Valentin Gierszewski

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11613764

Walenty was a tailor by trade. he already had four brothers and one son in the US who wrote to him about the freedom they had in the new land. In the spring of 1888, they packed up all the belongings they were allowed to take with them and with the entire family, came to the US.His youngest son, Alexander was only two and caused his mother the added inconvenience when he got seasick. The ocean voyage lasted some fourteen weeks and they landed in Quebec, where they went through customs. The customs officer used long probes and were not very careful about how they probed their belongings, especially such items as the quilts and feather ticks and were quickly stopped by protests in Polish by their oldest dau, Elzbieta. Then the long tedious train journey from Quebec via Winnipeg to Neche and on to Minto. Met in Minto by Joseph Slominski and his brother Antoni, with whom they stayed for several weeks. Walenty had previous arrangements with his brother, Antoni, who had purchased a farm for him. Their farm was a homestead that someone had abandoned just across the road from Antoni, the southwest qtr, in Sect 25. This farm had a small barn and a house which was too small for Walenty's family, so the same fall he built a larger which stands today. Walenty's oldest son, John, came here a couple of years earlier. He visited his uncles here but couldn't find a suitable homestead here. He heard that MT was letting homesteads, so he went there and staked what looked like a nice farm. He found it unsuccessful and returned here to homestead. Walenty and Maryanna retired on his own farm and lived with his son Alexander. Maryanne died at the age of 67. They were both failthful members of St. Stanislaus Church at Warsaw and are buried in the St. Stanislaus Cemetery.

Brusy 1840 DW37 0044v-0045 27 Valentin Thomas Gierszewski Regina Sigmanska