The Story of Józef Kurkiewicz & Ewa Wiśniewska

This story of the marriage of my 3rd great grandmother and her first husband is interesting because I am pretty sure, based on the limited information that I have, that their lives were directly affected by the November Uprising in Poland. Ewa’s first husband was a journeyman shoemaker. Wincenty Rachański and Ewa nee Wiśniewska (my 3rd great grandmother) married on January 17, 1830 at 1pm in Tomaszów Lubelski. (Wisniewska can be found with different variations: Wisniewska, Wisniowska, Wisniwski, Wiszniewska, Wiszniowska). Their marriage was the first one recorded for the year of 48 total marriages. The groom was a 22 year old bachelor and journeyman shoemaker. He was born in Tomaszów Lubelski to shoemakers Kazimierz and Tekla (Zielińska) Rachański. They were already deceased. The bride was a 22 year old maiden, the daughter of Błażej Wiśniowski, and the late Agnieszka nee Szcześnicka. Ewa was the oldest child born to Błażej and Agnieszka. Her mother died when she was 14 years old and her father was engaged to one woman and then married Anna Adamczyk, when Ewa was about 15 years old. Her father was a foreman of the faience (ceramics) factory when she was born and was working as a grave digger when she married. Ewa was born in Tomaszów Lubelski and was living there with her father. Her father gave his permission for the wedding. The witnesses were Grzegorz Jaworowski, 67 and Jacenty Janiszewski, 33, both shoemakers from Tomaszów Lubelski. ***** They only had one child together. Filip (Feliks) was born soon after, in October of the same year. The witnesses were Michał Podszadowski, 48 years old, a blacksmith and Ignacy Zieliński, 47 years old, a painter, both living in Krynice. The Godparents were Michał Podszadowski and Konstancja Kiżgowa. Feliks was born in Krynice and the birth was registered in the parish of Łabunie, Krynice is 16 kilometers (a little under 10 miles) north of Tomaszów Lubelski. In Krynice, there was a large manor and salt warehouse owned by the Zamoyski family. Wincenty and their only child Feliks both died in 1831, after Ewa and Wincenty had been married only about a year. One witness that reported the death of Felix was Błażej Wiśniowski, his grandfather from Tomaszów Lubelski. Błażej was 68 years old and was working as a tanner. He had previously worked as a potter and sometimes worked as a gravedigger. The other witness was Maciej Swiderek , church Sexton, age 46. When their son Feliks died when he was nine months old, in August of 1831, his death record indicates that his father (Wincenty) was already deceased, His father was a likely casualty of the November Uprising. While there was an Asiatic cholera epidemic along with influenza, it is possible that Wincenty died during the November Uprising battle that occurred near where they lived. The uprising occurred from November 29, 1930 to October 21, 1831: ***** “In July 1831, during the November Uprising, a siege and a blockade of Zamość began by 12,000 people. Tsarist soldiers led by General Kajsarow. Polish troops commanded by Major Dominik Bulewski and Major Wincenty Szymański, defending the Zamość fortress, fought a victorious skirmish with the Russian army near Krynice. ”https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pl&u=http://roztoczewita.pl/krynice/&prev=search&pto=aue ***** Timeline: Jan 17 1830 Wincenty and Ewa marry in Tomaszów Lubelski Oct 24, 1830 Feliks is born in Krynice November 29, 1830 November Uprising begins July 1831 Polish troops and Russian Army fight near Krynice (as part of November Uprising August 11 1831 Feliks dies in Tomaszów Lubelski and his father has already died October 31, 1831 November Uprising ends ***** (Is it possible to get military records of relatives this far back?) ***** Ewa returned to Tomaszów Lubelski after the death of her husband, and lived with her father since her mother was deceased. Six years later, she married Jozef Kurkiewicz, a shoemaker. Jozef (my 3x great grandfather) was a 23 year old bachelor, living with his parents, Antoni Kurkiewicz and Marianna Kiszczyńska, when he married Ewa on 30 July 1837. His parents were farmers in Tomaszów Lubelski and also repaired shoes. Ewa was a 28 year old who had been widowed for six years. Witnesses to the marriage of Jozef and Ewa were Jan Recki & Antoni Lachowski. ***** It is very likely that Jozef Kurkiewicz (my 3rd great grandfather) was baptized but the birth record does not reflect it. Most of the records list the birth and baptism dates as well as the Godparents except those I have found between 1810 and 1826. Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths was initiated according to the Code of Napoleon on May 1rst, 1808. After Russia gained control in 1815, this practice continued. Priests were responsible for civil registrations from 1808 to 1825. After 1826, the civil records reverted to church records but kept the same format. Jozef was born at 5 o’clock in the evening on September 8, 1815. His parents were Antoni, 32 and Marianna nee Kiszczynski, 28. He was born in house #60 in Tomaszów Lubelski like his sister Jagnieska, who was born there three years earlier. The witnesses were Maciej Wyszynski, 42 and Maxym Zawalksi, 43. Jozef was the third child of 12 born to his parents. At least seven of their children did not survive to adulthood. Jozef’s father was a shoemaker, his mother came from a family of shoemakers and eventually Jozef himself would become a shoemaker. ***** Together, Jozef and Ewa had five children – Paulina (1833), Andrze (1840), Jakub (1843), Franciszka (1846), and Ignatious (1851). Their oldest child Paulina (my 2x great grandmother) married Jozef Kaszucki, a furrier of the Greek Uniate faith. He was a widower whose wife died two months earlier. Andrzej married an unknown woman and she was deceased when he died at age 68. Jakub died at age 48, likely unmarried. There is no information found about Franciszka. Their youngest child Ignatius (the 2x great-grandfather of Mike Liszewski.) I “found” Mike as a DNA match on Ancestry and now collaborate regularly with his wife Connie. Like me, Mike was born in Grand Rapids. Ignatius was a 53-year-old “petty-bourgeois” when he died.. Social classes in “old” Poland included magnates, nobility (szlachta), peasants, burghers, intelligentsia and “loose people.” ***** Magnates owned castles and entire villages. They made their income by charging peasants to live and farm on their property. They had the most control of life in Poland and it was to their advantage to prevent the peasants and burghers from having much power in society. The nobility were also landowners. Their role was to protect Poland but many were under the control of the magnates. Common occupations were soldier, gentleman farmer, scholar, priest, public official, or administrator of a higher noble’s estate. Zamoyski is the name of the Polish noble that was in the area of Tomaszow Lubelski. Jan was a chancellor and started their estate. His son Tomasz was also a chancellor and the city of Tomaszow was named for him. Peasants formed the largest group in Poland. There were different levels of wealth and status from an extremely poor day laborer to ownership of some things with the requirement still there to do work for their lord. Burghers were immigrants and free citizens that worked as bankers, craftsmen, tradesmen, and merchants which the noble could not do by law. While almost all the men on Katarzyna Kaszucki side worked in these areas, only a few were referred to as burghers in the birth, marriage and death records Professionals (“intelligentisia”) developed in the middle of the 18th century. They were usually members of the burgher or gentry social classes. Common occupations were doctors, scientists, scholars, priests, teachers, lawyers, architects, artists and writers. Loose people could originate from any social class and had no possessions. They might be criminals, prostitutes, gypsies or runaway serfs. ***** On December 30 in 1874, the death of Jozef was recorded in Tomaszów Lubelski after he died the day before. His death was the last one recorded of 169 deaths that year. The declarants were Jan Kamiński, age 45, and Walenty Lisikiewicz,age 28, both farmers from Tomaszów Lubelski. Jozef was 60 years old when he died and left behind a widowed wife, Ewa. Because records were recorded in Russian at this time, two dates were given -- December 30 and December 18. December 18 was from the Julian calendar, in use by Russia. The December 30 date is from the Gregorian calendar which Poland had been using and went back to using after 1917. It is the most commonly used calendar in the world. The difference between the Gregorian and Julian Calendars in the 19th century was 12 days. Fifteen years later, Ewa died on August 10, 1889 at the age of 80. One witness reporting her death was her 38 year old son Ignacy Kurkiewicz. Ignacy was the grandfather of Mike Liszewski and his sisters (my newfound 3rd cousins 1x removed.) The other witness was Walenty Lisikiewicz, age 40. There was a local children’s epidemic at the time Ewa died. ***** References: Birth of Jozef Kurkiewicz: Skan - Szukaj W Archiwach (Birth of Jozef Kurkiewicz). Przejdź do Szukaj w Archiwach. (n.d.-a). https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/skan/-/skan/4d72c496ee53614668db9258b385e4c83c18ae35799075719cfef2f20e36de93 Marriage of Vincent Rachanski & Ewa Wisniewska: Skan - Szukaj W Archiwach (Marriage of Vincent Rachanski & Ewa Wisniewska. Przejdź do Szukaj w Archiwach. (n.d.). https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/skan/-/skan/9aa819f02309467e0c0cf6b3a60de4e3de116c76060b7f750d3d905114a694ce Marriage of Józef Kurkiewicz & Ewa Rachańska: Skan - Szukaj W Archiwachn(Marriage of Jozef Kurkiewicz & Ewa Rachanska). Przejdź do Szukaj w Archiwach. (n.d.-d). https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/skan/-/skan/873f5c150ff001fc575476537e4fc0feffb2c509445255878ce69590ccf8b3ca Death of Feliks Rachanski: Skan - Szukaj W Archiwach (Death of Feliks Rachanski). Przejdź do Szukaj w Archiwach. (n.d.-a). https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/skan/-/skan/b955f07030f3e26bd57a20845807d226b4801538beb72fed039232c0030b0d14 Death of Jozef Kurkiewicz: Skan - Szukaj W Archiwach (Death of Jozef Kurkiewicz). Przejdź do Szukaj w Archiwach. (n.d.-c). https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/skan/-/skan/12f6b7365dba5f29b8a20c6f2fabfd42a771891d314470b4e66399b47f1b807b Death of Ewa Kurkiewicz: Skan - Szukaj W Archiwach (Death of Ewa Kurkiewicz). Przejdź do Szukaj w Archiwach. (n.d.-b). https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/skan/-/skan/89f22c701d098f3fb9dd8c81a6287fbf431e4088916a9ceabff141775c20d279 History of area “Dzieje Miejscowosci Gminy Tomaszów Lubelski.” Dzieje Gmin Zamojszczyzny, 2011. Retreived July 11, 2023 from https://dzieje_gminy_tomaszow_lubelski_-_calosc_z_okladka.pdf (tomaszowlubelski.pl Krynice/Art Produkt Gala. Roztocze Wita. (2020, September 29). https://roztoczewita-pl.translate.goog/event/krynice-art-produkt-gala/?_x_tr_sl=pl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc Krynice. Krynice - park dworski. (n.d.). https://www-ogrodowy-minigo-pl.translate.goog/index.php/page/krynice?_x_tr_sch=http&_x_tr_sl=pl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc Petite bourgeoisie - definition, meaning & synonyms. Vocabulary.com. (n.d.). https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/petite%20bourgeoisie Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, December 17). Krynice (Województwo Lubelskie). Wikipedia. https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krynice_(wojew%C3%B3dztwo_lubelskie)