KOSCIUSKO, TEXAS. Kosciusko is at the junction of Farm roads 541 and FM1347, twelve miles east of Floresville in southeastern Wilson County. It was named for the Polish General Thaddeus Kosciusko when it was established March 12, 1880 by sixty-five Polish families.   In 1892 a Polish Catholic school was built.  Over time, the town consisted of a General Store, with a Post Office inside that opened in 1896, blacksmith shops, a meat market, a saloon, a cotton gin, and a garage.   The catholic school, run by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word,   closed in 1969.  Kosciusko also has a baseball field where teams still play.  Two businesses are still in operation today - a meat market and a service station which also sells seed & fertilizer. The first Church was built in 1898.  The people gathered together and with $2,000 built the first Church and named it St. Ann.  The wooden church measured 80ft x 40ft.  A replica of this church can be seen over to the right, underneath the picture of the current church.  The current church was built in 1951 and this time around cost $117,000, not including the furnishings.  Kosciusko is an active church community with the following organizations:  Altar Rosary Society, St. Joseph Men's Society, St. Ann's children choir and adult choir, a church finance board, pastoral council and a cemetery committee.  CCD classes are held  in a separate building next to the church, and the Community Hall is kept in good shape for weddings, picnics, dances, etc. The Community Hall has its own website, www.kosciuskohall.com You can go this website to schedule the hall for your own event or see what bands are playing at the Hall for upcoming dances. St. Ann's Catholic Church welcomes everyone to attend their annual picnic.  It is always the first Sunday in August.  It is a HUGE picnic with something for everyone -- Bingo, Raffle, Auction, Barbque plates with beef and brisket and all the fixins, horseshoe tournament, games for children, old tractors, ice cold beer and sodas, etc.  Call the church at (830) 745-2541 for current mass schedule. Who was General Thaddeus Kosciusko? Ask anyone who attended the West Point Military Academy and they will tell you who and what Thaddeus Kosciusko did for our country.  You could also ask the handful of farmers in Kosciusko and they can tell you, too. To get right to the point, Thaddeus Kosciusko was a brilliant, educated military engineer born in Poland in 1746.  Because of his aptitude and exceptional potential, the Polish Government sent him to the best schools in Warsaw, Germany, Italy, and France.  He used his skills to help Poland but in 1776, the Polish military did not need him and he wanted to put his skills to use.  The United States was fighting the American Revolution and was hiring skilled military personnel from other countries to help them gain an advantage.  Thaddeus Kosciusko offered his services to George Washington and was immediately appointed as an engineer with the rank of Colonel in the American Army.   History considers the Battle of Saratoga as the turning point of the American Revolution and the credit for this victory was due to Kosciusko's skills and fortitude as an engineer. After the Battle of Saratoga, General George Washington considered West Point to be the most important strategic position in America. In 1778, Washington personally selected Thaddeus Kosciusko, one of the heroes of Saratoga, to design the fortifications for West Point.  Kosciusko's fortifications were going so well that  Washington transferred his headquarters to West Point in l779. For two years, Kosciusko designed and supervised the elaborate fortifications.  Continental soldiers built forts, batteries and redoubts and extended a l50-ton iron chain across the Hudson to control river traffic. Fortress West Point was never captured by the British, despite Benedict Arnold's treason.  His clever ideas and the use of whatever resources he had at hand, made it impossible for the British to penetrate thru West Point. In 1783, he was promoted to Brigadier General and granted citizenship, was promised a pension and land -- lots of land.  Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse for Kosciusko after this time. The money & land the United States promised Kosciusko (and many others) was not forthcoming.  The founding fathers promised more than what they had to give in their earnest to win the Revolution.  Even in its infancy, politics were alive & well in the United States.  The US was young and poor and simply did not have the wealth to give away all the $$$ and land it promised.  Many individuals had to go thru the court system just to receive a fraction of what they were promised.  Kosciusko did not spend his time waiting to receive what was promised him.  He went back to Poland in 1784 -- at this point Poland needed him because they were fighting the Russian Emperor.  He won many battles for Poland but overall, the Polish Army was defeated. The Russians confined him to a dungeon, cross-examined and tortured him.  He was left in the dungeon for two years and the unattended wounds deprived him of the use of his legs.  A new Russian Emperor came into power and Kosciusko was released upon the condition he would not act against Russia ever again, and was pretty much banned from his country. He went to England and Switzerland to help Poland gain independence thru diplomatic means.  In 1798, Thomas Jefferson asked him to mediate on behalf of the US with France to avoid war.  He met with Napolean Bonaparte.  He spent the last years of his life trying to gain support for a central education system.  He never married.  He was sympathetic for the plight of the blacks in America and made Thomas Jefferson executor of his will, with instructions his land and most of his money be used to free the black people in slavery.  He died in Switzerland on October 15, 1817 at the age of 72, due to complications from a horse-riding accident.  His will was contested by his relatives.  It was finally resolved by the United States Supreme Court in 1852 (thirty-five years after his death!)Sadly, in its final decision, the court went against Kosciusko's wishes and the relatives won.   Thaddeus Kosciusko's remains were returned to Poland in 1818.  His body is entombed in the cathedral of Krakow, next to Polish Kings, which is considered a great honor for someone who was not born royalty. Thaddeus Kosciusko was a brilliant engineer.  The first monument ever erected at West Point is of Thaddeus Kosciusko.  It became a military academy in 1802.  There is a rock garden at West Point which Kosciusko made and is still kept up to this day, in his honor.  So whether you spell Thaddeus Kosciusko's name with a "z" or not, remembering what he did for the United States is the important thing.  Thaddeus Kosciusko himself wrote his name both with a "z" (Kosciuszko) and without, when writing in English.  Supposingly, the majority of his early writings are without a"z", so I write it without a z. If you are interested in other communities in Texas go to www.tsha.utexas.edu/ This is the Handbook of Texas and has some basic information on all communities in Texas.  The information about the community of Kosciusko came from a brochure St. Ann's Catholic Church compiled.  The information about Thaddeus Kosciusko is from a two-page report I submitted to the Church and the abbreviated version can be found in the same brochure.