Literacy

Many of the people in the time period covered by the records I am looking at (about 1750 to 1920) were illiterate, unable to either read or write. This seemed to occur both during the time the records were in Polish as well as when they were in Russian (1868-1917.) The woman NEVER signed except in the case of a midwife who signed a few records. So far I haven’t found any records on the Raczkiewicz side that indicate either they or a witness could read or write but this makes sense since they were peasant farmers in villages at the time. The Kaszucki side has more tradesmen who lived in cities--most of them are illiterate but there are a few examples of people able to sign the records In most of the records, the priest indicates he read the record aloud to the illiterate people present and in most cases, the record is signed only by him. For example, at the remarriage of my 5th great aunt Marianna (Wiciejowska) Bugucka everyone was illiterate so “this record was read to all present there people and signed by the priest J. Kwiatkowski only since the others were illiterate.” Another example is my 4x great grandfather Blaze Wisniowski, 40, who was the foreman of a faience factory who could not write. In 1810, at the birth of his son Jozef, only the witness Jan Bilicki, a tax collector and Father Józef Stomowski, Pastor of Tomaszow Civil Registry Officer signed. When his son Wojciech was born in 1813, both witnesses could sign but the father could not. By 1817, when daughter Anna was born, he was the “famous” Blazej Wisniowski but the record was signed only by the parish priest of Tomaszow, Administrator of the Tomaszow Church, the Civil Registry Officer of the Tomaszow Commune of the Janow District in the Lublin Province. There are a few cases where my relative or one of their witnesses WAS literate. While I haven’t found all the examples, they are in the minority so I want to highlight them: KASZUCKI: My 3rd great grandfather Andrzej Kaszucki, a 30 year old furrier was unable to write but one witness could so, “This record was presented, read out to the witnesses and signed by the witness Michał Kudlicki as the others are unable to write. When his son Josef Kaszucki was a 33 year old furrier and his son Piotr died, Jozef and the witness Santalomon Gumowski, also a furriers were both unable to sign. “After being convinced about his death this record was read to the illiterate witnesses and signed by X.M. Nazarowicz, rector of the Tomaszów parish. “ My 3rd great uncle, Mikolaj Kaszucki, a shoemaker, was able to sign documents, for instance when in 1846 at the death of his son Lukasz. He signed with his first initial: M. Kaszucki. KURKIEWICZ Family 1: My 4th great grandfather Antoni Kurkiewicz, a shoemaker, was unable to read or write therefore, when son Wojciech was born in 1827, “This record was presented, read out to the witnesses and signed by us and Konstanty Kurkiewicz. The father and the witness Romanowicz are unable to write.” By 1830, for the birth of daughter Victoria, Antoni Kurkiewicz and witness Maciej Wyszynski, a barrel maker listened to the priest read the record and then were able to sign it. In 1852, for the death of Antoni Jozef Kurkiewicz, his son Jozef (my 3x great grandfather, 37 and a farmer is able to sign. KURKIEWICZ Family 2: In 1818, the death of “the famous” Pawel Kurkiewicz was reported to the Tomaszow Commune of the Zamosc District in the Lublin Province. The informants were his sons--“the famous” Antoni Kurkiewicz and Walenty Kurkiewicz. I am not sure what about these carpenters made them “famous” but somehow they were held in regard. Antoni signed the record but the priest wrote, “This act has been read and signed by us and one witness, as the other one cannot write.” (By the way, Pawel is the father-in-law of my 5th great aunt --but I think he is also some sort of uncle. I haven’t been able to prove this yet since the records I have access to do not go back far enough.) Konstanty Kurkiewicz was able to sign his name. At the 1834 birth of daughter Katarzyna, he and the 2 witnesses--Antoni Roczniacki, 34, shoemaker & Marcin Cyronski, 39, spoon maker--were all able to sign. In 1855, at the death of Apolonia Kurkiewicz, her husband Konstanty, 67 and son Andrzej Kurkiewicz, both carpenters were both able to sign. CZARNOPYS: For Szczepan Czarnopys’ 1829 marriage to Pelagia Romanowicz, only the witness Marcin Mirowski, 34, a shoemaker and the priest signed the record. Szcepan & Grzegorz Radawski, 22 and a shoemaker were illiterate. A year later for the birth of their son Szyzmon Czarnopys, all of the people present except for one witness were illiterate. “This record was read to the father and the witnesses but signed by the priest and the witness Maciej Gdański only since the others were illiterate. Signatures of M. Gdański,rector of Tomaszów, J. Kwiatkowski.”