HWY 66- POLISH HERITAGE HIGHWAYAn Historic Link
by: Adeline Sopa
Hwy 66 winds its way for about 19 miles through northeastern Portage County from the Interstate 39 overpass, just outside Stevens Point, to its juncture with Hwy 49 at the Waupaca County line to the east of Rosholt. Originally known as McGreer Road, named after Hugh McGreer who opened a sawmill on the Plover River in 1839, and then Jordan Road--it was designated a state highway in 1916. Along this route are located Jordan Park which is nestled along the lake and the Plover River, and the communities of Ellis, Polonia, and Rosholt.
Jordan, originally known as McGreer’s Mills, was the site of one of the earliest sawmills in the area. It had been established by Hugh McGreer, an Irish immigrant who had come to the area in 1839, via Canada. His sale of the mill in the mid-1850’s resulted in a name change to Jordan. Platted in 1857, Jordan was four blocks in size with a population of 165. Businesses included a grocery store, blacksmith shop, sawmill, lath mill, and gristmill. The village existed about 30 years, declining with the end of the lumbering era. By 1904, the Stevens Point Lighting Company was utilizing the water power plant to provide auxiliary electric power to the area. This continued until 1965, when the Wisconsin Public Service Corporation closed the plant and gifted the land to the Portage County Park Commission, creating a recreation area of great natural beauty with its pines, lake, and river.
Jordan Road was extended as the cut over land to the east of Jordan was purchased by the Yankee settlers and soon by the German, Irish, Norwegian, and Polish immigrants. At first a narrow lane through the trees-- it became necessary to construct a corduroy road through the Jordan swamp. Even then, it is reported that this road disappeared for awhile leaving the northeastern area of Portage County quite isolated.
It is in the communities of Ellis and of Polonia, located about midway in the Hwy 66 route, where the history of Wisconsin’s first Polish rural settlement began. Central Wisconsin, and particularly Portage County, has a long and proud Polish heritage. These early Polish families lived in a rugged frontier environment on isolated farmsteads very different from their farming villages back home. They were not welcomed by their German and Irish neighbors even though they shared their faith. They experienced their first opportunity to speak out against authority. Ultimately, wisdom prevailed and their community prospered and grew. Most ethnic parishes in Wisconsin have a history of dissension as the immigrants struggled with the newness of their lives in a much more democratic society.
1857 marked the arrival of the first Polish family, Michael and Frances (Zielewska) Koziczkowski, to the area now known as the town of Sharon. Wisconsin had become a popular destination for immigrants. Even though still a frontier area, its recently attained statehood promised an organized and stable government with little or no threat of conflict. Roads to the north were being constructed along with the promise of railroad service. Inexpensive cut over land was becoming available as the lumbering companies completed their work. Even though the best farm land in Portage County had been claimed by the Yankee, German, Irish and Norwegian settlers who had arrived earlier, Koziczkowski selected this area as the location of his farm. In his estimation, the county offered a promise of progress and growth along with the affordable land prices. The hilly terrain, covered with large stumps as well as with an abundance of large rocks, was undaunting. The landscape was very like that of his homeland. He and his family would tame the land--the land was theirs.
Koziczkowski’s native land had been under foreign rule since the late 1700’s. His area, West Prussia, was located in the Prussian partition. The Kaszuby region, in which he lived, was an agricultural area made up of large estates, small farms, villages, and hamlets. It was very depressed economically. Overpopulation, poor harvests, most estates in Prussian ownership, and farms too small to support a family with no promise of available land had resulted in a large “landless” or migrant work force. Not a bright future for a family with growing sons. It appears as though his family was among the first of this region to leave for America and for the promise of land for a farm.
The next year, 1858, brought the Klesmit, Platta, and Zynda families to the Sharon area. They were followed in 1859, by the Daczyk, Dzwonkowski, Jazdzewski, Konopacki, Kruzycki, Lukaszewicz, Rzepinski, Werachowski, and Wojak families. The Kuklinski, Narloch, Sikorski, and Szulfer families joined them in 1860. 1861, saw the arrival of the Cisewski, Fierkus, Gosz, Kiedrowski, Kleman, Klopotek, Lipski, Palubicki, Prominski, and Szelbraczykowski families along with additional Lukaszewicz and Rzepinski families. Almost all had their origin in the Kaszuby region and most were farmers. In each situation, the entire family--husband, wife, and their children and at times, their parents traveled together to begin a new life in a new land. They did not plan to return. Instead more of their friends, neighbors and relatives were to join them in central Wisconsin. A chain migration of some magnitude resulting in one of the largest settlements of immigrants from the Kaszuby region.
The newcomers were greeted and aided by those who had arrived earlier. Shelter and food was provided until the new family was settled. Log cabins became their new homes. Most of the men sought work, usually in the sawmills and lumber camps, in order to earn the money needed to purchase some land. When purchased, most of the land required clearing from tree stumps and often from huge rocks. Though not a rich soil, the heavy loam was suitable for farming. The families worked together to create productive fields. The crops they grew, mainly potatoes and rye, were similar to those they had grown back home. They had left family and friends in order to find land to farm and they were determined to succeed.
The people of the Kaszuby region were devout Catholics. Their German and Irish neighbors had organized St. Martin’s Catholic Church which had opened in 1857. A small, 20x30 foot wooden frame church was built by the parishioners just to the west of the crossroads on Jordan Road (Hwy 66 & Cty J). Humble, but a place of worship and prayer, it was served by the pastor of St. Stephen’s Church in Stevens Point. Though not welcomed by their neighbors, St. Martin’s also served the Polish community until 1863, when the nearly 40 Polish families gathered to petition for a Catholic Church of their own. Permission was granted and land donated by the Gosz family to the east of the crossroads on Jordan Road was selected as the site. The church, dedicated to St. Joseph, was constructed of hand-hewn logs by the parishioners who donated materials, time, and labor. Priests of Polish ancestry served the parish--the first rural Polish Catholic Church in Wisconsin and one of the earliest in the U.S.
The Civil War interrupted the flow of immigration to all of the U.S. Three young men from Portage County’s Polish community, John Fierkus, Jacob Gosz, and John Platta served their new country. After its conclusion in 1865, the flow to the U.S., soon resumed. The immigration of Poles to Portage County also resumed--drawn no doubt is time to the existing Polish community with a Polish Catholic Church. This time not only with immigrants from Europe, but with a significant number of families coming from other areas in the U.S. such as Dunkirk, NY, and from other areas in Wisconsin such as Milwaukee and Berlin to relocate in this area. Some of these newcomers were Poles from other areas of Poland, mostly from within the Prussian partition. As a result of this growth, the Polish community expanded to the northwestern area of Portage County and into southern Marathon County. Most made the trip to St. Joseph’s to participate in Mass on Sundays and holy days with other Poles. Jordan Road was the main route from Stevens Point and Hull to the church.
The Jordan Road crossroad, dubbed Poland Corners by the Yankee residents, had become a bustling frontier business area serving the farmers of the area as well as the teamsters, and lumberjacks who traveled to and from Stevens Point or the Jordan mills to farms, sawmills or lumber camps in the towns of Sharon and New Hope. A store, hotel, saloons, a blacksmith shop, and a few homes and some hops sheds made up the small community. A post office was established in 1867, and the community was officially named Ellis; Albert Ellisapparently in honor of Albert G. Ellis, the current mayor of Stevens Point. Ellis was an early pioneer of the Wisconsin territory and of the city.
In 1868, August Kluczykowski, Adam Gorecki, and John Koziczkowski were elected to town of Sharon offices and in 1870, Mathias Gosz was elected town chairman. Gustav Baranowski was selected to represent the town on a county committee. One report states that Michael Koziczkowski served on the local school board and the County Board for several years.
About 1870, in the tradition of their homeland, Polish farmers began to use the public square in Stevens Point to bring their produce and animals to market. Their wives also participated in the sales by bringing eggs and garden produce. The Thursday and Saturday market days were not only for business but also for socializing with friends and relatives. Jordan Road was the main route to and from Stevens Point for the residents of the northeastern townships.
The early 1870’s also brought a historic climax and resolution of a problem which had confronted the St. Joseph’s congregation for some time. Noise created by the rowdy and brawling customers of the four neighboring saloons was a distraction during Sunday Mass. Several priests had attempted to negotiate the problem, but to no avail. In 1871, a young Polish immigrant priest, Rev. Jozef Dabrowski, accepted an appointment to serve the parish--his first. After failing to convince the saloonkeepers to cooperate, he made the Josef Dabrowskidecision to move the church 1 1/2 miles to the east. The land had been purchased from Hannah McGreer, wife of Hugh McGreer. The announcement was made at Sunday Mass and the next day, work was begun to dismantle the building and to move it by wagon to the new hillside site which was named Polonia. This move was not without controversy. The saloonkeepers complained about loss of business and some unhappy parishioners resented what they considered the high-handed decision of the young priest. In protest, they constructed a schismatic Polish church at Ellis--St Maria’s, the first in the U.S. Unexplained fires hit the relocated Polonia church and also the convent of the newly arrived nuns of the Order of St. Felix. This was the first mission for the Polish order of nuns in the U.S. In 1876, a new church, rededicated to the Sacred Heart, and a new convent-school were built. Within a short time, the dissident parishioners began to return and the Polonia parish prospered under the direction of Rev. Dabrowski and the Felician nuns.
Go here for more:
www.pchswi.org/archives/townships/hwy66.html
