A Jewish Marriage in 1819
The Civil Ceremony
  Part of the marriage registration of Jankiel Moskowicz of Działoszyn and Laja Abramowicz - Markowiczowna of Dębina/Osjaków on their marriage in Osjaków in December 1819. There are many things to note about the civil ceremony including the detailed involvement of the parish priest in this process and the requirements of the use of the Code Napoleon - even in this village in the depths of rural western Poland. After the civil ceremony the religious ceremony would have taken place later.
Osjaków. Year 1819, on December 20th about 3 p.m.  In front of us, the Osjaków parish priest, also undertaking the duties of the civil clerk, in the borough of Osjaków, a district of Wieluń, of the Kaliszkie voivodship, a Jew, Jankiel Moszkowicz personally came forward. A bachelor, 18 years old (according to the document issued by Malinowski, the Mayor of Działoszyn) and confirmed by the Magistrates Court of Wieluń district on 16th September in this current year), son of Mosziek and Estera Dawidowicz, residing with his parents in Działoszyn, in the presence of his father and a Jewess Laja Markowiczowna, a maiden, 19 years old (according to the document issued in Dębina on 3rd October current year by Wojciech Madaliński, Osjakow village-mayor and confirmed by the Magistrates Court of Wieluń district on the same day), daughter of Abraham and Ryfka Markowicz, residing with her parents in Dębina in Osjaków parish, in the presence of her father. Both sides require us to carry out a marriage ceremony whose banns were published in front of the doors of our Town Hall on October 31st (first bann) and November 2nd (second bann) current year about noon on Sundays. In Działoszyn borough, the groom’s place of residence, the banns were published on: July 25th (first bann) and August 1st (second bann) current year about noon on Sundays – according to the confirmation document issued by a civil office clerk of Działoszyn borough. No objection to that marriage was declared in either borough. The parents of both the bride and groom, being under aged, gave their permissions for the marriage to take place. In order to fulfil their requirements, we read all the documents mentioned above and the 6th chapter of the Code Napoleon [entitled “About a marriage”] and asked both spouses separately if they wished to get married. Each of them separately declared “that is my will”. Hereby we declare in the name of the law that Jankiel Moszkowicz, a bachelor and the maiden Laja Abramowicz are joined together with the ties of marriage. We wrote down the marriage registration in the presence of the witnesses: the Jews Mosiek Markowicz, 42 years old, the bride’s uncle, Haskiel Jakubowicz, 32 years old, Herszlik Pelta, 42 years old, Szmul Suszek, 40 years old, all residing in Osjaków. That registration was read to all persons present but only signed by us because the newly married and witnesses cannot write Polish.   Father Wacław Piotrowski, Osjaków parish-priest and civil clerk.
Compiled by Martin Davis © 2017
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