Texas Skweres History

References for the Brenham Skweres begin with a Michael and a Jozef Skweres (born March 10, 1850) in the village of Mirzewo Poland (near Jarzabkowo in the province of Poznan). They are the sons of Lorenz and Marianna (Grabinski) Skweres. Marianna died shortly after and Lorenz remarried to Agnes Zukaczyk, who apparently raised Jozef as she is listed as his mother in the church records when Jozef married Agnes Nowaczyk (born Jan 11, 1844 in Malenin, Poland) on Oct 15, 1871 in Witkowo. Agnes is the daughter of Blasius Nowaczyk and his second wife, Marianna Szczesniak.

Jozef and Agnes had six children: Albert (born Nov 19, 1873), Josephine, Franciska, Mike, Rosalia, and Frank.

About 1890, Albert and his second cousin Sylvester left Poland for America, followed by their families. They arrived at Galveston, Texas on May 7, 1891 and settled on the far side of Brenham Texas, near Somerville. Sylvester Skweres' father Michael, the brother of Jozef, died in 1894 and is buried in Calvary Cemetary, Brenham, Texas.

The younger generation soon settled down and began to raise families. Franciska married Mike Kwiatkowski on November 13, 1895 in Brenham. Albert Skweres married Margaret (Magdalena) Twardowski Stegent (born July 15, 1864, died Dec 19, 1926) on November 8, 1894. Albert and Margaret's children were Rosie, Nancy, Anna, Todasia, John, and Wallace. Josephine married Frank Swierkowski in February 1897. Michael married a lady named Waleria, and they had a son named Bruno who became a priest. Rozalia became the second wife of Stanislaus Wisniewski. They married in November 1900. The youngest child, Frank, married Cecilia Golla in November of 1911.

Agnes died September 4, 1899, and is buried in Brenham. Jozef soon remarried to a cousin of Agnes' Ms Anna Kopycinski and had three more children: Charles (died of Pneumonia at the age of 18), Antonette (died at the age of 12), and Martin (married a Jozwiak and had a son named Ike and a daughter name unknown).

On September 24, 1906 at the age of 56 Joe (Jozef) Skweres filed his declaration of intent to become a citizen. It was witnessed by his nephew, Sylvester. Joe filed papers again later, but never gained his citizenship. Suffering from a blood infection he developed from an abscessed tooth, Jozef died on December 7, 1921 and is buried near his first wife Agnes in Calvary Cemetary, Brenham, Texas. Their graves are marked by wooden crosses made from a bois d'arc tree by their youngest son Frank.

Thank you to Rhonda Steedman for information on the Brenham Skweres