Filipow Samotyha Family History

Filipow parish records go back as far as 1808 and were put on microfilm by the LDS Church.  This family history is based upon actual parish church records.  The family owned the now non-existing village of Morsztynowizna.  Of the few homes in the area, their estate house had the address of number 1.  Below is a 1931 map showing the area of Morsztynowizna in relationship to the town of Filipow.

Earliest Generation

  The first record of my Samotyha lineage is the November 23, 1814 marriage of Antoni Samotyha to Rozalia Sarosiek.  This document does not list Antoni's father because he most likely had passed away.  But another LDS microfilm record related to Filipow parish produced a legal birth document for the bride and groom.  This was required for the marriage.  Such documents, verified by at least two witnesses, were created when the original church document was not available.  This was a common occurrence most likely due to fire. In this case, the priest who performed the baptism acted as witness.  This valuable birth document had a name for the groom's father.  It also showed the birth of twin brothers.  Antoni being born first made him heir to the family estate and nobility title over his younger twin brother. The only other parish record was the death of a sister of Antoni Samotyha, also noting that she never married. Below is the family tree verified by these parish records.  Joannis Samotyha and Barbara Barcicki are my great, great, great, great grandparents.

   Second Generation

My great, great, great grandfather Antoni Samotyha was born on June 26, 1786.  He was the eldest of three  known children.  Antoni grew up with nobility heritage.  Unlike most of the population in early 1800's Filipow, Antoni was educated and personally wrote his signature as witness to documents. On November 23, 1814 he married Rozalia Sarosiek, the daughter from another family of nobility.  Antoni and Rozalia always lived on their estate in Morsztynowizna.  They had nine children.  Their last child, Izabella Lucyna, would marry into the Zlotorzynski family.  Below is the Antoni Samotyha family as verified by parish records.

 Nobility By Title

Polish nobility is harder to verify when compared to other European countries.  Nobility can be seen by a number of terms appearing before the person's name.  Samotyha was titled in the late 1700's and early 1800's according to parish records.  This titled nobility meant land ownership.  The Samotyha family in this time frame would be considered lower nobility.  In Filipow records, Antoni Samotyha often times had the Polish word Urodzony, meaning high birth, before his name.  The wording below is taken from an 1836 document showing title by Ur. JP, meaning Urodzony Jasnie Pan.  Jasnie Pan is a nobility title, but later degrades to mister, a respectful greeting commonly used.  But used together in 1836 it should be referred to as "His Lordship".

Being educated in the late 1700's is a rarity in any culture.  In Filipow records of the early 1800's, there were only a handful of parish members who knew how to read and write.  Below is Antoni Samotyha's signature as witness after reading the entry written June 3, 1818 by the priest for the death of Antoni's daughter, Helena Katarzyna.

Finally, in Antony Samotyha's Filipow parish death record written by the parish priest on March 6, 1839 recording Antoni's death two days earlier, the words "inherited owner from Morsztynowizna" are written.