The Polkowski (Litwinski) Family

This Polkowski  family comes from a village called Polkowo in the parish of Jaminy,  near the town of Augustow. 

I had been searching for the marriage record of Jan Orbik and Frnciszka Polkowski  for 16 years before I found in the parish record books of the small parish church in Jaminy. Below is an excerpt of that record:


It happened in Jaminy, 14/26 August 1871 at 1 PM appeared Pawel Nitepik, 27 and Karol Judnicki, 45 who work and live in Polkowo village, witnesses of the marriage between Jan Orbik, gospodarz (farm owners), the son of Jakob Orbik and Franciszka Wawiorko, the married couple Orbik, both robotnikow (workers), inhabitants of the village of Tajno, parish of Barglow. He was born in Tajno village, is 20 years old, and he lives with his parents in that village and Franciszka Polkowska, virgin, daughter of the deceased Mateusz Polkowski and his living wife Marianna, born Hata, the married couple Polkowski, gospodarz,  who lived in the village of Polkowo. She was born in Polkowo village, is 23 years old, and she lives in the same village with her mother. There were 3 banns before this marriage, on 21 Oct, 14 Nov, and 19 Nov. This act was written and read aloud by a priest because those present could not read or write.  There were no objections to this marriage contract.

See the record.


Below is Franciszka Polkowska's birth record:

It happened in Jaminy, 11 March 1846 at 4 PM appeared Mateusz Polkowski, rolnik (farmer) 26, living in Polkowo, and in the presence of Maciej Judycki also from Polkowo 22 , and also Maciej Wisniewski, a farmer from Polkowo, 40 years old, they showed us baby of the female sex that was born in the village of
Polkowo on 9 March at 6 am of his wife Marianna Chata. She was 20 and this child was baptized Franciszka Ewa and her godparents were the above mentioned Maciej and Marianna Polkowska. This record was written and read aloud by priest because those present could not read or write. Ks. Wyncenty Andruszkiewicz.

See the record.


The Polkowskis from Polkowo have origins in the name Liwinski.

In the early 1800s, a family emerges in the parish of Jaminy called Litwinski. For some reason in the 1820s they start to change their name to Polkowski. In various records they use Polkowski or Litwinski as an alias. Here are some examples:

Ludwik Litwinski (b. 1790s) was married to Antonina Waszkiewicz.

Their children were: 

1804 Jan (probably died as a child)

1811 Jan

1813 Jacenty

1814 Mateusz, married Marianna Chata 1834 in Polkowo in Jaminy parish. See this record.

1819 Anna

1819 Karol married Anna Strzalkowska 1841 in Polkowo in Jaminy parish

1822 Augustyn

1824 Maciej married Katarzyna Dziadzak in Uscianki in Augustow parish. See this record.

1827 Marianna married Jakob Kisielski in 1846 in Polkowo in Jaminy parish

1829 Anna married Wyncenty Merecki in 1846 in Polkowo in Jaminy parish


Mateusz Litwinski married Marianna Chata in 1834. His children were born as Polkowskis and he was listed as Polkowski on these birth records. Finally when  Mateusz died in 1865, he was listed as Polkowski. 

Adam Litwinko vel Polkowski son of Mateusz and Marianna Chata the married couple Polkowski married Marianna Godlowski in 1859 in Tajno in Barglow Koscielny parish.

Here is a record example of how the name changed from Litwinski to Polkowski. Several records like this were found in regards to these families. In this record, we see a marriage of a different Mateusz  Polkowski used in the text of the record with symbols over the name. These symbols refer to notes in the margin with the name Liwinski. 


Not all the Litwinskis changed their names to Polkowski and Litwinski records appeared with Polkowski records through the 1880s and beyond. 


In late 2007, I found a Polkowski marriage record in the nearby parish of Janowka. It happened in February 1709 in the village of Borowizna between Noblis Jacob Polkowski de Polkowo and Marianna Boranowska, widow de Borowizna. The witnesses are Gnosa Peter Olszewski de Rajgrod and Gnosa Joannes Polkowski de Polkowo. 

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