Jan and Regina Krupa family in Chicago ~1878-1916

Jan and Regina Krupa moved to Chicago from Texas in or before 1878 after immigrating to the United States in 1873. There is not a lot of information about why they immigrated, lived in Texas, or when they moved to Chicago, but they clearly settled in a predominately Polish area in South Chicago.

The first record that Jan and Regina had moved their family to Chicago is that Baptism of their daughter, Mary, at St. Stanislaus Kostka church on the north side of Chicago in September 1878. Their next daughter, Antoinette was also baptized there in 1880.

St. Stanislaus Kostka was the first Polish church in Chicago, founded in 1867. In 1874, Father Vincent Barzynski became pastor of the parish. He was one of the founders of the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America and was a leader of American Poles who established many of the Polish Catholic Parishes in Chicago. More interestingly, he came to the Parish from the diocese of San Antonio, Texas, giving another location to search for the Krupa family.

St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in the 1890s

In May 1882, Jan and Regina’s Krupa’s son, Andrew Krupa, appears as the first Baptism in the register for the then-new Church of the Immaculate Conception in South Chicago.

This parish was founded in 1882 as a new Polish Catholic Parish. The parish shared a church with a German congregation while building their own. On Palm Sunday, 1882, a hurricane destroyed the church just as it was nearing completion. It went on to be a long-standing Polish parish that still exists today.

Immaculate Conception Church in the 1890s

In addition to Andrew, Katheryn was baptized at Immaculate Conception in 1884 and Anna was baptized there in 1886. By then, the older daughters were starting to get married. Bertha Krupa married Joseph Wysocki at Immaculate Conception in 1885 and Josephine Krupa married her first husband there in 1890. Unfortunately, Andrew’s 1890 death from diphtheria is also recorded in the Immaculate Conception deaths register.

Anna Krupa Kazmierski's Baptism Record in the Immaculate Conception register. Anna is Rob's Great Grandmother

In 1892, St. Michael’s the Archangel parish was formed to relieve overcrowding at Immaculate Conception. Jan and Regina Krupa appear to be parishioners there for the rest of their lives. Josephine’s second marriage to John Gulgowski in 1892 was at St. Michael’s, as was Frances’ 1895 marriage to Konstanty Swiontek, Antoinette’s 1897 marriage to Ignatius Granacki, Mary’s 1900 marriage to Alexander Swiontek, Anna’s 1908 marriage to Joseph Kazmierski and Kathryn’s 1911 marriage to Frank Sliwinksi. In addition, bot Jan and Regina appear in the St. Michael’s death register in 1905 and 1916 respectively.

St. Michael the Archangel Church

Joseph Kazmierski and Anna Krupa's Marriage Record in the St. Michael's Marriage Register

In 1890, Jan Krupa is reported to live at 8323 Superior Avenue (which name was changed to Burley Ave in 1916) in both a voter registry and a city directory. They appear here in the 1900 and 1910 U.S. Census and it is listed as the location where Jan died in 1905 and where Regina died in 1916. The Krupa residence at 8323 Superior Avenue is less than a five minute walk from St. Michael’s and is a 20 minute walk from the Immaculate Conception parish.

The Chicago Catholic records are freely accessible on the Church of the Latter Day Saints (LDS) genealogy website. These records have shows that the Krupa family had moved to Chicago by 1878, settled in largely Polish communities and lived there until Jan and Regina’s deaths in 1905 and 1916.