Andrzej Kaszucki (1x cousin 3x removed) is Born: The Role of Declarants

Today (november 26) in 1855, Andzej Kaszucki (my 1rst cousin 3x removed) was born in Tomaszow to Mikolaj Kaszucki and his wife Maryanna nee Bratkiewicz. His father Mikolaj was a brother of my 2nd great grandfather Stefan Jozef Kaszucki. Stefan Jozef or Jozef , as he is known in other records, were both furriers. Jozef and another furrier Panteleomon Skrzypczuk were both witnesses for this birth. This story is about Jozef and the role of declarant, witness and Godparent. When records are translated, besides getting information about the person the record is about, they usually list the people that came to celebrate or support these important moments. Many of the people listed are brothers and sisters and brother-in-laws or sister-in-laws. Some seem to be coworkers. Some I haven’t yet determined the relationship. Some names appear more frequently than others and Jozef’s name is one of these. I have only seen a small amount of the available records but easily found eight instances of his involvement. I am sure there are many more: When his father Andrzej Kaszucki (my 3rd great grandfather) died on 18 September 1861 at 2a.m., his son Jozef and another furrier, Mikolaj Tracznaki went two days later on 20 September at 4pm and presented themselves and confirmed his death. In 1862, Jozef was a witness for his uncle Teodor's death. Jozef was a furrier, age 29, at the time. Szymon Zolkiewski, 53, shoemaker was the other one reporting. Also in 1862, Jozef was a declarant for his first wife's death--Katarzyna Szokalawicz, 30. Marcin Hulkiewicz, 40, shoemaker, went with him. Also in 1862 he was listed as a furrier when he was a declarant for Teodor Kaszucki's death. Teodor was his uncle. Szymon Zolkiewski, a shoemaker was the other one. In 1867, Jozef, 34, went with his brother Mikolaj, 45 to report the death of Mikolaj & Maryanna's 3 year old daughter Antonina. They were both furriers. In 1877, he was a 48 year old farmer when he was one of the witnesses reporting his mother Salomea's death. Walenty Lisikiewicz, 31, went with him to report. His mother was 73. In 1879 he was a declarant for the death of his unmarried, 40 year old brother Michal, along with Anton Romanowicz. In 1884,as a 50 year old church sexton, he was a witness for Anna Kurkiewicz's birth. She was a child of Ignacy Kurkiewicz and Antonina nee Czarnopys. Maciej Janusz, 56, was also a witness and the Godmother was Marijanna Czarnopys.