The second day we headed straight to the Pila ( north of Grylewo) civil archives.We lunched at a beautiful resort on Lake Chodzieskie, then visited Czsezewo (the main Lasecki town), and returned to Grylewo before heading back to the hotel. Please check out the map on Lasecki Land, day one if you are wondering exactly where we were. And if you are interested in how we finished up this tour, please see Lasecki Land, day 3.
Before Lukasz picked us up, though, we enjoyed a sumptuous buffet breakfast at the Pietrak, that was included in the room fee. Breakfast at Polish hotels is a major meal, none of this roll and coffee that passes for a “continental breakfast” sometimes offered in the US.
Stop#1 Pila archives: Pila is a civil archives of records after 1874 that has not been filmed by the Mormons, so this could be a very rich area for us to explore. The archives, located in what was once a garrison, were in a bit of a maze of buildings, so glad that we had hired Lukasz to help us as he was very knowledgeable about just where to go and park, etc. The Catholic records here remain quite intact. Nazis took one copy to use to do research into possible Jews in the area, so at least one copy has remained. the Lutheran records are more hit or miss. Many were destroyed when the Russians came at the end of WW2 and drove out the Germans. Germans tried to take the records with them, but mostly they were destroyed.
Pila was capital of a small province until 1891 when it was incorporated into the larger province of Poznan. This is partly why the records ended up here.
It was here that we discovered the birthplace of one of the first of the Lasecki children, Marianna Lasecki: Czeszewo! Lukasz explained how frequently the workers traveled among the three villages wherever work was available. And he said that Czeszewo would then be the main Lasecki village we should consider. Not sure, but I think the three are Lekno, Czeszewo, and Laskownica. Please confirm, if you know this is true. Pila archives closes at 2 pm; we had 3 hours to work.
Marianna was important, not only for confirmation of our ancestral village, but also because we’ve been in contact with a descendant of hers, but couldn’t figure out how we connect. Now we know that we have a boatload of Rybicki cousins! Again the tree grows. :-). Just in case you’re wondering what these records look like, above is Marianna’s marriage record. How’s your German???
Stop # 2 lunch at a beautiful Lazienki Chodzieski resort overlooking the lake and its lovely duck family.
Lukasz liked to have his main meal, Polish style, at lunch. So Rebecca and I ate perhaps too well during our three days together!
Stop #3 Czeszewo. This was an exciting stop since we now know that this is the main Lasecki ancestral village.
To compound our interest, Lukasz told us that the person who owned the manor that Andreas probably worked in, was a semi-famous Polish philosopher, Karol Libelt. Andreas Lasecki probably worked at the manor house. Guess what? It’s for sale. Isn’t there a cousin among us who wants to buy the place and renovate?
It would make a great vacation house and could become a LASECKI LIBRARY and RESEARCH CENTER !!! Or Mike suggests it would be a fantastic Physics Institute …..hmmmm. If you find the link for the sale page, please send it to me.
According to the Gazetteer of the area, in 1905 there were about 500 folks living in this area! We’re talking small small town,but it was lovely and well-kept.
Mass was in session, so we only took photos of the outside of the St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church. The manor house was behind the church.
A note from our conversation with Lukasz regarding the Czeszewo records: some records may be in that parish, but they may also have been moved to another parish. It’s difficult to predict. The organization of the parishes, just as today, changes over time, especially when we are researching a span of two hundred years. Originally there were 3 parish churches: Wagrowiec, Legowo, and Lekno. First Legowo’s church was destroyed and technically they were assigned to Lekno. But many people went to the Wagrowiec church because it was closer. There were other changes as well, so it’s important to check records for all of the branches of our tree in all of these towns and parishes.
Stop #4 Grylewo We returned to the village where g-grandparents, Anthony Lasecki and Michalina Dych were born. This would be the most recent village/church for the Laseckis.
I wanted to spend more time in contemplation and meditation here, unfortunately one of the priests became rather angry with me for taking photographs. We apologized and left immediately. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the opportunity for deep connection between us that was lost and have felt sorrier for that than for any missed photos. This was the church my people emigrated from! I would have liked to get to know the church and the community at a much deeper level. I am left instead with only a superficial knowledge without any spiritual connection.
Returning to the hotel, folks were in full fan mode for the soccer game in Poland that evening. It was wild! After dinner and a stroll around town, we turned on the TV and I watched the first soccer game I’d seen in many years. It was the EuroCup after all!
Of course, I had my laptop on my lap and in-between screaming for the Polish team to trounce the Russians, I was trying to make sense of the research material we had collected in Pila. We skyped Mike to share our day as usual, and took the ‘puter out on the balcony so he could hear the wild cheering in the park next door.