When I originally translated the baptismal records for Stanisław and Antoni Markiewicz, I transliterated the mother’s surname as Piontkowa . However, the names in these documents should be translated into the same sounds in Polish, not necessarily the same letters . The correct Polish translation of Franciszka’s surname is Piątkowa, and Piątkowa is the feminine version of the surname Piątek.
I received an email from Walter, a descendant of Tomasz Markiewicz and Franciszka Piątkowa . Walter told me that his great-grandmother’s surname was Piatek, which is the English language version of Piątek . (All of this is probably confusing if you can’t see Eastern European characters on your computer, but the Polish spelling of Franciszka’s surname includes an “a-ogonek”, that is, an “a” with a little hook underneath.) Thus, I’m fairly certain that I’m on the right track here.
So, with the added confidence provided by Walter’s email, I stopped off at the Family History Center (FHC) in San Bruno today after work to look through more of the church records from Piotrawin parish where Stanisław and Antoni were baptized.
In the Piotrawin baptismal records, I found what appear to be several children of Tomasz Markiewicz and Franciszka Piątkowa:
- 1895 – Antoni Markiewicz (reported yesterday)
- 1893 – Stanisław Markiewicz (reported the day before yesterday)
- 1891 – Wawrzyniec Markiewicz
- 1890 – Michał Markiewicz
- 1889 – Jan Markiewicz
There was also a baptismal record for a child that was born to Tomasz Markiewicz and Marianna [Fotow], suggesting that Tomasz may have been married twice . This child, the daughter of Tomasz and Marianna, is:
- 1885 – Petronella Markiewicz
I also found a marriage record for Tomasz Markiewicz and Marianna showing that they were married two years before the birth of Petronella . Thus, the Tomasz and Marianna in this marriage record are likely to be the parents of Petronella . The question that remains, however, is whether the Tomasz in this marriage record was also the husband of Franciszka Piątkowa . Unfortunately, I did not find a marriage record for Tomasz and Franciszka in the Piotrawin marriage books.
Finally, IÂ checked some of the death records, where I found the following deaths:
- 1890 – Michał Markiewicz
- 1892 – Jan Markiewicz
- 1892 – Wawrzyniec Markiewicz
These names and death dates are recorded soon after the births of the first three children of Tomasz and Franciszka, and might be the records of the children’s deaths.
At this point, much of what I have recorded here is speculation . I’ll need to translate the records I’ve found to see if the names, dates, and ages are consistent with the relationships I’ve proposed here . I’ll also need to search for some additional records to learn the names of the parents of Tomasz Markiewicz and Franciszka Piątkowa.
