Perhaps of all the ancestors of Wacław Jagiełłowicz, Jozef remains the most intriguing, at least as of December 29, 2019. That’s because Jozef’s origins either tie the family directly to a well-documented genealogy dating back to 1659, or, they don’t.
The intrigue revolves around a document from the church in Krekenava, Lithuania. It is a pre-marital questionnaire completed by Jozef and his bride-to-be, Anna Nefowna. Separate documentation trails connect Jozef’s son Jan to Wacław; we have clear documentation that Jan is the son of Jozef and Anna. But this document is intriguing for a number of reasons.
The genealogical record of most interest was discovered by Witold Jagiełłowicz, a distant cousin. Witold found the document in the archives in Vilnius. This document traces lineage of the Jagiełłowicz family back to its estate at Preszogała in 1659. It lists Jozef, identifying him as Jozef Ferdynant, and his father as Karol Jagiełłowicz.
However, in the pre-marital questionnaire, Jozef identifies his mother as Anna Kwiatkowska. The baptismal record of Jozef Ferdynant Jagiełłowicz identifies his mother as Magdalena Gabryłowiczowna. He also lists his age as 33 on this document from 1857, which would put his birth date at 1824, not 1817.
Another interesting note is that Jozef lists his home parish as Wędzegolskiej, which is a Polish form of Vandziogala.
It seems highly unlikely that there was another Karol Jagiełłowicz who had a son named Jozef Jagiełłowicz around the same time and in the same area. It’s more likely that Magdalena died and that Karol remarried. It’s also interesting to note that Anna misrepresented her age on the document. It’s very likely that neither Jozef for Anna knew their ages with any precision.
Other noteworthy items – Jozef is listed as Szlachta, while Anna is listed as Pracowniki, or “common”. This is funny to later descendants, due to a story retold by Wacław that Jozef’s son Jan later punished Wacław and Antoni for speaking to common girls. That’s especially odd given that Jan’s second wife, Anna Iwaszkewiecz, also had no claim to a noble title. It’s also worth noting that the manner of signing the document suggests that both Jozef and Anna Nefowna were illiterate.
If we have correctly identified this Jozef Jagiełłowicz as Jozef Ferdynant born in Vandziogala in 1817, which seems very likely, then we can use the Last Will and Testament to trace the ancestry back through Karol Tomasz to Maciey (Matteus) Jozef, to Jan, to Bartłomiey, to Kazimierz, along with the grant of the estate at Preszogała on May 12, 1659. 1659 is not terribly long after the end of the Jagiełłonian Dynasty in Poland, which does make the origin of our family name quite intriguing.
If we have correctly identified Jozef Ferdynant as our ancestors, other records from the church in Vandziogala also list a sister to Jozef – Ona.