It is certainly incumbent that within the pages of this work be incorporated a brief review of the career of Father Kowalski, the able and honored rector of the Polish National Church at Priceburg, Lackawanna county, where he labors with all of zeal and consecration in the uplifting of his fellow-men and the furthering of the work of the divine Master whom he serves with earnest devotion.
Father Kowalski was born in Russo-Poland 30 Sep 1866, and is a son of Joseph and Mary Kowalski, both of whom passed their entire lives in their native land, where the father was the owner of a good farm. Both he and his wife died about 1890 and their farm is now in the possession of their eldest son, Joseph, while the only daughter also resides in Poland, so that the subject of this tribute is the only representative of the family in America. Father Kowalski secured his early educational discipline in the parochial schools of his native province, and later entered the Catholic Seminary in Pultusk, Poland, where he completed his classical and divinity courses, being graduated as a member of the class of 1892 and also being there ordained to the priesthood of the Catholic Church, of which his honored parents were devoted members. He officiated in the priesthood for a period of ten years, within which time he had made a careful study and investigation regarding the independent or Polish national movement, an account of which is given in the sketch of the life of Bishop Hodur, appearing on other pages of this work, and his interest became intense, as the movement was in harmony with his ideas and aspirations, so that he decided to become apostate of the Church of Rome and to identify himself unequivocally with the new organization. He accordingly entered into correspondence with Bishop Hodur, one of the revered leaders of the church and movement in the United States, and this correspondence led to his immigration to America in 1902.
He was appointed to the church of the Polish National Church at Chicopee, Massachusetts, where he remained about eighteen months, at the expiration of which time he was assigned to the church at Duryea, Pennsylvania, and six months later was called to his present important pastorate at Priceburg, where his labors have greatly inured to the spiritual and temporal upbuilding of the parish. Two hundred families are represented in the membership of the church, while there are in addition fully one hundred and fifty unmarried communicants. The church edifice is a substantial and attractive building, and the parochial school is well attended and ably conducted. Father Kowalski has direct charge of all branches of the parish work, and his zeal and devotion are unceasing, while he has gained the affectionate regard and earnest cooperation of his people and is highly esteemed in the community, being a man of marked intellectual ability and of sterling characteristics.