History of Raczki & the Ostrowskis

Like the genealogy pages on this site, this page is currently a work in progress: while I've been able to find a little information about the history of this area, not only is it quite sketchy, but a lot of it is also in need of substantiation.

Therefore, to avoid representing inaccurate or misleading information as verified fact, yet at the same time to share what I have found in the hopes that readers may be able to provide verification, I've decided to construct this page as a set of research notes on different aspects of Raczki's history. Following each piece of information will be a link to the website or a bibliographic reference to the non-electronic source from which I obtained that information.

I'm publishing these notes on my website in order to make possible an exchange of information.

The following categories of notes exist on this page:

From what I've learned so far, several dominions:

On all of the maps depicting ancient Europe that I've been able to find, the Raczki area seems to have been part of that region inhabited by the Balts. The Baltic tribes include the Jatzvingians, the original Prussians, and the Sudovians (among others).

• Outside of the Suwałki city limits is an ancient Jatzvingian burial site which I had the opportunity to visit.
• A website discussing a movement in Belarus to revive consciousness of the "Yatviahi" notes that this word is the Belarusian translation of Jacwingowie, Sudauen, Sudovians, Yatvingians. According to this site, these people inhabited a land bounded by the Niemen and Narew Rivers (http://www.allstates-flag.com/fotw/flags/by%7Dyet.html).
• The German for Suwałki is Sudauen.
• A map of the Baltic peoples around 1000 seems to show Raczki (53.59 latitude, 22.47 longitude) as being at the extreme western end of the area of the Jadwingis, right next to the border of the land inhabited by the original Prussians.
• Russian princes conquered Jatzvingian territories in the 10th and 11th c. (http://vip.latnet.lv/hss/mugur.htm).
• However, a map illustrating the general area around 1220 seems to show Raczki's location as being within Prussia. Yet, because I made measurements on a map that may not be precise, it may have been part of Lithuania at the time.
• A map of Baltic lands in 1270, from the same source, seems to put Raczki once again just at the western edge of the Lithuanian area.
• A map of 1350-60, again from the same source, seems to place the Raczki area in Poland, whereas the map of 1400 seems to place it once again at the extreme end of Lithuania, as do the 1478 map. the 1563 map, and the 1617 map. However, the 1701 map seems to put it in East Prussia.
• A map of Europe around 1300 shows the Raczki area inhabited by the Sudovians (http://www.euratlas.com/time/nea1300.htm); on the same site, maps of Europe in 1200 and 1100 show the Jatzvingians as inhabiting the area.

• The Raczki area is included in a map of Suduva, which the site at which I found the map says is also known as Southwestern Lithuania or Suvalkija (http://www.suduva.com/region.htm).
• The Słownik Geograficzny entry for Rajgrod refers to the late 13th century invasion of Podlasie by a Lithuanian prince (Narymunt), while in 1509 Mikołaj Radziwill was given Rajgrod by Zygmunt I (http://www.orbikfamily.com/orbik/village_translations.htm. This confirms that the southern border of Lithuanian lands extended to Rajgrod.
• A map of Lithuania in the 14th and 15th centuries shows the Raczki area clearly within the boundaries of Lithuania, and in fact part of the area inherited by Gediminas. (http://www.zincavage.org/litwa1430.html; map from The History of Lithuania Before 1795 ).
• A map from a Polish book (Annals of Residences from the Eastern Borderlands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) on the same website (http://zincavage.org/aftanazy3-bottom.html) shows the entire Suwałki and Augustów region--including the Raczki area--as part of the Lithuanian Palatinate (Województwo) of Troki.
• The lands around Raczki were owned by Lithuanian nobles; specifically, from the Raczki/Raczkiewicz and Pac families, as well as possibly the Wołłowicz family.
• In 1569, Lithuania and Poland united.
• On a map of Lithuania dated 1635, the Raczki area seems to be identified as part of Lithuania.
• In a map of Europe around 1700, the Raczki area seems to be identified as part of the Grand-Duchy of Lithuania, Troki Voivodeship (http://www.euratlas.com/time/nea1700.htm).
• A 1967 document suggests some boundaries of ethnographic Lithuania, which it defines as "those areas where the inhabitants have common ties of anthropological origins, nationality and culture" (http://lethones.narod.ru/mem.html):
  • It states that the southern boundary extended to Rajgrod, relying on 13th century Teutonic references to Rajgrod as a Sudovian stronghold.
  • It also refers to Henryk Lownianski's work (Studya nad Pocza Tkami Spoleczenstwa i Panstwa Litewskiego, II, 1932), which suggests that Sudova extended westward to Prussian Galinda, including Ełk; this would definitely include Raczki.
  • Another reference to a western boundary is the boundary between Lithuanian and Teutonic lands created by the Treaty of Melno in 1422, which it says begins at Rajgrod; however, I haven't been able to determine yet exactly where that boundary runs.
  • Because of the dense forestation and swampiness of the general area, "early historical sources do not indicate the limits of the territories in habited by Lithuanians," other than the fact that the Białowiecza Forest separated the Yatvigians from the Mazurians.
• This same document offers the following information relevant to Lithuania, the Suwałki region, and its ancient inhabitants (http://lethones.narod.ru/mem.html):
  • Suwałki (Suvalkai) is one of four regions "with a common past which binds the inhabitants of these areas to the Lithuanian Nation"; the others are Vilnius, Naugardukas (Navahrudek/Nowogrodek, Belarus), and Gardinas (Hrodno/Grodno, Belarus).
  • Six tribes are identified as having been involved in the formation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Samogitian, Lithuanian Highlander, Selonian, Sudovian, Yatvigian [note that this document distinguishes Sudovian and Yatvigian as separate], and Prussian. It also distinguishes between Sudova and Jotva (Yatvigia) as "ducal domains."
  • The oldest remnants of Sudovian civilization are in the Suwałki area, in the villages identified by the document as: Piurpilis, Pveicarija (which is Sczwajkaria, just outside of Suwałki city), Uosin?, Asava, Bilvinavs, Gulbinipk?s, Volovnia.
  • In 1566 the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was divided into 3 Lithuanian palatinates and 6 Ruthenian/Byelorussian ones.
    • Trakai (Troki), one of the 3 Lithuanian palatinates, had 4 powiats (counties): Trakai, Gardinas, Kaunas, and Upyt?. Two of the 3 Lithuanian palatinates, Trakai and Vilnius, were considered to be Lithuania Proper. Trakai consisted of 31,300 sq. km., while Vilnius consisted of 44,300 sq. km. (the third palatinate was the Duchy of Samogitia).
    • Two of the 6 Ruthenian palatinates were linguistically Lithuanian: part of the Polotsk palatinate and part of the Naugardukas palatinate.
  • The document also made reference to colonization of Lithuanian lands, apparently beginning to a small degree in the 15th century (primarily Polish artisans). Because of a late 16th century law preventing Polish gentry from acquiring estates in the Grand Duchy, there apparently was not a large emigration into Lithuania Proper (the document specifies the Vilnius region). However, in 1697 Polish became the official language of Lithuania, with polonization occurring until the 19th century, though apparently peasants were polonized by clergy and gentry only in the 19th century.
  • However, another source insists that "Nobody 'Polonized' Lithuania," and that polonization was "a Muscovite myth, designed to 'divide and conquer'"--which it failed to do. This claim was made by Zigmas Zinkevicius in his Mokslo Ir Enciklopediju Leidykia [translated as The History of the Lithuanian Language, according to www.angelfire.com/ut/Luthuanian/lang1.html] (trans. Ramute Plioplys, Vilnius, 1996). He referred to waves of suppression of both Lithuanian and Polish language by the Russian empire following the revolts of 1830 and 1863, suppression which strengthened the bond between Lithuanians and Poles and therefore the use of Polish in resistance to the Russians.
    • He stated that the primacy of Polish was due to earlier Polish literacy.
    • He did note, however, that as part of the 19th century resistance, priests pressured Lithuanian peasants to pray and engage in conversation in Polish.
    • He also pointed out that the Czarist ban on Lithuanian books resulted in book smuggling of both Polish and Lithuanian materials, further strengthening the position of the Polish language. Lithuanian, though, also began to revive, with clandestine attempts to learn the language resulting in increasing literacy among the peasants.
• Raczki was part of the Lithuanian region of Suvalkija, it seems, but it's not clear how central a part. Nevertheless, at this point it's important to find out more about the Suvalkija region.
  • Suvalkija was the last ethnographic to form in Lithuania, largely, it seems, because during the wars with the Teutonic Knights, the land became deserted, requiring resettling by Lithuanians from other regions (http://ausis.gf.vu.lt/eka/costume/cost_suvalkija.html).

• A map of Europe around 1400 seems to show the Raczki as under the control of the Teutonic Knights (http://www.euratlas.com/time/nea1400.htm); this map uses the label "Dominion of the Teutonic Order."
• The same site's map of Europe around 1500 seems to show Raczki in what it calls "Teutonic Prussia" (http://www.euratlas.com/time/nea1500.htm), while its map of 1600 Europe seems to show Raczki as part of the "Duchy of Prussia" (http://www.euratlas.com/time/nea1600.htm).
• This map (in Cyrillic) seems to indicate that in the 14th and 15th centuries, that area was controlled by the Teutonic Knights.
• One suggestion for the origin of the place name "Suwałki" is that it is from the word "sowalk," which was the name for the Teutonic Knights' encampments in the "Wildnis" area in which the Suwałki region is found (S.C. Rowell, Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-Central Europe, 1295-1345, New York: Cambridge UP, 1994, 290). Although the linguistic origin of "sowalk" is not identified, in a footnote Rowell cites Chronicon Livoniae by Hermann of Wartberge, which was written in Latin. It is in this footnote that Rowell suggests that "The name of Suvalkiai (the Lithuanophone region of western Lithuania and eastern Poland) may reflect the practice of such raids in this region." I haven't yet been able to determine which portions of the Wildnis were under Teutonic or Lithuanian rule at that time; however, Rowell states that it was a "harsh terrain of forest, marsh and lake" (289) that hindered the efforts of the Knights to invade Lithuania. Therefore, when they encamped in the Wildnis, they were able to stage raids only on the land immediately surrounding the camps.

• During the third partition in 1795, Prussia took over the general Suwałki area.
• An 1806 map of East Prussia (at the top right of the linked page) identifies "Neu-Ostpreussen" (New East Prussia) as including land as far east as Grodno and Białystok; clearly, the Raczki area at that time was controlled by East Prussia. The map at the lower left of the page illustrates the changes made according to the 1815 Congress of Vienna, which took the Suwałki (and, presumably, Raczki) area from East Prussia.
• According to the fragment of an 1890 map of East Prussia, at that time Raczki and neighborhoods as far west as Wasilówka were not in East Prussia. Raczki and Suwałki appear at the far right of the screen, in the second block of column H. However, it's important to notice that Raczki was so close to the border that it's partially in the green-shaded area.

• The only records from Raczki microfilmed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) are marriage records for the years 1841-1845; these records are in Polish. I'll have to check the language of other (hopefully older) records of neighboring parishes.
  • Upon checking the descriptions of LDS microfilms from the Suwałki area on the Familysearch.org site, I found that the records of the following parishes were in Polish, at least until the mid-19th century, when Russian Cyrillic was required (the date in parentheses notes the earliest records): Janówka (1602); Suwałki (1715); Jeleniewo (1808); Szczebra (1788); Filipów (1808); Puńsk (1808); Sejny (1798); Przerosl (1813).
  • For two Lithuanian cities near Suwałki, Protestant records were recorded in German, Polish, and Russian for Marijampole and German, Lithuanian, and Polish for Kalvarija.
  • For Lida, Belarus, church records were in Latin, Polish, and Russian.
  • However, since I've read in several sources that the Roman Catholic clergy were one of the main forces of the "Polonisation" of Lithuania, the fact that church records are in Polish is no necessary indication of what the vernacular was.
• In fact, according to http://lethones.narod.ru/mem2.html, a map in a 1905 Lithuanian publication puts the southwestern linguistic boundary of Lithuanian as involving the cities of Sejny, Puńsk, and the East Prussian Gołdap. Even if we draw a straight line between Sejny and Gołdap (the dotted line), Raczki would still be beyond the 1905 identified territory.
   
   
• The same website states that "In Suvalkai region Teodor Narbutt drew the linguistic line through Bakalanavas [Bakałarzewo] to the east via Rospuda River to Lake Baitoji near Augustavas [Augustów], through Studenas [Studzieniczna], juodoji Ancia [?] to the Nemunas [the Niemen River]." However, this reference was in the same area in which the authors were talking about the 19th century, so it's possible that the Raczki locality was an area in which Lithuanian was spoken in that century.

• The first record of a settlement in the Dowspuda area seems to be around 1513, under Wołłowicz (http://www.webmedia.pl/dowspuda/1/1/1.htm).
• The Dowspuda property seems to have been bordered by the Rospuda and the Prussian border.
• A website on Bakałarzewo notes that the origins of this city to the north of Raczki date to 1514, when King Zygmunt Stary gave a strip of land along the Rospuda River (then known as the Dowspuda River) to Mikołaj Michnowicz Raczkowicz, "sekretarzowi Lazinskiemu i marszalkowi Litewskiemu" (http://www.powiat.olecko.pl/bakalarzewo/hist.htm).
• In 17th century rights were transferred to Pac family.
• Józef Pac bought the rights to the Raczki-Dowspuda area in 1748 (http://edukacja.bianet.com.pl/SP_RACZKI/gmina.htm#his).
• Józef bought the rights to Szczodruchy as well as Raczki and Dowspuda in 1748 ( http://www.webmedia.pl/dowspuda/1/1/1.htm).
• Ludwik Michał Pac inherited these rights.
• By 1870 Raczki had lost its city rights.
• Raczki lost city rights in 1867. (SGKP, t. IX, 1888 r., s. 370-372)
• Raczki was occupied by the Germans during WWII.

• According to Wiadomosci Historyczno-genealogiczne o Rodach Szlacheckich, Ulozyl i Wydal (Adam Boniecki, tom XI, Warszawa 1907 r.) (http://pawel-kopec.w.interia.pl/herbr.html):
  • Jan Wołłowicz, who lived during the 16th century, was royal marshal and "starosty [foreman] grodzienkiego[?]"; he was the first husband of Hanna Kopec, who married Lew Sapieha in 1586 after Jan's death.
  • Polonia Wołłowiczówna seems to have married into the Kopec family in 1530.
• Though there were several Wołłowicz names in the genealogical files of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (http://www.familysearch.org), I wasn't able to establish any kind of lineages in the 16th century. However, in the 16th century, the locations listed were primarily Vilnius, Lithuania, with one that appears to be Białystok. In addition, members of the family often married into the Sapieha family, and at least once into the Pac and Chodkiewicz families.
• The Lithuanian version of the name seems to be Valavicius; an Andrzej Wołłowicz (Valavicius) was the landlord of Tytuvenai, Lithuania, around 1614 (http://mpkelias.mch.mii.lt/VIETOVES/Tytuvenai.en.htm).
• One of the 11 chapels in the cathedral in Vilnius is the Royal Chapel, also known as the Wołłowicz Chapel (http://www.travelbaltics.com/vg/0-6.php).
• A 16th century (perhaps early 17th century) bishop of Vilnius was a Wołłowicz http://www.travelbaltics.com/vg/1-3.php).
  • The Catholic Encyclopedia identifies a Eustachius Wołłowicz as Bishop of Vilnius from 1616 to 1630 (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15432a.htm, as does the webpage for the Diocese of Vilnius (http://vilnius.lcn.lt/apie_a_vyskupai.html).
  • There was also a Eustachius Wołłowicz who, as Vice Chancellor of Lithuania (along with Chancellor Radziwill), refused to approve the new university in Vilnius as a Catholic one until pressure from Stefan Batory caused them to change their position; they'd wanted a Protestant university (http://www.lituanus.org/1981_2/81_2_01.htm).
• One of the Wołłowicz family is listed in the following manner as one of the Samogitian Hetmen: Jeronimas Valavicius (Walowicz Hieronim (Jarocz) – (1619-1636) (http://daugenis.mch.mii.lt/samogitia/ISTORIJA/seniunai.en.htm).
  • I need to translate the following at some point: "Ž[Z^]emaiciu seniunas nuo 1619 metu. Mire 1636 metais. 1636 -1643 metais Ž[Z^]emaiciu seniuno vieta vakantine." (http://samogitia.mch.mii.lt/ISTORIJA/seniunai.htm).
• A Prince Wołłowicz controlled Rechitsa (Rzeczyza), in Belarus, as well as Zyzemski, Slutsk, Klokock, Pakoosz, and Chalecki in the latter 16th century (from the Słownik Geograficzny, http://members.tripod.com/~allbell/rechslo.html).
• The town of Jasionowka, north of Białystok, was owned by the Wołłowicz family (http://ettc.uwb.edu.pl/strony/bialystok/unia/jasionow.htm).
• One member of the Wołłowicz family (first name not mentioned in the source, the Słownik Geograficzny) was one of the Marshals of the Lida province before partition (http://www.polishroots.org/slownik/lida_powiat.htm).
  • Another entry in the Słownik Geograficzny identifies a Marian Wołłowicz, Marshall of the Lithuanian army, as sheriff (owner?) of Rudy, a town in Oszmiana province (northwestern Belarus), who transferred ownership to his wife. Five years later it was transferred to Krzyztof Pac, Castellan of Polotsk (http://www.polishroots.com/slownik/dudy.htm).
  • Łazduny, another town in Oszmiana, was given as a present to Józef Wołłowicz in the late 18th or early 19th century (http://www.polishroots.com/slownik/lazduny.htm).

• So far I haven't been able to find anything other than that there was a Stanisław Raczki [Raczkiewicz?] whose daughter, Maryna (wife of Grzegorz Massalski) founded the Raczki parish church in 1599.
• A website on Bakałarzewo notes that the origins of this city to the north of Raczki date to 1514, when King Zygmunt Stary gave a strip of land along the Rospuda River (then known as the Dowspuda River) to Mikołaj Michnowicz Raczkowicz (http://www.powiat.olecko.pl/bakalarzewo/hist.htm).
• A website discussing the history of Białystok noted that somewhere around 1437-1450, Polish King Kazimierz Jagiellończyk gave land along the White River to "Raczce Tabutowiczowi" (http://www.bialystok.pl/city/sphistor.htm). After trying to factor in case endings, I think that the name is Raczek Tabutowicz. Since -wicz is a "son of" suffix, it is likely that the name of this person was Raczek, son of Tabu(t)--. The website states that the land was inherited by Tabutowicz's grandson, Mikołaj Raczkowicz, and that the first written mention of that town was in 1514. After Raczkowicz's death, his widow, Katarzyna Wołłowiczówna, signed the rights to Białystok over to her second husband, Piotr Wiesiolowski.
  • A website that offers an English translation of the Białystok site confirms my translation of the above information, with some corrections: it translates the first name of Tabutowicz as "Raczko," and notes that he was "a member of a Zmudz dynasty of merit" (http://www.orthodox.bialystok.pl/centrum/city.htm).
• According to http://www.polishbeerimporters.com/dojlidy_history.html, "Already before 1450 this area [Białystok] was grant[ed] by Polish king Kazimierz Jagiellonczyk for Jakub Raczka Tabutowicz - king's secretary of the arms of Swan."
• So, finally I've been able to make a connection between the Wołłowicz family and the Raczki/Raczkowicz family.
• Yet another Polish website offers information which conflicts slightly with the above (http://republika.pl/prabialystok/druga.html):
  • Although it may be a typo, at one point "Taburowicz" was written instead of "Tabutowicz."
  • I think that it also indicates that Jakub had two sons: Michał (Michno--was that his nickname?) and Jundził or Jundziło, the second son receiving the rights to Dojlidy.
  • I also understand the passage to be saying that Mikołaj was the son of Michał and grandson of Jakub. Mikołaj was a member of the Royal Council and Secretary to Alexander Jagiellonczyk.
  • Jundził had two grandsons, Maciej and Mikołaj, who apparently were called Bakałarzewo after their grandfather?
  • According to this website, it was this latter Mikołaj--Mikołaj Bakałarzewo--who was married to Katarzyna Wołłowiczówna.
  
  
  
  
  
  

  What can information about the Pac family tell us about Raczki?

  
  

  This is a dynastic family; therefore, the names that appear below are not in a straight line of succession.

  • According to http://www.travelbaltics.com/vg/9-0.php, in a town south of Vilnius (Wilno) are the ruins of a castle held to date back to the 12th or 13th century. Burned down in 1655, it had "belonged to the Gasztold family, king Sigismund August and the Pac family."
  • A town named Rozanka in Belarus, about 60 miles south-southwest of Vilnius, was apparently part of the Pac family hereditary property (http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Lida-District/roz-encyc.htm).
  • The following passage describes the Pac family's noble standing: "Members of this family are qualified with the title of count in various decrees of the Kings of Prussia since 1718, and in diplomas of the Polish Kings since 1733 [TRRI II]. Poland: 1824 - recognition by the Senate of the title of count in the Kingdom of Poland for Ludwik Pac (1778-1835). Poland: 1824 - his dau. Ludwika appears on the list of persons authorised to bear the title countess in the Kingdom of Poland [ANPT]. Note: TRRI states that it is Ludwik who appears on the 1824 list. Extinct 31 Aug. 1835." (http://www.wawrzak.org/hrabiowie.htm#P)
  • According to Norman Davies, the "senior lines" of the Pac, Radziwiłł, Chodkiewicz, Sapieha, and Wiśniowiecki families became Protestant; it seems that they converted from Russian Orthodox Christianity. He goes on to say that "In the history of many Orthodox families, the adoption of Calvinism in the sixteenth century acted as a stepping-stone to their Catholic conversion in the seventeenth" (God's Playground: A History of Poland. vol. 1: The Origins to 1795. New York: Columbia UP, 1982, 177). A map he provides doesn't seem to show the Raczki locality as part of what he labels an "area of Protestant supremacy" around the year 1580; however, there are no lines of latitude or longitude to create certainty (178).
  • Pac Dowkszewicz
    • This person is apparently the first documented member of the Pac family (http://www.republika.pl/macieknt/obiekt.htm).
  • Yuri Pac[ewicz]
    • A Yuri Pac is listed in a chronology of rulers of Nowogrodek. His dates appear as 1492-1496. The Radziwill, Sapieha, and Gasztold families appear frequently in this list. The name "Tyzenhaus" (the birth name of Michal Ludwik Pac's mother) appears for the years 1689-1709. (http://www.polishroots.org/slownik/nowogrodek_powiat.htm)
    • Yuri was apparently the son of Pac Dowkszewicz (http://www.republika.pl/macieknt/obiekt.htm).
    • Yuri Pacewicz is noted as being the marshal for Kazimier Jagiellonian
  • Paweł Pac
    • The father of Mikołaj Stefan Pac (see below).
    • 16th century was the capital of Lithuania, and was ruled by three families: Pac, Radziwill, and Sapieha (http://www.kresy.co.uk/wilno_16cent.html).
  • Mikołaj Stefan Pac (abt. 1570-1624)
    • Mikołaj Pac is identified as the son of Paweł Pac, castellan of Vilnius. The bishop of Samogitia, he wrote a panegyric in Lithuanian in honor of King Sigismund Vasa's visit to Vilnius (1589); it's considered to be the first Lithuanian text to be published "in Lithuanian major." (http://postilla.mch.mii.lt/Istorija/vyskupai2.en.htm#NICHOLAS)
    • LDS records confirm that a Mikołaj Pac (1573-1624), never married, was the son of Paweł Pac and Raina Wołłowiczówna (http://www.familysearch.org).
    • The following source listed his middle name as Stefan: http://www.republika.pl/macieknt/obiekt.htm.
    • A Mikołaj Pac was noted as one of the court sheriffs before 1794 for the Lida province; although it's not clear if he is the same Bishop Pac, it's perhaps noteworthy that one of the marshals of Lida was a Wołłowicz (http://www.polishroots.org/slownik/lida_powiat.htm).
  • Jan Pac
    • A 1590 real estate document signed by Jan Pac, steward of Vilnius, can be accessed at http://pergamentai.mch.mii.lt/IstoriniaiLietDok/istoriniailietdok_5en.en.htm.
  • Michał Kazimierz Pac (1624-1682)
    • His birthdate was listed as 1624 in http://www.republika.pl/macieknt/obiekt.htm.
    • The Church of St. Peter & Paul in Vilnius, Lithuania (Wilno, Litwa) was constructed in the late 17th century by Michał Kazimierz Pac. According to http://www.travelbaltics.com/vg/6-2.php, he had it built to celebrate Vilnius' freedom from the Russians and his own safe return from battle. Begun in 1668, it wasn't finished until after his death in 1682, after which, upon his orders, he was buried under the threshold. The Pac coat-of-arms is above the entrance. He also built a palace in Vilnius (http://www.travelbaltics.com/vg/1-3.php).
    • In the same source, Michał Kazimierz Pac was referred to as "Hetman." In the 16th century, the army of the Polish-Lithuanian union consisted of the Royal Army of Poland and the Army of the Duchy of Lithuania, each of which was headed by a Grand Hetman ("general"). Under each Grand Hetman was a Field Hetman who would be in command in the Grand Hetman's absence. (http://landofthewingedhorsemen.homestead.com/hetmans.html).
      Was Pac the Grand Hetman?
      • In the account of Jan Sobieski's battle against the Turks at http://www.jasinski.co.uk/wojna/conflicts/conf08.htm, Pac is referred to as "the Lithuanian Hetman," which suggests that he was the supreme commander of the Lithuanian forces.
      • The WIEM entry for Michał Kazimierz Pac labels him "hetman wielki litewski," which I read as "Grand Lithuanian Hetman." He apparently held that position starting in 1667 and was head of the Vilnius province from 1669. That entry also notes that he participated in the wars against Sweden and Russia. He was also one of the primary initiators of the Confederation of the Gołąb (pigeon). (http://wiem.onet.pl/wiem/007f94.html)
    • Apparently he (representing Lithuanian preferences) was against the choice of Jan Sobieski as king. In the following source a reference is made to "the powerful Pac family" (http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~koby/political/chapter_13/13passpoland.html).
    • There may be another explanation for his opposition to Sobieski: apparently the two had fought a duel in their youth over a woman whom they were both courting (http://www.ststanislas.org/poland/jansobieski.html).
  • Krzysztof Zygmunt Pac (1621-1684)
    • WIEM also notes that Michał Kazimierz Pac was the brother of Krzysztof Pac, chancellor of Lithuania from 1658. He founded the original Belweder in 1659 as a Warsaw residence for himself; this was the site on which palaces for later kings and then presidents of Poland were built.
    • A reference to a portrait of the "Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Ch.S.Pac and his wife Clara Izabella" by G.D.Schultz (1615-1683) can be found at http://www.travel-lithuania.com/ciurlionismuseum/oldlit_art.htm.
    • Another reference to the portrait, one that includes Krzysztof's wife's full name (Clara Isabelle de Mailly Lascaris), is at http://lkma.w3.lt/annuals/19annual_en.html.
    • According to Daniel Stone, Krzysztof was Vice-Chancellor of Lithuania and leader of the Royal Party in Lithuania in 1661 and 1662, when a group of nobles controlled the Sejm and demanded Pac's execution because of his support of the King, Jan Kazimierz. (The King didn't support parliamentary reform, and abdicated after Hetman Jerzy Lubomirski rebelled.) (The Polish-Lithuanian State, 1386-1795, Seattle: U Washington P, 2001, 176). He also notes that after the deaths of both Michał and Krzysztof Pac, the Sapieha family was able to dominate Lithuania in the 1690s (250).
  • Kazimierz Pac (1615-1695)
    • This Pac was also apparently Bishop of Samogitia. In determining that a portrait of a bishop previously thought to be named "Povilas Alšeniškis [Als^enis^kis]" is really that of Kazimierz Pac, the following site makes reference to two other portraits of the Bishop as well as to his 1694 will: http://lkma.w3.lt/annuals/19annual_en.html.
  • Michał Jan Pac (1730-1787)
    • Michał Jan Pac was one of the leaders of the Confederation of the Bar. (http://wiem.onet.pl/wiem/004441.html)
      • According to Norman Davies, the Confederation of the Bar was "a consortium of disillusioned nobles headed by Jan Michał [sic] Pac (1730-1788), together with members of the Potocki, Sapieha, and Krasiński clans" (God's Playground: A History of Poland. vol. 1: The Origins to 1795. New York: Columbia UP, 1982, 519).
    • Fryderyk Chopin's father, Mikołaj Chopin, early in his life had contacts with Michał Jan Pac (http://www.chopin.pl/biografia/index_en.html).
  • ? Pac
    • According to http://www.polishroots.org/slownik/molodeczno.htm, "On June 14, 1740, Pac, the Castellan of Polotsk, acquired half of Molodeczno . . ."
  • Józef Pac
    • TA relative of Michał Ludwik Pac, he bought the rights to Dowspuda/Raczki and Szczodruchy in 1748.
    • He is identified as "pan na Rózance i Mazurach," which I think means that he also owned lands in Mazury and Rónka--which may be Stara Rónka north of Mągrowo, which was at the time in East Prussia (http://edukacja.bianet.com.pl/SP_RACZKI/gmina.htm).
    • In the LDS files (www.familysearch.org), there were listings for two Józef Pacs: one born in 1685 to Kazimier Michał Pac and Princess Ludwika Teresa Szujska in Raseiniai, Lithuania (d. 1765), and the other born in 1736 to Piotr Pac and Princess Eufrozyna Oginska (d. 1797). It seems likely that, unless there are other Józef Pacs, the one born earlier would have been the one to buy the rights; the second one would have been only 12 years old.
    • It also would seem that the older Józef Pac was the one who erected a new building on the site of Belweder in the first part of the 18th century (http://www.srodmiescie.warszawa.pl/zabytki4.htm).
  • Ludwik Michał Pac or Michał Ludwik Pac (1778-1835)
  • Ludwik was born to Michał Józef Pac and Ludwika Tyzenhaus on 15 May 1778 in France.
  • In 1806, along with two other Lithuanian nobles, Józef Sierakowski and Tadeusz Tyszkiewicz, he asked Napoleon to support a revolt against the Russians; Napoleon was not open to the idea (http://www.lituanus.org/1984_1/84_1_01.htm).
  • Ludwik fought under Napoleon from 1808 to 1814.
  • In 1814, Pac led the Krakus Cavalry regiment that fought in defense of Paris (http://www.lituanus.org/1984_1/84_1_01.htm).
  • An Anglophile, he brought in Scottish farmers to spread British farming methods.
  • He settled the Scots in Józefowo, Korytki, and other places. http://www.webmedia.pl/dowspuda/1/1/1.htm
  • He also tried to industrialize the area, which experienced a burst of development.
    • It was on his estate that the Pistorius apparatus, that revolutionized vodka distillation, was invented in 1817 (http://www.polishvodkas.com/history-vodka/fr_technology.htm).
  • He also supported education and the arts, bringing in architects from Italy.
  • On 27 November 1817, he married Karolina Małachowska and had two children, Ludwika and Jerzy.
  • He had the current church in Raczki built, as well as his palace in Dowspuda.
  • He participated in the November 29, 1830 insurrection.
  • As a result, his property was confiscated and he was eventually forced to flee.
  • Until his death shortly thereafter, he kept working for Polish independence.

PIOTR abt. 1573-1642 Vilnius
KRZYSZTOF abt. 1614-1633 Vilnius	FELIKS JAN abt. 1618-1699 Vilnius	HIERONIM DOMINIK abt. 1620-abt. 1662 Vilnius PIOTR MICHAL abt. 1654-1696 Bratslav, UKR JAN KAZIMIERZ abt. 1656-1696 Bratslav KAZIMIERZ MICHAL abt. 1657-1719 Pinsk, BL JOZEF abt. 1685-1765 Raseinai, LT No children listed Purchaser of Dowspuda??	BONIFACY	MICHAL KAZIMIERZ abt. 1625-1682 Vilnius	KAZIMIERZ abt. 1627-1695 Slonim, BL

Where did the Ostrowskis come from?

According to William F. Hoffman, connections between some toponymic surnames and actual locations might be made, especially over a relatively small expanse of territory. With that possibility in mind--slight though it may be--I used JewishGen's ShtetlSeeker to locate towns and settlements starting with "Ostrow--" within a hundred mile radius of Raczki. The results of my search can be found on the following map:

What is the likelihood of my Ostrowskis having come from any of these other places? For that, we have to see what effect serfdom might have had:

• In 1493 and 1496 legislation was passed that "limited the peasants' right to leave the village" (Daniel Stone, The Polish-Lithuanian State, 1386-1795, Seattle: U Washington P, 2001. 69). However, Stone also notes that "Peasants were tied to the land, . . . although these measures were rarely enforced. Peasants leaving illegally lost their rights to land, but they generally left to accept offers of more land and lower taxes from other nobles" who would pay to move the entire peasant household (69).
• Other legislation noted by Stone (70) includes:
  • 1496 - only one son per village could go to the city for educational purposes
  • 1501 - peasant proprietors had to receive official permission from the noble to leave
  • 1509 - all peasant males were bound by the 1501 law
  • 1490, 1538, 1543, 1563 - measures to return illegal peasants to nobles
• Stone concludes that this legislation indicates a widespread occurrence of peasants' illegal moves (70).
• Polish peasants were able to "retain their legal identities", and could make real estate deals "within feudal limitations" (70).
• There were several categories of peasants (Stone 71):
  • Yeoman farmer (kmiec'), who owned land
  • Cottager, having less than a quarter allotment of land
  • Landless cottager
  • Artisan or merchant
  • Hired laborer/servant (usually unmarried)
• In Lithuania, most peasants were tenant farmers in the 15th century (72)
  • 1447 - migration forbidden between estates
  • 1588 - slavery officially ended; before that, some tenant farmers and servants were slaves
  • mid 16th c. - peasant lands resurveyed and old villages were broken up; 3-field method began, with each village being divided into 3 sections.
• What were the Polish nobility and landholdings like?
  • Almost 10% of the Polish-Lithuanian population belonged to the nobility, into which commoners could marry or enter as a reward for government service, heroism, middle class success, and peasant success (Stone 77).
  • "By 1550, a typical noble estate covered 200 to 400 acres" (Stone 77).
  • There were different categories of nobles (Stone 78):
    • Magnates owned 15+ estates, sometimes 100s
    • Rich nobles owned 10-15 or so
    • Middle nobles owned about 5-10
    • Poor nobles owned 1-5
    • Barefoot nobles owned less than 1 and often performed their own labor
  • It seems likely that the Pac family belonged to the Magnate category, enjoying extremely large land ownership. Depending on exactly where the family's holdings were, it's possible that the Ostrowskis may have easily moved from any of the locations on the map to the Raczki area.

Landscape	Town of Raczki
Holy Trinity Church	Wayside Shrines
Dowspuda & Pac Palace	Raczki Area Links
Homepage	Ostrowski Family from Raczki