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Przasnysz or Prasnysz

- the County Seat in the Province of Plock

In 1416 it was known as Przasnisch and in 1476 as Przassnychs. It is located at 53 degrees 0' 9" and north latitude and 38 degrees 37' 3" east longitude, along the river Wegierka, 84 versts (1 verst = 1066.78 meters) from Warsaw, 23 versts from Ciechanow and 31 versts from Chorzele, a large village bordering Prussia. Connected by macadam roads with Mlawa, Makow, and Ciechanow.

The town consists of the parish church, of brick; a church, formally of the Bernardines; a permanent convent of the Felician Sisters (11 nuns); St. Stanislaus hospital with 35 beds; the evangelical parish church; a private Catholic elementary school; an evangelical elementary school; a Jewish elementary school; a trade school; justice of the peace District IV; community court of District II (judges of both convene in Plock); county and town offices; post and telegraph office. The town has 528 houses (54 of them brick); and 7,074 inhabitants (of which 3,955 were Jews) as of 1880.

Commercial establishments in 1879 were: 2 small breweries, a tannery, 2 soapworks, and a chickory factory. The town's revenue in 1877 totaled 13,317 rhenish florin (= Austrian florin). In 1858, the towns receipts were 2,861 rhenish florin, and the fireproof buildings were appraised at 130,580 rhenish florin. There were 387 houses (49 of brick) and 3,843 inhabitants (of which 1,875 were Jews and 74 were German). The great fire of 1875 resulted in the construction of single story houses of brick in the town square.

Adjoining the town are the command quarters (wojtostwo) of Przasnysz along the Wegierka River (which belongs to the community of Karwacz) consisting of 24 houses and 91 inhabitants. It has a area of 326 morgs, and has a water mill.

Przasnysz owes its development to its location at the junction of Ciechan—w's northern forested and marshy region and the southern fertile and populated half. The Duke's manor, situated along the edge of the forest, was the center of the settlement, for it was there that the people made a living at forestry and the fields around Ciechanow, they exchanged their products and stocked up on needed supplies. Proximity to the Prussian border afforded the settlement foreign trade (commerce with oxen).

"Kronika miasta Przasnysza", written in Latin by a Bernardine in 1585 states that the origin of the settlement stems from a mill on the Wegierka River (northwest of town) near which there existed a prospering apiary. The owner of the mill and the apiary was one Prasnyk, who was granted nobility by Duke Konrad for having extended hospitality to the Duke when he lost his way in the woods during a hunt. At the same time, the Duke founded a town on the adjoining land. The charter of the founding, according to the Kronika, was in the town's archives but was destroyed during the town fire. This places the beginning of Przasnysz in the first half of the 13th century.

In 1847, Prince Janusz conferred upon Przasnysz the Law of Chelm which exempted the inhabitants from taxes and tolls in the entire duchy. The Charter of 1497, provides that the town be represented by three candidates, of which one will be chosen Mayor by the Duke or the Duke's prefect (granted by Duke Konrad). The detailed record of the above mentioned Kronika testifies to the sucessful development of commerce and industry in the 15th century. There existed numerous breweries, clothing factories, winemaking, goldsmiths, and other tradesmen. The markets drew buyers from Prussia and the more distant regions of Mazowsza. The markets sold cattle, horses and a variety of wares. The population of the town neared 14,000. This figure was most likely exaggerated however, but comparatively speaking, it was sizeable and prosperous, which is confirmed by the towns statistics of 1564. The town alone had 487 houses and the surrounding area had 202 houses. There were 126 brewers, 117 bakers, 676 cobblers, 36 furriers, 34 tailors, 22 stove-fitters or potters, 14 blacksmiths, 2 coppersmiths, 6 swordbearers, and 1 goldsmith. These statistics illustrate the meaning of commerce to the surrounding population of foresters and the minor poor gentry swarming in Ciechanow. The woods people would supply themselves with bread, beer, and parkas, and the farmers would purchase meat, beer, clothing, farm implements, swords, and pots. Fairs and church services afforded an opportunity for the generous consumption of beer by large gatherings of the surrounding population.

In the 16th century there were 4 churches. At the close of the 16th century, the increase in population among the foresters called for the division of Ciechanow lands into two counties, that of Przasnysz and Ciechanow. Seperated from the Ciechanow subprefecture (starostwo), Przasnysz forms an independent subprefecture. Here, land trials are held. In 1613, fire destroyed a large section of town which was chiefly built of wood.

A report of 1616 reads: "There was an estate (most likely the Duke's), not small, with sufficient living quarters, that burned down." The town measures 110 wloks (a wlok = 30 morgs; a morg = 55 acres); 102 of these were rented at 42 groszy payable on St. Martin's day. "Owsa po korcy 7, kaplonow po 2." Three years previous, the town burned down reducing the number of homes to 404 and left 262 vacant places. The remaining homes payed no rent though no proof of exemption can be found, but it was alleged that this was a long prevailing custom. Nor do the tradesmen pay any rent, holding to the custom. There are 201 gardens of 783 1/2 pretow (rods?), and for each rod, 3 denarios is paid on St. Martin's day. Three auctions are held. Marketing days are are Thursdays and Saturdays. Cattle and horses are taxed 8 denarios each, sheep and goats 3 denarios each, from buyers and sellers separetly. The annual revenue is 50 florin. There are 26 butchers stalls, each pays with tallow that brings in 43 florin and 10 groszy. From each village butcher who comes to trade in meat, a shoulder blade is taken from each animal, large and small, bringing in 30 florin. Property tax: 1 groszy per horse, 9 denarios per oxen, 3 denarios per sheep, goat, hog which will provide 100 florine. Gamekeepers contributions bring in 44 florin. Swiecicki in "Opis Mazowsza", in the early 17th century, relates: "The town is large, well-populated and known for the marketing of oxen. Surrounded by fertile land, where one can find reasonably priced necessities for living." Pestilence affected Przasnysz in 1604, 1623, 1652, 1658, 1667, and 1677.

From the middle of the 17th century, the country was devistated by wars, and the growth of Przasnysz was halted. However, due to its fertile land and the industry of its inhabitants, it soon lifted itself from defeat. Under Prussian rule (about 1800), located in the town are the county bureau, district court, tax bureau, and a squad of dragoons. According to Holsche, the town has 235 houses. In 1807, Flatt reports 1,500 inhabitants and 240 houses; while the population of Pultusk numbers 1,300; Ciechanow, 800, Makow, 700. Indicitive of the prosperity and the size of its population in past centuries are the numerous churches and schools.

The convent chonicle of the 16th century states that the parish church of Przasnysz was established in the 13th century with the settlement of the town. Initially, it was most likely a chapel at the Duke's estate. The construction of a brick church in ogival style is placed at the end of the 14th century or the beginning of the 15th century. The consecration of the church took place in 1408. From the deed issued by Janusz in 1476, we learn that the earlier grants were most likely lost in a fire, and that "as far back as man's memory can reach", the church was in possession of a detailed listing of lands and revenues. Each lan (unit of cultivated land equal to 7 1/2 to 32 acres) of which 110 lan was taxed 2 korce (a bushel that equals 120 liters) of rye and 1 of oats. The same was given to the villages of Bartniki and Ogleda. The rector owned two lans on which stood a granary for storing the generous donations of the parishioners. The rector also possessed 2 fields, a house and a garden, There was a curate at the church, one Michael Boncza, curatus in Przasnyschs et capellanus curie - i.e., curate in Przasnysz and priest of the court, to whom the Duke issued the lands.

After the second fire, most likely during the war with Sweden when Ciechanow surcumbed in 1657. The church was rebuilt and consecrated in 1670 by Maciej Kurski, the coadjutor of Poznan with the permission of Jan Gembiciki, Bishop of Plock. The third fire, in 1792, destroyed the entire interior of the church which was then closed and its services transferred to the church of the Bernardines. Finally, in 1856, the old church was reopened after repairs and was consecrated. Defective repairs caused a rebuilding of the church from the foundation up in 1880. Except for the walls , everything was new. A cupola was raised on the roof and the new ceiling was given the appearance of a dome. A new choir with organ, and a new marble floor was added. The length of the church measures 96 ells (an ell is a unit of measure equal to 57.6 centimeters), and the width of the nave 23 1/2 ells. Besides the main altar, there are two side altars. Near the church are two vaulted brick chapels, one in the honor of the Mother of God of the Rosary, and later, named St. Stanislaus Kostka, funded by the Saint's mother, Malogorzata Kostka, daughter of the Castellan of Zakoczym, and her son, Paul standard bearer of Ciechanow. The other chapel is in honor of the Five Wounds of the Lord Jesus. Frequent fires and the reconstructions obliterated the original architectural style. The four-cornered belfry was similiar to the belfry of the church of the Virgin Mary in Warsaw. The oldest bell is dtaed 1615, and the three others, 1747 and 1748. The church of the Holy Spirit, of brick, which, according to tradition is as old as the parish church, was most likely a chapel and perhaps even the first parish church. Ruined and abandoned, it was rebuilt by the rector in 1877. A third church,, St. Jacob's, built of wood, was the chapel of the hospital, which existed in the 16th century. Even then it fell in ruins and in its place, in 1588, a new church of brick was raised as well as the monastery of the Bernardines, funded by Pawel Kostka (brother of the Saint), who also assigned funds for furnishing the monastery and the local hospital.

In 1615, Elzbieta Mostowska, treasurer of Ciechanow, established a convent for the Sisters of St. Bernard. It was most likely near this convent that the church of St. Michael stood (of brick) on Zdowska Street; it was assigned to the Lutherans under Prussian rule. And yet a fifth, small church of wood, the Holy Cross Church, stood on Zydowska Street, over the bridge, in the direction of the village Bartniki. In 1793, it was ruined and dismantled. The Bernardines conducted a school of three grades at the monastery, and the Bernardine Sisters operated a boarding school until 1864 which was known through the region. After 1864, the Bernardine nuns were replaced by the Felicians.

The present hospital (of St. Stanislaus Kostka) was raised in 1852 with donations of the regional inhabitants.

An interesting source of the history of Przasnysz, since all the town and church documents perished, may be the manuscript found by Rev. Czaplinski, Rector of Przasnysz among the papers of the Bernardine monks, which is a chronicle of the town in Latin from the year 1585. Rev. Jan Osiecki availed himself of this chronicle in an uncritical manner in his history of Przasnysz deposited in the Plock files (1880, nos. 74-82). Accounts and a drawing of Przasnysz were published by Tygodnik Illustrowany (1861, III, 208; 1863, VIII, 316; and 1864, X, 248).

The parish of Przasnysz has 8,045 souls. The subprefecture of Przasnysz, in voivodship Mazowsze, territory of Chiechanow, according to the inspection of 1661, encompassed the towns of Przasnysz and Chorzele, as well as the villages: Jednoronec or Sopechy, Zelazne, Szla, Ruda, Kobylak, Lipa, Baranow, Jastrzabka, Budki, and two leases, Dobrzankow and Janowo. In 1771, they were owned by Kazimierz Kresinski, the royal camp commander.

Source: Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego - Warsaw 1888

Submitted by: Joseph Dressel, 5641 N. Kenmore Ave., Chicago, IL (Nov 1997)

Przecieszyn

- in the County of Biala 

- also known as Przeczyeschyn in the 15th century and Prezecziessin in the 16th century. 

A village in a lowland, 266 meters above sea level, on the left bank of Sola. Borders on the west with Brzeszcz, on the east with Skidzin, on the north with Wilczkowice, and on the south it has a large forest called Panski or Bestwinski, which separates it from Wilamowice. 

The village has 49 homes and 305 Roman Catholic inhabitants; the Roman Catholic parish is in Oswiecim (8.3 Km away). The larger estate (of Archbishop Albrecht) has an area of 270 acres of farm, 40 acres of meadows, 15 acres of pastures and 70 acres of forest; the smaller estate has 300 acres of farm, 15 acres of meadows, 63 acres of pastures and 7 acres of forest. Within the boundaries of Przecieszyn is the Nadsolna Ranch. 

During the time of Dlugosz (Book II, p. 224), Przecieszyn was owned by Skidzinski (Szkedzenski) Marek, Jan and Michal, and later by Lubonski. In 1581 there were 2 peasant fiefs, 5 buildings with farms, 2 leases and 1 artisan. (Pawinski, Malopolska, p. 99). 

Source: Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego - Warsaw 1888 

Submitted by: Joan Schmidt, 106 S. Hill St., Roselle, IL 60172 (Dec 1996)

Przecl~aw

Przeclaw, in 1556 mentioned as Przeczslaw, a small town in Mielec powiat, on a sandy plain, 204 meters above sea level, on the left bank of the Wisloka, by the highway from Debica to Mielec. On the other side of the river, the track of the Debica-Baranow railway (a branch of the Karl Ludwig line) passes through the grounds of the village of Tuszyma. The town is made of wood, poorly constructed, and has a brick parish church, a 2-class people's school, a post office, and a gmina loan society with 963 zl. in capital. On the grounds of the major estate stands the manor, transformed from a defensive castle, on a precipice washed by water, as well as a still and two windmills. To the south lies the suburb called Podzamcze, to the north Wenecya, and farther south on the highway to Debica is the village Podole, west of which is Wolka Podolska and the settlement Podzamcze, and west of the town is Wylow. To the north it borders on the village of Kielkow. To the east this settlement is shaded by a pine forest, called Przeclawski bor.

There are markets in Przeclaw every Thursday. The settlement has 158 houses and 1,026 inhabitants (490 men, 536 women), 718 Roman Catholic, 9 Greek Catholic, and 299 Jewish. On the grounds of the major estate (property of Count Mieczyslaw Rej) are 6 houses and 135 Roman Catholic inhabitants; it has 834 morgs of farmland, 76 of meadows and gardens, 82 of pastures, and 1,566 of woods (see Dobrynin). The minor estate has 672 morgs of farmland, 77 of meadows and gardens, 150 of pastures, and 14 of woods. The soil of the river basin is fertile clay, but farther west it is sandy.

Przeclaw Ligeza is supposed to have founded this settlement in the 13th century and settled it with German colonists. In the tax register of Sandomierz province for 1566 (quoted in Pawinski, Malopolska, 500) we read: "Przeczslaw, the small town of the noble Mikolaj Ligenza, heir to Bobrek and Przeclaw. There are 40 houses in this town, of which several are abandoned; they do not have farmland, only several gardens, on which houses and gardens they pay rent in various ways. The total of this rent comes to 12 grzywnas and 4 groszy. There are no other rents. The baths pay 1 1/2 grzywnas, the mills 2, one is held by the heir, the other is on the Wisloka, the third, near the castle, is of little worth; navigation on the Wisloka brings 11ò2 grzywnas. The soltys has 2 lans and every 7th grosz from the rents. The castle and grounds of the nobility (praedium) are good, there are three small ponds, meadows, etc. There are 45 peasants who live outside the town, 5 on full lans pay a grzywna apiece, three on 3/4 lans pay 3 fertons each, 22 on half lans pay one-half grzywna each, 7 on quarter lans pay 1 ferton each. Others have small bits of farmland on which they pay according to their size. The total of these rents comes to 33 1/2 grzywnas. Two half-lan sections are abandoned. In addition the peasants give 70 measures (cherotos) of oats, 296 eggs, 57 capons, and 53 cheeses."

In 1581 the settlement on the outskirts of town belonged to the castellan of Ropczyce (ibid., p. 248) and at that time it had 33 peasants on 11 1/4 lans, 5 tenants with cattle, 4 without cattle, and the town itself (ibid., p. 269) paid 8 zl. in a double municipal tax. There were 19 craftsmen in it, 7 settlers (inquilini), 4 distilleries (ollae cremati), as well as 1 vendor, 1 barber, 1 pauper, and 2 lans of town farmland.

The parish church, date of erection unknown, was originally of wood and called "The Assumption of the Blessed Mother" (Dlugosz, Liber beneficiorum, II, 295). Till 1454 there were two pastors (rectores) there, from which a great many disputes arose. Thus on 25 May 1454, after the death of pastor Grzegorz, the Bishop and Cardinal Zbigniew Olegnicki, at the request of Stanislaw Ligeza, Malogoszcz castellan and patron of this church, and Adam, the one pastor, decided that thenceforth there would be one pastor there and three mansioners, who would sing devotions of the Blessed Mother daily. In this document, given in Liber Beneficiorum (II, 297) there is an interesting point regarding the collection of all bequests, gifts, and incomes from burials in a special box in the sacristy under lock and key of the squire and the pastor. The administration of the fund was to remain under the control of the squire. Dlugosz says that the tithe from the town was appraised at 5 grzywnas and every mansioner had his own house to live in. Stanislaw Ligeza was to administer this troubled fund, because from the deposit made by the late pastor Grzegorz "he had usurped and appropriated no small sum."

In the 17th century Przeclaw produced Jan Przeclawczyk (Preklaides), theologian and philosopher of the University of Krakow around 1630. After the Ligezas, the Kropka-Przeclawskis owned Przeclaw, and then the Wielopolskis. Parish registers from 1601 are preserved in the parish office. The parish belongs to Tarnow diocese, Radomysl deanery, and includes: Blonie, Podole, Korzeniow, Tuszyma, Bialybor, Wylow, Kadziolki, Laczki, Meciszow, Bobrowa, and Ruda. - Mac.

Source: Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1888, vol. 9, pg. 129]

Translated by William F. Hoffman, PGSA Winter 1999 Bulletin.

Przeradowo

Przeradowo, a village and manor farm on the river Narwia, district of Makowski, community of Smrock, parish of Zambski. In the village lives a nobleman and peasants. In 1827 there were 16 houses, 128 residents. In 1867 the manor farm in Przeradowo had an open area of 916 mórgs: Arable grounds and gardens, 362 mórgs; meadows, 120 mórgs; pastures, 100 mórgs; forests, 210 mórgs; scrubs-brushwood, 44 mórgs; barren land, 80 morgs. The village settlement of Przeradowo had 29 mórgs, with gardens, 349 mórgs. The village settlement of Wygoda had 6 mórgs, with gardens 45 mórgs.

Source: Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego - Volume IX, Page 175 - Warsaw 1888

Submitted by: Anthony Paddock, 5015 Bimey Ave., Moosic, PA 18507

Przetok

A village in the parish and rural district of Kopciowo, Sejny county. It is 31 versts from Sejny, at the confluence of the Marcha and Hancya rivers with 10 houses and 88 inhabitants with a land area of 153 morgs. It was once part of the Justyanowo estate.

Source: Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1893, vol. 9, p. 180].

Translated by Dorothy Leivers, Hadlow, Kent, England, Dorfleiv@aol.com (May 2004)

Przewrotne

Translation available through PGS of California http://pgsca.org/reprints.html

Przybowka

Link to PGST translation - text and photos.

Source: Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego - Warsaw. Translated by Martin Kurtin.

Przyl~e~k

Przylek 1) village, county of Mielec, in a sandy and forested plain, beside the highway from Mielec to Kolbuszowa (13 kilometers), at an elevation of 214 meters above sea level. It is divided into two larger estates (those of Jadwiga Ciesielska and Wanda Dolanska) and has a six cottage group: Przylek (115 houses, 639 inhabitants), Podlesie (35 houses, 206 inhabitants) with Staszówka (16 houses, 84 inhabitants), Poreby (14 houses, 72 inhabitants) and Zabiniec (11 houses, 63 inhabitants). There are a total of 219 houses and 1,226 inhabitants; 1,176 Roman Catholics and 50 Jews. In the two major estates there are 12 houses, 94 inhabitants; 29 Roman Catholics and 65 Jews. The larger estate had 583 farms, 94 meadows, 145 pastures and 3,607 mórgs forests; the smaller estate has 688 farms, 100 meadows, 21 pastures and 15 mórgs of forests. A parish (Roman Catholic) in Ostrowy Tuszowskie. In the 15th century the peasants paid tithes to prebendy turebskiej, in Sandomierz, the manor farm and the rector in Charzewice (Dlugosz, L.B., I, 350, II, 356)*1. At this time Piotr and Swider Nieczuj were also owners of two manorial farms. In 1851 (Pawinski, Malopolska, 199), the larger estate belonged to Barbara Strazlkowska, Jakub and Tomasz Swider and Faliszowski. There is an elementary school and a loan office with capital of 636 zloty of Rhineland money. The village itself occupies an oblong clearing, whereas, the hamlets are situated to the south of it in the midst of forests. Its border to north is Ostrowy Tuszowskie and Toporów, to the south with Niwiska and to the east with Kossow and Siedlanka.

*1 Turebskiej is the adjectival form of the place name Turbia. In the 15th century Turbia was owned by the Canons in Sandomierz.

Source: Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1887, vol. 8, pp. 816-817]

Submitted by Anthony Paddock, (Dec 2003).

Przyl~e~k Zgórski

Przylek Zgórski, 2) county of Mielec, a free settlement of Cyranka, in the midst of coniferous woods, by a large pond, to the west of the aforementioned, consisting of several cottages.

Source: Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1887, vol. 8, pp. 816-817]

Submitted by Anthony Paddock, (Dec 2003).

Przysiersk

Przysiersk, 1) German Heinrichsdorf, a village owned by the church, in Swiecie powiat, on the highway from Tuchola to Terespol; post office and railway station in Terespol, 4 km. away, Protestant parish in Bukowiec. it has a 2-class non-denominational school (with 199 children in 1887); it has an area of 4,025.97 morgs, with average soil. In 1868 it had 141 buildings, 90 houses, 713 inhabitants, 454 of them Catholic, 243 Protestant. The brick church of St. Wawrzyniec [Lawrence], under government patronage, dates from the beginning of the present century. it has had a society of the Rosary since 1732, and a temperance society since 1851; there is also a shelter for 2 paupers. The parish consists of. Przysiersk, Drozdowo, Konopat, Niemiecki, Bukowiec, Zajac, Bramka, Kawieczyn, Budyn, Jarzebieniec, Biechowo, Biechowko, Wyrwa, Pniewno, Konopat Polski, Terespol, Julianowo, and Papiernia. As of 1867 the parish, in Swiecie deanery, numbered 1,363 souls and 838 communicants, whereas in 1886 it had 1,774 souls.

Przysiersk is an old settlement on the ancient Swiecie-Tuchola road; located in the middle of the jurisdiction of the Swiecie regional Commander of the Teutonic Knights, it served as a meeting place for the nobility. In 1351 the Knights gave Jan Klukow and his heirs the village of Przysiersk ("Heinrichsdorf") under terms of Chelmno law. Settlers there received every tenth wloka free; the soltys also got the third part of court fines levied on German subjects ("driten pfenig von allem duczem wichbildesgrichte"); vassals who were Polish subjects were exempt. Even then the population was mixed; the Knights commander, or aldermen under his leadership, settled the Polish populace there under terms of Polish law [i.e., as opposed to German]. In 1415 the village had 59 wlokas, of which the church pastor owned 4 free, and the soltys the same number; on the rest the settlers paid half a grzywna and two hens each. instead of a tithe they each gave 5 skojec per wloka; only 9 wlokas were settled. The innkeeper paid a rent of 5 wiarduneks (see Geschichte des Kreises Schwetz, von Wagner, p. 433.

As of 1565 the village had 60 wlokas of sandy soil. The soltys owned four; the two belonging to the pastor were worked by peasants, in return for every fourth sheaf. The German Wilda possessed 5 vassal wlokas, but he paid nothing, although he could not produce the charter granting him this land; 17 peasants owned 48 wlokas, on which each paid 1 grzywna and 2 hens. The two inns, which owned no land, paid 2 grzywny and 4 hens, and the soltys collected 1 grzywna annually from a third. Two peasants who owned garden-sized plots of land were obligated to perform labor duty at their farmstead upon demand, and they paid a rent of 1 grzywna, 4 groszy. Three persons living on the peasant properties worked for the peasants at their farms, but only for wages. There were no meadows, and the peasants gathered wood from their own thickets or else purchased it. Chelminski built the paper-mill [papiernia] outside the village for Wilda, who neglected it and the farmland around it. The vassals were obligated to do labor duty at the manorial farmstead in Grodek at any time, as well as to convey wood to the castle in winter, as many times as that might be demanded. The total rents paid to the castle came to 53 grzywny, 4 groszy, and 104 hens.

In 1683 Dulski was the lessor here. In 1676 there were 88 inhabitants. The older church was made of wood, but had a tile roof., As of 1649 the parish priest owned two wlokas, in 1749 he owned 31ò2, as well as another half that was disputed, of what had earlier been 4. According to the rate schedule for the sympla [ordinary tax] Przysiersk paid 3 zlotys, 22 groszy. The school already existed as of 1583. In 1773 Przysiersk belonged to the estate of General Czapski's wife. According to the 1648 tax schedule, by which a double tax and a triple excise tax were adopted, Niewiescinski paid 1 florin. The pastors were: in 1583 Mikolaj ze Slebowa, in 1749 Andrzej Herstowski, in 1711 Piotr Piechowski, in 1848 Robert Oldenburg, and in 1867 Boryszkowski. In 1711 the village had 60 wlokas, on each of which the pastor was supposed to collect half a bushel of rye and the same amount of oats, but for several years nothing had been paid on the 10 wlokas of lord Niewiescinski (see Zeitschrift des Westpreu¤ischen Geschictlichen Vereins, XVIII, p. 211).

2) Przysiersk, folwark, in the same place. In 1868 there were 8 buildings, 3 houses, 50 Catholics, 13 Protestants. Formerly this was a folwark belonging to the treasury. In 1676 it belonged to Maciej Kossowski, assessor of the Swiecie district court, and had 50 inhabitants; the sympla tax came to 8 groszy. In 1773 it was a Chelmno folwark with 10 peasant wlokas, 4 hearths, and 27 Catholic inhabitants, among whom were 4 peasant lessors owning harnessed teams. (Zeitschrift des Westpreu¤ischen Geschictlichen Vereins, XVIII, 213). [Rev. Frydrychowitcz]

Source: Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1888, vol. 9, pg. 228].

Translated, by William F. Hoffman, PGSA Spring 1999 Bulletin.

Przytul~y

A manorial farmstead, colony, village, and government-owned entailed estate in Kolno powiat, gmina of Kubra, parish of Przytuly, 23 km. from Kolno, on the road from Kolno to Radzilow, between Stawiski and Radzilow. It has a wooden parish church, a gmina office, and an elementary school. The church and parish were founded here in 1436 by the Mazovian duke Wladyslaw. It belonged to the deanery in Wizna. Przytuly was formerly a ducal village, and later a royal one. In 1664 it belonged to the Knyszyn or Lesnica starostwo, in Biala district, which was pledged as collateral to the Orsettis. The current church was erected in 1770. In 1838 the Przytuly estate was split off from the government-owned estate of Wizna, and was bestowed as an entailed estate on the state councilor Teodor Hilferding.

It consists of the manorial farmsteads of Przytuly and Zaby, and the villages Przytuly, Zaby and Okrasin. The manorial farmstead covered an area of 1,615 morgs. The village of Przytuly had 30 settlements with 394 morgs of land; the village of Zaby had 26 settlements with 738 morgs of land; the village of Okrasin had 42 settlements with 2,054 morgs. In 1884 the manorial farmstead of Przytuly, letter C, had 194 morgs: 154 of farmland and gardens, 37 of meadows, 3 unused; it had 4 buildings made of wood. The parish of Przytuly, of Kolno deanery, included 3,040 souls. [Br(onislaw) Ch(lebowski)-Vol. 9, p. 240]

[Additional information in the supplemental volume 15]: Przytuly, a village in Kolno powiat. It is mentioned in documents from 1437 (see Banviki). In 1506 a convention was held there of dignitaries of Wizna district to pass resolutions regarding beehives on noble estates (Kod. masz., 325). In 1557 Przytuly was a property of the crown. Piotr Grajewski, the Wizna starosta, paid taxes on 111/2 lans there. [Vol. 15b, p. 525].

Source: Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego - Warsaw

Translated by William F. Hoffman, PGSA Winter 2001 Rodziny.

Puchal~y

Puchaly, also called Sokola Laka, a village and manorial farmstead in Lomza powiat, gmina and parish of Puchaly, 17 km. from Lomza, with its own parish church, made of wood. In 1827 there were 5 houses, 85 inhabitants. It is the family seat of the Puchalskis, mentioned in legal records from 1421 (Gloger, Ziemia lomz.) The church and parish were built in 1411 by Puchala and Sasin, the owners of the village. The present church dates from 1762. In 1885 the Puchaly manorial farmstead had 622 morgs, of which farmland and meadows covered 382, meadows 65, pastureland 13, forests 147, and 15 were unused. There were 10 buildings of stone, 6 of wood.

The village of Pniewo had 28 settlements, with 343 morgs of land; the village of Rybno had 4 settlements with 30 morgs of land; the village of Gac had 14 settlements, with 60 morgs of land; the settlement of Budy Pniewskie had 11 morgs of land.

The gmina of Puchaly, with its offices in the village of Gac, had 5,870 inhabitants, with 12,640 morgs of land; the gmina court, district IV, was in Kolomyja, and the train station was in Lomza. The gmina includes: Bacze-Mokre, Bacze-Suche, Gac, Gronostaje-Puszcza, Kossaki, Koty-Lutostan, Koziki-Jabrzykow-Stok, Lady, Mieczki-Malystok, Milewo-Sokola-Laka, Modzele, Pesy-Lipno, Pniewo, Pruszki, Pstrsgi, Puchaly, Rybno, Szeligi-Lesnica, Wybrany, Wyrzyki, and Zbrzeznica. The gmina is inhabitated primarily by members of the minor nobility; in 5 of the localities the population is purely peasant, and in 11 purely noble, with the rest of mixed population. [Br. Ch. - Vol. 9, p. 265.]

Source: Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego - Warsaw

Translated by William F. Hoffman, PGSA Fall 2000. (Dec 2000)

Puck

Called Peck in Kaszubian, Putzig in German, formerly Pauzigk and Pautzke (in a 1277 document Putzc, 1277 Pusecz, 1288 Puczse and Putsk, 1289 Pucz). Since 1887 the seat of a county, as it was during the days of Polish rule, it is the ancient capital of the region where the Belok dialect of Kaszubian predominates, but is today mostly Germanized. It lies on the Bay of Puck (in German Putziger-Wiek), not far from the mouth of the Plutnica, on the so-called Puck Kepa [elevated moraine], 15 km. north of Reda, the nearest railroad station, and 20 km. northeast of Wejherowo. Three highways lead from there; one through Reda to Gdansk, the second through Werblin and Krokowo to Pomerania, and the third through Swarzewo to Lebcz. Communication with Gdansk is facilitated by the steamship Puck, which goes there twice a week. Not long ago sea baths were built there; up to now, however, they still have not attracted many guests.

There is a 3rd-class post office, a district court, a Catholic church and a Protestant one (1780), a synagogue, a three-grade Catholic school, a two-grade Protestant school, a tax office, several distilleries and brickyards, a windmill, a steam mill, and several breweries. Puck beer was once famous, as Borck attests, referring to Rzaczynski. Belonging to the municipal gmina are the farmstead Heinrichshof, the forestry station Kepino, the Prangenthal brickyard, the Seefeld steam mill, and the farmstead Tannenberg. In 1773 there were 103 houses and 778 inhabitants; in 1827 there were 1,818 inhabitants and 140 houses; in 1869 there were 2,357 inhabitants (1,589 Catholics, 664 Protestants, 102 Jews, and 2 dissidents); in 1880 there were 2,019 inhabitants; in 1885 there were 1,880 inhabitants and 163 houses.

The climate is harsh, marine, and healthy; the soil is unusually fertile, so that the vicinity of Puck comprises an oasis amid the sandy soil of Kaszuby. The inhabitants are employed mainly in fishing and retail trade. There are four fairs yearly, two with booths and two for cattle. The town’s coat of arms features a lion atop a silver salmon.

The old castle, fortified walls, and ramparts have disappeared, with traces remaining only of the ancient town moat. A legend has survived of underground passageways of some sort. In the middle of the town there is a spacious marketplace, into which the streets lead at right angles.

The town’s sole ornament and monuúment to the past is a magnificent brick Catholic parish church. Its oldest part (from the 13th century) is a heavy square tower up to the frieze, and an arched wall separating a long middle nave from the presbyutery. The church originally had a single nave; in the 14th century two lateral naves were added, each with a separate roof topped with a tower. After the Thirteen Years’ War these three roofs were replaced with a single one, due to which the tops had to be raised significantly. The length of the sanctuary, without the tower, is 37.6 meters, and the width 19.8. It has four chapels, but only two are in use: the chapel of the official Judycki, in which the body of St. German was kept, according to Szembek’s inspecútion report, and the chapel of the Malbork palatine Jakub Wejher, in which are located portraits of its patron Wejher and his wife (from 1597); the tombstone was erected in 1599. The church’s inner ornament is the eastern gable and the gable of the Judycki chapel. Art objects of value include the carved altar in the Wejher chapel, and its the image painted on wood; the wrought-iron doors to the chapel; several large bronze candlesticks; and three chandeliers, of which the largest dates from 1664. Of the church’s valuables, the silver and gilded Gothic cross or pacyfikal stands out, as well as a beautiful monstrance and chalice. The largest bell, dating from 1605, was the work of Krzysztof Oldendorf of Gdansk; the oldest striker of the hours on the clock is decorated with the inscription “Ave Maria” in Gothic letters (see Die Bau- und Kunstdenkmäler der Prowinz Westpreussen, Book I, pp. 53-60, illustrated).

The pastors were: 1291 Lambert; 1360 Jan; 1488 Jerzy Witte; 1583 Maciej Lulowski; 1595 Marcin Culcius;   1735 Piotr Gniazdowski, Wloclawek canon; 1735 Piotr Sikorski; 1740 Tomasz Szczepanski, later canon of Warmia; 1750 Loga; ca. 1755 Adam Goldmann (see Borck, page 487); and 1848 Franciszek Anlauf.

Formerly there were up to 7 priests at the local church. In addition to the parish church, Puck possessed a provostry of St. George and a chapel at the castle. The proúvostry was located beyond the city and was connected with a hospital and cemetery; the Swedes destroyed it (see Rev. Fankidejski’s Utracone kosc., p. 211).

The parish belongs to the Puck deanery, which encompasses 9 parishes: Jastarnia, Mechowo, Wejherowo, Oksywie, Puck, Rumia, Swarzewo, Strzelin, and Zarnowiec. The Puck church of Sts. Peter and Paul is of government patronage. The St. George Hosúpice has room for 10 paupers. At the church are a confraternity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, since 1660, and a sobriety confraternity, since 1856. Included in the parish are: Puck, Polchowo, Mrzezin, Smolno, Oslanin, Beka, Rzucewo, Slawutowo and Slawutowko, Brudziewo, Celbowo, Zelistrzewo, Bladúzikowo and Polczyn. In 1867 it numbered 2,996 communicants and 4,944 souls, and 4,540 souls in 1886.

Puck is an old Slavic settlement, as proved by urns dug up there and a bronze wedge mentioned by Ossowski (Objasn. do mapy archeol. Prus. Zach., p. 107). In 1853 33 silver Kufic coins were found near the city (dating from ad 898-965), 30 of which are in the numismatic collection in Kroleúwiec [now Kaliningrad, Russia]. Nesselmann described them in detail (Preuss. Prov. Bl., 1853, II, pp. 421-429).

A charter of Mestwin from 1289 speaks of a place “juxta viam regiam, currentem de Gdancz in Pucz” [close by the king’s road running from Gdansk to Puck] (see von Perlbach, Pommeralisches Urkundenbuch, Gdansk, 1887, p. 412). For this reason in ancient times Puck had no small significance, both in the days of the Pomeranian princes and during the rule of the Teutonic Knights and the Poles; the settlement’s importance has diminished due to changes in the political borders. The chronicler Schuetz claims (page 11) that Puck was founded in 1150 by the Pomeranian prince Boguslaw, father of Subislaw, founder of the Oliwa monastery. Originally Puck was only a village, which Sambor I gave to the Cistercians in Oliwa, but later he took it back, giving them Starzyn in return (see v. Perlbach, op. cit., page 17). Puck was turned into a marketing center, in which market gatherings and courts were held.

Not long after that Puck was the seat of a castellany. The Puck castellany was bordered on the north and east by the Baltic, on the west by Zarnowiec and nearby lake Piasnica, and the village of Gowino; on the south it extended to Oksywie on the sea and to Miloszewo and Bedargowo (see Toeppen, Histororisch-Comparative Geographie von Preussen, 1858, page 44). The Puck castellany is mentioned for the rst time in a document of Mestwin from 1277 (“castellatura de Putzc”; see von Perlbach, op. cit., page 245). The following castellans are known: 1277 Ziborius, alias Cyborius; Albertus, 1296; and Wojslaus, 1304 (ibid., page 692). The church is mentioned in a 1283 charter (ibid., page 328).

During the days of the Teutonic Knights Puck belonged to the Gdansk commander’s jurisdiction, but with the surrounding area formed a separate wojtostwo (Fischúamt) and one of 6 tax districts of that jurisdiction. In residence there were the wojt and half a monastery, that is, 3 priests of an order and 6 knights (see Borck, Echo sepulchralis, page 486). The Knights’ courts of law were held here. In 1348 the Grand Master Heinrich Tusmer granted the town and nearby village a charter under Chelmúno law, designating 4 free wlokas for the pastor (see Odpisy Dregera w Pelplinie, page 86). One section of the land granted the town lay in the swampy meadows called Puck (“in der Bruche Putzk,” from which the town surely took its name).

During the Thirteen Years’ War Puck played a significant role, because of its location on the sea as well as its fortifications. Puck was on the Polish side, which sought aid from the wealthy townsmen of Gdansk, who supported the king with sizable loans. In 1454 King Kazimierz gave them Puck and all of Puck district as colúlateral. In 1457 a rare guest came to Puck, the Swedish king Charles, who had been ousted from his throne and was seeking aid from the Polish king. From there he set out for Gdansk with a retinue of 200 armed men. He repaid the townsmen of Gdansk for his reception by borrowing 15,000 grywnas, giving Puck and the surrounding lands as collateral. From then on the king resided in Puck, with a Swedish guard.

In 1460 the Teutonic Knights attacked the town unexpectedly and captured it, forcing the guards at the castle to surrender. For the Gdansk townsmen, Puck in the hands of the Teutonic Knights was like salt in their eyes. But Fritz v. Raveneck with 700 men guarded the stronghold well.

After Piotr Dunin’s victory at Swiecin (and not at Puck, as we usually say) on 17 September 1462, they gathered their forces in earnest to besiege the town, and in 1464 did so, by land and sea, for over 5 months. Finally the town’s guard had to surrender, and was granted free exit, with weapons.

After the second Treaty of Torun Puck became a county seat in which local diets and district courts of law were held; the castle became the seat of a starostwo not afliated with a grod. Both Puck county and starostwo belonged to the province of Pomorze [Pomerania]. King Charles of Sweden, who had returned to the throne by that time, began to demand the return of Puck. When his envoy returned empty-handed, he even threatened war; but his death in 1470 brought an end to those plans. In 1491 King Kazimierz once again gave Puck to the townsmen of Gdansk as collateral, and they held it till 1545.

In 1520 during the war with Albrecht the Teutonic Knights took the town for a short time. But a few days later, having looted it, they left it “ob defectum victualium et pecuniarum” [due to lack of provisions and money], as Borck writes (Echo sepulchralis, page 472). In 1586 Swedish royal counselor Nicholas Gueldenstern appeared in Gdansk and in the name of king John II demanded that Puck be handed over to him. Naturally this was refused, as it was again in 1692 and 1698; from that point on the matter was not brought up again.

In 1594 Zygmunt II landed there, havúing come with 44 ships from Stockholm, and went from there to Gdansk (see Adlerhold, Preussen, page 737). In 1626 Puck was taken by Gustav Adolf, but by April 8th of the next year Stanislaw Koniecpolski had forced the Swedes to yield this fortress (Borck, op. cit., page 498).

In 1632 the elective Sejm resolved to fortify Puck and create a port there for its naval eet. Wladyslaw IV undertook this task with enthusiasm; he fortied Puck, established a naval arsenal there, and circa 1636 ordered the creation of a more conúvenient harbor there for the eet, which consisted of twelve rather small ships, and designated this port as its station. For the defense of Puck he built two forts on the bay: Wladyslawow and Kazimierzow. According to Starozytnosci polskie, the former lay at the end of the Puck Kepa [elevated moraine]. To this day traces of walls can be found at the foot of Wielka Wies (Grossendorf), on a mild incline that connects the village with the peninsula that begins nearby. The local folk say these are the remnants of the town, and after its destruction Wielka Wies developed. Kazimierzow, on the other hand, did not lie near Kussfeld, as some say, but in Chalupy or Cejnowa, because in that village as well stone foundations of rather large buildings can be found. It should be noted that as late as the 17th century, according to contemporary maps, the waves of the sea had free access to the bay by Wielka Wies, before here, too, narrow shoals formed, from which the current narrow strip of sandy land developed. (See Okrezne, Poznan 1885, page 15).

The king designated income from the Puck starostwo for maintaining these facilities; the Prussian government was opposed. Puck, however, covered itself in glory during the second Swedish war, opposing the mighty fleet of King Charles X Gustav, which the latter send under Wrangel’s comúmand from Wolgast to Gdansk and Puck. There Father Gregory, a Franciscan priest from Wejherowo, made a name for himself by describing in detail the whole course of the siege in a chronicle still kept today in the rectory in Wejherowo. Based on it is the drama in three acts entitled Ojciec Grzegorz czyli obrona Pucka r. 1655/56 [Father Gregúory, or the Defense of Puck, 1655-1656] (Pielgrzym., 1881, No.114 and thereafter).

King Jan Kazimierz showed his gratitude to the townsmen by giving them the starosta’s forest and 30 wlokas of land outside the town. In 1678, when the starostwo was taken from the Gdansk townsmen, a royal commission on the state of the town submitted the following report: “They produced a charter of the Teutonic Knights of the town’s location in 1348; there are to be 100 lots of land in the town, each 7 rods in width and length. Each year they pay 12 florins, 25 pence to the castle on those lots, except for the soltys’s single one. If more plots were to be listed in the town, except for the outskirts of town, the income is to be divided down the middle between the town and castle. From this charter they have 18 wlokas on terms of Chelmno law, of which 14, minus 10 morgs, are in the marsh by Puck; the other 4 are in the marsh by Gniezdowo and in the forest called Kepino; in which forest they have also 15 wlokas. In addition there are 60 wlokas attached to the village, of which 4 belong to the parish church, and of these wlokas 30 were taken away from them; then, the law allowing, by a new charter of His Majesty Jan Kazimierz in 1657 they, the property of the Puck starostwo, are returned to them in perpetuity for their loyalty during the war with Sweden. They pay 300 florins a year on these wlokas to the castle.

“The townsmen of Puck complain piteously to us that they have been utterly ruined by having to pay the intolerable hyberna, so that they cannot bear it and wish to leave their homes. Which we, along with all the subjects of the starostwo who complain of and are wholly impoverished by that tax and by the soldiers’ passage here, relay what we have seen to His Majesty. They complain particularly of the regiment of Lord Chelmski, to whom the village called Karwanskie Blota had to hand over 21,000 zlotys, and thus were ruined”.

The year 1700 began with new war. Beginning 16 June 1703 Puck was guarded by a Polish detachment of 200 men. They were forced to retreat, and from December 1703 to May 1704 a Swedish battalion was there, which levied on the townsmen a contribuútion amounting to 400 zl. Before the war had ended, in 1710 and 1711, plague struck the town. In 1772 Puck came under Prussian rule.

[Omitted: a very long section on the Puck starostwo, which summarizes property inúventories from 1565, 1658, and 1678 (naming virtually no individuals). The information might be valuable for a study of economics of that period, but contains very little of genealogical interest.]

Belonging to the Puck starostwo are the following manorial farmsteads: Polczyn, Rekowo, Pieleszewo, Lepcz, Mieruszyno, and Brzezno … The following are the known starostas of Puck: 1) Stanislaw Kostka, castellan and later palatine of Chelmno and starosta of Puck, Koscierzyn, and Tczew (  1555). 2) Jan Kostka, Gdansk castellan, Sandomierz palatine, starosta of Puck, Malbork, and Tczew (  1581). 3) Ernest Weiher (  ca. 1600). 4) Jan Weiher, Chelmno palatine (  1626). 5) Jan Dzialynski, Chelmno palatine (  1648). 6) Jerzy z Teczyna Ossolinski, royal chancellor, resigned that same year (  1650). 7) Kazimierz Zawadzki, 1669 and ca. 1676. In Echo sepulchralis Borck writes that Zawadzki was a learned man, of whom the following works exist in print:

 
1) Gloria Orbi Sarmatico consensu monstrata a Deo data. [Glory to the Sarmatian world, shown by agreement, granted by God], 1670 in quarto.

2) Historia arcana siva diaria actoúrum publicorum sub rege Michaele [Secret history, or journal of public deeds under King Michal], a posthumous work, 1699 in quarto.

3) Tractatus super advertentiam deúfectuum in capitibus imperii sarmatici [A treatise on the awareness of failings in the heads of the Sarmatian empire], 1678 in quarto (  15 April 1691).
 
8) Piotr Przebendowski, Malbork palatine, starosta of Puck and Mirachowo (  1756). 9) N. Przebendowski.

The new county of Puck is to be created from the northern part of Wejherowo county. The following will belong to it: Puck, the wojt districts of Rzucewo, Celbowo, Darzlubie, Krokowo, Karwienskie Bloto, Starzyn, Lepcz (Lebcz), Swarzewo, Zarnowiec, Hel, Oksywie, Debowa Gora, and from the district of Rybnin, the gmina districts of Tylowo and Lubocin, and from the district of Reda the gmina Polchowo and the district belonging to the Rekowo estate. [Rev. Fr{ydrychowicz} – Vol. 9, pp. 267-272.]

Source: Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego - Warsaw 1888.

Translated by William F. Hoffman, PGSA Spring 2002 Rodziny.

Purwinie

A village in the parish and rural district of Kopciowo, Sejny county. It is 21 versts from the town of Sejny. It has 7 houses and 85 people and 14 settlements. Land area of 628 morgs. In 1827, there were 6 houses and 54 people and it was in the county of Berzniki. At one time is was part of the estate of Holny Wolmera.

Source: Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1893, vol. 9, p. 307].

Translated by Dorothy Leivers, Hadlow, Kent, England, Dorfleiv@aol.com (May 2004)

Pustko~w

Pustkow, also called Pustkowie, along with Meciszow and Wola Pustkowska and the settlements of Rudki, Krownica, Zastawie, and Budy, a village, Ropczyce powiat, Roman Catholic parish in Brzeznica. It lies on a sandy plain, on the right bank of the Wislok [sic, should be Wisloka]. Its grounds stretch between the tributaries of the Wislok[a], the Ocieka on the north and the Wielopolka on the south. The whole area is bisected by the track of the Karl Ludwig railway (Debica-Nadbrzezie) and there is a station in Pustkow itself. Settlements [wÑlki] were constructed on the Ocieka amid the woods that surround the village on the east. Through the village runs the highway from Debica to Mielec. Pustkowska Wola has 39 houses and 188 inhabitants, Pustkow 164 houses and 899 inhabitants, Meciszow 87 houses and 476 inhabitants. The total is 200 houses and 1,563 inhabitants, of whom 1,531 are Roman Catholic and 32 Jews. On the grounds of the major estate (owned by Count K. Bobrowski) are 11 houses, 86 inhabitants, of whom 75 are Roman Catholics and 11 Jews. The grounds of the major estate consist of 537 morgs of farmland, 77 of meadows and gardens, 139 of pastures, and 1,115 of forests; the minor estate has 905 morgs of farmland, 290 of meadows and gardens, 91 of pastures, and 61 of forests. The soil consists of silt with sand. There is a distillery on the major estate's grounds.

In 1423 there was already a settlement here, for Klemens signed his name as "na Pobiedniu i Pustkowie" [at Pobiednie and Pustkow]. (Climaschko, A. G. Z., XI). In 1508 Mikolaj Ligeza of Bobrek inherited it (Pawinski, Malopolska, p. 468), and in 1581 there were 8 peasants on 7 half-lans, 3 crofts [zagroda], 2 tenants with livestock, 2 without, and 2 inns (each with a quarter-lan). Pustkow borders to the north on Tuszyma and Bialybor, to the east on Ocieka and Ostrow, and to the south on Parszcyzna and Brzeznica. - Mac.

Source: Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1888, vol. 9, pg. 310].

Translated, by William F. Hoffman, PGSA Winter 1999 Bulletin.