Roots of the Polish Club
Trafford’s Polish Club first organized in July 1915, as the Saint John Kanty Lodge #855, sponsored by the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America. In July 1916, the lodge hosted the Western Pennsylvania Polish National Defense Committee with guest speaker Victor L. Alski, editor of Hasło Polskie, a Pittsburgh Polish newspaper. A key topic of discussion was the work of the Polish National Defense Committee supporting the Polish Legions then fighting against Russia.
Plans were being made in Trafford to celebrate Piłsudski Day on August 6, 1916, the second anniversary of the day Józef Piłsudski declared Russia the enemy of Poland. Piłsudski formed the Polish Legions to assist the Central Powers in defeating Russia, hoping for Poland’s independence. Less than a year after this Trafford meeting, the US would be drawn into the war against the Central Powers. Russia would pull out of the war near the end of 1917, and Piłsudski would be imprisoned by the Germans.
Peter (Kiellar) Kellar (1888-1972) was then treasurer of the Trafford Branch of the Defense Committee. He immigrated to the United States in 1910. Prior to immigrating, he served two months as a private for Austria’s infantry (Austro-Hungarian Empire), likely being compulsory enlistment. Only two children appear in this 1919 photo at the St. John Kanty Lodge. Peter's wife Caroline Koluko Kellar (1895-1983) is holding their daughter Joan Kellar Istanich (1919-2008) and Peter Keller is holding their son Stanley Kellar (1915-1999). Stanley Kellar would later serve overseas in the US Army for three years during WWII where an estimated 6 million Polish citizens perished during the Second World War.
| Actual dates provided by family records: |
| Stanley Kellar 1915 |
| Joan Keller 1919 |
| Genevieve Keller 1920 |
| John Keller 1924 |
A few years after the First World War ended, Peter and seven men from Trafford (all from Poland or Hungary), appeared before the US Nationalization Service and signed their “Declaration of Intention” renouncing allegiance to any foreign prince, state, sovereignty, etc. The group that signed on December 12, 1921, included William Wojtas, Martin Zigarovich, Piotr Kiellar, Frank Czapor, Stanislaw Glazar, Jan Jozefczyk, and Paul Zigarovich.
This last photo here illustrates the location of the original Lodge roof and the structure that was later built in 1962. Today, the top of the gambrel roof is gone, and it has been replaced by a new gable roof. The first photo in this article shows the flags being suspended from this front porch. A majority of the names of people who appear in that Sept 1919 photo can be seen in Trafford's 75th Anniversary book. The "torn" photo was found in a local antique store.
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| Anne Capets standing in her front yard on Inwood Ave. The Polish Club is seen in the background. Her grandfather Joseph Kuchta and Grand Uncle John Krygowski were early members of the club. | Joseph Kuchta (1882-1923) pictured above (center) was the grandfather to Anne Capets. | John Krogowski (1884-1929) was brother-in-law to Joseph Kuchta, and husband of Nellie Kuchta (1887-1931). |
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| George Surmacz, pictured above, was the father-in-law to Jennie Kellar Surmacz (1920-014) another child of the Kellers mentioned above. |
