Examples of Record Types

General Information

This page describes the different types of records encountered in the digital archive and provides examples of each. The terminology used here is found in the right most column of the Disk Descriptions file.

Often duplications of events can be found in this archive. Rather than requesting all of these records there is a priority that is recommended for ordering just one among a duplicated event as generally the same extent of information is found on the different records. Different scenarios of duplications are:

Napoleonic Records

The SGGEE website pages on Translation Aids provides many examples of Napoleonic records. Disks 1-20 are entirely Napoleonic. Records from the parish of Konskowola also are mostly Napoleonic. The earliest records were written in Polish until Jun 1868 when the Russian language was used. The page on Translation Resources for Russian Documents provides examples of Russian Napoleonic records from this Lublin digital archive. Napoleonic records are often found in Alegata as birth or death certifications and these can be either in Polish or Russian regardless of the year they were transcribed from the original record.

Attest Records

Attest seem to comprise the greatest proportion of the archive. These were generally forms from a printed book that were filled out. Attest records seem to “attest” to an event, hence the name given on these forms. Baptism or Death records are found in Attest forms and the pages could have been printed in either German (most common) or Polish. If forms were not available at the local church at that time the cantor would write out the entire record by hand.

Often the back side of a baptismal Attest form would have an Addendum (Ergänzungsnotiz). The supplementary information contained on this Addendum is very informative usually giving birth dates of the parents, their marriage date, how many children this couple has had up to that point, and other information regarding the birth.

German Baptismal Attest
 German Handwritten Baptismal Attest
German Baptismal Attest with  Addendum
 German Death Attest
 Polish Baptismal Attest

Compilation Tables

In addition to the formal records, every church maintained a register in which births, deaths, and marriages were compiled in tables. These tables duplicate what is found in Napoleonic and Attest records but since certain records may have been lost over the years they might also serve as alternative surviving documentation recording these events. These tables often do not state what is contained in each column. For the examples provided here the data shown in each column is explained. Tables may vary in the format the data is displayed but a pattern of what data was recorded in the tables can be deduced based on these examples.

Column BIRTHS DEATHS MARRIAGES
A Town Town Register number
B Father, age, town Witnesses Date
C Witnesses, ages, town Date Witnesses
D Sex of child Name of deceased Ages of witnesses
E Date and time of birth Age Towns of witnesses
F Mother, age Parents and/or spouse Marriage couple
G Child Cantor Status of couple
H Godmother, town Ages of the couple
I Remarks Towns of the couple
J Towns of couple's parents
K Parents
L Belief of couple's families
M Dates wedding banns posted

Marriage Compilation Tables (at least those in the 1860s) often list proposed couples that apparently did not complete the marriage banns procedure (see also note about banns at bottom of this page). These tables probably were written at the time the banns were started and indications were given where the couple did not end up getting married. Such cases include the term “did not marry” in the Special Notes field. As the project progresses, it will become evident if this trend in record keeping was maintained in later years. Certainly in later years separate forms were used for recording marriage banns.

Alegata

A good description of Alegata and the kinds of documents that can be found among them are given in Question 20 on this URL from the JewishGen site.

Birth Information - As stated in this description, documents pertinent to the birth of either marriage partner if their birth was recorded in another church are most often found in Alegata. A copy of the birth record (birth certification) was ordered from the other church or civil office where the records were kept. These records are most often handwritten copies of Napoleonic records including the date and location where it was issued from. An official seal is also stamped on the document certifying this information and stamps indicate that payment was made for this certificate. It appears every church or administrative office had its own style for making these certifications as seen in the example below, but the layout is usually consistent among them.
Birth Certifications

If an original birth certification could not be obtained then at least two witnesses who knew the person would have to present themselves and testify certain details on what they knew of the background of this proposed marriage candidate. These notarized documents would indicate the name of the person, his/her parents, where and possibly when the person was born, and the name of the proposed marriage partner. In Polish these documents were entitled Akt Znania or translated more literally “Record of Knowledge”. In this database Akt Znania are included with marriage events (not births) since they provide not only the parents for the individual, but also the “tentative”spouse.
Akt Znania Form Pages
 Akt Znania Written

Death of a Previous Spouse - If either of the marriage couple was previously married a death certification of the previous spouse was necessary. These Death Certifications are presented as copies of Napoleonic records with the same annotations given for Birth Certifications described above.
Death Certification

Information Regarding Marriage Banns - Alegata may also contain other administrative documentation pertinent to the process leading up to the marriage. Marriages were subject to banns where typically announcements of the forthcoming marriage were posted at the church giving others the opportunity to present any legal evidence to prevent the marriage from taking place. Most often these announcements were posted on three consecutive Sundays prior to the marriage. In some instances a release was given where only one announcement was required. These releases are found in Alegata and only provide the name of the wedding couple. Other related documents in Alegata simply state that the provision for posting the banns has been made and therefore they are cleared to have the marriage ceremony performed.
Release of marriage banns (weeks 2 & 3)
 Fulfillment of posting marriage banns

Marriage Banns

The printed German form has two sections in which some records may only include the lower half of the form (which only indicates the names of the proposed couple). Rarely instances are found where the couple apparently do not get married.
Marriage Bann Form (note two sections)

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