Silesians to Wright County, Minnesota

Silesians to Wright County, Minnesota


Villages Where Delano Silesians Emigrated From

Silesians who settled in Delano, Wright County, Minnesota, came from the Opole area of Upper Silesia. The primary villages where they emigrated from were Brynica, Węgry, and Luboszyce. They immigrated between 1868 and 1890 (peaking around 1880).

Brynica (Brinnitz in German)

Brzyce is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Lubniany, within Opole County, Opole Voivodeship in southwestern Poland. It is 10 miles north of the regional capital Opole and currently has a population of 1,200.

Brynica Parish

The Catholic church in Brynica is St. Stephen Church, which is in the Diocese of Gliwice. This Diocese was established in 1992 from the Diocese of Czestochowa, Diocese of Katowice and Diocese of Opole.

Link to Wikimedia Photos of St. Stephen Church

Find-a-Grave for Brynica – There are 1,088 graves listed, some from the late 1800s, many from the 1900s.

FamilySearch has many baptism, marriage and death records for St. Stephen church, dating from 1657 to 1960, which were obtained from the State Archives of Opole and the Diocese Archives of Opole. Some are available online from home, some are available at LDS Affiliate locations (the Hoffman Research Library is an affiliate), and others are only available at the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

St. Stephen Church in Brynica
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Link to Free Documentation License

Luboszyce (Luboschütz in German).

Luboszyce is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Lubniany, within Opole County, Opole Voivodeship in southwestern Poland. It is 5 miles north of the regional capital Opole and currently has a population of 1,000.

Luboszyce Parish

The church in Luboszyce is St. Anthony of Padua – there is not much online about this church. FamilySearch has records for this church from 1920-1957, so it is possible that the church was established in the 1900s as it doesn’t appear that there are records before that time.

Saint Anthony of Padua Church in Luboszyce
(Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia)

Węgry (Wengern in German)

Węgry is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Turawa, within Opole County, Opole Voivodeship in southwestern Poland. It is 7 miles north-east of the regional capital Opole and currently has a population of 800.

Węgry parish

The Catholic church in Węgry is St. Joseph. FamilySearch has birth, marriage and death records for this church from 1923-1958. However, they are not available online from home. Some are only available at LDS Affiliate locations (the Hoffman Research Library is an affiliate), and others are only available at the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City. It is possible that the church was established in the 1920s as it doesn’t appear that there are records before that time.

Turawa Parish

It is uncertain where Catholics from Węgry attended church before 1923, but a guess is Turawa, which is less than four miles from Wegry. The Church of Sts Peter and Paul was the Catholic Church there. FamilySearch has baptism, marriage and death records for this church from 1813 to 1924, which were obtained from the State Archives in Warsaw and the Diocese Archives of Opole. Some are available online from home, some are available at LDS Affiliate locations (the Hoffman Research Library is an affiliate), and others are only available at the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

St. Joseph Church in Węgry
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Link to Free Documentation License