Tomasz Wrycza

All children born in Poland.

In the 1880 US census Thos. (69yrs) & Agnes (59yrs) Writscha are living at Owatonna, Steele County, Minnesota, USA.

Near to them are living Ludwig (27yrs) & Josephine (22yrs) Rudwick, John Hoens (54yrs), John (50yrs) & Antonia (41yrs) Jelinski and John & Nellie J. Reash

This story was told by Josephine Rudnick, grandchild of Thomas Wrycza and Agnes Szczpanski:

Thomas and Agnes had six daughters and one son. The son died in Germany in infancy. The second daughter, Katie, married a Polish man: Frank Bruski and they came to America on their wedding trip. When they were here for a while they sent for the older sister, Mary, and she married a widower named Joseph Newman who had one son. They all liked it here and decided that the rest of the folks should come, too. So it was my grandfather and grandmother and the other daughters came. They sold what they had in Germany, but their bedding and clothing. When they got to New York they ran out of money. So what to do? So Grandfather and Grandmother stayed in New York and sent the daughters to Owatonna, MN to tell them to telegraph them some money. But it must have been some time had passed because when the girls arrived in Owatonna, they didn't know or remember. They did not want to give them their things until Aunt Mary came to fix things up. I think mother said it was their feather beds and clothing. Bruski was a Section Boss on a railroad being built from Winona to Owatonna, and he was hiring men for the railroad and he soon had young fellows for the girls. That's how my mother met my father. Rudolph Louis Rudnik. Julia married Joseph Orlowski, Veronica married Michael Karaus, Magdalene married Washington Albert. Those folks are all dead and most of them buried in Owatonna, MN.