Felix Wierzbicki

California as It Is and as It May Be, or a Guide to the Gold Region, 1849Felix Wierzbicki ( [Felix Paul Wierzbicki]; 1 January 1815, in Czerniawka, Volhynia, Poland, now Chernyavka, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine – 26 December 1860, in San Francisco) was a Polish-American veteran of the November 1830 Uprising, medical doctor, soldier, traveler, and writer.

Early life Felix Pawel Wierzbicki was born the 1st of January 1815 in Czerniawka, Volhynia, Poland, which is now known as Chernyavka, in the Zhytomyr Oblast of Ukraine. He fought against the Russian Empire at the battles of Grochów and Ostrołęka, as well as in the defense of Warsaw.

At the end of the insurrection, Felix and his regiment retreated into then Austrian-held Galicia, and were disbanded and interned by Austrian forces.

In 1846, he began a two year service in the United States military during the Mexican-American War. The New York Volunteers was a unit organized by Colonel Jonathan D. Stevenson to occupy and settle California. Wierzbicki then participated in the California Gold Rush.

Wierzbicki moved to California and in 1849 Signed A Philokalist ("Lover of Beauty"), credited to Wierzbicki. California as It Is and as It May Be, or A Guide to the Gold Region, 1849.