2nd President of the Polish National Alliance

Born in the Poznan district of German-ruled Poland, Kociemski came to America in 1854 and settled in Chicago where he became the proprietor of a picture frame making factory.

 

The great Chicago fire of 1871 destroyed his business; until then he had been "one of the wealthiest Poles in the city."

 

Kociemski was a founder of the Gmina Polska patriotic club in 1866 and one of the earliest supporters of the Polish National Alliance, winning election as treasurer between 1880-1882. Kociemski served four terms as president "during the darkest era in PNA history," and later chaired the PNA library and museum at the time of its establishment in 1894.