Marcin Reszka

In 1855 the first Polish settlers came to Winona, Minnesota. Records of most of the original Polish settlers at Winona show that they were citizens of Prussia or Germany and many of them had served in the German army. Some could speak German better than Polish. These first Polish families were an advance party for many more Polish people to come later. The new families wrote letters to their Polish friends in Europe to tell them what a fine place Winona with its surrounding farm area was. The poles took up residence in the east end of Winona. Their letters were well received in Europe, with the result that many more Polish people became interested in Winona.
Newspapers also promoted settlement in the Minnesota Territory and over one thousand steamboat arrivals in St. Paul, filled with settlers. On May 11, 1858 Minnesota becomes the thirty-second state admitted to the Union of the United States of America.

In 1857 an estimated twenty-five more Polish settlers, some of them with their families, came to Winona following the route through New York and St. Louis. When the 1857 group came to Winona they also settled in the east end, building shelters on the open prairie. Their little east end group settlement was called "Warsaw" by themselves and by other Winona settlers.

Martin Reszka was among another group of Kashubian Poles to come to America, and settle in the Mississippi Valley in 1859. Martin left his village of Dywan, Lipusz Parish and travelled to the Port of Hamburg. Martin with his wife Eva Nosinska, a six month old baby and their three children, boarded the Donau, on its way to America. The Donau arrived in New York on August 25, 1859. Other Kazubian passengers were Franz Pelowski, Joseph Kukowski, Joseph Ganski, J. Czapiewski, and Peter Pelowski among others. Martin and these immigrants are listed as farmers on the ships list and their families followed a similar history, settling the same areas of the upper Midwest as did many Kaszubian Poles who followed them.

Ships list Donau:
1859 -Franz Pelowski, Wentki, Lewandowsky, Lorbietzky, Reschke, Weiher, Rekowska, Zolowski, Kruszicki, Kaldunski, Rollbieki, Kukowski, Peter Pelowski, Zowitz, Czapiewski, Perschik, Ganski

Martin arrived in Winona for the 1860 census, and they where recorded as living in the third ward, house 653, 616th family. Later on in November of that year, Martin applied for citizenship in the United States.

Martin was a day laborer, probably employed in one of the many lumber mills in town, which served as way for immigrants to save money to buy land after several years in Trempealeau County, Wisconsin. Contact Larry Reski for a complete history.