Prenups in Poland in the 1800s

A prenuptial agreement lays out the division of property of a couple who are marrying, in case of death or divorce. There are NO prenups on the Raczkiewicz side during the time period I am looking at--probably since they were peasant farmers. On the Kaszucki side, there are six prenuptial agreements between 1832 and 1851. They were prepared by a notary in the County Circuit of Tomaszów. In one case it is likely whose property is being preserved since the groom is an apprentice weaver and his parents were peasant farmers. In other cases, it was not as clear which family was trying to protect their property. I sorted through the six records trying to find common denominators: There were two where shoemaker families marry shoemaker families. In another, a shoemaker family marries into a family of potters. But other occupations are involved: farmer, barrel maker and furrier. Two were in the Czarnopys family and two were in the Rzczecki family (5x great grandmother.). In four cases the participants were underage (21) In four cases the bride’s father was deceased and in three cases the groom’s father was. The bride’s mother was deceased in three cases and the groom’s mother in one. It is only when I looked at the witnesses to the marriages, did I find a common thread: in five of the six examples, the family was protecting their shoemaker business. In the sixth example, even though neither family were shoemakers, Szczepan Czarnopys, a shoemaker, is one of the witnesses. So it appears that shoemakers had a business that they were interested in protecting. In the first example, the bride’s parents are deceased and the brother--a shoemaker, is one of the witnesses. In 1832, Jan Redzki married Josepha Bratkiewicz (my 5th great aunt). He is an apprentice weaver and his parents were peasant farmers in Losiniec but are deceased. Jozefa had been widowed for one year and this is her second marriage . Her parents are Marcin Kurkiewicz and Franciszka Rzeczyka (5th great grandparents) who were deceased. Earlier, in 1817 when she married Jan Bratkiewicz, his family was furriers but there was no prenup. . She was 15 years old for her first marriage and was referred to as “the renowned Miss Jozefa Kurkiewicz,” implying her family had some status. Her family was referred to as “former Laninkow jurors of the town of Tomaszow Lubelski.” The witnesses are Konstanty Kurkiewicz, 44, a carpenter and Antoni Kurkiewicz, 48, a shoemaker and brother of the bride. For this second marriage of hers, there was a prenuptial: ” The newlyweds confirmed that they a prenuptial agreement arranged on 5th August 1832 by Michał Celejowski , notary of Tomaszów county.” In the second example, the groom is an apprentice shoemaker, his father is deceased and the two witnesses are older shoemakers. In 1833, 19 year old Mataeusz Bulewicz, apprentice shoemaker, married 17 year old Antonina Wiciejewska (my 4th great aunt.) His father is deceased. Her father Maciej is a potter, likely at the faience factory owned by the notable Zamoyski and her mother is deceased. Both are underage so need their parents’ permission to marry. The witnesses are Konstanty Kurkiewicz, 44, a carpenter and Antoni Kurkiewicz, brother of the bride, 48, a shoemaker. The newlyweds confirmed that they had arranged a prenuptial agreement on 10th February in front of Michał Celejowski, notary in the County of Tomaszów.” In the third example, one of the witnesses is Szezpan Czarnopys’s brother-in-law and they are both shoemakers. Even though her family is listed as farmers, they are deceased and may also have been shoemakers when younger. Also, this is the second one with a Rzeczyki family member In 1839, Pawel Rzeczycki married Agnieszka Czarnopys. They are both 19 years old so are underage and need parental permission. His parents were barrel makers. Her parents Kacper Czarnopys and Malgorzata née Gdański, were farmers but at this point were deceased. Witnesses- Józef Denys , farmer, 62 and Antoni Romanowicz, shoemaker age 31, both residing in Tomaszów. “The newlyweds confirmed that they had a prenuptial agreement arranged before Grzegorz Kozłowski , notary in Circuit of Tomaszów.” In fourth example, Szczepan Czarnopys and another shoemaker are witnesses and related to the bride--her family was shoemakers. Both fathers were deceased. The groom is a shoemaker. In 1841, Mikolaj Iwanicki, 21 married Krystyna Halkiewicz, 24. Mikolaj, a Greek Catholic, was a shoemaker, as well as his deceased father. He was living with his mother. Krstyna, a Roman Catholic, was the daughter of the deceased Antoni Halkiewicz and Malgorzata Mirowska. Her family were shoemakers. She was also living with her mother. The witnesses were Jan Dziczakiewicz, 39 and Szczepan Czarnopyś, 34. “The newlywed declared that they signed the prenuptial agreement on Nov.5 current year at the notary Grzegorz Kozłowiecki's office.” In the fifth example, Szczepan Czarnopys and his son Simon (the groom) are both shoemakers and one of the witnesses is a shoemaker. The bride’s deceased father was a shoemaker. They were both underage so needed parental permission. Szymon Czarnopys, 18 married Maryanna Halkiewicz, 20 . Szymon and his parents were shoemakers and so were the bride’s family but the father was deceased. The witnesses are Łukasz Nazarewicz, 50, a blacksmith and Antoni Roczniawski, 48, a shoemaker. “The newlyweds confirmed that they had a prenuptial agreement which was arranged before Michał Celejawski , notary in Circuit of Tomaszów on 15th February 1849.” In the sixth example, Szcepan Czarnopys is again involved as a witness. The groom’s brother is a shoemaker though he and the rest of his family are furriers. In 1851, Stefan Jozef Kaszucki, (my 3x great grandfather) was 18. The family was Greek Catholic. Stefan was a furrier and his family were furriers for at least several generations back. He was born in Uhnow, Galicia, Austria -- which is now in the Ukraine--and had moved to Tomaszow Lubelski with two of his brothers. The marriage was to Katarzyna Szokalewicz, 19, his first wife. (He later married my 3x grandmother Paulina Kurkiewicz.) Katarzyna’s family was also Greek Catholic. They were farmers--it is unclear if they owned a farm or worked as laborers. Szcepan Czarnopys, a shoemaker, was a witness. “Prenuptial agreement arranged in front of Michał Celejawski, notary in Circuit of Tomaszów at # 23 , on 20 January /1st February 1851”