The Parish Church of St. Michael the Archangel

The history of the church of St. Michael the Archangel was transcribed from a document photographed at the church in April, 2000.

The Parish Church of St. Michael the Archangel -Rogalinek,
Poznań, Poland

The first church was probably erected around the year 1200 it is thought that the parish in Rogalinek was created in the 12th century. Since 1205 there has been a permanent priest here. The present church was founded around 1700 by Bishop Hieronim Wierzbowski the suffragan of Poznań. It is built of pine wood on the foundation of cobblestone. This one aisle church is closed from three sides, covered with shingles and crowned with a baroque-shaped tower.

In 1875 the building was secured on the outside with three wooden supporting struts. Next to the church can be found a wooden bell tower from 1893. During the early development of the diocese of Poznań the church in Rogalinek as well as the parish were owned by the Cathedral Church of St.Peter the Apostle in Poznań. Thereafter the parishioners of Rogalin were commonly known as "Swiatnicy sw. Piotra Apostola" The Churchman of St.Peter. The fact is still present in the name of the village Świątniki (Churchmen).

The main altar and the two side altars were made in the baroque style. In the main altar can be seen the gothic wooden statue of Virgin Mary the Helper of the Faithful, famous for her grace and wonders, worshipped by the faithful. There are also wooden statues of St. Szczepan and St. Wawrzymiec. Folk pictures of Merciful Jesus, St. Michael the Archangel and St. Mary Magdalen adorn the side altars. It is also worth noting the wooden figures of St. Michael the Archangel (18th.c.) and of the Virgin Mary the Painful (19th c.).

In 1962 the Pope made the Virgin Mary the Helper of the Faithful, another patron of the church in Rogalinek. In 1964 the archbishop of Poznan, Antoni Baraniak, gave the church in Rogalinek the honorable title of the Sanctuary of Virgin Mary the Helper of the Faithful. In 1968 under the patronage of Rev. Jozef Jamy, the provost of the Collegiate Church of Poznan, the church in Rogalinek was preserved andrenovated inside by Jozef Berdyzak from Srem with the assistance of Stanisław Bobrowski from Rogalinek.

During the renovation the church was given a new baptismal font and pulpit as well as new Stations of the Cross sculptured in lime wood. In 1972 the presbytery was modernized and a new conciliar altar was added. In front of the church there is a boulder taken from the Warta River near Rogalin in 1916. This stone commemorates the parishioners killed in WorldWar I; World War II and those tortured to death in the concentration camps.

Rogalinek entry- Slownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego - Warsaw ,1888

Map c. 1865, obtained at the Archiwum Państwowe w Poznaniu, 2003 C. Jensen

(1) A church village, in the district of Szrem, deaconate of Sredko, about 13 km west of Kurnik and Bnin, on the right edge of the Warta River, across from Sowinca and Mosina, borders with Rogalin; there are 72 houses, 468 residents (423 Catholic, 45 Protestant) and 507 hares (306 fields, 60 meadows, 66 wooded areas); income from the hares is 7.20 marks, from the meadows 11.04 marks, from the woods, 2.21 marks. The parish is here, the post office in Radzew Colony (Hohensee) and the train station is in Mosiny, about 4km away. Rogalinek was the property of the Poznan jurisdiction, taken by the Prussian government. Within the territory arose the village of Saskie Pole (Sachsenfelde) and the forest district of Waldecke. In 1850 Rogalinek there were four half-farms and 2 cottages. The parish, listed incorrectly in the tax collector's registry as "Rogonieniec," was composed of Rogalinek, Rogalin and Swiatnik; later Polesie and Saskie Pole were added in. The church of St. Michael already existed before 1510; the suffragan bishop of Poznan, Hieronim Wierzbowski had a new church built in place of the old one in 1712. There are 1283 parishioners. (2) Rogalinek: Folwark for Jankowic, in the parish of Ceradz Church, on the border of the Bukowski district and Szamotulski, the property of Rosalia Chlapowska, Count Eng estromÑw (around 1793); does not exist today. (3) Rogalinek: Gniezno district, obsolete Rogalin in the Klecko neighborhood.
Source: Slownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1888, vol. 9]
Submitted by: Joseph F. Martin. Translated by Benigne Dohms. (Jan 1999)

BNIN entry: Slownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego –1881

Bnin

(1) a town, district of Srem, located between Lake Bnin and Kornik near the highway from Kostrzyn to Srem, 23 km Southeast of Poznan; 126 homes; 1303 inhabitants, 263 Evangelicals, 1040 Catholics, 283 illiterates; the only town in the principality of Poznan without a Jewish population. The inhabitants are mainly occupied with agriculture. The district court is located in Srem. The parish church belongs to the deanery of Sroda; the Protestant church belongs to the diocese of Poznan. There is an elementary school, a post office, and four market places. Bnin belongs to Count Jan Dialynski; it is the ancestral home of the ancient Greater Poland Bninski family of the crest Lodz. Prior to the Bninski family, the princes of Greater Poland owned it. The chronicler Baszko, who continued the Chronicles of Bogufal, says that in the year 1253 Boleslaw and Przemyslaw the First met at the Giecz castle and divided Greater Poland. Boleslaw received, among other towns, Bnin. It is possible that those princes had already established a church in Bnin. It is not known when the town became private property. In the 15th century Andrzej of Bnin, Bishop of Poznan, heir of the town, had already erected a stone church. In 1775 a lady named Potulicka from the Dzialynski family, the heiress at that time, rebuilt the church (which had decayed to the ground) and gave it a completely new form. From the monuments in the church, carved on a rock, there is only the founder, Andrzej of Bnin, with crosier and mitre. Long ago there were still other churches: in Blazejewo, in Mieczewo, and in Radzewo. Behind the church over the lake are excavations upon which undoubtedly stood a fortified castle. In the lake are traces of aquatic lake dwellings. Municipality Bnin-Prowent, District of Srem, has two locations: (1) manor house, (2) village of Bnin-Prowent; 14 homes, 118 inhabitants; 13 evangelicals; 105 Catholics; no illiterates.

Source: Slownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego – Warsaw (1881, Vol. 1, p. 255)
Provided by Joseph F. Martin

Articles for Incorporation for the Polish Hussars (1905)

Articles of Association
Of the Polish Benevolent Society of Hussars of John Sobieski the Third, of Calumet

We, the undersigned, being of full age, and desiring to become incorporated under the provisions of Act No. 171, of the Public Acts of Michigan for 1903, entitled “An act for the incorporation of associations not for pecuniary profit,” do hereby make, execute and adopt the following articles of association, to wit –

Article I.

The name or title by which said corporation is to be made known in law is Polish Benevolent Society of Hussars of John Sobieski the Third, of Calumet.

Article II.

The purpose or purposes for which it is formed are as follows – for the intellectual and moral improvement of its members and to afford aid and relief to its members when in need.

Article III.

The principal office or place of business shall be at Red Jacket, in the County of Houghton and State of Michigan.

Article IV.

The term of existence of this proposed corporation is fixed at 30 years, from the date of these Articles.

Article V.

The number of trustees or directors shall be five.

Article VI.

The names of the trustees or directors selected for the first year of its existence are as follows – John Labyak, Michael Siemowski, John Bolinski, Jozef Ryback and Tomasz Slominski.

Article VII.

The qualifications required of officers and members are as follows – No person can become a member of this Society who is under the age of 18 years or above the age of Forty-five years or who belongs to any society which is forbidden by the Roman Catholic Church or is not free from all bodily diseases. He must be a member of a Polish Roman Catholic Congregation and bear a good moral character and fulfill his duties generally as a Catholic Christian.

In witness thereof, we the parties hereby associating, have hereunto subscribed our names this eleventh day of September, A.D. 1905.

Names.
John Labyak, Michael Siemowski, John Bolinski, Jozef Ryback, and Tomasz Slominski.

State of Michigan
County of Houghton

On this eleventh day of September A.D. 1905, before me, a Notary Public in and for said County, personally appeared John Labyak, Michael Siemowski, John Bolinski, Jozef Ryback and Tomasz Slominski known to me to be the persons named in and who executed the foregoing instrument, and severally acknowledged that they executed the same freely and for the intents and purposes therein mentioned.

William Johnson
Notary Public in and for Houghton County, Mich.
My commission expires August 18th, 1909.

Received and recorded this 26th day of September A.D. 1905, at Four o’clock P.M.

Louis H. Richardson
County Clerk

Michigan Technological University
State Archives of Michigan Collection
Houghton County Articles of Incorporation
RG 89-464, 1905, Vol. 12, p. 415.

Polish Catholic Stanislaus Kostki Benevolent Society of Calumet

Articles of Association of the Polish Catholic Stanislaus Kostki Benevolent Society of Calumet

Document research by Ceil Wendt Jensen
Repository: MTU Mining Archives
Transcribed by Joseph Martin

The following articles of association have been agreed to and accepted at Calumet Houghton County Michigan on the tenth day of February A.D. 1875.

Article 1

The following persons residing in the Township of Calumet Houghton County Michigan to wit: John Zwierzchowski, Anton Ozinski, Martin Flens, Maci Mytkorsky, and Valentine Nawistky have with the object of forming a corporation for benevolent purposes in conformity with an Act of the Legislature of the State of Michigan entitled “An Act for the Incorporation of Charitable Societies” approved Feb. Sixth 1855 accepted the following Articles of Association.

Article 2

The corporation formed in conformity with the above mentioned act and in consequence of these articles of association shall be named the Calumet Polish Roman Catholic Stanislaus Kostki Benevolent Society and shall have its office for the transaction of its business located in the township of Calumet, Houghton County, Michigan and shall be incorporated for the period of thirty years.

Article 3

The Society is incorporated for the purpose of affording aid and relief to its members when in need.

Article 4

The business of the Corporation shall be managed by five trustees. The regular officers of the Society shall be elected by the members thereof and shall consist of a President, a Vice President, a Treasurer, a Secretary, a Director of the band, and a Messenger. These officers shall be elected at the annual meeting to be held on the first Sunday of January at the office of the Society in the township of Calumet and shall hold their office for one year.

Article 5

No person can become a member of the Society who is under the age of twenty-one or above the age of forty years or who belongs to any society which is forbidden by the Roman Catholic Church or is not free from all bodily diseases. He must be a member of a Calumet Roman Catholic Congregation and have a good moral character and fulfill his duties generally as a Catholic Christian.
Article 6

Candidates for admission shall be proposed by a member of the Society and shall be examined by a committee appointed by the society which committee shall make a report at the next quarterly meeting of the Society. Should this report be favorable and the questions of the President be satisfactorily answered by the candidate, the members of the society shall ballot for his admission and should he not receive more than twenty black balls he shall be legally admitted and declared a member and shall sign the Constitution of the Society.

Article 7

All changes of the Constitution, Articles of Association or By-Laws of the Society proposed by any of the officers or members of the Society shall be submitted to its members at the quarterly meeting and must be approved by the vote of two thirds of the members present to become valid. It is also required that all proposed changes of the Constitution and all extraordinary undertakings shall be made known to the Priest of the Catholic Church of Calumet and his approval shall be necessary in all Spiritual Matters.

John Zwierzchowski
Anton Osinski
Martin Flens
Maci Mytkowski
Walenty Nowicki

Sworn to and subscribed before me on the 10th day of March A.D. 1875.
D. T. Macdonald
Notary Public, Houghton County, Mich.

State of Michigan
Houghton County

On this 10th day of March A.D. One Thousand Eight hundred and Seventy-Five before me a Notary Public for said county personally came the above named John Zwierschowski, Anton Ozinski, Martin Flens, Maci Mydkowsky and Valentine Nowicki citizens of Calumet Township, County and State aforesaid known to me to be the persons who executed the foregoing instrument and acknowledged the same to be their free act and deed.

D.T. Macdonald
Notary Public,
Houghton County, Mich.

Rec’d for record the 19th day of March A.D. 1875 at 10:00 o’clock A.M.
R.H. Brelsford, Registrar

Swedetown Log Cabins / Layout

My husband and I visited Calumet this summer.

I bought the Swedetown book from Tony's Copper World shop. I was VERY surprised to see the photo of the log cabin at 3025 Bridge St. It said the photo was from Mary Bratetich. Later in the book it mentions that the cabin was owned by the Garbareks in 1897-1899. Antoni Garbarek was my great uncle. I didn't even know he had came to the US!

I would like to find out more about the history of the cabin. My great grandfather worked at the mines- but came to Detroit after he recover from a mining accident.

I asked Kathy Atwood about the log cabins in Swedetown. I wonder if you could sketch the layout of the cabin interior floor plan? I can see the out houses standing in the yard:-) I read that sometimes two or three families would live in one!

Kathy wrote back:

My mother talked to her brother and others who live in Swedetown and she told me that from what they could figure, the Garbarek log house was located right next to the 'bridge'. If you walked out the front door and turned left you were going onto the overpass, so the back of the house would be facing Calumet. I tried the address on Mapquest but for some reason it comes up way on the opposite end of the street. The house is gone now, that's probably why. It put my mom uncle's house way up on Bridge St. out where there were never any houses, only a dirt road leading through a pasture!

Mom also described the typical log house layout, based on what she remembered from her uncle's house which she said would've been somewhere across the street from it. There were a couple different styles of log houses, but she said the one you want was a mirror image to her uncle's.

I sketched what he said (as best I could) and am attaching it to this message. (see sketch above)
Sometimes two or more families could live in these houses, but usually when that happened they were part of an extended family, such as siblings' families, in-law's families, etc. One family might life upstairs with 'kitchen' privileges (which was basically a stove) but the families might eat together. The downstairs 'front' room might served as a sleeping room. Parlor furniture was often a luxury so the homes basically had chairs tables and beds, and those beds may have had four to five children in them. It's amazing with such lack of privacy there were so many children? Well, I suppose "where there's a will, there's a way".

Some of the homes had narrow stairways that went up the center of the house, but Mom remember her uncle's as been on an outside wall.

Sometimes to have a little more room, a lean-to kitchen or a kitchen wing was added in later years. In my mother's house, a large kitchen was added to the side of the house. When my uncle wanted to replace a window, he remembers the wall was more than a foot and a half thick, due to the logs.

Kathy

Copper Country Evening News : Polish Residents Celebrated Last Saturday

Copper Country Evening News
30 November 1896

Polish Residents Celebrated Last Saturday

The Sixty-Sixth Anniversary

Yesterday was the 66th anniversary of the uprising of the Poles and although the uprising was unsuccessful the Poles look upon the day with reverence and respect. Saturday the Poles of this city, under the direction of the Polish Hussars, had intended to hold a big celebration, including a parade by the various societies, but the stormy weather interfered to some extent with the day’s doings. The Hussars and the boys’ military organization had arranged with the Red Jacket band for the parade, but it could not be held in the storm.

The entertainment at the Opera House in the evening was, however, well attended, not withstanding the storm and the various other attractions. The Red Jacket band was present and rendered several selections and also played the Polish national airs. The band’s music seemed to touch a tender spot in the heart of those present and they were heartily applauded. There was vocal music, principally by the choir of St. Ignatius’ church, and several duets on the piano and violin. The children of the Polish school sang several airs in Polish which were applauded.

Some of the older pupils of the school gave declamations in Polish and some in English, and two short dramas were produced. Both of the dramas were in Polish and highly pleased the audience. On was entitled, when translated, “When the Cat’s Away, the Mice Will Play.” This was produced by the junior members of the Young Men’s Polish literary and dramatic club. The other was entitled “The Persecuted Husband,” and was produced by the senior members of the club.

The address of the evening was delivered by Rev. Father Krogulski in Polish. He spoke of the reason for celebrating the day and then traced the origin of the revolution, paying every respect to the memories of the leaders of the unequal fight.

N.B. The church was probably St. Anthony, the Polish church in Calumet.

Transcribed by Joseph F. Martin of Romeoville, Illinois, on 9 December 2007.