Minnesota Church Baptism Records
The following churches are included in this index:
| Church Name | Location | Dates of Inclusion | Number of Records |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Saints | Minneapolis, MN | Aug. 2, 1916 – 1940 | 1707 |
| Holy Cross | Minneapolis, MN | Aug. 1, 1886 – 1940 | 8,463 |
| Sacred Heart PNCC | Minneapolis, MN | May 24, 1914 – May 4, 1933 | 265 |
| St. Adalbert | St. Paul, MN | Apr. 30, 1911 – 1940 | 5,709 |
| St. Casimir | St. Paul, MN | Nov. 27, 1892 – 1940 | 3,247 |
| St. Hedwig | Minneapolis, MN | Dec. 27, 1914 – 1940 | 707 |
| St. John the Baptist | New Brighton, MN | July 20, 1902 – 1940 | 827 |
| St. Joseph | Lexington, MN | Apr. 30, 1905 – 1940 | 341 |
| St. Joseph | Delano, MN | May 22, 1904 – 1940 | 229 |
| St. Mary of Czestochowa | Delano, MN | Aug. 13, 1911 – 1936 | 413 |
| St. Philip | Minneapolis, MN | Dec. 6, 1908 – 1940 | 1,798 |
| Total Records 23,706 |
"A handful of Poles at most came to Minnesota during territorial times..... Polish immigrants began to arrive in the state in appreciable numbers in the 1850s, primarily from the German controlled western regions of Kashubia (Kaszubia), Pomerania, Poznania, and Silesia. These regions of Poland enjoyed a somewhat more prosperous and modern system of agriculture.....Their fellow immigrants from the Austrian and Russian partitions were, by contrast, more attracted to wage labor in cities and mines." (From: Poles in Minnesota, John Radzilowski, Minnesota Historical Society Press. 2005. pg 5)
Minneapolis was a first destination for many Galician emigrants from the western Polish Carpathian Mountains. In the book, They Chose Minnesota (Holmquist, J.D., Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1981, pg 366), Frank Renkiewicz, in his chapter on the Polish in Minnesota, makes the observation: "Factors such as these (progressively smaller land holdings) drove people from the poor pasture and woodlands near the villages of Rabka and Jordanów and the town of Nowy Targ in Podhale in the foothills of the Carpathians. For $45-$60 they might travel as far as Minnesota. Northeast Minneapolis was their principal destination, particularly at the turn of the century."
If your ancestors emigrated from western Galicia (Austrian partition) in southern Poland, it is possible they or family members may have left records at any of five churches in Minneapolis considered to be ethnically Polish. Four are Roman Catholic: Holy Cross, St. Philip’s, St. Hedwig’s, and All Saints. The fifth church, Sacred Heart of Jesus, is a Polish National Catholic Church. Holy Cross is the oldest and largest church associated with Polish immigrants in Minneapolis.
This indexing project originated in 2002 by John Rys when he began indexing records from the five Polish churches in Minneapolis, starting with his home parish, the Church of St. Philips. After the five Minneapolis Polish churches were indexed, the project expanded to the adjoining Twin City of St. Paul and adjacent Polish churches.
Once extracted, some Minneapolis data was analyzed with interesting results. Baptismal "given" names were analyzed for popularity and methods of selection. Results were published in "Analysis of Polish First Names at the Turn of the 20th Century" (Rodziny, Winter 2006, pgs 9-15).
Used by Polish Family Information with permission of the copyright owner.
exact match: enter the name exactly the way you want it found (e.g., Adam will find ONLY Adam).
match first: enter the first part of name to be matched (e.g., Adam will find Adam, Adamik, Adamowski).
wildcard search: enter any part of the name (e.g., Adam will find Adam, Adamik, Adamowski, and Hadam).
Provided you are using "match first" or "wildcard search", you may use the % character to represent any number of letters and the _ (underline) character to represent one specific letter. Additional explanation here.