The Story of Jakub Wiciejewski & Anges Plebanski

garncarz = potter ***** Jakub Wiciejewski (my 5x great grandfather) worked as a potter. Jakub and his son Maciej both worked at the local ceramics (faience) factory along with members of the Wisniewski family. Within the Lublin region in the 18th century until the mid-19th century, there were factories in four areas that were established by Polish magnates, including in Tomaszów Lubelski. They were built to compete with imported products. The factories started out making imitations but then they hired artists that created original designs. A popular color was blue. Different factories produced different products such as pottery, porcelain dishes and stoneware. ***** In Tomaszów Lubelski, in the Zamość Estate, a faience and porcelain factory was begun in 1794 by Alexander August Zamoyski, age 24. Beginning with Jan Zamoyski in 1621, this family of magnates established taxes, permitted the development of stores, weekly markets and several annual fares. They allowed Jews in the area in the mid 17th century. They were taxed, allowed to develop a synagogue and allowed a certain number of locations in the market square. (Moscop) Guilds were developed for the different occupations such as weavers, locksmiths, and blacksmiths. ***** The faience company employed a ceramist, Franciszek Mezer. The company successfully made and sold faience – a type of tin-glazed pottery – and eventually the more-coveted porcelain. They established a contract where a square and buildings were signed over to the business. “The manufactory buildings were located on Lwówska Street - it was the only paved road in the city - on both sides. In the period of its greatest prosperity, 50 employees were employed here. For the first 12 years, until 1806, only earthenware was produced”. ***** Local forests were available for the fuel and the clay was brought in from Wolowska, near Lviv, approximately 150 miles away. The local clay was useful only to produce faience, not porcelain. Faience is “fine tin-glazed pottery.” A glaze was developed that allowed for decorative painting to be added which was a major innovation in the history of pottery. It required a kiln producing temperatures above 1,830 degrees F (1,000 C.) ***** CHILDREN I believe his wife was Agnieszka Plebanska. The woman (or women) he was married to are listed as Anna, Agnieszka, Katarzyna and Marianna in their children’s birth and marriage records. In some cases, the same child has a different mother listed in each record, so there are either some errors, she went by different names, or Jakub had more than one wife. While their only son continued in the same line of work as his father as a potter, the daughters all married men with other trades. ***** Justyna (born about 1754 and mother’s name was Anna, not Agnes in her birth record). She married Jakub Janusz, a weaver from Zolynia, Austrian Galicia. When she died at age 76, she was a laborer in Tomaszów. Her son Wojciech, a weaver like his father, and Walenty Kubka, a spoon maker, reported the death. Maciej (born about 1763 and mother’s name was Marianna). He was a potter, like his father, and married Marianna Metalska (my 4th great-grandparents.) He lived to age 76. Marianna (born about 1781. Mother is listed as Katarzyna). She married Rafal Lusawicki, a cabinet maker, after the death of his first wife. (Even though the mother’s name is different from the Anna/Marianna of the rest of the children, I believe her father is the same Jakub and Katarzyna is an error in the record. It appears that Marianna and Rafal’s first born child was born in the same house that Marianna’s mother died – listed as Marianna, not Katarzyna. There can be another explanation – that Jakub had several wives – one named Katarzyna and more than one named Marianna or Anna. Katarzyna (born about 1789- 1793. Her mother is listed as Marianna Plebanska and Agnieszka). She married Walenty Kurkiewicz, a widower with children, who was a carpenter, in 1817. Her parents were deceased and she lived with her brother Maciej and his wife and their six children. Maciej was a witness for her marriage and also for two other younger sisters, all who married in their late 20s. The other witnesses were Paweł Kurkiewicz, father of the groom, 70, Jakob Kiszczyński, 22 and Jakub Januszaracki, 37. Katarzyna died at age 42, with her husband and Maciej Swiderek, church sexton, reporting. Marianna (born about 1793 -1794. Mother is listed as Marianna Plebanska) married her first husband Tomasz Bogucki, who was a widower and a butcher. Marianna’s second husband Paweł Szostak, was a Greek Catholic shoemaker. (There is some confusion with another Marianna Wiciejewska with a father named Jakub who married Rafal Lusawicki.) Agnieszka (born 1796) was the youngest child. She married Stefan Dominik Mieszkowska, a 26-year-old weaver. Stefan Dominik’s deceased father had been a bailiff's/land steward servant. When they were married, Agnieszka, age 27, was a servant. Stefan Dominik was a weaver in the city of Tomaszów Lubelski and had been born in Grodek. On the 31st of December, 1855, in the city of Tomaszów Lubelski, Agnieszka (Wiciejewska) Nieszkowska (my 4th great aunt) died at age 59. She was a widow of a weaver in the city of Tomaszow. Wojciech Janusz,, age 44, and Tomasz Podgórski, age 60, both weavers in the city of Tomaszów, appeared to report her death. ***** When Marainna (Jakub’s wife) died, her husband was already deceased. She died on August 23, 1812 when she was 70 years old. She died in house #201 in Tomaszów Lubelski. She was born in approximately the year 1742. One witness was Rafal Lusawicki, a 38 years old who was her son-in-law. Jan Jablonski, 43, a neighbor, was the other witness. The cause of death was unknown but happening at the time was the Asiatic Cholera Epidemic, the Galician peasant uprising, and typhus from Napoleon's army. ***** References: ***** Death of Marianna Wiciejewska: Skan - Szukaj W Archiwach. Przejdź do Szukaj w Archiwach. (n.d.-e). Death of Marianna Wiciejewska. https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/skan/-/skan/9781658e1494869bda4e949105f2d1b84eb9e83ce4e1318963d076f3475d01dd History: Google. (n.d.). Encyclopedia of Ukraine. Google Books. https://books.google.com/books?id=JWxEDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT466&lpg=PT466&dq=zamoyski%2Btomaszow%2Bpoland%2Bfaience&source=bl&ots=_Xcex6ZLlg&sig=ACfU3U1680XdU8thx3hwy_IzAQgvfQIViQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjV3Im3zazsAhUICc0KHYb2DVcQ6AEwDXoECAEQAg#v=onepage&q=zamoyski%20tomaszow%20poland%20faience&f=false Historia manufaktury W tomaszowie lubelskim. wirtualne wystawy. (n.d.). http://wystawy.biblioteka.pollub.pl/exhibits/show/ceramika/historia-tomaszow?fbclid=IwAR1-ok6PvjLG5lwcS1-QHyJmRdZEW7Ja9LPJYmH8Q8M9g_xRENmv4zCAu8o Kolekcja Tomaszowska. wirtualne wystawy. (n.d.-b). http://wystawy.biblioteka.pollub.pl/exhibits/show/ceramika/kolekcja-tomaszowska?fbclid=IwAR153REMtSrs0P93EuUaqpGVImwjjNmnFvgMrfweCjhOQfNSl-tE7GtA0wI Moscop, J. M. (Ed.). (2008). Tomaszow Lubelski, Tyszowce, Laszczow, Krylow and komarow jewish ancestry. Facebook: Tomaszow Lubelski, Tyszowce, Laszczow, Krylow and komarow jewish ancestry. https://www.facebook.com/groups/812333692214988/?multi_permalinks=6721843851263913&ref=share Wikimedia Foundation. (2023, June 4). Zamoyski family entail. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamoyski_family_entail