Jakub Skroch

Jakub Skroch (1804 Popielow-1869 Popielow)
Anna Schwiec (1803 Popielow-? Popielow?)

Jakub and Anna Schwiec Skroch never emigrated to the United States, nor were they Kashubian. Instead, they lived their lives in Popielow, a village near Opole in Silesia. Like the Kashubians, the Silesians are a minority ethnicity living in what is today Poland. Also like the Kashubians, the Silesians found themselves living on the fault line between the Germanic and Slavic civilizations, a fact which helped to make emigration attractive. Beginning in the late 1860s, numerous Silesian Polish families settled in Trempealeau County, near the towns of Arcadia and Independence. Among them were the families of Jakub and Anna's four adult sons: Jan, Franciszek, Jakub, and Wojciech.

Jan "John" (1830-1916) had one son by his first wife, Julianna nee Bedok, and six children by his second wife, Maria nee Sobotta (1840-1910). They seem to have emigrated from Poland in 1882, because only their youngest child, George D. Skroch (1882-1940) was born in Trempealeau County.

Franciszek "Frank" (1836-1894) and his wife Agnieszka nee Sobotta (1847-1903), had ten children, seven of whom survived to adulthood.  The first of their children to be born in the United States was their sixth child, Michael Clarence Skroch (1877-1953). Michael married Anna Bambenek (1884-1976), daughter of the late Walenty Bambenek (1856-1888) and Paulina nee Rozek Bambenek Bautch, in 1903 at Independence.

Jakub "Jake" (1838-1917) and his wife Renetta nee Filla (1846-1897) had eight children. Their fourth child, Urban Skroch (1878-1967) was the first to be born in the United States. Urban's oldest son, James Peter "Jake" Skroch (1905-1995), longtime supervisor on the Green Bay and Western Railroad, was named to the Winona Polish Hall of Fame in 2013.

Wojciech "Albert" (1843-1888) and his wife Christina nee Lukaszczyk (1849-1888) had six children. First of these to be born in the United States was their fifth child, Michael Alphonse Skroch (1883-1970).