Excerpted from the book The First Polish Americans: Silesian Settlements in Texas written by T. Lindsay Baker, published by Texas A & M University Press, College Station, copyright 1979.

From Chapter Two, Founding the First Polish Colonies (pages 23 - 35):

This is an illustration of the Port of Bremen in the 1800's.  The illustration was excerpted from the book Czech Immigration Passenger Lists, Volume I written and published by Leo Baca of Richardson, Texas.

The first group of emigrants departed from Upper Silesia in late September 1854. Coming predominantly from the villages around Toszek and Strzelce, the initial group traveled together by train to the harbor at Bremen (8). An article in the German press at Poznań, repeated by the Polish press, recounted their journey: “On the 26th of September 150 Poles from Upper Silesia arrived by train in Berlin and on the next day in the afternoon left by the Cologne Railway for Bremen, from where they plan to go by train to Texas (in America). This is worth mentioning because, as is known, the Slavic people are so attached to their native land that emigration among them is extraordinary.(9)”

This illustration is of the Weser I. I believe this to be the Weser on which the first group of Silesian immigrants sailed. The illustration was excerpted from the book Czech Immigration Passenger Lists, Volume II written and published by Leo Baca of Richardson, Texas.

Once at the port the farmers and their families boarded the 265-ton wooden bark Weser, which in October set sail on a two-month voyage to the Texas coast. A handful of Silesians, for reasons unknown, failed to board the Weser followed the main party several days later on the brig Antoinette(10).

After crossing the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, the Weser, with a combined cargo of merchandise and immigrants, slowly sailed into Galveston Harbor on the 3rd of December 1854. It docked at the long wooden Merchant’s Wharf, were Pier 15 now stands, and discharged its passengers, while the customs agent noted that another load of immigrants “from Germany” had arrived (11). They entered the strange city, filled with white, brown, and black people who spoke languages unknown to the Polish farmers. One can only imagine what they must have thought of their exotic new surroundings. They undoubtedly were happy to find German residents with whom some of them could converse. Father Leopold Moczygemba, who had drawn them to America, was not there to meet them. He was absent probably because he recently had assumed new duties as the superior of the Franciscan Minor Conventual in Texas (12).

This illustration is of Galveston Harbor in 1861. Although made over five years after the first Silesians came to Texas, it gives one an idea of what the Port of Galveston looked like when they arrived--photo excerpted from the book From Sail to Steam: Four Centuries of Texas Maritime History, 1500 - 1900, written by Richard V. Francaviglia and published by the University of Texas Press, Austin.

The Silesians secured transportation by boat from Galveston to the port of Indianola, farther down the Texas coast. From this second harbor they turned inland towards San Antonio, some of them walking and others riding in hired Mexican Oxcarts (13). Some accounts of the first Polish immigration stress the exposure and illness of the new settlers as they traveled toward San Antonio. This may be an assumption on the part of later writers, for none of the preserved peasant correspondence of the period says anything negative about that part of the journey. On the contrary, one of the Silesians wrote back to his family that “there is no winter here.” Nevertheless, the travelers were undoubtedly subject to the elements during the tiresome trek, and it probably was not a pleasant one, particularly since the man who had invited them to Texas had not yet appeared. After the colonists, who at this time numbered 159, arrived in San Antonio on the 21st of December, however, Father Leopold hastened from Castroville to greet them and guides some of them to the place he had selected for their settlement (14).

This is an illustration of the Port of Indianola in 1850. Although depicting the harbor a few years before the arrival of the first Silesians, it gives one an idea of how the port looked when they arrived there. Illustration excerpted from the book Charles Morgan and the Development of Southern Transportation by James P. Baughman and published by Vanderbilt University Press, Nashville, 1968.

Moczygemba, in fact, had been busy preparing for the new arrivals. As early as 1853 he had started planning the settlement of Poles near New Braunsfels, where he bought a parcel of land at a previously platted town site named Cracow. For some reason he abandoned his plans for the Cracow settlement and chose two new locations on opposite sides of San Antonio. One of those was in an unnamed open plateau above two rivers in Karnes County, about sixty miles southeast of the city, and the other was the already established American town of Bandera, about forty-five miles northwest. There had been no previous settlement at the former site, which he planned to be a major community. Before the arrival of the immigrants the priest had ridden o horseback through the area with its owner, and Irish immigrant named John Twohig, and had made an agreement with him about the proposed settlement of Poles on the land. Although the details are unclear, the general agreement was that Twohig would hold the hand for the Poles exclusively until they were able to buy it from him. It is not recorded where the two men discussed the prices to be paid (15).

The Rev. Leopold Moczegemba in about 1852. Information and photo excerpted from the book The First Polish Americans: Silesian Settlements in Texas.

After Father Leopold met the immigrant band in San Antonio, he led most of them the remaining sixty miles southeast to the place he had chosen for their main colony. There, above the confluence of the San Antonio River with Cibolo Creek, on an open knoll on which stood a few clumps of live-oak trees, the Silesians found their home. Some of the settlers, still believing rumors they had heard in Silesia, were disappointed to find waiting for them neither houses nor a church but instead only tall grass, brush, and a few trees. Nevertheless, having finally completed their wearisome three-month journey, the immigrants were thankful for their safe arrival. In this mood Father Leopold, under one of the largest oaks at the site, offered a Christmas mass of thanksgiving, which for many of the immigrants also served as a petition to the Almighty for strength to carry on in the face of adversity. In this way the founders marked the establishment of the first Polish colony in America (16).

The new settlement in Karnes City soon came to be known as Panna Maria, meaning Virgin Mary in Polish (17). There are several theories about how the name was chosen. One hypothesis is that, in the very same month that it was founded, Pope Pius IX in Rome proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. According to this interpretation the Silesians and their priest, under the influence of the enunciation of the dogma, decided to build their church under the invocation of the Immaculate Conception and to name the place Virgin Mary (18). A second theory regarding the name of Panna Maria stems from its Polish origin. According to this version, “many of the settlers” had seen the beautiful Church of Saint Mary in Kraków, and they wanted to name their settlement after it (19). Another interpretation of the story is that Father Moczygemba while on a mission to another settlement had a vision of Saint Mary’s Church in Kraków surrounded by a great light and took the vision as a sign that he should name his new colony Panna Maria (20).

Map of Karnes County excerpted from the 2001 Texas Almanac

While most of the Silesians from the Weser and the Antoinette chose to settle in Karnes County, sixteen families went in the opposite direction to Bandera. Situated in the scenic hill country northwest of San Antonio, it had been established in 1853 ...In search of settlers to occupy the place the promoters were delighted with the opportunity to people it with new Slavic immigrants. Americans had been reluctant to locate there because of the town's constant danger of Indian attacks in its exposed position on the fringe of settlement.

American teamsters...met the immigrants in San Antonio (some sources say Castroville) and in early February 1855 hauled them and their baggage to Bandera. The teamsters' orders were to carry the immigrants free of charge but not to permit any of them to return in the wagons. An American who witnessed their arrival recalled, "When these Polish people were dumped off here they had to stay, as they had no way to leave." The Silesians immediately went to work for the Americans, doing manual labor, working in the sawmill, and cutting cypress shingles. Soon they were able to erect log and picket houses on land they bought from the town-site promoters. The Polish population of the town during the next three years grew to about twenty families, primarily through arrivals who left Panna Maria because they felt that Bandera was situated in a more healthful location. (21)

Map of Bandera County excerpted from the 2001 Texas Almanac

Least known of the early Silesian colonies in Texas is the community that in the second half of the 1850's sprang up on the southeast side of San Antonio. Soon after the arrival of the immigrants many of the craftsman gravitated toward the city, were they could live better from their skills. The colony was able to retain its ethnic identity...Three years after the first Silesians entered the city, San Antonio had at least fifty Polish artisan families (22)...

Notes:

(8) Triest, Topographishches handbuch, p 305.

(9) Times (London), 13 September 1854, p. 7.

(10) Brozek, Emigracja anoraks, pp. 9 - 10. Czas (Kraków, Austian Empire), February 1856, p. 1.

(11) Members of the Moczygemba family have spelled their surname in various ways. The three most common forms have been Moczygeba, Moczigemba, and Moczygemba. I have used the last of these forms, which became the most common in America and is used today by the family. When different forms were found in manuscript sources, I have retained the original spelling in footnote citations. The same guidelines have been followed for other surnames that have varied in spelling in the source materials.

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