52 Ancestors #3 and #4: Szymon Walczyk and Marianna Bęben

Having skipped last week's 52 Ancestors post, this week I shall write about two of my ancestors: Szymon Walczyk and Marianna Bęben. Szymon and Marianna are my 4th great grandparents (see pedigree chart) and the earliest ancestors I have found in my Walczyk line.

When and where were they born?

Szymon Walczyk and Marianna Bęben were both probably born in Czermna (map). Unfortunately, there are no baptism records for the years 1721-1776 in this parish, so I do not know the exact dates or even the correct years of their births.

However, I do have their marriage record. Szymon and Marianna were married on 4 November 1794 in Czermna, in what was then the Galicia region of Austria. He was 28 and she was 20. It was the first marriage for both.

excerpt - Szymon Walczyk - Marianna Bębnionka marriage
Czermna, 4 Nov 1794 (2nd row)

If the ages in this record are correct, then Szymon was born in about 1766 and Marianna in about 1774. Interestingly, this means that Szymon was born in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, before the First Partition of Poland occurred in 1772. Marianna was born after Galicia was annexed by Austria. Thus it is possible they were born in the same town but in two different countries.

Children of Szymon Walczyk and Marianna Bęben

Szymon Walczyk and Marianna Bęben had at least five children who lived to adulthood, including my 3rd great-grandfather, Józef. All five of these married in Czermna and had children of their own.

• Marianna Walczyk (~1799-) married Anton Ignarski (or Lignarski)
• Jadwiga Walczyk (1802-) married Piotr Wierzgacz
• Anna Walczyk (~1805-) married Marcin Duda
• Józef Walczyk (1811-1883) married Tekla Lech
• Wojciech Walczyk (~1812-) married (1) Katarzyna Pers and (2) Petrina Janusz

All of Szymon and Marianna's children married quite young -- their three daughters at age 15, their sons at 17 and 20. Even for the time and place, marrying that young was not the norm. It was especially unusual to see a young man marry at 17. This suggests that the family may have been quite poor.

What was the Walczyk family's social status?

I have found eight parish records describing Szymon Walczyk's status or occupation between the years of 1803 and 1840. Unsurprisingly, all indicate he was a peasant.

excerpt - 1818 marriage record
Piotr Wierzgacz - Anna Walczyk

Through 1820, Szymon Walczyk is described as a "hortulanus". This literally means gardener in Latin. However, in these records, it probably means a peasant who owns a house and a small amount of land -- enough for a garden and some farm animals, but not enough to cultivate crops of his own.

Records from 1828 until his death in 1840 describe Szymon variously as "laboriosus", "rusticus", and "inquilinus". Laboriosus and rusticus are general terms meaning peasant. Inquilinus literally means lodger or tenant in Latin, and here the term implies that he lived with another farmer. Keep in mind that Szymon Walczyk was about 62 in 1828. It is likely that he and Marianna were living with one of their children at this stage of their lives.

Deaths of Szymon and Marianna Walczyk

Marianna (Bęben) Walczyk died in Czermna on 17 December 1835 in house #180 (residence of son Wojciech). She died of natural causes having received the Last Rites. The record states she was age 70. This contradicts her marriage record which suggests she was born in about 1774 and thus died at about age 61.

excerpt - Marianna (Bęben) Walczyk death record
Czermna, 1835

Szymon Walczyk died in Czermna on 1 March 1840 of natural causes, having received the Last Rites. He also died in house #180, lending support to the idea that Szymon and Marianna resided with their son Wojciech in their later years. Like his wife, Szymon's age at death was older than that suggested by his marriage record. The death record states he was 86. If his age on the marriage record is correct, then he was actually 74 when he died.

excerpt - Szymon Walczyk death record
Czermna, 1840

Further research

I hope to learn more about the family of Szymon Walczyk and his wife Marianna Bęben. It is almost certain that they had at least two or three more children. So my research priority for this part of my family will be to search for additional births in the Czermna baptismal records between 1795 and about 1820. I will post updates here when I learn more.

Reference:

• Family History Library film #2058154, items 8-14. Kościół rzymsko-katolicki. Parafja Czermna (Jasło). Akta urodzeń [births] 1784-1900.
• Family History Library film #2058155, items 1-3. Kościół rzymsko-katolicki. Parafja Czermna (Jasło). Akta małżeństw [marriages] 1784-1896.
• Family History Library film #2058155, items 1-3. Kościół rzymsko-katolicki. Parafja Czermna (Jasło). Akta zgonów [deaths] 1784-1957.
• Polish Roots website. "Tips on Translating."

Note: The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge started at the beginning of 2014, but we decided to join at the midpoint. Each week, we will be writing about one ancestor from our paternal side on this blog, and one from our maternal side on TreeQuest: The Truth Is Out There.

© TreeQuest: An Unexpected Journey 2014.