The Story of Lukasz Grabek & Katarzyna Krawczk

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. Many of the records on the Jan Raczkiewicz side of the family list the occupation as “komornik” – a peasant farmer. A peasant may be a farmer who: Kmiec: worked enough land to support his family and owned two or more cows, horses, sheep oxen, goats, and pigs as well as several buildings on the farm. Potrolik: worked a half-sized farm. Zagrodnik: owned a farmhouse, out buildings, animals and a vegetable garden. Many peasants had no crop land. Chalupnik: lived in a small cottage. Komornik: was a tenant farmer, or day laborer. Often the word “Włościanin” is used in the records to describe the occupation of many of my ancestors. According to Ewa Switek who translates records for Genealogical Translations (on Facebook), that is a “former term for a rural inhabitant who works in agriculture, synonymous with peasant. The name comes from the estate, that is the land estate, usually consisting of several villages belonging to one owner together with its inhabitants. The peasants formed the most numerous social group, which included, among others: peasants, homesteads, cottage workers and others. Even in 1921, they constituted about 75% of the total population in Poland.” I am not sure where she got this information. I looked for more information and found out that peasants worked for their lords to pay rent and as time went on that obligation increased. Peasants who were wealthier were expected to contribute more, but they could hire others to help them do it. Peasants needed permission to marry, move or begin a trade. In different areas of Poland, serfdom was abolished beginning in the early 1800s. After the 1863 uprising, Czar Alexander II, who had previously abolished serfdom, gave the land to the tenants. Lukasz married Katarzyna Krawczyk, age 20, 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 Katarzyna’s wedding, at the age of 45. Katarzyna’s siblings were 5 to 16 years old when Dorota died and their father remarried within two months of her death. The banns for Lukasz and Katarzyna’s marriage were announced on November 9 and 16, 1823 and their wedding was on November 21, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, in Tomaszów. The witnesses were Marcin Walawender, 55, (Lukasz’ uncle), Jan Garbula,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’s (1827) Godparents were Jakob Sidor & Anastazja Kozyra. She married Jakub Raczkiewicz from Majdan Górny in 1843. Her husband’s parents were Jan Raczkiewicz and Apolonia Gołębiowska (my 4x great grandparents.) They had nine children and lived in Majdan Gorny. Jozef’s (1830) Godparents were Stanislaw Dominik and Anastasia Kozyra. He died in Infancy Jakub’s (1831) Godparents were Michal Srutwa and Rozalia Kozydra. He also died in early childhood. Apolonia’s (1834) Godparents were Michal Turek & Marianna Grabek. Shemarried in 1851, Antoni Kowal, son of Sebastyan Kowol and Zofia née Kuzniarz, peasant farmers from Majdan Górny. Franciszka’s (1837) Godparents were Marcin Kozyra & Katarzyna Turek. She died at age 10 though the record says she was aged 20. A local potato blight as well as cholera, were issues at the time. Marianna (my 2x great grandmother) was born in 1843 and her Godparents were Tomasz Krawczyk and Katarzyna Krawczyk, likely her maternal uncle and his wife. She 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. When she died in 1881, there was documentation of the plague locally. 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 as well as a local children’s epidemic. 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 https://europebetweeneastandwest.wordpress.com/2015/06/19/an-austro-hungarian-tragedy-the-kingdom-of-galicia-lodomeria-part-two/ fortchoteau1, 21, B. G. on A., & 22, fortchoteau1 on A. (2015, June 19). An Austro-hungarian tragedy – The Kingdom of Galicia & Lodomeria (part Two). Europe Between East And West. https://europebetweeneastandwest.wordpress.com/2015/06/19/an-austro-hungarian-tragedy-the-kingdom-of-galicia-lodomeria-part-two/ “Famines in Austrian Galicia.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Jan. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famines_in_Austrian_Galicia. Wikipedia contributors. (2023, September 27). Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Galicia_and_Lodomeria Peasants: Wiki, F. (2022, December 9). Poland social life and customs • FamilySearch. FamilySearch Wiki. https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Poland_Social_Life_and_Customs Difference between Peasants and Farmers? | ResearchGate. (n.d.). ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/post/Difference_between_Peasants_and_Farmers The Peasant in Poland Today: Reactions to land reform and collectivization on JSTOR. (n.d.). www.jstor.org. https://doi.org/10.2307/40392495 —--------------------------------------------------------- Info from Ewa Switek, Genealogical Translations 1/14/2021 https://www.askdifference.com/farmer-vs-peasant/#:~:text=A%20peasant%20is%20a%20pre,%2C%20serf%2C%20and%20free%20tenant. Difference farmer & peasant https://www.italki.com/post/question-337962 Land re-distribution in 1945 now farmers own their land https://www.jstor.org/stable/40392495?seq=1 Polish social life and customs https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Poland_Social_Life_and_Customs A Kmiec, a Potrolik, a Zagrodnik, a Chalupnik, a Komornik 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