Memorials › Andrew J. Paprocki

Andrew J. Paprocki

17 Nov 1834 – 23 Jun 1916

Birth	17 Nov 1834
Death	23 Jun 1916
Cemetery	Saint Bonaventure Cemetery Columbus , Platte County , Nebraska , USA
Added by	Tori S on 07 Feb 2019
FaG	https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10401829

Bio

Immigrated in 1874 to the US. Son of Blasic & Agnes (Kotlarz) Paprocki. Married to: 1. Mary Anna Galus 10-27-1858 in Poland. 2. Victoria Zabawa in 1902. ------------------------------ From the web site: http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/topic/religion/catholic /Franciscans/pages/pt1/fine0010b.htm Andrew Paprocki was born in or near Pilzno in Galicia in 1843. In 1865 he was married to Miss Maryanna Galus and lived in Wynski for some years. Hearing of the promising conditions in America, the couple left via Krakow, where they asked an aged priest for his blessing for the long journey. Aboard the ship they found a woman, whose husband was at Columbus and were persuaded to accompany her thither in September, 1868. The country was still sparsely settled. In town they found four families from Prussia, W. Jarecki, Joseph Rosno, etc. With their aid they purchased four oxen and two cows from an American. At first they rented a small cottage. Two of the family were very sick and had no doctor to look a fter them. Kind American neighbors came to visit them but could not make themselves understood. When, however, they saw the patients lying on the floor and vomiting blood, they quickly got bedding and medicine from their homes and tried to save the patients, if possible." "At first there was no Polish-speaking priest, but in spring 1859 a priest (Rev. Fr. Shulak, S. J.) came and remained for three or four days and said Mass in a private house. The boy had asked for the priest and had the grace to get one before he died. A Swiss-American (George Berney) gave a plot of land for a cemetery." "Mr. Paprocki then sent for Thomas Podraza and Andrew Dubas. In 1869 came Stanislaus Skorupa, curious to see the place still largely uninhabited as far as the eye could sweep; but the solitude seemed to be fertile. Skorupa thereupon returned to the old country to report on American conditions. That as yet the Polish people had no church there, but priests were beginning to come from time to time. Before they came to Columbus, there was a small church put up but the priest, the German or Polish-speaking priest, came around perhaps every three months." "When these many immigrants arrived, they did not know where to turn to. So Thos. Podraza took in four families and Mr. Paprocki thirteen families. They were without bread and without money. Their hosts provided for them as best they could." In the evening hay was brought and served for their bedding, it being in June and warm. The next day Mr. Paprocki drove to Columbus with ox teams to get their trunks and to take up a collection for the utterly destitute people. A sum of $17 was collected and distributed in proportion to the need of the various families. They stayed about two weeks. As the harvest season was now on and Mr. Paprocki had made it known far and near that these men and those women who had no little children to look after, were looking for work, most of them spread about to earn some money to make a living and obtain a homestead. Before winter had set in they all had erected sod houses." "In the year 1876 Mr. Paprocki found a large division of land of which alternate sections belonged to the government and to the railroad respectively. The former being homestead (160 acres, gratis) or timber land and the latter selling at about $5.00 per acre. After five years they could prove up their homestead claim and after paying $25 become the owners of the land. Mr. Poprocki (sic) also took a homestead and began breaking the soil while his wife was still near Duncan. As he needed the ox team, his wife walked nearly thirty miles to bring him food, and as they were too poor to buy provisions sufficient for the whole week, she had to make this trip more frequently. When the tools broke, Mr. Poprocki had to go to Columbus to have them repaired. Later Mr. Poprocki erected a sod house and covered it with straw and grass and whenever the weather was dry, the family made themselves comfortable there. When it rained, however, the dirty water from the roof would pour in and the baby was put under the table to protect it from the rain. At such times the Paprocki family had hardly anything to eat as it was impossible to go to Columbus to buy food. When the children were out herding the cattle, they did not come home for dinner but made a meal of wild beets. In the evening they had a kind of soup or mixture made of corn chiefly. Milk they had a-plenty, but it did not bring much money (3c per quart); butter sold for a few cents a pound. But as settlers became more numerous and conditions improved, the farmers could help one another. Columbus was the next market town."

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