How do you determine the parents of a female ancestor in Poland when all you have is her marriage record, and her parents aren’t listed?
For a while, this is all I had:
On the 10th of May 1846, in Zmysłowo, Parish of Krerowo, Poznań County, Wielkopolskie – the marriage of laborer Pawel KOSCIELNIAK, age 32, a widow of Babinczyk, and Jadwiga BARDOSZANKA, age 25, virgin of Zmysłowo. The witnesses were Jan PINDRAS & Roch NOWAK – remember these names.
Pawel & Jadwiga are my 4th great-grandparents. Their son Jan KOSCIELNIAK was born in 1851 in a nearby village Kromolice, and he immigrated to the United States, settling in Buffalo, NY in the 1880s.
On other records, like her children’s baptisms, Jadwiga’s maiden name is BANDOSZ or BANDOSZYK. This is NOT a common name in the area – this was clear after examining nearby parish records. Between area records & transcription projects Poznan Project & BaSIA, it became clear that the surname occurs frequently around Zaniemyśl Parish, southwest of Sroda Wielkopolska. We’ll come back to that.
So let’s go back to the groom & bride. Babinczyk is equivalent to Połażejewo, just east of Sroda Wielkopolska. Meanwhile Zmysłowo is only a village away from Krerowo, also heading toward Sroda Wielkopolska. That geography widened the search to include Sroda Wielkopolska & nearby parishes.
Before moving on to other parishes, there was one other marriage of interest in Krerowo itself – On 20 Nov 1859, Stanislaw BANDUSZYK, age 29 of Dziecmierowo, married a Marianna KOCZOROSKA, age 24 of Bieganowo. The witnesses: Walenty NOWAK (Nowak again) & Jan OLEJNICZAK. Born about 1830, Stanislaw could be a younger brother of Jadwiga, born about 1821. Keep this Stanislaw in mind.
Branching out to other parishes is when the real fun began.
In Śnieciska Parish, in between Sroda Wielkopolska & Zaniemyśl, Pawel KOSCIELNIAK was the godfather of Marianna BANDOSZ, born in 1854 to Marcin BANDOSZ & Marianna SZYMANIAK. Śnieciska is also where Pawel & Jadwiga’s daughter Franciszka KOSCIELNIAK was born in 1849, so there’s that link too.
A further investigation into Śnieciska records showed that Marcin BANDOSZ & Marianna SZYMANIAK married there in 1849, the same year my 4th great-grandparents Pawel & Jadwiga lived in Śnieciska. Marcin was age 26, so born about 1823, making it likely he was a brother of Jadwiga.
Then there was Jozefa BANDOSZ who married Jan STZYZEWSKI in Krerowo Parish in 1852. I missed this marriage at first, and found it through a transcription project later. A witness: Roch NOWAK – likely the same Roch Nowak who witnessed my ancestor Jadwiga Bandosz’s marriage to Pawel Koscielniak.
The links to this Jozefa started piling up: she was the godmother of a child of Marcin Bandosz & Marianna Szymaniak; she was the godmother of Jakub KOSCIELNIAK, a son of Pawel & Jadwiga, in 1854; and then her death certificate was found in Sroda, dated 1890. It stated her maiden name was Bandosz, she was 66 years old (born about 1824), and she was born in Pętkowo but her parents were ‘unknown.’
Still, Pętkowo was a good lead. Located just southwest of Sroda Wielkopolska, it’s close to Strzeszki, where my ancestor Pawel Koscielniak actually passed away in 1860. It’s also north of a parish called Mądre – something to keep in mind.
Then things got really interesting. According to Geneteka, a Franciszek BANDOSZ died in Pętkowo, Sroda Wielkopolska Parish in 1842; a Franciszek BANDOSZ & Marianna NOWAK had a son Stanislaw BANDOSZ in 1828 in Pętkowo (do you see where this is going?), and a daughter Franciszka BANDOSZ in 1838 in Pętkowo. Remember the Stanislaw Bandosz who married in Krerowo in 1859, and the Nowak who witnessed his marriage? How about Roch Nowak who witnessed both Jadwiga & Jozefa’s weddings?
The pieces were falling into place. To top off the newfound evidence, I saw that Stanislaw Bandosz was the godfather of a child of Marcin Bandosz in Śnieciska in 1852, further linking the families together.
Now I had a working theory. Franciszek BANDOSZ & Marianna NOWAK could be the parents of my Jadwiga BANDOSZ, born about 1821. The other children, based on the godparents/witnesses above & the Pętkowo connection, solidified by Jozefa’s death certificate:
- Marcin BANDOSZ, born about 1823
- Jozefa BANDOSZ, born about 1824
- Stanislaw BANDOSZ, born 1828
- Franciszka BANDOSZ, born 1838
Still needing proof, it was another parish that provided the evidence to put it all over the top. Mądre. That is where Franciszek & Marianna married, and I found their 1820 marriage record:
On the 12th of November, 1820, Franciszek BANDOSZ of Czarnotki (Zaniemyśl Parish), age 28, son of Andrzej BANDOSZ & Regina BANASZAK, to Marianna NOWAK, virgin of Mądre, age 22, daughter of Mikolaj NOWAK & Katarzyna MIKOLAJCZAK. Witnesses were Jan BYLEBYL of Wyszakowo & Szymon JANKOWIAK of Mądre.
If Franciszek & Marianna were parents of Jadwiga, not only would they be my 5th great-grandparents, I’d have my 6th great-grandparents with this record too – their parents.
Still needed one more record. And there it was in Mądre Parish:
Baptized 21 Oct. 1821, born 15 Oct. 1821, Jadwiga Banasik (sic), daughter of Franciszek Banasik (sic) & Marianna Nowak. Godparents: Sebastian Lis of Mądre & Malgorzata Bylebyl of Wyszakowo.
Source: Mądre Parish Records, Szukaj w Archiwach
It’s interesting that Franciszek’s surname is erroneously recorded as Banaszak/Banasik because that would have been his mother’s maiden name. Perhaps it was a 2nd family name or used for land purposes (or just a clerical error). Regardless, there was no other couple Francisek & Marianna in the parish at the time, the date matches, the given name Jadwiga matched, and most importantly the godmother Malgorzata BYLEBYL matched up to Marianna’s sister, Malgorzata NOWAK who married Jan BYLEBYL (who witnessed Franciszek & Marianna’s marriage). After a thorough examination of all the records, it all made sense.
Next up in Mądre Parish records – you may have guessed it by now. The baptism of Marcin BANDOSZ, born 1 Nov 1823 to Franciszek BANDOSZ & Marianna NOWAK. Then a Jozef BANDOSZ on 15 Mar 1826, same parents, and his godfather was Roch NOWAK.
So from a marriage record with no parents’ names, to her parents’ names, her siblings’ names, her parents’ marriage, her grandparents’ names. The BANDOSZ family was put together in this way.
And some gravy on top: I learned that Roch NOWAK was in fact Marianna (Nowak) Bandosz’s brother. It was Jadwiga & Jozefa’s uncle witnessing their marriages in Krerowo Parish. Walenty NOWAK was another brother, and he witnessed Stanislaw Bandosz’s wedding.
An examination of Zaniemyśl Parish records led to the Bandosz family being brought back another generation. Andrzej BANDOSZ married Regina BANASZAK on 9 Nov 1788. He was born in Czarnotki on 26 Nov 1752 to Wojciech BANDOSZ & Anna, and he died in Czarnotki on 18 Dec 1827.
Craig Kanalley 
76 responses to “How Godparents & Witnesses in Polish Parish Records Brought Down A Brick Wall”
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