The Church in Dubiecko and What I Found There
Yesterday, I showed how to find the parish church for a town in Poland by using a gazetteer. Two other gazetteers that cover Galicia are the Skorowidz Miejscowości Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (Index of Place Names of the Republic of Poland) and the Genealogical Gazetteer of Galicia by Brian J. Lenius. There are others.
To be honest, I didn’t need to consult a gazetteer to find out the parish for Nienadowa was in Dubiecko. My Uncle Joseph and his wife Helen had been there during Communist times and their son Joe sent me copies of some postcards on which the pastor of the Dubiecko parish had written some information. In the year 2000, I visited Dubiecko and Nienadowa with two friends of mine to see what I could find.
Upon arriving at the church just before noon, we found the church all locked up except for the foyer in the back of the church. We looked through the windows into the church and saw a History of the Church hanging on one wall.
Translated into English, the history reads as follows:
History of the Church
Piotr Kmita, governor of Lubelski, founded the first church in Dubiecko. Construction was completed about 1407 and the church was located in the place currently known as Castle Park. Kmita also funded and constructed the second church in Dubiecko named Holy Spirit. At the beginning of the 16th century Stanislaw Stadnicki of the Lutheran faith, took both Churches from the Catholic community. Andrzej Stadnicki, Stanislaw’s son, returned them 40 years later. Jerzy Krasicki demolished the churches and all buildings belonging to the church. Catholics practiced their religion in a small chapel located in the same place as the current church, which grew with time and served for 130 years until 1926. Father Harum Karakulski started to collect funds to build a new church. In 1934, Father Gornicki began construction of the new church. After he died, construction was continued by Father Pawlikiewich and Father Jedziniak, and stopped when walls reached half the height of the windows. From 1939-1948 construction was halted due to World War II. Construction was resumed and was finished four years later in 1952 by Father Kazimierz Lisowicz. On August 24, 1952, his Excellency F. Barda consecrated the new church and assigned the name Sacred Heart of Holy Mary and Holy Apostles Simon and Judas Thaddeus. The church is 49 meters long and 41 meters wide in the shape of a cross. The architect Tadeusz Pisiewicz from Lwow designed the Church. The interior painting was designed and executed by Prof. Stanislaw Jakubczyk from Krakow. Father J. Mucha designed the site of the altar in the church. His Excellency Bishop Ignacy Tokarczuk consecrated the 38 pipe Organ made by the Theodor Bochme Company. His Excellency Bishop St. Jakiel consecrated the new altar made of murmur and placed there relics of Saint Mary Goretti. Barbara Borkowska from the Art Academy of Krakow designed the altar and presbytery. Dr. Tyhcik, originally from Dubiecko and now Adjunct Professor with the Art Academy in Krakow, decorated the interior in collaboration with the art committee of Kuri Metropolitan in Krakow.
At noon, just as we were leaving, a nun arrived to ring the church bells and say the Angelus. She graciously let us into the church so we could take pictures and she spent some time telling us about the church. Unfortunately, none of us could speak Polish well enough to understand what she said, but I did get her description on video tape!
We walked out back to the rectory, but nobody answered the bell. Since a mass was scheduled at 4 PM that day, we decided to return at that time to see if the parish still held the historical registers of baptisms, marriages, and deaths.
Returning at 4 PM, we found the pastor of the church at the rectory. He brought out several volumes of the church registers, but he told us that many Americans ask to find their ancestors in the registers, but no one ever finds anything. Moreover, he said, some of the registers were missing and he didn’t know where they were. Nonetheless, he spent several hours with us, going through the registers, looking for documentation of my ancestors. In the time we were there, we found the record of the marriage of my great-grandfather Jakób Dańko to his second wife, Zofia Głowacz. My great-grandmother, Agnieszka Sowa, had died after a fall when she was picking cherries, and my great-grandfather needed some help raising all the children. The record of the Danko Glowacz Marriage shows that:
- Jakub Dańko and Zofia Głowacz were married on 3 September 1896
- Jakub was a Catholic, was 53 years old, and was a farmer
- Jakub was born in Nienadowa and he resided in house number 207 in Nienadowa
- Jakub was the son of Pawel Dańko and Zofia Szymańska
- Jakub was a widow and his first wife was Agnieszka Sowa
- Zofia Głowacz was Catholic, was 26 1/2 years old, and this was her first marriage
- Zofia was born in and resided in Nienadowa
- Zofia was the daughter of Jan Głowacz (a farmer) and Marianna Szymańska
- The witnesses to the marriage were Jakub Sowa (a farmer) and Marcin Pilch (a farmer)
- Banns of marriage were read on August 15, August 16, and August 23, 1896
- Reverend Tomasz Rapmowski officiated
The document was written in Latin and in the columnar style typical of Galicia.
May 5th, 2006 at 7:37 pm
Steve, Do you know that Nienadowa had its own parish church starting in 1957? (Did you see it when you were there? It may also have a cemetery starting then.) Before that time, the residents attended Mass in Dubiecko, which is considered the “mother parish”. If you hadn’t already known that your ancestors went to church in Dubiecko, you would probably have contacted the church in Nienadowa only to be told they didn’t have records from the time period you are interested in. They probably would have referred you to Dubiecko eventually.
I found this out in an article published by PGS-CTNE in Spring 1996. It is called “Finding the Mother Parish” and has a 3-1/2 page chart showing parishes in Przemysl Diocese that were formed since 1900 and what town/church each was spun off of. Even though you knew where to go in your case, this is good to know in case you find someone else who doesn’t know.
May 6th, 2006 at 2:11 pm
Christine,
Thanks for the information. I think I will use your comment as the basis for the May 6, 2006 blog entry!
Steve
May 6th, 2006 at 4:59 pm
[…] Yesterday, Christine posted a comment under The Church in Dubiecko and What I Found There that sparked my interest in a couple of things related to my family history. Steve, Do you know that Nienadowa had its own parish church starting in 1957? (Did you see it when you were there? It may also have a cemetery starting then.) Before that time, the residents attended Mass in Dubiecko, which is considered the “mother parish”. If you hadn’t already known that your ancestors went to church in Dubiecko, you would probably have contacted the church in Nienadowa only to be told they didn’t have records from the time period you are interested in. They probably would have referred you to Dubiecko eventually. […]
May 14th, 2006 at 10:47 am
Hello Steve - I am leaving for Europe tomorrow. I wish I had found your blog earlier - drats!! I live in Canada. I’m on a pilgrimage to find ancestors in Dubiecko/Sliwnica area.
My grandmother was Pilch and my grandfather Kolano. My Grandmother also had Sowa relatives.
We have a feeling Grandmother’s family was Jewish although she raised her children Catholic. We are told Pilch is a common Polish/Jewish name and there were lots of conversions by Jews to escape persecution.
Interesting blog. I’ll keep in touch - going through Berlin and Krakow. Renting a car in Krakow.
Kathy Smith
May 14th, 2006 at 10:35 pm
[…] I just got off the phone after speaking with Kathy Smith about Dubiecko, the parish of my Danko ancestors. Kathy is leaving tomorrow morning for a trip to Berlin, Kraków, and Dubiecko, and she was searching the web for information about Dubiecko. By chance, she happened to come across my blog entry The Church in Dubiecko and What I Found There, and posted a comment. She also sent me an email message to which I responded and then she called me this evening. […]
May 18th, 2006 at 12:16 am
[…] In the year 2000, I visited Poland with two friends. We flew into Kraków where we spent a few days sightseeing. Then we drove to Tarnów where we stayed two nights and toured the Castle at Łańcut. During our stay in Łańcut, we drove down to Dubiecko and Nienadowa, the village where my Dańko ancestors lived. I previously described the Church in Dubiecko, and what I found there. In short, I found the record for my great grandfather’s second marriage to Zofia Głowacz, but that was all. Because time was short, we had to leave Dubiecko and Nienadowa, knowing that there were a large number of church records we didn’t have the time to examine. We drove to the village of Kazimierz Dolny and then to Warszawa. The trip was exciting and beautiful, and I look forward to the opportunity to return one day. […]
June 15th, 2006 at 9:21 am
[…] Zofia was baptized by Father Gornicki (for another mention of Father Gornicki, see the blog entry on The Church in Dubiecko and What I Found There) […]
November 1st, 2006 at 9:11 pm
[…] I previously wrote that my Great Grandfather Jakub Dańko was married twice. His first marriage was to Agnieszka Sowa, my great grandmother. After Agnieszka’s tragic death, Jakub married Zofia Głowacz. Two years after this second marriage, Zofia bore Jakub a son, Piotr. Piotr’s record is number 53, the second record on page 238 of the parish register. Like other church records in Galicia, these records were maintained in Latin in a columnar format. […]
February 8th, 2007 at 10:37 am
[…] 4. JAKUB DANKO (PAWEL, WOJCIECH, JÓZEF) was born 02 Jul 1843 in Nienadowa, Powiat Przemyski, Galicia, Austria-Poland, and died 15 Mar 1899 in Nienadowa, Powiat Przemyski, Galicia, Austria-Poland. He married (1) AGNIESZKA SOWA 18 Jul 1870 in Dubiecko, Galicia, Austria-Poland, daughter of MACIEJ SOWA and KATARZYNA JACHOWA, who were married 28 May 1844 in Dubiecko, Galicia, Austria-Poland. She was born 06 Jan 1855 in Nienadowa, Powiat Przemyski, Galicia, Austria-Poland, and died Bet. 20 Jun 1895 - 03 Sep 1896 in Nienadowa, Powiat Przemyski, Galicia, Austria-Poland. He married (2) ZOFIA GLOWACZ 03 Sep 1896 in Dubiecko, Powiat Przemyski, Galicia, Austria-Poland, daughter of JAN GLOWACZ and ZOFIA SZYMANSKA. She was born 15 Dec 1870 in Nienadowa, Powiat Przemyski, Galicia, Austria-Poland. Children of JAKUB DANKO and AGNIESZKA SOWA are: 5. i. MICHAEL JACOB DANKO, born 22 Sep 1877, Nienadowa, Powiat Przemyski, Galicia, Austria-Poland; d. 02 Jan 1953, Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts. ii. JÓZEF J. DANKO, b. Abt. 1880. iii. WOJCIECH DANKO, b. 18 Sep 1882, Nienadowa, Powiat Przemyski, Galicia, Austria-Poland. 6. iv. MARY AGNES DANKO, born 12 Jan 1884, Nienadowa, Powiat Przemyski, Galicia, Austria-Poland; d. 18 Sep 1975, Fairlawn Hospital /Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts. v. JAN DANKO, b. 18 May 1886, Nienadowa, Powiat Przemyski, Galicia, Austria-Poland. vi. KATARZYNA DANKO, b. 21 Feb 1887, Nienadowa, Powiat Przemyski, Galicia, Austria-Poland. 7. vii. MARCIN DANKO, born 11 Dec 1890, Nienadowa, Powiat Przemyski, Galicia, Austria-Poland. viii. JULIANNA DANKO, b. 20 Jun 1895, Nienadowa, Powiat Przemyski, Galicia, Austria-Poland. […]
May 31st, 2007 at 11:53 am
Hi, Dubiecko is my town and I’m very proud to be living here
Greetings for everyone bye :*
October 8th, 2007 at 5:15 am
witam,,, ja jestem z nienadowej pozdrawiam wszystkich…nazywam sie LESZEK SPóLNIK…
April 10th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Hi Steve - I was thinking about the Dankos. Here is a video of Rick Danko who lived about one hour from me. He died several years ago - but he was a true Danko.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k4Mv9givQI
Kathy
July 16th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Hi!
I go in Poland next week for the first time! My grand parents were married in Dubiecko and I hope find something about my ancestors: Franciska Pipec, Mateusz Dzimira, Agnes Kokaj and Franciszek Karnas.
I hope I will find something in the registers like you!!!!
Catherine Karnas