I received an interesting call from Eugene Wicka, whom I had contacted regarding the Wika family history. Eugene was able to fill in some gaps as well as to give me Wika family history. I will try to recount the conversation as I best understood it.
The Wika family comes from the town of Wiele, Poland. The parish is Ugofzcz, know today as Bitof, which is sister city, I believe, to Winona, Minnesota. Jan Wika came to this country in 1859 through the New York Harbor. One of the things that most confused Eugene's search for Wika family history is that Jan's brother Paulus is actually a half-brother. Paulus came to this country in 1869, also through the New York Harbor. Other siblings included Joe Wika, Amna Eve (spelling?) and Mariana, the two sisters settling in Montana. Apparently there are Wikas in New York.
Jan's children included Henry, Andrew who died quite young, John who disappeared with his wife and two children in 1900 after they left for the Dakotas, and Phillip who settled in Montana and Vince, my grandfather. Phillip was very active in Montana and the town of St. Phillip is named in his honor. There is also a lot of Wika history to be learned from Wiebow, Montana where there is a museum with Wika artifacts. There is also a lot of Wika history in Beach, North Dakota. John, son of Jan, who disappeared was married to Valeria. His two children were Frances and Vince. (I do not know if Frances was male or female). Eugene Wicka did a lot of research on this family but could not get anywhere. He learned a lot from Dennis Kasperson (spelling). Eugene also got a lot of information from my aunt Rose, my dad's sister.
The mother of Eugene's wife was a close friend of Rose; so Eugene got a lot of information that way.
Jan's half brother Paulus had one son named Leo. Leo is the father of Eugene Wika so Paulus would be his grandfather...if I have that right. Leo eventually went to Montana for a time.
My grandfather, Vince owned a farm near Dodge, Wisconsin. According to Eugene, Vince tried to sell the property in 1940 but could not find any buyers. So he held a raffle, and his cousin, Leo won the farm which is still in the Wika name. Leo and his children, brothers of Eugene Wika owned and still owned property very close to this farm. These farm's are in Boelle's Valley (pronounced Baileys).
Eugene noted that the family tree history provided by the Bambenek sisters (he mentioned Felicia of Mankato) is not all correct.
One of the main things to sort out are the two wives of Jacobus Wika, father of Jan and Paulus, the half-brother. One of the wives is M Palubika and the other is speculated to be Magdelena Piecharski. More work needs to be done to follow this trail.
This information is garnered from my notes of a telephone conversation with Eugene Wika. I have a disclaimer that I may not have gotten the information down correctly. I will use it though to help me with my search. I will also work with Eugene to try to clear up any mis-information that I may have written.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Vincent Wika's Young Family
Before starting this quest, I never thought about my grandparents being "young". It was the census record of 1900 that made me try to conger up an image of them as a young family. At the time, my grandfather, Vincent was 32 years old and my grandmother, Mary (Prondinzinski) was just 23 years old. They were married in 1894 and at the time of the census they had three children, Cecilia, age 4, Weronika (spelling at that time) age 2, and Robert, age 1. They were living in Winona, Minnesota at 858 Chatfield Street. How many times had I walked by this house without knowing that they had lived in Winona. Another comment of mine is that the census record is so clearly legible. The handwriting in those days was impeccable.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
More Information on Mary Prondzinski Wika, wife of Vince Wika
The Winona, MN newspaper project lists the following information which can pinpoint the residences of Mary and Vincent Wicka in addition to what we know from the Census Records of 1920 and 1930.
In 1929, Mary Prondzinski traveled from Dodge to visit her daughter Celia Stritzel and then her brother, Joseph Prondzinki who was living in Milwaukee, WI
In 1939, Mary and Vincent Wicka were in Dodge, WI and had a dinner. The invitees included: Mr. and Mrs. Frank Wika, and children (that would be Barbara and Theresa), Mr. and Mrs Robert Wika, Angeline Przybylski, Adeline Wika, Florian Wika, and Hubert Klinesmith (spelling at that time). This was prior to the marriage of Angeline and Florian and Adeline and Hubert.
In 1942, (four years prior to Mary's death, she and Vincent were still living in Dodge, WI), the paper noted that Mary traveled to Duluth, MN to visit her sister, Mrs. Mike Smegal, who was seriously ill in the hospital and her other sister, Mrs. George Doell
In 1929, Mary Prondzinski traveled from Dodge to visit her daughter Celia Stritzel and then her brother, Joseph Prondzinki who was living in Milwaukee, WI
In 1939, Mary and Vincent Wicka were in Dodge, WI and had a dinner. The invitees included: Mr. and Mrs. Frank Wika, and children (that would be Barbara and Theresa), Mr. and Mrs Robert Wika, Angeline Przybylski, Adeline Wika, Florian Wika, and Hubert Klinesmith (spelling at that time). This was prior to the marriage of Angeline and Florian and Adeline and Hubert.
In 1942, (four years prior to Mary's death, she and Vincent were still living in Dodge, WI), the paper noted that Mary traveled to Duluth, MN to visit her sister, Mrs. Mike Smegal, who was seriously ill in the hospital and her other sister, Mrs. George Doell
Tidbits Recenlty Learned from Ancester.com
Mary Prondzinski Wicka was born in Zelewo, Poland. In an earlier post, I had misread the name from Mary's obituary of which I had a copy...the print was not that readable. This is perhaps the reason I was unable to locate this on the map of Poland. There are two provinces associated with Zelewo, Poland and as of today, I am not sure which one is the correct one.
Per the 1920 and 1930 Census record, Vince Wika was living with his family in the Arcadia township. My dad, Florian Wicka was with the family at the age of 8 in the 1930 census. In 1930, my dad, at the age of 19 was listed as a lodger in Dodge Township. Via verbal family history, I had heard the story that dad moved to Dodge to live with his brother Robert and family as he did not get along with his father. The 1930 Census Records for Vince Wika and Florian Wika seem to support the oral history.
Vince Wika's (in the documentation found thus far, Vincent is listed as "Vince") mother was Mary and we believe her surname was Witkowski. In the 1930 Census Record she was living with her son. Her husband, Jan Wika had died in 1906, so it seems reasonable that she would have been living with one of her children. She is listed as being 85 years old with her birthdate being about 1845. The 1930 Census Record indicates that she was born in Poland and her Immigration date is listed as 1860.
Ancestry.com recommended that the Wika spelling be used for the Family Tree. At a later date, I may change family members starting with Florian Wika's children back to the Wicka spelling.
Per the 1920 and 1930 Census record, Vince Wika was living with his family in the Arcadia township. My dad, Florian Wicka was with the family at the age of 8 in the 1930 census. In 1930, my dad, at the age of 19 was listed as a lodger in Dodge Township. Via verbal family history, I had heard the story that dad moved to Dodge to live with his brother Robert and family as he did not get along with his father. The 1930 Census Records for Vince Wika and Florian Wika seem to support the oral history.
Vince Wika's (in the documentation found thus far, Vincent is listed as "Vince") mother was Mary and we believe her surname was Witkowski. In the 1930 Census Record she was living with her son. Her husband, Jan Wika had died in 1906, so it seems reasonable that she would have been living with one of her children. She is listed as being 85 years old with her birthdate being about 1845. The 1930 Census Record indicates that she was born in Poland and her Immigration date is listed as 1860.
Ancestry.com recommended that the Wika spelling be used for the Family Tree. At a later date, I may change family members starting with Florian Wika's children back to the Wicka spelling.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Kashubian Surnames
The Polish Genealogical Society, of America, PGSA, provides the following information about Kashubian Surnames. This post may seem to be premature to my documenting other historical data on the Wicka (Wika) family but I did not want to lose this thread. I remember vaguely that my dad, Florian Wicka, in the rare times he spoke about his Polish, claimed that others Poles not too distant away could not always understand his Polish. It is thought that our family were part of the Kashubians. In the following excerpt from the PGSA, it is noted that many of the Kashubians were located in Winona as well as Pine Creek, Wisconsin...locales where my father live. In another posting, I will share more about the Kashubians.
The PGSA says, "This collection of Kashub names is written mainly from the viewpoint of the Barry's Bay, Wilno, Renfrew settlement of Kashubs in Ontario, though it has a lot of information about Kashubs in Poland and in the Stevens Point, Polonia regions and the Winona, Pine Creek areas of Minnesota and Wisconsin areas in the U.S.A. These are by no means all the Kashub names that exist. There are dozens of other names, especially in the Stevens Point area phone directory, which may be either Kashub or Polish, but I am not familiar enough with them. Stevens Point region seemed to be the largest Kashub settlement in the U.S.A. The Barry's Bay area has 3 Kashub Polish parishes; the Stevens Point area must have 10 or 12 quite large parishes, e.g.: Stevens Point, Polonia, Rosholt, Bevent, Torun, Fancher, Guster, Hatley, Galloway, St. Casimir's, Hull, Heffron. ***In Poland, Kashubs living 30 miles north and northwest of Lipusz generally have completely different surnames with very few ending in "Ski". "By 1900, there were 10,000 Poles, mostly Kashub in the Stevens Point area of Wisconsin, 5,000 Kashubs in the Buffalo metropolitan area, 5,000 Kashubs in the Detroit metropolitan area, 5,000 Kashubs in the Winona, Minnesota region, ranked fourth after Stevens Point, 90,000 Kashubs in U.S.A. by 1900; more than 10 times the number in Canada at that time. About 600 families in the combined Sturgeon Lake, New Brighton and St. Paul, Minneapolis areas in Minnesota." (Information from article: "They Chose Minnesota: A Survey of the State's Ethnic Groups" by Frank Renkiewicz) By 1900 there were more Kashubs in the Winona area alone than in Renfrew County today. Four-fifths of the Polish people in the Winona region were Kashubs. The same would apply approximately to the proportion of Kashubs to other Poles in the Stevens Point region and in Renfrew County, Ontario. Emigration of Kashubs to the U.S.A. seemed to start about four years earlier than to Canada, beginning about 1855. But the villages of emigration named in documents are about the same as those mentioned emigrating to Canada. Thus: Wiele, Lipusz, Le~sno, Brusy, Sierakowice, Ugoszcz, Borzyszkowy, St~e~zyca, etc., from the southern edge to Kaszuby (Cassubia). You will notice that in the U.S., the Poles stuck as closely as possible to the original spelling of their names where as their Canadian cousins have anglicized their names much more. A further variation in the Canadian names is that most of them have added an "e" to the "ski" in their name, e.g.: Olsheskie, Chapeskie, Sernoskie, Recoskie, Kedroskie, Gutoskie. To avoid complications, I only entered the "ski" as it came from Poland, understanding that many, maybe most of the people presently add an "e" to the "ski". "
The PGSA says, "This collection of Kashub names is written mainly from the viewpoint of the Barry's Bay, Wilno, Renfrew settlement of Kashubs in Ontario, though it has a lot of information about Kashubs in Poland and in the Stevens Point, Polonia regions and the Winona, Pine Creek areas of Minnesota and Wisconsin areas in the U.S.A. These are by no means all the Kashub names that exist. There are dozens of other names, especially in the Stevens Point area phone directory, which may be either Kashub or Polish, but I am not familiar enough with them. Stevens Point region seemed to be the largest Kashub settlement in the U.S.A. The Barry's Bay area has 3 Kashub Polish parishes; the Stevens Point area must have 10 or 12 quite large parishes, e.g.: Stevens Point, Polonia, Rosholt, Bevent, Torun, Fancher, Guster, Hatley, Galloway, St. Casimir's, Hull, Heffron. ***In Poland, Kashubs living 30 miles north and northwest of Lipusz generally have completely different surnames with very few ending in "Ski". "By 1900, there were 10,000 Poles, mostly Kashub in the Stevens Point area of Wisconsin, 5,000 Kashubs in the Buffalo metropolitan area, 5,000 Kashubs in the Detroit metropolitan area, 5,000 Kashubs in the Winona, Minnesota region, ranked fourth after Stevens Point, 90,000 Kashubs in U.S.A. by 1900; more than 10 times the number in Canada at that time. About 600 families in the combined Sturgeon Lake, New Brighton and St. Paul, Minneapolis areas in Minnesota." (Information from article: "They Chose Minnesota: A Survey of the State's Ethnic Groups" by Frank Renkiewicz) By 1900 there were more Kashubs in the Winona area alone than in Renfrew County today. Four-fifths of the Polish people in the Winona region were Kashubs. The same would apply approximately to the proportion of Kashubs to other Poles in the Stevens Point region and in Renfrew County, Ontario. Emigration of Kashubs to the U.S.A. seemed to start about four years earlier than to Canada, beginning about 1855. But the villages of emigration named in documents are about the same as those mentioned emigrating to Canada. Thus: Wiele, Lipusz, Le~sno, Brusy, Sierakowice, Ugoszcz, Borzyszkowy, St~e~zyca, etc., from the southern edge to Kaszuby (Cassubia). You will notice that in the U.S., the Poles stuck as closely as possible to the original spelling of their names where as their Canadian cousins have anglicized their names much more. A further variation in the Canadian names is that most of them have added an "e" to the "ski" in their name, e.g.: Olsheskie, Chapeskie, Sernoskie, Recoskie, Kedroskie, Gutoskie. To avoid complications, I only entered the "ski" as it came from Poland, understanding that many, maybe most of the people presently add an "e" to the "ski". "
Friday, January 15, 2010
Vincent Wicka (Wika)'s Immediate Family
Vincent Wicka (Wika) was born in Pine Creek, Wisconsin. He was born on December 4, 1867 (One record gives the date of 1865). The information which I currently have on Vincent is at best sketchy, incomplete, and may be inaccurate but it is a start. His father was John (Jan) Wicka (Wika). Jan's gravestone is written in Polish. I think it says that he died in May of 1906 at the age of 77. That would mean he was born in 1829.
Vincent siblings include a Rose, wife of Edward Klake from the area of Hawkins and Ladysmith, Wisconsin; a Mrs. John Wierkus (first name unknown) and Philip Wicka who died in May of 1942. He was from St. Phillippis, Montana. (Philip's son, also a Philip was from Wilbaux, Montana) (I do know that my father, Florian Wicka had relatives in Wilbaux, Montana.)
Vincent Wicka married Mary Pronzinski on January 30, 1894. Other tidbits of information include the following. Vincent operated a meat market in Winona, Minnesota for a time. In 1909 he returned to the farm where he was born, a branch valley off of Latch Valley, near Dodge, Wisconsin. He retired from the farm in 1941.
Vincent siblings include a Rose, wife of Edward Klake from the area of Hawkins and Ladysmith, Wisconsin; a Mrs. John Wierkus (first name unknown) and Philip Wicka who died in May of 1942. He was from St. Phillippis, Montana. (Philip's son, also a Philip was from Wilbaux, Montana) (I do know that my father, Florian Wicka had relatives in Wilbaux, Montana.)
Vincent Wicka married Mary Pronzinski on January 30, 1894. Other tidbits of information include the following. Vincent operated a meat market in Winona, Minnesota for a time. In 1909 he returned to the farm where he was born, a branch valley off of Latch Valley, near Dodge, Wisconsin. He retired from the farm in 1941.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Florian Bernard (Joannes) Wicka's immediate family
My father's parents (my grandparents) were Vincent Wicka (Wika), born on December 4, 1867 and died on July 14, 1948 and Mary Prondzinski born on November 20, 1876 and died on January 10, 1946 in Dodge, Wisconsin . She had resided in the Dodge vicinity for 38 years. (I was two plus years old when my grandmother died but I have absolutely no recollection of her.) My grandmother's obituary in the Winona Republican Herald says that she was born in Zelewc, Poland. (Though this is the quest for Wicka roots, I note that at the time of her death, my grandmother had these siblings: Mrs. Michael Smegal, Viriginia, MN, Mrs. Anna Janaszak, Hibbing, MN, Mrs. Agnes Rirchell, Richmond, CA and Mrs. George Doell, Duluth, MN. The names I recollect from my youth are the Smegal and Doell surnames.)
My grandparents had nine children: Celia born on October 24, 1895, Veronica born on July 6, 1897, Robert born on May 24, 1899, Martha born on Jan 30, 1901, Frank born on August 4, 1904, Rose born on March 11, 1907, Florian born on Dec 27, 1911, Edward born on September 26, 1913, and Adeline born on May 20, 1919. (For the longest time, I held the incorrect notion that my dad, Florian, was the youngest of his family. Martha died at the age of four before I was born. Edward was born disabled and lived most of his adult life in a Sanatorium in Whitehall, Wi.I remember going with my dad to visit him. I remember that we always bought a watermelon and all of us ate it while we were on the grounds of the Sanatorium.)
My grandparents had nine children: Celia born on October 24, 1895, Veronica born on July 6, 1897, Robert born on May 24, 1899, Martha born on Jan 30, 1901, Frank born on August 4, 1904, Rose born on March 11, 1907, Florian born on Dec 27, 1911, Edward born on September 26, 1913, and Adeline born on May 20, 1919. (For the longest time, I held the incorrect notion that my dad, Florian, was the youngest of his family. Martha died at the age of four before I was born. Edward was born disabled and lived most of his adult life in a Sanatorium in Whitehall, Wi.I remember going with my dad to visit him. I remember that we always bought a watermelon and all of us ate it while we were on the grounds of the Sanatorium.)
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