Polish Parish, Chaplaincy and School in the Life of the Kashubs in Ontario, in the Latter Part of the 19th Century

Abstract

Polish Catholic parishes played an important role in the life of the Kashubian settlers in Ontario. The Kashubs built their own Polish churches; their children attended parish schools, which helped the young Poles to retain the feeling of their Polish origin and to preserve their knowledge of the Polish language and history.

The every-day life of the Kashubian colonists was connected with the church year, which also gave a chance to maintain Polish tradition in the community. Rev. Józef Spechta, Rev. Tomasz Korbutowicz, Rev. Ludwik Dembski, Rev. Bronislaw Jankowski and Rev. Piotr Biernacki have their great merit in it.

The main wave of Kashubian immigration ended in 1898. Several thousand Kashubians settled in different colonies in the vicinity of Wilno and Barry’s Bay, in contemporary Brudenell, Round Lake Centre, Killaloe, Combermere, Madawaska, Whitney, Renfrew and Pembroke in Ontario province.