The Story of Lukasz Grabek & Katarzyna Krawczyk

When Lukasz Grabek (my 3x great grandfather) got married, he had been living with his mother and stepfather. Born around 1798 in Majdan Gorny, Lukasz’s parents were Walenty Grabek and Teresa nee Walawander. His father died when he was 14 and his mother remarried a year later to Grzegorz Lebiedowski. Both Lukasz and his stepfather were working as peasant farmers when he married at age 25. The bride, Katarzyna Krawczyk, age 20, was from Łaszczówka, about four and a half miles away, outside of the city of Tomaszow Lubelski to the southeast. Katarzyna was the daughter of Antoni Krawczyk and his first wife Dorota née Lokaj who also were peasant farmers. Her mother Dorota died four months after her wedding. Katarzyna’s siblings were 5 to 16 years old when Dorota died and their father remarried within two months of her death. ***** The banns were announced on November 9 and 16, 1823 and the wedding of Lukasz and Katarzyna was on November 21, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, in Tomaszów. The witnesses were Marcin Walawender, 55, (Lukasz’ uncle), Jan Garbul ,30, Józef Litwin, 54 and Bartłomiej Krawczyk, 36 (Katarzyna’s uncle.) They were all peasant farmers. The first two were from Majdan Górny, the groom’s village and the other two were from Łaszczówka, the bride’s village. ***** Lukasz and Katarzyna had at least six children with three daughters living to adulthood. Rozalia (1827) married Jakub Raczkiewicz from Majdan Górny. Her husband’s parents were Jan Raczkiewicz and Apolonia Gołębiowska (my 4x great grandparents.) Jozef (1830) died in Infancy and Jakub (1831) died in early childhood. Apolonia (1834) married Antoni Kowal, son of Sebastyan Kowol and Zofia née Kuzniarz, peasant farmers from Majdan Górny. Franciszka (1837) died at age 10 though the record says she was aged 20. Marianna (my 2x great grandmother) was born 1843 and married twice. She married Antoni Raczkiewicz, son of Michał Raczkiewicz and Anna Dominik (my 3x great grandparents), peasants from Sabaudia and also Tomasz Kędra, from Jeziernia, the son of Michał Kędra and Anastasia Król. ***** After living in Majdan Gorny for the previous 31 years, Katarzyna died on March 28, 1853 at approximately 50 years old. The cause of death is not given, but there was “The Great Famine” in Galicia from 1853 to 1855. The witnesses reporting her death were Jakob Raczkiewicz, 29 and Josef Sidor, 36. Their youngest child was ten years old when Katarzyna died but it doesn’t appear her husband remarried. Eight years later, on January 23, 1861, Lukasz died at 5:00 in the evening at age 61. Jakub Raczkiewicz, age 31, (his son-in-law), and Piotr Raczkiewicz, age 50, (his son-in-law’s uncle), presented themselves and confirmed that he had died. ***** The image is of a funeral in Galicia in 1882. Image: By Teodor Axentowicz - http://www.pinakoteka.zascianek.pl/Axentowicz/Index.htm, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12546957