![[Skroch
picture]](Skroch_FJ_1.JPG)
Skroch, Frank John
(Oct. 10, 1860 - Apr. 19, 1938)
Pioneer in
the Dakotas
After coming to America with his parents in 1882, Frank John Skroch of Popielow in Lower Silesia, across the Oder River from the historic city of Brzeg, spent several winters in the Dakotas, working in the woods as a lumberjack or carpenter in Watertown, S.D. The blizzard of 1884 and the rain and snow of 1896 and 1897 remained vivid in his memory. He was 16 miles from his boarding house when he was caught in a blizzard. He dug his way through the snow to a strawpile, used to shelter cattle, and crawled under it. The blizzard forced him to stay in the strawpile until the following day. Two years of rain and snow filled the bed of Lake Tewauken which did not go dry again until 1934.
In the meantime, he met Victoria Maczkowicz, the daughter of Polish immigrants that moved from Iron Ridge, Wisconsin, to Breckenridge, North Dakota, and then to Geneseo, in Sargent County. North Dakota, where it put up a sod shanty and used oxen to plow the land. Despite the fact that he was 18 years older, they were married August 23, 1897, in the Polish church, St. Martin of Tours, at Geneseo, which the first settlers called Gniezno after the ancient capital of Poland, where the Polish ruler was converted to Christianity in 966. The year after their marriage Skroch bought one acre of land from a Polish farmer for $10 and built a house on it. It wasn't the only one he built. He built a lot of farm houses and barns in Geneseo, Lingerwood, and other places. His wife, with whom he had ten children, died May 14, 1928, in a hospital at Fergus Falls, Minnesota. He died April 19, 1938, in the home of his son, Theodore Skroch, in Lidgerwood.
On the family's website, it notes changes in this kind of information.
From: Edward Pinkowski 2009
Family's Note
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Name: Frank John Skroch, (see detail) Parents: John Skroch and Julianna Bedok Descended: John, Jacob Spouses: 1 Children: 10 | ... |
DOB: 10 Oct 1860 POB: Popielow, Upper Silesia, Poland DOD: 19 Apr 1938 POD: Geneseo (Sargent Co.), ND |
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Spouse: Victoria Anna Maczkowicz, (see detail) Spouse Parents: John Maczkowicz and Effie Dix Married: 23 Aug 1897, St. Martin's, Geneseo, ND | ... |
DOB: 28 Oct 1878 POB: Iron Ridge (Dodge Co.), WI DOD: 14 May 1928 POD: Fergus Falls (Hospital), MN |
Anna, 21 Nov 1897, DOD: 17 Feb 1898
Julia, 26 Apr 1899, DOD: 01 Feb 1900
Frances Virginia, 13 Jan 1901, (see detail)
George Lawrence , 21 Oct 1902
Victoria (Dora), 13 Aug 1904, (see detail)
John, 16 Apr 1906
Theodore Thomas , 26 Jul 1907
Albert, 15 Apr 1910
Peter Carl, 23 Feb 1912
Frank, 10 Mar 1915, DOD: 27 Sep 1918
Detail: Frank John Skroch
Grandpa Frank followed his Dad to Independence, Wisconsin when he was 21 years old. In 1883 he went to Watertown S.D. and worked around that area as a Carpenter. He left Watertown in 1887 when he went into the Red River Valley near Grand Forks, N.D. where he worked until 1889 at which time he returned to his home in Wisconsin. In March 1893 he came back to Geneseo, N.D. where he lived till 1931. He then lived in Lidgerwood N.D., part of his time with his daughter Frances and the rest of the time with his son Ted until his death April 18, 1938.
I wish I had gotten to know Grandpa.
Source: Theodore (Ted) Skroch, family's website: http://skroch.org/tree
From: Edward Pinkowski (2009)