The following document is a first aid trial for Mennonite family researchers. It is intended to be the second in a series:
faq.general.intro =======11111==================
faq.prusssia =======22222==================
faq.poland =======33333==================
faq.russia
faq.nw.germany
faq.sw.germany
faq.netherlands
faq.switzerland
faq.france
faq.usa.east
faq.usa.west
faq.canada
faq.latin.america
faq.hutterites
faq.amish
Since this starts as a new project with no previous experience,
we are in need of volunteers to write FAQs for any of the
above faq titles.
If you can nominate someone who you think may be able to write,
have him/her contact:
Adalbert Goertz, 4293 Deerfield Hills Rd, Colorado Springs CO 80916-3505
or preferably email to goertz@cyberspace.org or goertz@foxvalley.net.
If you have good questions (and hopefully good answers,too)
to include in this and future FAQs, I like to hear from you.
If you find errors or can offer improvements to the document below, please, let me know.
CONTENTS:
Q1: What part of Poland is being discussesd?
Q2: Where were the Mennonite congregations in Poland.
Q3: What about Wionczemin-Dt.Wimyschle?
Q4: What about Dt.Kazun?
Q5: What about Wola Wodzinska near Plock
Q6: What about Michelsdorf and Urszulin
Q7: What about the Galizien Mennonites?
Q8: Are there Revision Lists for Poland?
Q9: Is there a guide to Polish archives?
==================================
Q1: What part of Poland is being discussesd?
A1: Poland for Mennonite genealogists and genealogical records
begins to be of interest at a time when the state started to disappear from
the political map:
The three partitions of Poland occurred in 1772, 1793, and 1795 between
Prussia, Austria and Russia.
The defeat of Prussia and Austria by Napoleon revived Poland in the
formation of the duchy of Warsaw 1807-1815.
After Napoleon's defeat, the Congress of Vienna (Wien) redrew the Polish
map again in 1815 between Prussia, Austria and Russia. Russia claimed the
bulk of Poland in the form of "Congress-Poland" and the Czar adopted the
title King of the Kingdom of Poland.
This map remained unchanged until 1918 at the end of WWI.
It is this "Russian Poland" and "Austrian Poland" (Galizien)
which is being discussed here.
During the Prussian period, 1793-1806 (South Prussia) emigrants
came from Prussia, especially from the Przechowka, Obernessau, Montau-Gruppe
and Neumark congregations.
For a brief period, 1804-1805, Mennonites attempted to start a settlement
near Uniejow near the Warta river whose fate is unknown.
see
Erich Ratzlaff: Im Weichselbogen - Mennonitensiedlungen in Zentralpolen (In the Arc of the Vistula- Mennonite colonies in Central Poland) Winnipeg 1971
Q2: Where were the Mennonite congregations in Poland.
A2: Wionczemin, later called Deutsch-Wimyschle near Gombin (Gabin)
Deutsch-Kazun near Nowy Dwor and Warsaw
Wola Wodzinska near Plock
Michelsdorf and Urszulin near Lublin
Einsiedel in Austrian Galizien
Q3: What about Wionczemin-Dt.Wimyschle?
A3: The Menn.Encyclopedia II,42 summarizes the history of Wionczemin-
Deutsch-Wymyschle. Mennonite church records have not survived the
times. Polish civil records (USC) kept by the Catholic priests
are available in the Troszyn Mennonite records for 1827 - 1879,
LDS Films #1958811 and 1958812.(Originals in the Cath.Archives of Plock)
The local evangelical records show no Mennonite listings.
LDS films should be checked of
Catholic records of Gostynin
Film #729,253 (1809-1818); #729,254 (1819-1822);
#729,255 (1823-1825); #729,256 (1826-1832).
Civil records of Czermno,Gostynin,1808-1865:
#729,488 (1808-1825), #729,489 (1826-1839)
#729,490 (1840-1852), #729,491 (1853-1865)
Deed and court records should be checked
Warsaw Archives- Branch office at
Oddzial w Plocku, 09-400 Plock, ul. Wieczorka 11 - Tel: 62-24-91
Q4: What about Dt.Kazun?
A4: The Menn.Encyclopedia II,41 summarizes the history of Deutsch-Kazun.
Some Mennonite church records have survived the times.
See LDS Film #386,918 (bapt.1834-1943,birth-deaths 1914-1945).
Polish civil registers (USC) kept by the Catholic priests should
be available in the catholic records of Kazun for the period 1808-
which need to be investigated. If they are indeed found and stop in
1826, then special Mennonite registers are likely to continue from 1826
on, probably deposited in the Polish state archives at Warsaw.
If the USC continue beyond 1826, then special Mennonite registers are
unlikely to have been kept.
The local evangelical records of Nowy Dwor show a few Mennonite names.
(see A.Goertz:Familiennamen in Nowy Dwor bei Warschau 1834-1840,
in Ostdeutsche Familienkunde 1996,p.159)
The following LDS microfilms should be checked:
#689,395 (for 1808-1825), #689,466 (for 1832-1843),
#689,467 (for 1844-1853), #689,468 (for 1854-1859),
#689,465 (for Czonskow 1863-1864); 1,191,909 (for 1867-1876)
Deed and court records should be checked.
Warsaw Archives:
Archiwum Panstwowe m. st. Warszawy, 00-270 Warszawa, ul. Krzywe Kolo 7
Q5: What about Wola Wodzinska near Plock?
A5: The Menn.Encyclopedia IV,842 summarizes the history of Wola Wodzinska. Mennonites lived there about about 1842-1874. Many joined the Baptists. see Erich Ratzlaff for details.
Q6: What about Michelsdorf and Urszulin?
A6: The Menn.Encyclopedia III,670 summarizes the history of Michelsdorf
and Urszulin. Mennonites lived there about 1795-1837. They settled there
after the third partition of Poland in the Austrian part which was
called Neu-Galizien.
Typical Mennonite names include Gering, Graber, Lichti, Kaufmann,
Roth, Stucky, Voran, Wolbert, Senner, Schwartz, Sutter, Mauer.
No Mennonite church records apparently have survived the times.
The Catholic records of Andrzejow or Wreszczyn near Wlodawa are likely
sources for information on Mennonites.
Deed and court records should be checked at the
Lublin Archives:
Archiwum Panstwowe Lublinie, 20-950 Lublin, skr. poczt. 113,
ul.Jezuicka 13
Q7: What about the Galizien Mennonites?
A7: The Menn.Encyclopedia II,435 summarizes the history of Galizien. Some Mennonite church records have survived the times. Peter Bachmann's history "Die Mennoniten in Klein-Polen" has been translated into English by Dr.Charles M.Anderson and seeks a publisher or website.
Typical Mennonite names include Bachmann, Bergthold, Brubacher, Ewy,
Forrer, Hubin, Jotter, Klein, Kintzi, Laise, Linscheid, Merk,
Miller, Rupp, Schmidt, Stauffer.
"Along the Galician Grapevine" is a family newsletter published in Butterfield MN 56120-0194 for this group (email: glgrapev@mctcnet.net).
Q8: Are there Revision Lists for Poland?
A8: The Czarist government did not compile Revision lists for the
Polish provinces of Russia.
Whether similar census lists were compiled for the 1800s, is not
known.
Q9: Is there a guide to Polish archives?
A9: The most recent guide is
Archiwa Panstwowe w Polsce : przewodnik po zasobach / Oprac. zbiorowe pod
red.Andrzeja Biernata i Anny Laszuk. -
[The State Archives of Poland: Guide to the Holdings],
Warszawa: Naczelna Dyrekcja Archiwow Panstwowych/
Wydawnictwo DiG, 1998, 539 pp.;index of Polish archives, pp. 537-539.
The ISBNs for the book are 83-86643-17-X and 83-7181-029-6.