Steve's Genealogy Blog

According to documents in the United States, Józef Chmielewski was born on 03 April 1874, but his birth and baptismal record on file with the Lithuanian State Historical Archives states that he was born on 19 March 1874.

Birth and Baptismal Record of Józef Chmielewski – 1874 (Left)

Birth and Baptismal Record of Józef Chmielewski – 1874 (Right)

SOURCE: Roman Catholic Parish of Butrymonys, Gubernia Wileńska, Russian Empire. Diocesan Copy of Parish Records, MerkinÄ— Diocese. F. 604, Ap. 28, B. 41, L. 52v-53, Nr. 37. Józef Chmielewski baptism (1874); Lithuanian State Historical Archives, Vilnius, Lithuania.

Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Birth and Baptismal Record of Józef Chmielewski – 1874. Translated from the Russian, the record states:

Surname of the one baptized: Chmielewski
No.: 37
Birth Number (Males): 14
Date of Birth: 19
Date of Baptism: 22

When, where, who, by whom, baptized with water alone or with all the rites of the sacrament.
In the year one thousand eight hundred seventy four on March the twenty-second in the Butrymance [one word?] Roman Catholic parish church a child was baptized by the name Józef by the Reverend [one word?], with all the rites of the sacrament

Of what parents, when and where, i. e. in which parish was the baptized person born?
Of the nobles Wincenty and Scholastyka [one word?] Wojtczuka Chmielewski, lawful spouses, the son, born the nineteenth of March of this year in Stakliškės parish [one word?]

Who were the godparents, by first name and any other name, and who was present at Holy Baptism?
The godparents were the nobles Justyn Żarnowski and [M?] Bandarewiczewka, an unmarried woman

Józef Chmielewski was the half brother of my grandmother, Helena Chmielewska. The two shared the same father but different mothers.

When my cousin and I found this record in the Lithuanian state archives, we were surprised to see the family listed as nobles. This almost certainly meant that they were lesser nobles who owned land at a time when most people were landless peasants.

Although Józef was born in what was Russia and is now Lithuania, he was of Polish ancestry.

This document is the first record I obtained from Lithuania.

Copyright © 2007 by Stephen J. Danko

One of the goals of my trip to Lithuania was to visit the Lithuanian State Historical Archives at Gerosios Vilties g. 10, LT 03134 Vilnius, Lithuania. I had learned from the Archives’ website (which, unfortunately, appears to have disappeared as of 20 March 2011) that the reading rooms were open Monday-Thursday 9:00 AM-5:00 PM, Friday 9:00 AM-3:30 PM, and Saturday  8:30 AM-13:30 PM, although this information did not match the hours posted on the front door of the Archives.

The Lithuanian State Historical Archives Building

SOURCE: The Lithuanian State Historical Archives Building. Photographed by Stephen J. Danko, 25 October 2007.

Front Door of the Lithuanian State Historical Archives

SOURCE: Front Door of the Lithuanian State Historical Archives. Photographed by Stephen J. Danko, 25 October 2007.

My cousin Liliana and I took one of the Vilnius trolleybuses to the archives on the morning of Monday, 22 October 2007. All visitors to the archives are required to register annually and are provided with a registration card that must be presented when entering the archives.

When we explained that we were looking for church records of birth, marriage, and death, we were directed to Room 6. I was very disappointed to discover that we had to fill out a form for each record requested, pay a fee, and wait. An attestation of the vital event would be sent to us. We filled out the proper forms for the birth records for both of our grandmothers.

Corridor in the Lithuanian State Historical Archives

SOURCE: Corridor in the Lithuanian State Historical Archives. Photographed by Stephen J. Danko, 25 October 2007.

Further inquiry revealed that the Archives housed reading rooms where the original records might be examined. We entered the microfilm room but were told that the records we wanted to view had not been microfilmed. We entered a second reading room where we saw approximately 30 desks where quite a number of researchers were examining bound volumes of records.

The archivist in the reading room helped us determine what parish records were available. We explained that our ancestors were from LikiÅ¡kiai and the parish of Butrimonys . The archivist consulted several indexes and told us that several of the parish record books for the parish of Butrimonys were being repaired and would not be available during our visit. She also explained that there were no marriage records for Butrimonys. At the time, I thought the archivist meant that marriages did not take place in Butrimonys, but she probably meant that the archives did not have the marriage records from Butrimonys. To make matters even more complicated, we would have to order the record books and return later to view them.

We also learned that the Archives held both the Parish copies of the records and the Diocesan copies of the records. We requested one book from the Butrimonys Parish and three books from the Merkinė Diocese. We left the archives and returned the next morning.

On Tuesday, we were delighted to find the record books waiting for us. The records were inscribed in Russian in a columnar format. Surnames were written to the left of each record, enabling us to quickly scan the pages for the correct surname – Chmielewski. In addition to the surnames written next to each record, the surnames were also indexed annually at the end of the records for a given year.

We could not locate the birth/baptismal records for either of our grandmothers. We did, however, find the birth/baptismal records for Józef Chmielewski (born in StakliÅ¡kÄ—s on 19 March 1874 and baptized in Butrimonys on 22 March 1874), Władysław Chmielewski (born in LikiÅ¡kiai on 25 November 1883 and baptized in Butrimonys on 27 November 1874), and Stanisław Chmielewski (born in LikiÅ¡kiai on 09 January 1897 and baptized in Butrimonys on 12 January 1897).

Józef and Władysław were half brothers to our grandmothers Helena and Anna. Stanisław was a full brother to our grandmothers.

Liliana and I made note of these three records and requested photocopies.

Copyright © 2007 by Stephen J. Danko

I only just returned home from Lithuania. The trip home took about 18 hours but, before calling it a night, I wanted to briefly recap my week there.

Statue of King Mindaugas
Lithuanian National Museum, Vilnius, Lithuania

SOURCE: Statue of King Mindaugas at the Lithuanian National Museum, Vilnius, Lithuania. Photographed by Stephen J. Danko, 25 October 2007.

My itinerary in Lithuania included:

• Sunday, 21 October 2007: Arrive in Vilnius, meet cousins Liliana and Aidas, take a brief tour of the Old Town, have dinner at Užupio Café in Vilnius
• Monday, 22 October 2007: Visit the Lithuanian State Archives, take a longer tour of the Old Town, see Zmones:) (Lithuanian Music and Dance) at the National Drama Theatre
• Tuesday, 23 October 2007: Visit the Lithuanian State Archives, visit the Trakai Historical National Park, meet cousin Vitaus for dinner
• Wednesday, 24 October 2007: Visit ancestral villages of LikiÅ¡kiai, Butrimonys, and Alytaus, see A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the National Drama Theatre
• Thursday, 25 October 2007: Visit the Lithuanian State Archives, tour the Polish part of Vilnius, have dinner at Restoranas Senasis Lokys in Vilnius, see Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball) at the Lithuanian Opera and Ballet Theatre
• Friday, 26 October 2007: Visit Panevėžys to meet cousin Romualda, see Gulbių ežeras (Swan Lake) at the Lithuanian Opera and Ballet Theatre
• Saturday, 27 October 2007: Return home

It was a busy week!

Copyright © 2007 by Stephen J. Danko

As I write this, I’m making last minute preparations for a trip to Lithuania.

My maternal grandmother, Helena Chmielewska, was born on 15 February 1897 in Trakai, Wilno Gubernia, Russia. The area is now part of the Republic of Lithuania. Historically, Lithuania controlled a large region of central Europe and the present republic is located very close to the geographic center of Europe.

My grandmother was one of two children born to Wincenty Chmielewski and Anastasia Wojnowska (or Wolnowska) . My grandmother had one sister, Ona, born on 18 June 1899 in Likiskiai, County Butrimonys, Alytus Region, Wilno Gubernia, Russia.

The location I have for my grandmother is relatively uncertain. On various documents she listed her place of birth as either Trakai or Vilnius and she may have been referring to the general region where she was born, not the actual village. The information about her sister is also a bit uncertain, since no one alive remembers exactly where she was born.

Descendants of my great aunt Ona still live in Lithuania, and I’ll be visiting several of my cousins while I’m there. My cousin Liliana (Ona’s granddaughter) now lives in the United States with her husband and daughter, but Liliana’s other close family members still live in Lithuania.

Liliana is in Lithuania for the entire month of October and she thought this would be a great time for me to visit and meet the rest of her family. I agreed.

Liliana plans to show me the villages where her parents lived. We’ll also visit other villages mentioned in various family documents. She also plans to bring me to the Lithuanian State Archives in Vilnius where all the historical Lithuanian church registers are kept. We may be able to find the baptismal records for our grandmothers if we can find the right parish registers.

Suffice to say, I don’t expect to be writing again until I return on October 27. With luck, I’ll bring back lots of pictures and copies of lots of new documents.

Until then, Viso gero!

Copyright © 2007 by Stephen J. Danko