I have just finished indexing a 17th century manuscript from Dioecesal Library in Sandomierz, Poland, Liber baptisatorum parochiae Staszoviensis AD 1614-1671.

Since about two years I do some genealogical research into my family, especially the in branch stemming from central Poland. Most of this research was made possible by huge work of volunteers indexing old church books and civil status acts like birth, death and marriage certificates. The work of indexing concerns reading available manuscripts and typing the relevant data into computer files formatted so that they can be applied to feed an ever-growing data base which can be searched through applying various algorithms. The results of this huge work for the geographical region I am interested in can be found as a humble interface to the precious data base, geneteka.genealodzy.pl.

My private research led me also — by my sincerest surprise — to a small town in the historical Sandomierz province, Staszów, a small but very historical place, from which — it occurred — the oldest known surname in the family records which were available at the very beginning of the research comes from. Unfortunately, not all of the available and not-so-easy-available material concerning Staszów was indexed. But, just in the moment as I concentrated on the research in this town, three very old church books were published on-line as the public domain by newly established digital branch of the Dioecesal Library in Sandomierz. Forced to work by foot, i.e. without an index, I started to produce my own one concerning the surnames of my interest only to see how my genealogical tree spreads in the 18th and in the 17th century in this very place.

I was forced to so so many notices that I finally decided to do the indexing of at least one of these books, concerning baptisms, Liber baptisatorum parochiae Staszoviensis AD 1614-1671. Although I am (almost) ready in my own research, I found making this contribution a very apropriate way to thank all these people investing their time so that I could reconstruct my family tree in all branches at least to the end of the 18th century and, in places like Staszów or Łęczyca, well into the 17th century. The book is a manuscript written with seemingly one characteristic handwriting, so it seems it has been a copy of another material done presumably in the second half of the 17th century.

So, finally I have reached a strange but moving final place in the book, where the Staszów’s St. Bartholomaeus Parish owner, Rev. Matthias Theodorus Dalewski, states in a note after a baptism record of a boy named Jan Witek, 24th of May 1672, in some too flowery poetic baroque latin. I interpreted it in a false way that his lector had fallen in May into some illness rubra which worsened in June so that he, I presumed from the expression remitto, had to retreat or whatever this meant. Thanks to a correct translation delivered from an almost anonymous user of a genealogical forum of genealodzy.pl I was completely wrong and the matter is not so dramatic:

Hic iam cum viridi Maio finiunt et virides metricae, et cum igneo Junio incipiunt rubrae, ad quas te, mi lector, remitto. Utere in Domino labore meo et mei in sanctissimis sacrificiis, etiam post fata, memento. Matthias Theodorus Dalewski praepositus Staszoviensis, manu propria.

Here with the green May the green metrics end, and together with the fiery June the red ones begin, to which you, my reader, are referred to. Use, in the name of God, my work and remember me also after my death, by most saint sacrifice. Matthias Theodorus Dalewski, praepositus Staszoviensis, with own hand.

So, I am also ready with my work now. Finished. And I would also retreat, although the two other manuscripts also need some treatment. Red metrics are waiting.

The page of the manuscript in the digital library (signature BDSand AKKKS 654, public domain, a huge PDF file):   oai:bc.bdsandomierz.pl:2181. (Note the church library server likes to fail from time to time. Be patient.)

My rough index version of the book: 654_index.

Two other manuscripts waiting for indexing, any volunteers?:

• Matrimonium metrica ecclesiae parochialis s. Bartholomei Apostoli in Stashowo scripta [signature BDSand AKKKS 653]:  oai:bc.bdsandomierz.pl:2180 — incomplete index at work: 653_index. Contains marriages 1613-1751.
  
• Liber baptisatorum parochiae Staszoviensis 1672-1687 [signature BDSand AKKKS 655]: oai:bc.bdsandomierz.pl:2205 — incomplete index at work: 655_index. In reality it contains baptisms up to 1738.
  

Below the Staszów branch of my ancestors — according to the present state of research — leading to the only one person known by her maiden name at the beginning of my genealogical investigations. Six generations difference to me, Maryanna Agnieszka Brzozowska (1818-1868). Her parents Józef Brzezowski vel Brzozowski and Magdalena born Chmielowska married in Staszów in 1812 but left this town definitely between 1814 and 1818 after selling a house at the town’s market square.

                   ┌─?─Brzozowski, Bartłomiej (m. 1665-01-29)
                ┌─Brzozowski, Baltazar (b. est. 1670, d. after 1711-10-15)
                │  └─?─Ucinkowna, Regina (m. 1665-01-29)
             ┌─Brzozowski, Szymon (b. 1693-10-27, d. after 1736)
             │  │  ┌─Sadamiec, Jan (b. estimated about 1640)
             │  └─Sadamiec, Marianna alias Balcyrka (b. 1673-07-24, d. after 1720-07-13)
             │     └─Wińska, Anna (b. estimated about 1645)
          ┌─Brzezowski, Walenty (b. 1722-02-01, d. after 1762)
          │  │  ┌─Szwaydak, Paweł (b. estimated about 1675)
          │  └─Szwaydak, Katarzyna (b. 1701-09-13, d. after 1736)
          │     └─Koszała, Jadwiga (b. estimated 1680)
       ┌─Brzezowski, Józef (b. 1749-03-25, d. from 1795 to 1811)
       │  │     ┌─Drozdowicz, Michał (b. estimated about 1660)
       │  │  ┌─Drozdowicz, Wojciech (b. estimated about 1690)
       │  │  │  └─Jemiołko, Agnieszka (b.estimated about 1660)
       │  └─Drozdowicz, Franciszka (b. 1723-02-09, d. after 1762)
       │     │        ┌─Żelak, Wojciech (b. estimated about 1610)
       │     │     ┌─Żelak, Stanisław (b. 1635-10-02)
       │     │     │  └─Bartoszowna, Regina (b. estimated about 1610)
       │     │  ┌─Żelak, Mikołaj (b. estimated about 1668)
       │     │  │  │  ┌─Naypar, Jan (b. estimated about 1610)
       │     │  │  └─Naypar, Anna (b. 1637-07-12)
       │     │  │     └─Libuszcząnka, Katarzyna (b.estimated about 1610)
       │     └─Żelak, Regina (b. 1692-03-17)
       │        └─Zając, Jadwiga (b. estimated about 1670)
    ┌─Brzezowski, Józef (b. 1787-10-30, d. from 1843 to 1852)
    │  │  ┌─Polakowski, Józef (b. estimated 1720)
    │  └─Polakowska, Rozalia Tekla (b. 1756-09-10, d. from 1795 to 1811)
    │     └─Polakowska, Anna (b. estimated about 1725)
o──Brzozowska, Maryanna Agnieszka (b. 1818-01-15, d. 1868-12-23)
    │  ┌─Chmielowski, Błażej (b. calculated 1746, d. after 1811)
    └─Chmielowska, Magdalena (b. 1795-05-25, d. before 1833)
       └─Grabowska, Marianna (b. estimated about 1750, d. after 1811)