Wincenty Zalewski was born January 23, 1853 in Russian-occupied Poland. He was ordained in the same area on December 20, 1881 and came to the United States in the early 1890s. After having spent a brief period of time at the Polish seminary in Detriot, MI, Zalewski traveled to the Buffalo area in 1892. Here he served as assistant to Ks. Jan Pitass of St. Stanislaus Parish and as pastor of St. Casimir Parish. His name is also found in the records of St. Casimir Parish in Elmira, NY.

The years 1894-1896 saw Zalewski working in the Diocese of Cleveland as an assistant at Toledo's St. Anthony Parish.

After his stay in Toledo, Zalewski ministered to the Independent Polish parishes that began flourishing across the United States. He served at Holy Mother of the Rosary Parish (Buffalo, NY) in 1896 while in 1897 he helped organize an Independent parish in South Milwaukee and served as pastor of a parish in Poznan, WI.

The last reference to Zalewski which can be found names him as pastor or an Independent parish in Philadelphia, PA in 1899. It was in this same area that he spent his last days and died.