Seven children in one month. Zułów, 1855
Winter 1855, the village of Zułów near Vilnius. In one month the priest of Sorokpol parish recorded the deaths of seven children, all of scarlet fever. One of them was ten-year-old Józef, the older brother of our great-great-grandmother Rozalia. She was born two years later and never knew him.
The historical background
In the winter of 1854 and 1855 scarlet fever went from house to house through the parish of Sorokpol. In January the priest wrote eleven entries across two facing pages of the death register. Seven of them are children between two and ten years old. Next to each one he wrote the same word: scarlet fever.
At the time it was one of the most common causes of death among children. In the United States between 1840 and 1883 it killed one in seven of those who caught it. In bad years it was one in three. There was no cure. Deaths from scarlet fever almost disappeared only in the twentieth century, with antibiotics.
Józef's parents most likely lost two children in less than a month: six-year-old Aniela just before New Year and ten-year-old Józef in January. Two and a half years later Rozalia was born. Her father died before she turned five. Her mother outlived him by almost thirty-five years. Her death record names a son and her daughter Rozalia.
Documents shown in the film
These are the real archive scans you see in the film. Each one has its archive reference, so anyone can check the source.
The two pages hold eleven entries from January 1855. For seven of them (entries 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9 and 10) the priest wrote the same cause of a child's death: “отъ Скарлятывы”, scarlet fever. Józef's entry is number 9, fourth from the top on the right-hand page. Its full text is below.
Original text (Russian): 9. 23. 10. 1855 года Января 23 дня въ деревни Зуловѣ скончалось дитя по имяни Іосифъ отъ Скарлятывы. Крест[ьянъ] Казимира и Анны урожденной Мисевичовъ Виткевичовъ Зак[онныхъ] Супр[уговъ] сынъ отъ роду 10 лѣтъ Сорокпольскаго прихода. Тѣло его Ксендзъ Скирмонтъ Настоятель того прихода сего года и м[ѣся]ца 25 дня на приходскихъ кладбищахъ похоронилъ.
In English: Entry 9. Day of death 23, age 10. In the year 1855, on the 23rd day of January, in the village of Zułów, a child named Józef died of scarlet fever. He was the son of the peasants Kazimierz and Anna née Misiewicz, the Witkiewicz couple, lawful spouses, aged 10 years, of Sorokpol parish. His body was buried in the parish cemetery by Father Skirmunt, parish priest, on the 25th day of this month and year.
Aniela's entry is the third row from the top on the left-hand page, numbered 26. The priest left the space for the mother's maiden name blank.
Original text (Russian): 26. 27. 6. 1854 года Декабря 27 дня въ деревни Зуловѣ скончалось дитя по имяни Аньля отъ Скарлетывы. Крестьянъ Казимира и Анны урожденной … Виткевичовъ зак[онныхъ] супр[уговъ] доч[ь] отъ роду 6 лѣтъ Сорокпольскаго прихода. Тѣло ея Ксендзъ Скирмонтъ Настоятель того прихода сего года и м[ѣся]ца 29 дня на приходскихъ кладбищахъ похоронилъ.
In English: Entry 26. Day of death 27, age 6. In the year 1854, on the 27th day of December, in the village of Zułów, a child named Aniela died of scarlet fever. She was the daughter of the peasants Kazimierz and Anna née (left blank), the Witkiewicz couple, lawful spouses, aged 6 years, of Sorokpol parish. Her body was buried in the parish cemetery by Father Skirmunt, parish priest, on the 29th day of this month and year.
Kazimierz's record is the first row on the right-hand page, numbered 17. The column for children names his daughters “Маріянну и Розалію”, Marianna and Rozalia.
Original text (Russian): 17. 15. 56. 1862 Года Мая 15 дня въ Деревни Зуловѣ скончался Крестьянинъ Казимиръ Виткевичъ отъ горячки. Оставшейся вдовою Анны мужъ имѣвшій отъ роду 56 лѣтъ. Оставилъ Сына […] дочери Маріянну и Розалію Сорокпольскаго прихода. Тѣло его сего года Мая 18 дня на Приходскомъ Сорокпольскомъ Кладбищѣ Ксендзъ Томашъ Волинскій похоронилъ.
In English: Entry 17. Day of death 15, age 56. In the year 1862, on the 15th day of May, in the village of Zułów, the peasant Kazimierz Witkiewicz died of fever. He was the husband of Anna, who remains a widow, aged 56 years. He left a son […] and daughters Marianna and Rozalia, of Sorokpol parish. His body was buried in the Sorokpol parish cemetery by Father Tomasz Woliński on the 18th of May of this year.
Anna's record is the first row on the left-hand page, numbered 10, with her age given as 85. The handwriting is small, so only the parts read with certainty are transcribed below and the rest is marked […].
Original text (Russian): 10. 27. 85. Мѣсяцъ Мартъ. Тысяча восемьсотъ девяносто седьмого года Марта двадцать седьмого дня въ деревни Зуловѣ скончалась Анна […] Виткевичова […]. Крестьянка […] покойнаго мужа Казимира […] Виткевича жена имѣвшая отъ роду 85 лѣтъ Сорокпольскаго прихода. Оставила сына […] и дочь Розалію. Тѣло ея сего года Марта 30 дня на Зуловскомъ деревенскомъ кладбищѣ сами прихожане похоронили.
In English: Entry 10. Day of death 27, age 85. The month of March. In the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven, on the twenty-seventh day of March, in the village of Zułów, Anna […] Witkiewicz died […]. A peasant woman […], wife of the late Kazimierz […] Witkiewicz, aged 85 years, of Sorokpol parish. She left a son […] and a daughter Rozalia. Her body was buried by the parishioners themselves in the Zułów village cemetery on the 30th of March of this year.
Narration
In one month,
a Polish priest recorded the deaths of seven children.
We found this in old records while searching for our ancestors.
Scarlet fever
took them all.
One was a boy named Józef.
He was ten.
He was the brother of our great-great-grandmother Rozalia.
Born two years later,
she never knew him.
Winter, 1855.
Zułów, a small village near Vilnius.
Twelve years later,
the man who freed Poland was born here.
The fever went from house to house.
In two weeks it took four children from this village.
Just before New Year,
a six-year-old girl died too.
Most likely Józef's sister.
When Rozalia was four,
her father died.
The priest listed who he left:
a son
and two daughters.
The youngest was Rozalia.
Her mother outlived him by almost thirty-five years.
Her death record
names Rozalia again.
The parishioners buried her themselves.
Does your family remember a child who died young?
Write their name in the comments.
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Sources
- Sorokpol parish deaths, 1854, entry 26 (Lithuanian State Historical Archives in Vilnius, 604/37/75)
- Sorokpol parish deaths, 1855, entries 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9 and 10 (Lithuanian State Historical Archives in Vilnius, 604/37/76)
- Sorokpol parish baptisms, 1857, entry 23 (Lithuanian State Historical Archives in Vilnius, 772/1/6)
- Sorokpol parish deaths, 1862, entry 17 (Lithuanian State Historical Archives in Vilnius, 604/37/83)
- Sorokpol parish deaths, 1897, entry 10 (Lithuanian State Historical Archives in Vilnius, 772/1/11)
Scenes marked “Staged scene” are reconstructions. The documents are real.
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