of the name. There are two theories about the The first theory is that the settlers, upon hearing of the Papal bull declaring the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, decided to build their church under the invocation of the Virgin's Immaculate Conception and to call the place Panna Maria in her 41 honor. Father Moczygemba, according to the second theory, named the settlement Panna Maria after having a vision of a great light surrounding the beautiful church 42 of St. Mary in Krakow. Since there had been no preparation for their arrival at Panna Maria, one of the most pressing needs of Bakanowski, p. 29. 41 Kruszka, p. 366. The Papal bull declaring the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was announced on December 8, 1854. For a discussion of the doctrine and the bull proclaiming it, see Hilda Graef, Mary: A History of Doctrine and Devotion, Vol. II (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1965), pp. 79-82. 42 Kruszka, p. 366.
21 the Silesians was for shelter. To construct this shelter, the peasants resorted to techniques many of which had been passed down since the Middle Ages in the old country. Some of these colonists first dug holes in the ground and covered them with thatch, or in the words of one of the original settlers, "We lived in burrows covered with brush 43 and stalks." Others of the settlers "proceeded to build shelters for themselves of stakes and brush, using strands 44 of grass to make the roofs." Less than a year after the founding of the settlement, a visiting American found the colonists "huddled together on little patches of land 45 living in their pole cabins & sod houses." The fact that the colonists built their own cabins on their own land made a deep impression on the Silesian peasants. In May of 1855, John Moczygemba, a brother of Father Leopold, wrote back to Silesia: You write to get the lot for a cottage. You must build on your own land, because it is not like your village, but everybody builds 43 Bakanowski, p. 29. The use of such dugouts by peasants in Poland is not completely forgotten even at the present time. A widely circulated Polish newspaper described the use of such shelter by a poor Pole as recently as 1971. See Kulisy (V7arsaw) , February 28, 1971, pp. 1, 7. S. Nesterowicz, Notatki z_ Podrozy (Toledo: A. A Paryski, 1909, p. 201. 45 Thomas Ruckman, "The Census Taker—A Complete Description of the County of Karnes--In South West Texas— June 1890," p. 45, Thomas Ruckman Papers, University of Texas Archives, Austin, Texas.
Page 1 and 2: THE EARLY HISTORY OF PANNA MARIA, T
Page 3 and 4: TABLE OF CONTENTS I. THE FOUNDING O
Page 5 and 6: 3 the oldest Polish school in Ameri
Page 7 and 8: Maria, however, was not a part of t
Page 9 and 10: European markets. With the subseque
Page 11 and 12: 8 summer and autumn of 1852 and the
Page 13 and 14: 10 friars who accepted his mission
Page 15 and 16: elieved in every respect in that th
Page 17 and 18: 14 forced changes in his plans. The
Page 19 and 20: 16 traveling to America. However, u
Page 21 and 22: CHAPTER II PANNA MARIA 1855-1861 Th
Page 23: everywhere, so that if anyone took
Page 27 and 28: 23 next forty years give additional
Page 29 and 30: 25 further light on early agricultu
Page 31 and 32: 27 r-3 like Stanis/aw Kio^^bassa, t
Page 33 and 34: 29 year. On the night of July 15, 1
Page 35 and 36: 31 origin of the three thousand dol
Page 37 and 38: 33 the country and leaving the land
Page 39 and 40: 35 Upper Silesia a large Christ fig
Page 41 and 42: Due to the hardships wrought by the
Page 43 and 44: ack. "2 39 Although a few individua
Page 45 and 46: 41 1891, Father Moczygemba died in
Page 47 and 48: 43 Arriving in Panna Maria at least
Page 49 and 50: 45 The Civil War caused additional
Page 51 and 52: 47 years. The disastrous results of
Page 53 and 54: 49 were ever listed as members of t
Page 55 and 56: 51 at the Arkansas Post, Wilke's 24
Page 57 and 58: 13 3 Knoxville, and Nashville. 53 T
Page 59 and 60: A vignette of Civil War history is
Page 61 and 62: CHAPTER IV PANNA MARIA 1866-1870 Th
Page 63 and 64: 59 in Texas. With the authorization
Page 65 and 66: 61 enough for Paris." Thus the supe
Page 67 and 68: The vast majority of the white Texa
Page 69 and 70: December 186 8, stated that althoug
Page 71 and 72: Sometimes the forays of the America
Page 73 and 74: 69 for battle into a single mounted
Page 75 and 76:
71 the protection of federal troops
Page 77 and 78:
73 month after they came to the cou
Page 79 and 80:
75 Bakanowski's words, "we saw what
Page 81 and 82:
77 until his death. •'"^^ In addi
Page 83 and 84:
79 their children. For this reason,
Page 85 and 86:
81 the young priest, dressed in the
Page 87 and 88:
83 from the Society around them. Af
Page 89 and 90:
through Berlin in September 1854, a
Page 91 and 92:
20 8 to be classed . . . with those
Page 93 and 94:
CHAPTER VI PANNA MARIA AS THE MOTHE
Page 95 and 96:
91 to San Antonio. Since San Antoni
Page 97 and 98:
Czestochowa, only five miles north
Page 99 and 100:
95 which draw large numbers of visi
Page 101 and 102:
97 from one region of one Prussian
Page 103 and 104:
Brozek, Andrzej, and Borek, Henryk.
Page 105 and 106:
Haiman, Miecislaus. Polish Past in
Page 107 and 108:
Lyssy, Albert. Military Service Rec
Page 109 and 110:
105 Randel, Jo Stewart, and Carson
Page 111 and 112:
107 Records of the United States of
Page 113 and 114:
KV/ 109 Wytrwal, Joseph A. America'
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