The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 77, July 1973 - April, 1974 Page: 389
568 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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would not leave your company and he would come with you here; I wrote
to him to come here. That is because he would live better here, he would
be able to keep his farm without great troubles, and he would immigrate
here. I told him only because I wish for him to come. The time will come,
and it will not be long, when Franc will want to come to America and he
will not be able. He does not want to come because he follows his and his
wife's own ideas. I don't want to insist on his coming, because it is in vain.
My Dear Parents, come with Wrobel and Hanka this year and if necessary
come by yourself. Hide your money well. As far as your immigration goes,
don't be vengeful on Franc, because it would be a sin to give something to
one and nothing to the other. Leave your affairs in proper order so as not
to have any troubles in the court. Find a good man who will arrange every-
thing all right, and pay attention not to be cheated once more. The pa-
rishoners are poor and I have much work at the church. Also Anton30 cost
me very much, but I arranged things little by little. It is better to leave as
soon as possible and write when you leave. Don't take any country dresses
for Hanka, because she will not need them here. Our country dresses are
the reason that the native people make fun of us and they cause sin." Take
care on the ship; the less company that you have the better. And I tell you
this, don't pay for anyone else's passage with your money. All people who
left during the summer are already here and the others are also healthy. If
you can don't forget to talk with people in Silesia in order for them, with
the help of the priest in Pluznica or Toszek, to send some money. John
Ujkow32 is very happy that his parents are coming here because they will
live here in peace. I greet all of you, Franc and his Wife, sisters and Wrobel,
also Ujkow from Toszek, people from Jemielnicza and in the Lower,"3 and
everybody. I will remain your son.
Rev. Leop. BM. Moczygeba
All my brothers are all right and greet you.
30Probably the letter writer's brother, Anton Moczygemba.
alL. B. Russell, an American who lived in the nearby town of Helena from 1853 to
1868 (L. B. Russell, Granddad's Autobiography [Comanche, Texas, 1930], 4), recalled
a number of years later that the Silesians at Panna Maria originally "wore the cos-
tumes of the old country, many of the women having what at that time were regarded
as very short skirts, showing their limbs two or three inches above the ankles." Dallas
Morning News, January 24, 1932, Sec. 4, p. i.
32The word Ujkow in this and the following sentence may be a corruption of the
Polish word wujkow which means "of the uncles."
33"Lower" may refer to the region of Lower Silesia. Most of the colonists at Panna
Maria were from Upper Silesia.389
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 77, July 1973 - April, 1974, periodical, 1973/1974; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117148/m1/439/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.