Let’s say that you’ve found a record for one of your ancestors in the Polish parish registers, but can’t interpret the name of the village where the event occurred. Take a look at the village names below, all taken from the same page of death records from the parish of Koprzywnica.
These place names are all from the same page of death records from Koprzywnica parish in 1858. Four of these places start with the word “Wieś”, translated as “village”. One starts with “Miasto”, translated as “city”. The entry that starts with “Miasto” looks like “Koprzywnica” and, indeed, that’s what it is. But what are the others?
One way to find the correct name of the villages is to consult a map of the area around Koprzywnica and try to find a village that looks like it might be the correct village. Sometimes, however, there’s an easier way to find the names of villages that belong to a particular parish.
A Google search for “Koprzywnica parafia” (Koprzywnica parish) generates two promising links, both on the website of Diecezja Sandomierska (Sandomierz diocese): Koprzywnica – Św. Floriana and Koprzywnica – Matki Bożej Różańcowej. These are pages for the Parish of St. Florian and the Parish of Our Lady of the Rosary, respectively, both located in present-day Koprzywnica. When I click on the links to these pages using Chrome, I immediately see a drop-down that lets me choose whether I want to read the page in Polish or English.
These pages provide a lot of information about the parishes, including parish histories and the names of the villages that the parish serves!
The Parish of St. Florian serves part of Koprywnica and the villages of Błonie (part), Beszyce (part), Ciszyca (part), Gnieszowice, Koprzywnica (part), Krzcin (part), Łukowiec (part), Niedźwice, Postronna, Skrzypaczowice, Sośniczany, Świężyce (part), Trzykosy, Zbigniewice Kolonia, and Zbigniewice Wieś.
The Parish of Our Lady of the Rosary serve part of Koprzywnica and the villages of Błonie (part), Ciszyca (part), Koprzywnica (part), Krzcin (part), Łukowiec (part), Świężyce (part).
Looking back at the village names in the parish death register, it’s now easy to identify the places where the deaths occurred. From top to bottom, the names of the places are Gnieszowice, Koprywnica, Niedźwice, Skrzypaczowice, and Świężyce.
Problem solved!
Copyright © 2024 by Stephen J. Danko
