Forum | PolishOrigins :: View topic - Help solving mystery: Kulczicki?

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karabasser

Joined: 20 Sep 2020
Replies: 3
Location: USA
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Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 7:23 pm Post subject: Help solving mystery: Kulczicki?

Hi guys,

My great-grandmother on my mother's side was a Ukrainian woman who had an illegitimate child with a Pole, likely of some kind of nobility. This is confirmed by the fact that most of my DNA matches on Ancestry & MyHeritage are of Polish descent (I don't have any other Polish heritage to the best of my knowledge - the other side of my family is from Ukraine/Belarus).

My mother's side of the family lived in the same village for ages in Zelena Dibrova, Cherkassy, Ukraine. Amazingly, it has most of its records scanned on familysearch.

The family legend goes like this: According to my grandmother, her grandmother Maria worked in the household of a Polish count by the name of Evendyk Kulczicki (born 1860). She had a daughter by him (Matrona, my grandmother's mom), but he abandoned her and left to Poland. However, another Pole (maybe in the service of the Polish count) by the name of Grigoriy Kulakowski was in love with her and married her to pretend the baby was theirs. My grandmother was raised by Grigoriy and Maria.

Here's what I confirmed from the records:

- My great-great-grandmother Maria Krasitskaya did indeed have an illegitimate child in 1897 in her home village of Zelena Dibrova
- Her parents were born in the same village, but she was not. Her whole family was somewhere else, but returned in 1896 (likely when she became pregnant)
- She did indeed later marry Grigoriy Kulakowski (born 1873 to Anton Kulakowski, a retired feldwebel in the Russian army), but only in 1899
- Grigoriy Kulakowski is from the village Ladyzhenka in the Uman' area of Cherkassy.
- My grandmother was raised by Grigoriy and says he used to curse in Polish, but was a practicing Orthodox (faith confirmed by records). His last name indeed does not appear in the area, so he could be Polish (or maybe just western Ukrainian?) and he only appears in the village the year he married Maria.

I'm basically stuck there. Evendyk is not a name, but I'm guessing it's probably Benedykt (my grandmother was a child when she heard it). This bit of info is likely reliable since my grandmother remembers kids mocking her mom with that name. I'm not as sure about the last name. Krasickis ARE a noble family, but they did not hold lands in the area. The area belonged to the Branickis, who are a well-known Polish noble family, but I did not find any male members who could've possibly had an affair in Ukraine in 1896, nor were there any Benedykts.

Ladyzhenka, to the best of my knowledge, belonged to another Polish noble family - the Moszczeńskis. Couldn't find that much info on them.

I have no idea how my grandmother would know this Benedykt was born in 1860, but consider her other errors in birth dates, this is most likely not reliable whatsoever. I'm also not sure if he was at all affiliated with Grigoriy Kulakowski. I'm also not sure if the Kulakowskis are originally from that area.

Every family name I find, I try to search among my DNA matches and their family trees, but so far nothing.

I don't really know where else to look. If anyone has any ideas, I'd greatly appreciate it!

mcdonald0517
PO Top Contributor & Patron

Joined: 27 May 2012
Replies: 961

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Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 3:16 pm Post subject:

Hello,

You probably already know this, but I am posting just in case.....

Here is basic Info about the noble family of Kulczicky and their coat of arms (Sos):

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerzy_Franciszek_Kulczycki

Their early ancestral home was Kulchytsi :

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kulchytsi

Family search has locked records for Kulchytsi:
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1462654?availability=Family%20History%20Library

Even though Kulchytsi is far from Zelena Dobrovi, there are many ways they could have met. Perhaps the nobleman Kulchytsi was visiting or doing business at the local manor where she worked.. or maybe his family had a small estate nearby. For example, My noble Radziminski family had a variety of land holdings spread throughout the Prussian area of Poland, and they traveled among them doing business.

Perhaps you can check the parish books in Kulchytsi for Kulczycki surnames and map out the family lines.

Perhaps you can request a search for his name from the Polish Nobility Society of America
http://pnaf.us/

Good luck in your search,
Cynthia

karabasser

Joined: 20 Sep 2020
Replies: 3
Location: USA
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Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 10:20 pm Post subject:

mcdonald0517 wrote:

Thanks so much, Cynthia! I reached out to PNAF, let's see what they say. The Parish books are unfortunately missing a critical period when the my great-great-grandfather was likely born, but I'll double check.

The issue is that there were at least 3 different noble families of Kulczycki (not just h. Sas, but also h. Grzymala and h. Slepowron), and even for h. Sas, I'm guessing not everyone would've been born there.

Is there any way to check what lands belonged to the Kulczyckis in Ukraine?

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