The Birth and Baptism of Stanisław Markiewicz

Several weeks ago, I reported on the immigration and naturalization of Stanisław Markiewicz, the grandfather of my cousin’s cousin .  To put this another way, Stanisław’s daughter Bernice married Edward Skowronski .  Edward Skowronski was the brother-in-law of two of my uncles:  Joseph Danko and Michael Danko.

In the immigration and naturalization records, I learned that Stanisław was born in the village of Braciejowice in the Russian Partition of Poland .  By consulting a gazetteer, the Słownik Geograficny Królestwa Polskiego (Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland), I discovered that the village of Braciejowice belonged to the Roman Catholic Parish in Piotrawin .  Thus, the baptismal, marriage, and death records for Stanisław’s family should be in the record books maintained by the Piotrawin parish.

I checked the Family History Library’s (FHL) catalog and, luckily, the FHL had microfilm copies of the parish records from 1810-1915 .  I ordered two of these films through my local Family History Center (FHC) .  After two trips to my local FHC to view the films, I found the Birth and Baptismal Record for Stanisław Markiewicz .  Unfortunately for me, the record was in Russian.The Birth and Baptismal Record for Stanisław Markiewicz

Birth and Baptismal Record for Stanisław Markiewicz – 1893

Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Birth and Baptismal Record for Stanisław Markiewicz – 1893 .  The record states:

64 .  Braciejowice – Markiewicz Stanisław

This happened in the village of Piotrawin on the 7th/19th day of April 1893 at four in the afternoon .  Tomasz Markiewicz appeared in person, age 35, the owner of a house in the village of Braciejowice, in the presence of Maciej Zagozdon from the village of Grabwiec, age 36, and Franciszek Turski, from the village of Braciejowice, age 56, the owner of a house – and he presented to us a child of the male sex, stating that it was born in the village of Braciejowice on the 6th/18th of April of this year, at 6 o’clock after midnight of his lawful wife Franciszka nee Piontkowa, age 28 .  To this child at Holy Baptism performed on this date was given the name of Stanisław, and his godparents were the above-mentioned Maciej Zagozdon and Zofia Pietrasowa .  This document was read to the declarant father and to the witnesses, all of whom are illiterate, and signed by us.

Rev. C. Trembiński, pastor of the Piotrawin Parish, keeper of the documents of the civil state

The information I already had on Stanisław indicated that he was born either on April 23, 1891 or April 20, 1892 in Braciejowice and that his father’s name was Tomasz Markiewicz.

The Birth and Baptismal Record shows that he was actually born at 6 AM on Tuesday, April 18, 1893 in Braciejowice, baptized at 4 PM on Wednesday, April 19, 1893 in Piotrawin, his father was Tomasz Markiewicz, his mother was Franciszka Piontkowa, his godparents were Maciej Zagozdon and Zofia Pietrasowa, and he was baptized by the Rev. C. Trembiński.

Stanisław was the 64th child baptized in Piotrawin in 1893 .  You’ll notice that two dates are given for his birth and baptism .  The earlier date is based on the Julian Calendar and the later date is based on the Gregorian Calendar .  The Gregorian Calendar is the one we use today, but the Julian Calendar was still the official calendar used in Russia at the time of this baptism.

Some cautions about the transcription and translation: I might not have spelled all of the surnames correctly, since the Polish names were translated into Russian and I translated them back into Polish .  Also, I might not have correctly spelled the name of the village Grabwiec mentioned in the document; I have not found this village on a map .  Further, the surnames of the women are the feminized versions of the surnames .  The actual surname of Stanisław’s mother might actually be Piątek or Piętek and the surname of his godmother might actually be Pietras.

This is the first of the Markiewicz family records that I found .  I think I’ve found a few others, and I still have a couple of weeks left to view the microfilms before they’re sent back to Salt Lake City.

Copyright © 2006 by Stephen J. Danko