The earliest Dachteras for which records have been found, were born in the 17th century. The Roman Catholic church records for Parkowo, list the burial of Agnes Dachtera in 1702.

Baptism records are found for Adalbert in 1703, Teresa in 1704 and Catherine in 1706. They were the children of Adalbert Dachtera and his wife Lucia Lyczywek*. It is reasonable to assume that Adalbert Dachtera was born before 1683.

Where the occupation of the husband can be read, Dachtera men are usually listed as laborers, farmers without their own land, or farmers who own land. Not much can be inferred from this information. Men who farmed land owned by their father or other family member would have been shown as farmers who do not own land. On the other hand, they may have been tenant farmers living and working on a large farm or estate.. Other occupations seen are shepherd and servant.

So far, church records for Oborniki, Parkowo, and Powidz have been reviewed. Civil records have not been reviewed.

I have not yet found my Dachtera ancestors in Poland although my collection of Dachteras has grown quite large. Now all I have to do is to find the connections among them, and eventually see where MY family fits in.

Joseph Dachtera, my great-grandfather brought his family to the USA in 1881. He and his wife, Magdalena Kaczmarek had three children, Stanislaus (Stanley), Rosalie, and Stanislawa (Stella). They arrived in Baltimore with Pittsburgh as their stated destination. Two sons, Andrew and Valentine (also known as Bill) were born in Pennsylvania. No research has been done in Pennsylvania. I have assumed that Joseph worked in the coal mines there. By 1887, they had relocated to St. Paul where their last two children, Anna and Pauline were born.

We don't know how Pennsylvania became their first destination, or why they moved to Minnesota. Pennsylvania census records for 1880 were searched to see if there was a Dachtera or Kaczmarek already there. Results were negative. Perhaps they joined some other relative or friend. Perhaps they had heard or read of work available there for immigrants and were the first of their family to emigrate.

Of Joseph's living grandchildren, I've spoken only to Ed Lewandoski who was a small boy in Joseph's declining years. Because he was so young, and Joseph so old and lacking in English, Ed has no additional information about Joseph's early years in the US. Research continues.

Joseph's oldest son,Stanley (Stanislaus) Dachtera, my grandfather, married Tekla Raczynka in St. Paul. Of their 10 children, 6 survived to adulthood. Their last child, Ambrose was my father.

US census records indicate that Tekla was born in Poland (Prussia) and came to the United States in 1888. Nothing else is known about her family.

If you are related to this family or want more information, I would love to hear from you. Contact me.

* Spelling may be inaccurate due to the difficulty of reading the records.