Mchy, once known by the German name of Emchen, is a village in the district of Srem. In 1889, 214 people inhabited the village in 19 houses. Of those 214 people, 204 were Catholic, 10 were Protestant, and 60 were unable to read or write! For the most part, these people were farmers.
The village was the original homestead of the Mchowski family, which established a Catholic parish church here. The date the church was established is not known, but documents show it was well-established in the early part of the 16th century. Originally it was a wooden structure with a copper steeple. In the mid-17th century it was covered over with bricks. The parish resided on 374 acres, and contained a mill used to run an alcohol business, as well as a kiln used in brick production. In 1873, the church had 1766 parishioners.
This church, known as St. Martin the Bishop, served the citizens of the village of Charlub, among others, and was the place of worship of our ancestors. One can only imagine the Jankowski family walking the 3 kilometers from Charlub to Mchy every Sunday to worship. Baptism records have been obtained for all of Konstantin Jankowski's children. Also, death records are on file for those who died before emigrating from Poland.
(taken from the Slownick Geograficzny published in 1889)
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the approach to Mchy
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St. Martin the Bishop Catholic Church at Mchy | Statue of Bishop Antoni Baraniak - Mchy |