October is Polish Heritage month. The St. Louis American readers may wish to know the last will and testament of Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a Polish patriot who also fought in the American Revolution: “I, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, while making preparations for my departure from America, declare and establish that, should I, by testament, not deal otherwise with my estate in America, by this document, authorize my friend, Thomas Jefferson, to use it entirely for the ransom of Negroes, his own or others, to grant them freedom in my name, to provide them with opportunities of learning a trade or to undertake any other study, to direct them in the practice of moral duties, that they be conducive to becoming good neighbors, good fathers or good mothers, husbands or wives in their duties as citizens, instructing them to be defenders of their liberty, of their country and of the good social order; and for their education in all that may contribute to their happiness and mold them into efficient human beings.”
Joseph J. Kuciejczyk
St. Louis