History of Dobrzynski family

e can see how time quickly passes by. We do not notice that each passing year brings something new and that we are witness many historic events. The same for our ancestors who witnessed many events that shaped the history of our world, Poland and our families. Like in many polish families, some of my relatives had their share in the fight for freedom of Poland. Two of them have received the well known Polish order, Virtuti Militari. Jerzy Bauza, the nephew of my great-grandmother, Sergeant 59 Infantry Regiment, posthumously received the order of the 5 class, on Feb 18 1922. In addition, the brother of my grandmother, Apolinary Grylewicz, lieutenant of the reserve received the order of the 5 class in 1939.

Up to now, the oldest written record about my immediate ancestor was found in register of the Modliszewko parish in 1768. There is a record that Andrzej Dobrzynski was a godfather. He lived in Mielno just north of Gniezno during the Bar confederation 1768-1772. During his life, on Oct 13 1772 in Petersburg the Partition Treaty was signed. His son Szymon was born in 1777 in the Mielno area. There, in 1794 a couple of years after defeat of the Kosciuszko insurrection. Szymon married Kunegunda Mroz. In 1798, their first son, Pawel, was born and in 1802 another son Mikolaj. The defeat of Kosciuszko uprising increased reprisal of Poles by Germans. Prof. Luczak, a historian of Mogilno region, writes that for small nobles the only way to advance in their lives was to join an army. Szymon was in the army from 1801 to 1811. During this time, in Nov 1806, the Napoleon army went through Poland and the state of Warsaw Duchy was created. After Szymon finished military service, he and his family moved to Boguszyn where he managed his estate.

Zabno and nearby Wylatowo are now known in the world for their crop circle formations.

round 1816 was a time of announcement of big agricultural reforms in Germany. In 1818, Szymon with 10 other farmers received "better rights" to land that guaranteed farmers the right to inheritance. In July 1823, all farms were enfranchised.
From the census on April 08, 1823 the farms belonged to: Walenty Wasileski, Jozef Glowacki, Walenty Szymanski, Lukasz Weglewski, Jozef Posluszny, Franciszek Wesolowski, Marcin Grzeszak, Kajetan Nowakowski, Szymon Dobrzynski, Andrzej Hanczewski and Tomasz Chmilewski.
These farms were already in census on May 06, 1819. There were written legacy in case of the death. Szymon Dobrzynski gave his farm to his son Mikolaj and his wife Brygida Ciesielska. Andrzej Hanczewski signed his farm to his daughter Katarzyna and her husband Mikolaj Dobrzynski, nephew of Szymon.
All farmers were obligated to pay a serfdom that in 1823 was changed into money payments. Everyone had to pay 5 tallars to the Royal Treasury and 1 szafel (55 Liters) of grain to church.

t this time, from 1816, the first Insurance Agency against fire started operating in Mogilno. On November 29 1830 was the outbreak of the November Uprising. Many people from the Mogilno region went to the Polish Kingdom to fight with Russia. The Uprising was defeated in Oct 1831. Thousands of Poles immigrated to Western Europe. In 1830, the City of Mogilno started building a new cemetery on the west side of the lake. All my ancestors were buried there. In Feb 1832, Mikolaj, son of Szymon, was married to Brigida Ciesielska. At the same time there was an epidemic of cholera that decimated the population of the region. In 1835 in Mogilno the first drug store started operating. At this time in 1838 the third child of Mikolaj and Brigida Dobrzynski, Jakub, my great-grandfather was born. Ten years later in March 1848 throughout Europe the next wave of uprising called the Folk's Spring started. As result of this, next year in 1849, feudalism was abolished throughout most of the Europe. In 1853-1857, the first highroad was build from Mogilno to Barcin. In 1859, the Germans created District Credit Union. In 1864 in the post office the first telephone started working. Meanwhile on January 22 1863, the January Uprising started. It ended in spring of next year. Thirty thousand of Poles died and thirty eight thousand were deported to Siberia. As a result, the name of Polish Kingdom was wiped off from the map of Europe. All three conquerors, Germany, Russia and Austria increased their persecution of the Polish nation.
In the middle of 1860, many Polish people in Mogilno area experienced hardship. The single farm-laborer made 20-25 tallars cash and a servant girl 12-18 tallars. Married laborer received 20-26 tallars and 12 szafels (1 szafel=55 liters) of rye, 6 szafels of barley, 3 szafels of pea, 12 pots of salt and fire wood. This was barely enough for a four person family. A courtly craftsman received 30-36 tallars and more rations than married laborers.

Jakub and Waleria Dobrzynski had 13 kids and 11 survived. Maria the first child of Jakub and Waleria. She married Jozef Radomski, the owner of a general store in Mogilno where they lived. Their grandson, Jan Radomski, is a prominent public notary in Mogilno. Maria is buried in Mogilno. Antoni Teofil died soon after he was born. Apolonia married Stanislaw Garczynski the government worker. They lived in Mogilno. Their grandson, Stanislaw Garczynski, is a prominent lawyer in Mogilno. Apolonia is buried in Mogilno. Wojciech the oldest son. Early he moved to Ukraine where he married Zofia Dubiska. They had an estate near Walice Ukraine. In 1920, they came back to Poznan. Until WWII, he administrated some estate near Poznan. During WWII, they moved to Czestochowa where Wojciech died in 1941. After the war, his wife came back to Poznan. They had two daughters Irena and Maria and one son Jan. One of the daughters was a mother to very famous polish fashion designer Xymena Zaniewska. Jan was a lawyer. After he married he lived in Miedzyrzecz and than in Poznan. He had 3 kids; two daughters and son Wojciech. Antonina Alojza on the February 12 1902 joined the order of Assemble of Sisters Servants Immaculate Conception of the Holy Mary. From 1911-1916 sister Alojza was the General Superior of the Assembly. She is buried in Znin. Anna, unmarried. Little is known about her. She is buried in Mogilno. Jan, was a tradesman in Gasawa where he died very young and is buried. Helena died soon after her birth. Antoni, my grandfather had 3 kids. The oldest one Eugeniusz, immediately after university worked as a history teacher in Krzyz Wlkp. They have daughter Elzbieta and son Andrzej. The second child of Antoni was daughter Helena. She married a military officer. Helena worked as an accountant in bank. They have three kids; Danuta economist, Krystyna and son Michal. They live in Krakow. The third child of Antoni was my father Roman a producer of clothing in Poznan. For many years he had been a chairman of Poznan Co-op of the Craftsman. Antoni and his wife Zofia are buried in Mogilno. Wincenty was an administrator of various distilleries. Had 2 sons and daughter. One of the sons, Sylwester is a geography teacher in Slupsk. He has a son Maciej a student of biology in Warszawa. Wincenty is buried in Mogilno. Czeslaw died in age 24. He was a soldier. He is buried in Mogilno. Malgorzata. For a long time she was living with parents. Unmarried, she helped all her siblings. For many years she helped organize official receptions for her cousin, priest Antoni Dobrzynski in Kolaczkowo parish. She is buried in Mogilno. Seweryna died at a very young age. Little is known about her. She is buried in Mogilno.
Antoni, my grandfather, was married in 1925 to Zofia Grylewicz. They went to Podstolice, a district of Chodziez, where he was administrating the estate of his Uncle Jan Bauza. It was 348 ha estate and distillery. Then they moved to Dziewoklucz district Chodziez where they lived to the end of 1930. In 1929 my father Roman was born. From 1931, they lived on the farm in Ostrow, district Mogilno where they leased land from a priest Lapis.

here are still remembered times when in the morning, after hunting and giving orders to workers, grandfather Antoni sat under tall limes and drank black coffee. Every year in these limes the bees had their nests and on the stable a pair of strokes had their nest. In the well grandfather hid pistols from Germans. For my father, uncle and aunt this was the best time of their youth. Their parents were entirely devoted to their education.
On September 01 1939 the Second World War started. In December 1939 my family was evicted from their house and moved to the estate of Zofia's parents in Ostrowite Prymasowskie. After WWII ended they moved back to Ostrow and they were evicted again by communist decree of land reform. They lived in Chabsko near Mogilno than in Krzyz Wlkp. where my grandfather died in 1959. Grandmother Zofia moved to Buk where she died in 1975.

For many years, my grandfather was in the military; six years in the German army as a corporal, from 1914 to 1915 in the Russian army and 1915-1917 in 17 corps train in France. On July 22, 1918, he joined the army of General Jozef Haller as a volunteer. He was the Sergeant Major in 120 regiment heavy artillery until December 16, 1919.

Professor Dworzaczek in his book "The historical-genealogical materials to history of Great Poland's nobles in XV-XX century" mentioned the brother of my grandfather:

1912 \REGESTY\INNE\GAZDZP_2.X#1605 (The Poznan Daily) 6/XI. Czeslaw Dobrzynski 24, died in the military field hospital in Gniezno. The funeral in Mogilno. Signed mother with the family (for whom he was brother, brother in law and uncle)

F.Sulimierski in his geographical book mentions Ostrowite Prymasowskie where my grandmother was born: ...31 houses 323 inhabitants. 288 Catholic and 35 Protestants. Mostly owned by Cecylia Robaczkiewicz 93 ha, second C. Grylewicz 166 ha and the parish 154 ha...

n 1952, my father Roman Dobrzynski married Wieslawa Wieruszewska. They lived in Gniezno. They witnessed many important events that are well known today. After WWII they had to work hard to catch up in school and to rebuild Poland from war destruction. In 1953, the death of Stalin gave big hope for the future. In 1954, I was born. In 1956 was deadly demonstration against communism in Poznan. We got our first TV set in 1964. In 1965, my family moved to Poznan. I remember the student's demonstration against communism in 1968. On July 20, 1969 the men landed on the moon. On October 16 1978, Karol Wojtyla become the Pope John Paul II. In 1980 Solidarity was born and hope for the Third Polish Republic. In December 1980 I, left Poland and since1983 have been living in Canada. Here my daughter Anna and son Karol were born. Meanwhile Gen. Jaruzelski started war against the Polish people and declared the martial law. In 1989, with big hope, Polish people witnessed the defeat of communism. During this time, we came into the computer era. Now at beginning of the new millennium, we witness very unstable political situation in the world. On 20 February 2002 at 20:02, we had very mystical date.
What else will history bring? What kind of events will our descendents consider as important when they will continue our family history?

I was born on March 21st 1954 in Gniezno Poland. In 1966 my family moved to Poznan. I finished the Technical School of Food Industry in Poznan in 1972, and in 1978 I completed the University of Agriculture and received my Master in Zootechnology Engineer. For two years I worked in Gniezno. In December 1980 I left Poland and came to Toronto, Canada, where I have been living ever since. After obtaining a diploma in College, I started working in the bank.

	Mikolaj and Brigida Dobrzynski had 89 morgs and 116 ars including: premises - 58 ars garden - 2 morgs and 56 ars meadows - 10 morgs and 40 ars field - 75 morgs and 141 ars pasture - 22 ars useless - 150 ars
Mikolaj and Katarzyna Dobrzynski had a farm 156 morg and 46 ars big. Than they signed their farm to daughter Anna who married Mikolaj Mierzejewski.

About 1870, Jakub Dobrzynski married Waleria Bauza. On February 03, 1870, the farm went to Jakub and Waleria Dobrzynski. In 1871 their first child was born. At this time, in 1871, the first train came to Mogilno. In 1875 the first steam machine was used in the mill. In 1879 the hospital and court were built in Mogilno. In 1884 my grandfather Antoni Dobrzynski was born in Wiecanowo.
	Thanks to Mr. Juliusz Ksiazkiewicz