{"id":10406,"date":"2010-11-24T23:30:11","date_gmt":"2010-11-25T07:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/index.php\/archives\/10406"},"modified":"2022-07-12T16:44:44","modified_gmt":"2022-07-12T23:44:44","slug":"in-trouble-with-the-law-part-1-of-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/10406","title":{"rendered":"In Trouble with the Law (Part 1 of 18)"},"content":{"rendered":"

There’s one in every family – someone who runs afoul of the law.\u00a0 In my case, I found not one, but four direct ancestors who were called into court to face charges leveled by one of their neighbors. To make matters worse, a plethora of my cousins were also called into court to testify in the case. The case was brought to court in the year 1756 in what at that time was the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and continued into the year 1757. Evidence presented in the case dated as far back as 1639.<\/p>\n

The court records, preserved in the Archiwum G\u0142\u00f3wne Akt Dawnych w Warszawie (Archives of Ancient Documents in Warsaw) were discovered last year by my cousin Christa Shukaitis. While the records do not relate directly to her own family, she recognized that this was an important document about my ancestors, specifically my 5th great grandparents Ignacy Niedzia\u0142kowski and Zofia Kami\u0144ska and my 6th great grandparents Mateusz Krzysztof Niedzia\u0142kowski and Konstancja \u017baboklicka. The document was written in Latin and neither of us could read it. Fortunately, a friend and fellow genealogist in Poland, Adam Pszcz\u00f3\u0142kowski, translated the record into Polish. Now, I’m translating the Polish into English. This double translation is not without its faults, however. I hope that the meaning of the original is not significantly distorted by these efforts.<\/p>\n

The record occupies 18 pages in the “Ciechanowskie Grodzkie Wieczyste”, catalog no. 107, pages 51 recto – 59 verso. Because of the length of the document, I will attempt to translate it one page at a time. Thus, the translation will take over two weeks. While the bulk of the record deals with the evidence in the case, the verdict is revealed only on the final page. So, what were the charges against my 5th and 6th great grandparents? Were they found innocent or guilty? Besides the case itself, what else can I learn about my ancestors?<\/p>\n

Let’s begin with the first page,\u00a0“Ciechanowskie Grodzkie Wieczyste”, sygn.107, k.51r:<\/p>\n

\""Ciechanowskie<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

“Ciechanowskie Grodzkie Wieczyste”, sygn.107, k.51r<\/p>\n

SOURCE: Klonowo, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, “Ciechanowskie Grodzkie Wieczyste,” sygn.107, k.51r, Grabowski v. Niedzia\u0142kowski, 1756; Archiwum G\u0142\u00f3wne Akt Dawnych w Warszawie, Warsaw, Poland.<\/p>\n

Translated from Latin to Polish, and then from Polish to English, the record states:<\/p>\n

\n

Being the amicable settlement of the Oblates in Klonowo by Zygmunt Grabowski, magistrate of Ciechan\u00f3w Ziemia and Wojciech Grabowski.<\/p>\n

This happened on the lands of the Klonowo estates on Monday on the eve of the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle in the year of our Lord 1756, in the presence of the well-born and noble (that is, the nobleman) Stanis\u0142aw Grabowski underwriter of Ciechan\u00f3w, Pawe\u0142 and Tomasz \u0141aguna, both municipal burgraves of Ciechan\u00f3w, J\u00f3zef Kami\u0144ski, Ignacy Ko\u0142akowski and others, also the usher of the court administrator Maciej Umiemski.<\/p>\n

Klonowo<\/p>\n

Based on the judgment of the court of the Ciechan\u00f3w Ziemia, announced in the Ciechan\u00f3w negotiations, on the Thursday after the ninth Sunday before Easter this year, the parties were required to carry out a settlement on the lands of the Klonowo estates.\u00a0 Parties in the matter are the nobles:
\n– Wojciech Grabowski, the principal plaintiff and defendant present in person,
\n– Ignacy Niedzia\u0142kowski and his wife Zofia Kami\u0144ska, defendants and plaintiffs, in person,
\n– Krzysztof Niedzia\u0142kowski and his wife Konstancja \u017baboklicka, defendants and appointed, in person,
\n– Melchior Niedzia\u0142kowski, son of the deceased Franciszek, defendant, on his own behalf as well as that of Miss Agnieszka Niedzia\u0142kowska, Miss, his sister and his servants, in person,
\n– J\u00f3zef Niedzia\u0142kowski, son of the deceased Adam, defendant, on his own behalf as well as that of his brothers and sister, …<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

To be continued…<\/p>\n

For other parts of this record, see:<\/p>\n