The Death of Michał Markiewicz

I had previously found the 1890 Birth and Baptismal Record for Michał (Michael) Markiewicz, the son of Tomasz Markiewicz and Franciszka Piątkowa while searching Polish Parish Records at my local Family History Center .  I had also found an entry in the Death Index for the same parish that showed that a Michał Markiewicz died in 1890 .  The question is, are these two records for the same person?  Did Michał Markiewicz die the same year in which he was born?

Death Record for Michał Markiewicz – 1890

Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Death Record for Michał Markiewicz – 1890 .  Translated from the Russian, the record reads:

111 .  Braciejowice – Markiewicz Michał

This happened in the village of Piotrawin on the 8th / 20th day of August 1890 at eleven o’clock in the morning .  Tomasz Markiewicz, age 31, the  father of the child, and Franciszek Turski, age 52, house owners in the village of Braciejowice, appeared and stated that on the 6th / 18th day of August of this year at 6 o’clock in the evening Michał Markiewicz died in Braciejowice, having been born and lived there for two weeks, son of the aforementioned married couple Tomasz and Franciszka Piątkowa – after eyewitness testimony on the death of Michał Markiewicz.

This document was read to the declarants who are illiterate, and signed by us.

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

The death record does, indeed, record the death of the infant recently born to Tomasz Markiewicz and Franciszka Piątkowa.

As with other documents from the Kingdom of Poland (the Russian Partition of Poland), the dates are recorded according to both the Julian Calendar and the Gregorian Calendar .  In 1890, when this document was written, the two calendars differed by 12 days .  Since we use the Gregorian Calendar (the more accurate calendar), the correct date of death is the later date: August 18, 1890.

Franciszek Turski appears in many records for the Markiewicz family, including the Births and Baptisms of Jan, Michał, and Stanisław Markiewicz .  It’s possible that Franciszek Turski was a neighbor or relative of the Markiewicz family.

One final note about the surname Markiewicz .  In many of these records, the name appears to be written as Markowicz, rather than Markiewicz .  At this point, it’s not clear if this was just an issue with transliteration of the name into Russian, or if the correct spelling is actually Markowicz.

Copyright © 2006 by Stephen J. Danko