Antoni Jozef Kurkiewicz Died March 20, 1852

The record of the death of Antoni Jozef Kurkiewicz (my 3x great grandfather) is cool for several reasons. He is only the 2nd person with a middle name that I have found so far. Also, his son Jozef (my 2x great grandfather) signed the record and there are very few records signed by anyone other than the priest. Also, when I originally received this record, I found out his parent's names so it helped me work one more generation back in that line. There are 16 people in this generation and I have found parents for eight of them. Antoni Jozef Kurkiewicz died March 20 1852 at 7:00 in the morning in Tomaszów Lubelski. The cause of death is not given. A cholera outbreak was going on in Poland at the time. He was 67 years old and his wife Marianna (nee Kiszczynska) had died six years earlier. He worked as a shoemaker. He was the son of Marcin Kurkiewicz and Franciszka nee Rzeczycki. His son Jozef, age 37 and his son-in-law Jan Kaminski, age 23, both farmers from Tomaszów Lubelskie. went two days later to report the death.

House Numbers: Kurkiewicz (Tomaszow Lubelski)

Antoni Kurkiewicz and Marianna nee Kiszczynska (my 4x great grandparents) lived in house 60 from 1812 to 1814 then moved lived in house #16 and #17 for several years (1815-1818.) By 1823, they lived in house #23. Marianna’s mother died in house #89 in 1814. ********** Details: Antoni Kurkiewicz and Marianna nee Kiszczynska (my 4x great grandparents) had their child Jagniezka in 1812 in their house #60. In 1814, Marianna (Kisczynska) Kurkiewicz’ mother Justyna Kiszczynska died in #89. Anthony Kudlicka was a neighbor.Their son Jozef was born in 1815 in #60. Their daughter Jagnieszka died in 1815 in house #16. In 1818, their daughter Katarzyna was born in house #17. In 1821, daughter Apolonia was born in house #76. In 1823, Wincenty was born in his father’s house #76. In 1823, 2 month old Felix died in his parents’ house #76. ********** Other Kurkiewicz: Tomasz Kurkiewicz was born in house #432 in 1814. His father Walenty Kurkiewicz was later married to my 4th great aunt, Katarzyna Wiciejewska. In 1817, Walenty’s wife Aniela (nee Kata) died in the same house. Some of the Kurkiewicz’s lived in the 200’s like the Kaszucki family. Ezekiel Kurkiewicz was born to Antoni Kurkiewicz and mother Xenia (nee Bratkiewicz) in house #247 in 1817. Antoni’s father was Pawel Kurkiewicz. Pawel died in 1818 in house #77. In 1821 Antoni Kurkiewicz died in #244 (his own house) and his brother-in-law, a blacksmith was a witness. In 1823, Tekla Kurkiewicz was born to Konstanty Kurkieiwcz and Apolonia nee Jablonska in house #75. The next year in 1824, daughter Katarzyna was born in the same house.

Jozef Kaszucki Married Apolonia Kurkiewicz Jan. 25, 1863

On 25th January 1863, at 4:00 p.m. in Tomaszów Lubelski, Józef (or Stefan Jozef as he was baptized) Kaszucki wed Apolonia Kurkiewicz when he was 30 years old and she was 24. (They were my 2x great grandparents.) He was a widow for two months and she was a maiden. The banns were announced 11th, 18th, 25th January -- so they started a month and a half after he was widowed. Normally, there is a rush to remarry if there are young children involved but four year old Joanna had died in October and her mother died a month later. Their other child Jan had died at six months old a few years earlier. ******* Józef and his family Andrzej Kaszucki and Salomea nee Wiciejowska were furriers. He had been born in Tomaszów Lubelski and was residing there with his parents of Greek Uniate faith. Paulina was the daughter of Józef Kurkiewicz and Ewa nee Wiśniewska, shoemakers from Tomaszów Lubelski. The witnesses were Szymon Żółkiewski, a shoemaker, 53, and Marcin Halkiewicz, a farmer, 42, both of whom were residing in Tomaszów He was a Greek Catholic and she was a Roman Catholic. The banns were announced in the Tomaszów Latin Church even though Józef was Greek Catholic. Apolonia was Roman Catholic. They had five, possibly six children together and the boys were baptized and confirmed according to the Eastern rite and the girls were baptized according to the Roman rite. ******* Jozef was born on August 10, 1832, in Tomaszów Lubelski, Lubelskie, Poland, the son of Salomea and Andrzej. He had six brothers and two sisters. He married Katarzyna Szokalewicz in Tomaszów, Lubelskie, Poland, on February 9, 1851, when he was 18 years old. They were both Greek Catholics. They had two children together and they were baptized and confirmed according to the Eastern rite. His wife Katarzyna passed away on November 22, 1862, in Tomaszów, Lubelskie, Poland, at the age of 31. They had been married 11 years. ****** When Paulina Kurkiewicz was born on June 27, 1838, in Tomaszów, Lubelskie, Poland, her father, Jozef, was 22, and her mother, Ewa, was 29. Her mother had previously been widowed. Paulina had five brothers and one sister. Photo credit: Av User:Merlin – Eget verk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1308159

Antoni Franciszek Kurkiewicz Was Named for Two Saints

(St. Anthony the Great) Yesterday on Jan 17, 1840, Antoni Franciszek Kurkiewicz was born at 4:00 a.m. Very few of the researched ancestors have a middle name. His parents were Konstanty Kurkiewicz, a 53 year old carpenter from Tomaszów and Apolonia nee Jabłońska, age 35. Apolonia’s mother was a Wiciejewska so they were probably related through her and also through the Kurkiewicz side. A farmer Józef Smyiewski, 43 and a shoemaker, Antoni Lachowski, 46, were the witnesses. The Godparents were Józef Smyjewski and Zofia Świderkowa [wife of a man with Świderek surname] He was named “Antoni Opat Franciszek Salezy” He was named after Antoni the Great & Francis de Sales. I was curious if the names came from the saints for the day he was born. The saints for the day were Antoni, Jan and Rosiclaw. Antoni the Great was born on January 17. He is known from martyrdom and asceticism (severe self-discipline and avoidance of indulgences.) For some reason, the family chose a middle name which was not common in this time period at least in the records. The middle name was chosen for Francis de Sales. He is known for being guided by love instead of judgement. His day is January 24. Maybe Antoni Franciszek’s parents wanted to balance the severity of following adherence of a “rule” for life” of a martyr and ascetite with the patron saint of poets and the deaf. His father Konstanty was one of the few at this time period who appeared to be literate by the clues available to me. His signature appears on many records at a time when records were read to the participants and signed only by the priest.

(St. Francis de Sales) Francisco Bayeu y Subías, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons https://www.behindthename.com/namedays/country/poland https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoni_Wielki?fbclid=IwAR0ZP1oPe0XWNdRIT6bHJkKVWB9gBL__HV-FOqKPFmXrM4inuy3yNT--L34 https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franciszek_Salezy?fbclid=IwAR21A7TPa_sgopT7jz8FbE6O5H5H3mcennJTwyMp6wh5akaDzWwd--09c7M Photo credits: By Francisco de Zurbarán - http://www.invertirenarte.es/images/stories/mercadodearte/2009/dic21/francisco_de_zurbaran_san_antonio_fernando_duran.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8911245

Jozef Kurkiewicz (my 3x great grandfather) Dies December 30, 1874

On December 30 in 1874, the death of Jozef Kurkiewicz (my 3x great grandfather) was recorded in Tomaszów Lubelski. He died the day before. The declarants were Jan Kamiński, age 45, and Walenty Lisikiewicz,age 28, both farmers from Tomaszów Lubelski. 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 is 12 days. Jozef was 60 years old when he died. He left behind a widowed wife, Ewa née Wiśniewska (my 3x great grandmother. Ewa had previously been married to Wincenty Rachnski. Jozef was was a shoemaker and a farmer like his father Anthony Kurkiewicz. His mother was Marjanna Kiszczyńska, Together Jozef and Ewa had at least six children. Their oldest child Paulina (b. 1838) is my 2x great grandmother. Their youngest child Ignatious (b. 1851) is 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, Michigan.

Jan/Johann Eifler marries Apolonia Kurkiewicz

My 4th great aunt, Miss Apolonia Kurkiewicz was married in Tomaszów Lubelski on 22nd November 1840 at 5 o'clock in the evening. She was 20 years old and living with her parents, Antoni Kurkiewicz and Maryanna née Kiszczyński, who were shoemakers in Tomaszów. She had 11 siblings, 7 that died in infancy. Her brother Jozef was my 3x great grandfather. The groom was also a shoemaker. Twenty five year old Jan Eifler was born and residing in the colony of Rogoźno. His single mother Anna Eifler, had been a servant/maid in nearby Horyszów Polski working for a shoemaker/tanner, who is considered to be the father. Anna was deceased by the time he married. The witnesses were both shoemakers from Tomaszów, Lukasz Radawski, 37 and Antoni Laowski, 42. They had one son together. Their son Franciszek passed away on July 4, 1841, when he was less than a year old. Shortly after, Apolonia passed away on July 19, 1841, in Tomaszów, Lubelskie, Poland, at the age of 20. By 26 September of the same year, Jan, who was now working in Tomaszów Lubelski, remarried to Miss Julianna Kusa and they had at least four children. He died in 1854 at the age of 38. Jan’s name was recorded as Johan -- the German for John and Jan in Polish. His German grandfather was a colonist in Rogozno, Poland under contract with Jan Zamoyski. I will share information about this colony tomorrow from Curt Wolf. He is related to the Eifler’s and learned more about them and the colony of Rogozno.