Previously published in PGS-CA Bulletin (July 2013)
Porąbka Uszewska
Translated from the Słownik Geograficzny (1880-1902)
by Helen Bienick
Porąbka Uszewska, once known as Biskupia, in documents shown as “Episcopalis Porambka”, is a village in the county of Brzesko, located about 8⅓ kilometers east of Brzesko. It lies in an uneven terrain, 290 meters above sea level. It consisted of a long road built adjacent to the stream called Złocki, which enters the Uszwica river. In the area to the north of the village, the land expanse drops to an even level as it nears the valley of the Wisła river. Towards the west, south, and the east, the elevation rises to 394 meters above sea level. It is covered with a very leafy forest, mainly beech and birch trees.
Porąbka Uszewska borders Dębno on the north, Jastwia on the west beyond the forest and the Uszwa river, and Doły to the south. To its east, lie Łysa Góra and Sufczyn. To the south stood a wooden church with a large steeple, a rectory, and the settlement housing the local forest chief.
In the late 1800s, the village had 204 houses and 1132 inhabitants, of whom 555 were men, 577 were women. Of these, there were 1126 Catholics and 6 Jews. On a farm holding of a noble, there were two structures housing 24 people, of whom 13 were Catholics and 11 were Israelites. The people are descended from the Mazury.
The church holdings consisted of 153 morgen (mr.)
[1]
of farms, 18 mr. of meadows, 27 mr. of pastures and 161 mr. of forests. The large farmstead (folwark) covered 861 mr. of farmland, 148 mr. of meadows and gardens, 133 mr of pastures, and 143 mr. of forests. The soil is very fertile with a loamy base. There was a school in the village, and a lending bank with a capital of 787 złoty. It is not known when the parish church was built; it has metrical books from the year 1661, and a listing of all the pastors who served from 1550. The firt one listed is Bernard Czech. The chapel in Biesada was an affiliate of the parish from 1587 to 1840, known now as Biesiadki. It is now a parish of its own.
In 1751, Andrzej Załuski, the Bishop of Kraków, granted the local priests the title of Archdeacons in the collegiate churches in Wojnicz and Lipnica in the Wojnicz deanery. The church in Wojnicz was built at the time of the Austrian annexation of Galicia. Besides the church in Porąbka Uszewska, a large brick chapel was built on the cemetery in 1856, through the auspices of Leopold Perisch. The parish of Porąbka included the villages of Doły, Loniowy (Lunyowa), Łysa Góra, Jaworsko and Niedżwiedza. The first four villages listed belonged to the estates of the Bishops of Kraków, along with Porąbka, which in 1581 was the property of Spytek Jordan, the Castellan of Kraków. In the late 1800s, the population of Porąbka Uszewska numbered 4766 Catholics and 71 Jews.
During the 15th century, there were three fields owned by by the town’s sheriff and officials. They paid a tithe of 10 grzywien (an old silver coin) to the bishop of Kraków, and the local pastor. The church had its own properties, as described by the historan Długosz in his Liber Beneficiorum, volume II, page 266. In 1581, there were ten fields farmer owned, one field owned by the local sheriff, one small farm, one farmer with cattle, four farmers without cattle, and one craftsman. Porąbka is also mentioned in the book Małopolska (Little Poland) page 147.
↑ [1] One morgen/mr. = ~2.116 acres.
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