Герб горада Ліды, наданы 17 верасня 1590 г.
Lida Pawiet (Powiat)
LIDA PROVINCE (Pawiet, Pawet, Powiat)-- In 1866, the second Lida administrative district of Lida province included 4 towns, 5 hamlets, 42 farmsteads, and 161 villages. Streams in the province are the Bachmatka, Molczad, Lebioda, Holdowka, Chmielowszczyzna, Jelnianka, Trycianka, Brzost, Zoladczanka, Korytnianka, Beraxenka, Rudnianka, Szczara, Holub, Lipiczanka, Budziszcza, Lukowica, Swiecica, Turejka, Dzitwa, and the Nieman. The Castle Town of the Lida Sheriff s Domain [ed.- starostwo] was granted by the general Sejm of 1522 at Grodno [ed.- or Horodlo?] to George Illinicz. It consisted of the towns of Lida, Beresteczka and the Belica-Lipniszki estate. Ignace Scipio, Bailiff of Lida, purchased it in 1766, paying the quarterly army tax of 780 zlotys and 120 zlotys for the army wintering tax. Sheriffs of the court from 1500 to 1794 were: Andrew Drozdy, George Illinicz, Jan Abrahamowicz, Peter Bohatko, Alexander Holowczynski, Alexander Naruszewicz, Nicholas Pac, Alexander Piotrowicz, two Franckiewiczes, six Radziwills, two Sapiehas, and two Scipios.
Lida province contains 4,935 agricultural tracts (plus lowlands about a quarter in forest), more than 122,000 inhabitants, and sand and gravel allotments. The principal river is the Nieman. Inhabitants are engaged in agriculture, weaving linen, and breeding cattle and other domestic animals. Today there are already more Black Russians than Lithuanians living here.
Within Lida province there are two Catholic deaconates: Lida and Radun. The Lida Russian-Orthodox deaconate contains 12 parishes: Lida, Zblany, Honczary, Holdowo, Dokudowo, Mala Mozejka, Lebioda, Zyzmiany, Bielica, Bobrowicze, Mytnica, and Radziwoniszki, for a total of 16,280 parishioners. Besides these, there is still a single Russian Orthodox deaconate for Szczuczyn within Lida province. Overall, Lida province has 31 Orthodox churches. At this point (1882) the province does not have a single railroad station but it does have 5 postal stations: Lida, Woronow, Ejszyszki, Szczuczyn, and Zyrmuny. With respect to improving conditions immediately from Wilno, the merchant trade needs access in the province (ed -- such as a railroad station!). Before the Polish Partitions, the Lida Marshals of the province were: Kopec, Chalecki, Franckiewicz, Rajecki, Rymwid, Wollowicz, three Alexsandrowiczes, Scipio, Mosiewicz, Narbut, and Jodko; following partitioning: two Narbuts, two Skinderos, Kostrowicki, Moraczewski, Butkiewicz, & Skarbek-Wazynski. Much of the information came the Lida Nobility Journal of 1876.
[ed. - Additional Słownik information on Lida town/province from Volume XVI]: LIDA- town. Wendelin Szukiewicz: "Archaeological Investigations in Lida and Troki Provinces" (Swiatowit, Vol III, 1901). In the same work: "Stone Kurgans [ed.- prehistoric burial tombs] in Lida Province" (Swiatowit, Vol IV, 1902). Again: "Certain prehistoric relics in Lida Province" (100th Anniversary of Adam Mickiewicz Memorial Series, Warsaw, Vol. II, pp. 214 et. seq.).
Note: All Słownik longitudes in this article have been converted to modern coordinates which is based on the Greenwich zero meridian. All Polish measurement units (land areas, distances, height above sea level, etc.) were converted to American-English equivalents. Monetary units, where identified, were left in zlotys/zl. or rubles/rs.
Source: Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1884, vol. 5; 1902, vol. 15]
Lida
LIDA TOWN- (Balinski publication, Polish Station) chief district town (Wilno gubernia); on the Lida River (called the Lidzieja); at 53° 59' 45" North latitude and 26° 4' East longitude [ed: all Słownik (Ferro) longitudes have been converted to the Greenwich zero meridian] some 59 mi from Wilno on the postal highway to Grodno. It has been a Lithuanian settlement from the earliest times, as evidenced by the name ("Lydda"- forest clearing, clearly a Lithuanian word) [ed. it might also have derived from the Lithuanian term for smelter-- "lyditti" given the bog-iron deposits and ironworking in the Lida plain at Naliboki, Szczuczyn, and Wisznew]. According to the assertion of Strykowski, a castle or stronghold was erected here by Gedminas around 1323. It is possible that the site had been used earlier as a defensive position constructed of wood and earth, to properly defend the frontier between Lithuania and the early (Kievan) Russian state.
When the province was divided among the great princes or dukes according to feudal convention following the death of Gedminas, Lida became the capital town of the Lida principality. It fell first solely under the possession of Olgierd, then to his son Jagiello in 1381, Prince of Vitebsk, Krewie & Lida, and finally to Witold (Vytautas, brother of Olgierd). By 1366 Franciscans from Poland had arrived there proclaiming the Christian faith. The number of missionaries increased to nine in 1378, and they brought with them from Wizny a picture of Our Lady, which became a local favorite. After 1397, monks of the order were settled there through the efforts of Andrew, first bishop of Wilno. A church, restored in 1414, was consecrated in Lida, with the titles of Virgin Mary of the Assumption and the Holy Cross. Around 1460, in place of the Franciscan mission, a parish was created at Lida for which a church was subsequently erected. In 1747 pastor Michael Zienkowicz, bishop of Wilno, transferred it to another location within the confines of the Lida castle-yard. A church (cerkiew) for the profession of the eastern rite faith [ed. Uniate or Orthodox?] was consecrated for Lida in 1533.
On Tuesday June 15, 1387 (St. Victoria's day), Skirgallo, Prince of Troki and Polotsk, swore an act of allegiance to Jagiello in Lida, along with other princes and dukes. In 1392, the neighboring Teutonic Knights (including many English knights) banded together with Witold, who had quarreled with Jagiello. They joined in an expedition to Lida, crossed the frozen marshes, and set fire to the castle-yard. Prince Korybut, in charge of the defense of the castle at the time, did not defend it eagerly in spite of his strong fortified position. He abandoned the stronghold, leaving weapons and war materials to the Germans as booty. In similar fashion, a second expedition by the Teutonic Knights was launched against Lida in the winter of 1394, this time with Counts Leiningen from Germany and Bedford from England. After encountering very strong castle defenses, they burned the town, withdrew suddenly and accomplished little or nothing.
Upon becoming the governor of Lithuania (after his reconciliation with Jagiello), Witold again received Lida castle and restored it carefully. Its earlier occupant Olgierd had always considered it a favorite, and it was afterwards given to Wojdyllo, later brother-in law of Jagiello, who created a haven for exiles and soldiers fleeing the infamous Tochtamysz Tatars. The prince of Smolensk, Jerzy Swiatoslawowicz, invaded the environs of Lida on August 5, 1406 with a powerful armed force, undoubtedly in response to pleas of his kinfolk. His army took captives right up to the castle walls; the town panicked and was burnt. But the castle was stormed in vain. The Sheriff, absent at that time, had by chance brought along a detachment of soldiers on his return and repelled the assault.
Lida was honored in the year 1422 by a visit from King Jagiello. In February he sojourned there along with many court retinue on their way to his wedding in Nowogrodek to marry Princess Sophia of Kiev. The papal nuncio to Pope Marcus V, Antony Zeno, also traveled there to investigate witnesses regarding her endowments under the Teutonic Knight's legal system, and to report on these privileges.
In 1434, Swidrigallo, having created a sedition among the Lithuanians, burned down the town, leaving only the church unharmed. The castle, unaffected despite the destruction of everything else, became the dwelling place of Hadzy-Gireja, a Tatar princess. She was an emigrant to the kingdom, remaining there for several years by acquiring a lease of Lida from Casimir, then Great Prince of the Lithuanians up to the year 1443, when the Tatars challenged his authority over them. The local leader rebelled against King Alexander and started a stubborn quarrel in 1505 among the Kristof Illinici and certain Drozd , whose king, through the precautions of the Glinski family, returned the lease to the distant Illinici. This contributed later to the murder of Zabrzezinski, who had quarreled with the Illinici, and through his warlike preparations brought upon himself the wrath of the all-powerful Glinskis.
In 1506, King Alexander, general commander of the force against the Tatars who were violently attacking the Lithuanians, made for Lida notwithstanding a grievous illness. There he entreated the Glinskis to mobilize the nobility for immediate action. Borne by bearers into Lida castle and still weak from illness, he received his last Communion and dictated his final will and testament. Meanwhile, the nobility gathered their forces there; consequently when the vassals knew that the Tatars were about a league distant from Lida, the eminent king was carried in a litter from the castle to Wilno, where he recovered in the company of Queen Helen, Chancellor Laski and several nobility. He remained there safely out of the enemy's reach for an extended time.
During 1611, the Sejm confirmed the right of the ancient town to sponsor market fairs, and permitted a constitution in 1638. This allowed citizens to assemble inside the old blackened castle, as well as to maintain a vault for keeping a register of Lida citizens land-ownership. Though hardly due to King Jan Casimir, the entire Lida province succumbed at about this time of his reign to a painful natural disaster [ed.- this sentence needs checking; also no specifics like drought or floods]. In 1662, this terrible weather raging on Lida induced the local council to suddenly shift its activities to Myta. During this time, the court remained functioning enacting resolutions to deal with prosecutable crimes committed in the abject province by its enemies; the court used its tribunal decree powers conferred on it. The disaster continued even after the confirmation of the king.
Because of the devastation to which Lida had undergone, the Sejm of 1676 exempted it from standing agreements and other burdens outside of its jurisdiction [ed. such as exemption from army/war taxes?]. But during the repeated Swedish invasions of Charles XII, the town again suffered greatly. The castle remained burnt down from 1710 on and never recovered again. The Sejm therefore in 1717 maintained the former relief, renewing the exemption from defense payments and military settlements. The Sejm constitution of 1776 reckoned Lida among the towns which continued under Magdeburg (Teutonic) Law in 1791, adding it to the list of towns under decline and placed it in the Wilno department for municipal court affairs.
Two spiritual legacies adorned the town in later times-- besides the holy altar [ed. in the old castle?] which was erected before 1644, Adam Narbut, Seneschal of Lida with his wife Elizabeth built a Carmelite nunnery there, while Ignace Scipio, steward of the King, brought in a Piarist mission to Lida, founding a brick college and school, in time appointing a faculty there. The Sejm of 1775 confirmed these legacies. Court activity took place from the castle and acts of the town were preserved there. The castle continued to be used up to the reign of King Stanislaus Augustus despite its burnt state, but after that declined into utter ruin. At present, there are still beautiful ruins in place; the walls rise in dignified fashion around the red square. Vestiges of the tower and excavations evidently remain, although its structure is entirely gone, just like the castle remains in Miednikam and Krewo.
In 1801, Lida was designated a provincial town within Grodno gubernia, and from 1842 in Wilno gubernia. In 1817 Lida had 292 homes, of which four were brick or stone, with 770 inhabitants including 567 Jews. In 1879 there were 3,915 inhabitants, although in 1862 4,077 were counted (2,059 men and 2,028 women); additionally there were 200 nobility, 36 clergy of diverse faiths, 14 trade merchants, 3,336 identified townspeople and craftsmen, and 32 peasants as well as 469 aforementioned absent workers. Population added to the town included 1,479 males and 2,082 females, together totaling 3,561 of both sexes. There were 365 owned homes and all other real estate dwellings.
Given the town's isolated location, trade in Lida has been restricted to necessary things for immediate local consumption. Two merchant guilds and 3 grinder/cutter guilds were first begun here in 1861, although the greater part of their trade was internal. There are 76 booths for other trading in Lida. Two fairs are held during the year here but are of minor significance; markets take place every week offering grains, vegetables, wood and other items for town consumption, drawn almost entirely from the surrounding countryside. There were 189 persons involved in handicrafts within Lida, for the most part Jews. Concerning factories and workshops here, three were tanneries along with two tiny candle-making workshops making them for local consumption (Jewish ritual table candles). These along with revenues from surrounding fairs generated total annual wages of 6,000 rubles.
Town inhabitants have great difficulty in obtaining wages and revenue within available options; in 1861, 146 work or emigration passport certificates were issued in the local customs house. Agriculture and associated activities count for little in the economic sphere, given the small scale of agriculture; consequently few here take it up. Town revenues in 1862 were reckoned at 2,516 rubles (ordinary taxes) and 445 rubles (special tax). Ordinary town expenditures in this time were put at 1,470 rubles for regular expenses, and 490 rubles for onetime costs. The town possesses 1,544 land leases, but also holds tithes to 345 common pastures. After the Piarist settlement was annulled, Lida then had a 5th-class school until 1850. [ed.unclear sentence follows.] They had experienced (in the past?) excellent contracts. Today the town is reviving. At present, with the building of the Wilno-to-Rowny railroad line perhaps it will slowly recover.
The Catholic parish church, named Raising of the Holy Cross, was erected of stone/brick construction in 1770 by Prince Thomas Zienkowicz. There is also a chapel cemetery. The Catholic parish in the Lida deaconate has 9,892 parishioners. There is an affiliate in Krupie, while formerly there was also one in Kiryanow. Chapels are in Czechowca, Perepeczycha, and formerly also in Ostrow. The Lida deaconate has 12 parishes: Lida town, Nowydwor, Zoludek, Lack, Szczuczyn, Bialohrud, Trokiele, Jelna, Zyrmuny, Nieciecz, Rozanka, Hermaniszki (formerly 13: besides those above, also Dziembrow). Faithful within the deaconate total 41,668 parishioners. Church grant acreages in Lida parish include low-lying and stony areas, gravels and sandy soils. Flowing rivers in the church parish lands include the Nieman, Zyzma, Dzitwa, Lidzieja, Krupka and Ostrowla; there is also Lake Scierkowski.
The Lida rural gmina contains 665 homes, 5,625 peasants of both sexes, comprised of six rural districts and 84 individual villages. The rural districts of the gmina are: Jukurcie, Perepieczycha, Kolyszki, Dabrowo, Berdowka, and Kniazikowce.
Source: Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1884, vol. 5]
Iwje
Iwje, a town in Oszmiana county, lying at 53° 56' North latitude, 25° 46' East longitude [Editor's note: the Polish says 43° 26' East, but that's because it was measured from Ferro], 39.1 miles in a southerly direction from Oszmiana and 89.3 miles from Wilno, at an altitude of 514 feet above sea level, possessing a peasant gmina administration, a rural school, a brick Catholic parish church called Sts. Peter and Paul, a post office for correspondence of all kinds and communicating with Lida through the Dzikowicze post office, about 19.6 miles away; the town numbers 2,123 inhabitants, that is, 1,054 men and 1,070 women (1869). The Iwje peasant gmina is divided among 5 rural districts, and has 42 villages, 978 houses, and 6,243 peasants. Iwje has a class II Catholic parish in Wiszniew deanery, an affiliate church in Dudy (compare its entry), a chapel in Satoltowicze, and 7,646 faithful.
At one time Iwje was the property of the Kiszka family. Nicholas of Ciechanowiec of that family, voivode of Mscislaw and starosta of Wilkoszew, founded a church here in 1631, as well as a monastery, and he brought the Bernardine monks to it, offering them 200 zlotys annually from his estate, as well as a "decent allowance." This donation was made on June 10, 1633. The monks had there a library holding 489 books of theological content, and maintained near the monastery a clerical school of rhetoric, until the confiscation of church property in the first quarter of this century.
From the Kiszka ownership of Iwje passed to the Sluzkas, namely to Catherine Janusz nйe Kiszka, wife of the Lithuanian commander. In 1662 she bequeathed it to Charles and Catherine nйe Radziwill Hlebowicz, who were survived by two daughters: Marcybela Oginska, wife of Marcyan, the Troki voivode and Lithuanian chancellor; and Christina Sapieha, wife of the Polotsk voivode. When Oginska died without heirs, Iwje went to the Sapieha family, who in 1686 mortgaged it to the Tyzenhauz family. Today Iwje belongs to the countess Elfrieda Zamoyska, who acquired it as an inheritance from the Tyzenhauz family.
Additional Słownik information on Iwie from Volume XV:
Iwie- town and estate in Oszmiana province. The estate comprises 29,400 acres of which nearly 17,580 are wooded. In composition, it includes the towns Iwie and Nikolaev on the Nieman River, as well as the following farmsteads: Galimszczyna, Chowanszczyna, Rembakowszczyna, Krasowszczyna, Staniewicze, Bagnorod, Ludmilin, Elfrydow, Augustowek, Borki, and Czapun. In 1832, the extent of the so-called "Iwian Countship" included holdings of 69,880 acres of small farms, hamlets, and estates. Stanislaus Kiszka, Voivod of Vitebsk, had built a brick Catholic church in Iwie, while his son Nicholas, Voivod of Mscislaw and Sheriff of Wilkomirsk, brought in the Bernadine monks, whom he settled near by the church and erected a wooden parish church nearby. For its endowment, he donated the Lipsk farmstead, Streczenieta peasant village (comprising 415 tillable acres), 125 acres of bottom-land and 830 acres of hayfields. There is a Tatar settlement near the town in which are found a Tatar mosque [ed.- still in Iwie today] and cemetery. The first known owner of Iwie was Pietrosko (Peter) Mondygierd, district Marshal and Governor of Nowogrуdek, obtained from a grant by King Casimir Jagiello in 1444. In 1542, the owner of Iwie was Jan Janowicz Zabrzezinski, Marshal to the King. Tomila (nee Dukes Zaslawski & Mscislaw) Janowa Zabrzezinski bequeathed Iwie in 1558 to Nicholas Piotrowicze Kiszka, the Cup-Bearer of Lithuania. From an inheritance, Count Rudolf Tyzenhaus gave Iwie to Hetman Michael Oginski in 1825; lastly Count August Zamojski obtained Iwie as an expensive dowry for his daughter Elfreda. Today it is owned by his son, Count Tomas.
Source: Sownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1882, vol. 3; 1902, vol. 15]
Juraciszki
JURACISZKI (or Juratishki)-- small town and farmstead on a pond; in the 3rd police district of Oszmiana province. Lying 35 mi. from Oszmiana and 23 miles from Dziewieniszki, it contains 23 homes and an Orthodox church (1866). Inhabitants number 100 Catholics and 97 Orthodox. Once the property of the Kopcio family, it was passed to the Koscialkowski and then the Rodkiewicz family. It is the gmina administrative center, counting 424 homes with 4,969 inhabitants. Today the little town itself has 244 inhabitants.
Source: Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1882, vol. 3]
Lazduny
Lazduny, a small town in Oszmiana county; 3rd police district; 66.3 Miles from Wilno and 41.8 miles from Oszmiana; 456 inhabitants; the property is owned partly by the government treasury and partly owned by Weronika Korwin Milewska. In 1817 the town and estate were the property of Jуzef Wolodkiewiez, then later of Samuel Laniewski Wolk, from whom it went to Milewska. The town has a branch of the Subotniki parish church, named for Sts. Simon Jude and Anne. It was founded in 1744 and made of wood, and rebuilt in 1853 by Samuel Wolk; the branch has 4,336 souls.
Additional Słownik information on Lazduny from Volume XV:
Lazduny- a town in Oszmiana province. Jan Monwid, Voivod of Wilno, received Lazduny as a grant along with other benefits from the great Prince of Lithuania Witold [ed.- around 1400]; for ages afterwards it became the possession of the Radziwill family, who had acquired the mortgage. Among others acquiring the mortgage at the beginning of the 18th Century (up to 1787) were the Dominicans from Porcia, who kept it until later taken over by Bishop Zienkowicz of Wilno. The last possessor of entail, Prince Dominick Radzwill made a present of Lazduny to Josef Wollowicz, from whom Samuel Wolk (-Laniewski) acquired it around 1810. Subsequently it was bought by Oskar Milewski as an expensive dowry for Edmund Korsak, his brother-in-law. Today, it is owned by his son Hippolyte.
Source: Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1884, vol. 5; 1902, vol. 15]
Radun
Radun, a small government-owned town on the Radunka River, Lida powiat, in the 4th political district, center of a gmina and a rural district; it is an estate belonging to the treasury, 30 km. northwest of Lida, 37 km. from Wasiliszki, and 82 km. from Wilno, on a side road which in the 16th century was the shortest highway between Wilno and Krakуw. In the year 1881 there were 1,526 inhabitants (757 male and 769 female); in the year 1866 there were 91 houses and 869 inhabitants (361 Catholics and 508 Jews); it has a wooden Catholic church and chapel, a synagogue, gmina administrative office, and a public school, which in the year 1885-6 was attended by 56 boys and 2 girls. It is the property of the treasury, which gave the lands back to the peasants for purchase. About 2 km. from the town, on a vast plain near the village of Horodyszcze, is a large trench, and even though the inhabitants call it the "Swedish" trench, its shape and the name of the adjoining the village shows that it was a fortified citadel of long ago. According to Balinski (Star. Polska, III:259), Radun was called Radomi by 16th century travelers and writers.
This small town was once a royal estate, from which the income went to pay for the king's court and table. According to a 1538 inspection, it had 7 streets there, in addition to the market square, and 210 houses of Christians - Jews were forbidden to settle there. It had 35 saloons for selling beer, 7 for mead and one only for liquor. Later Radun became the site of a starostwo not affiliated with a grуd, and in 1770 that office included the town with appurtenances. In the year 1766 Jуzef Tyszkiewicz, the castellan of Mscislaw [now Mstsislav, ..., in Belarus] bought it, and on it he paid a kwarta of 2,616 z1oty's, 5 groszy, and a hyberna of 2,690 Polish z1oty's. At the Sejm of 1773-75 the Commonwealth government addressed recurring disputes over the borders of this starostwo by passing a separate law designating six officials as ad hoc commissioners to settle the matter once and for all.
In the Metryka Litewska the series of Radun starosta's begins toward the end of the 15th century with Janusz Kostewicz (1498-1527), followed by: Jan Hlebowicz (1527), Szymko Mackiewicz (1532-1541), Stanislaw Kiezgajlo (1546-1549), Augustyn Fursowicz (1551), Jurij Wolczkowicz (1556), Jan Hercyk (1569), and Mikolaj Talwosz (1581).
The Catholic parish church of Our Lady of the Rosary dates from 1838, transferred from the village of Kolesniki [now Kalesninkai, Lithuania], due to the closing of the Carmelite monastery there. Previously there had existed a church from the year 1752, which burned down; rebuilt in 1801, it suffered the same fate again. There is a small chapel in the cemetery. The Catholic parish, of the Radun deanery, has 7,522 souls. At one time there was a branch of the church in the village of Dubicze. The Radun deanery consists of 11 parishes: Radun, Ejszyszki [now Eisiskis, Lithuania], Wasiliszki [now Vasilishki, Belarus], Nacza, Bieniakonie [Benyakoni], Zablocie [Zabalac'], Wawiorka, Iszczolna, Woronуw [Voranawa], Ossуw and Soleczniki [now Salcinikai, Lithuania], for a total of 58,768 souls.
In this parish the terrain is level and treeless, overgrown in some places with bushes and covered with marshes. The soil is sandy, with a lot of gravel. It is watered by the following rivers: Dzitwa, Pielasa, Radunka, Naczka, Sopunka, Jodub. The rural district includes the town of Radun and the villages of Juciuny, Straczuny, Horodyszcze, Jatowty, Popiszki, Skladance, Wojkunce, and the nobles' farm settlement of Poradun, for a total as of the year 1864, according to the treasury rewizja of peasants, of 565 serfs, 3 men of jednodworzec status, and 32 free men. The gmina of Radun belongs to the 3rd district chamber of peasant affairs in the town of Ejszyszki as well as to the 3rd conscription center for the same place in Lida district, and consists of four rural districts: Radun, Mozejki, Kiwance, and Pielasa, including 67 villages with 536 houses, inhabited by 6,969 peasants. According to the 1864 census, there were in the gmina 1,740 serfs, according to the treasury rewizja of peasants 346 enfranchised farmers, 85 of jednodworzec status, 56 Jewish farmers, and 32 free men, for a total of 2,259 souls.
Source: Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1888, vol. 9, p. 450-451]
Skladance
Skladance, a peasant-owned village, Lida powiat, in the 4th political district, gmina, rural district and treasury-owned estate of Radun, 5 km. from the gmina, 23.5 km. from Lida, and 44 km. from Wasiliszki; it has 25 houses, 204 Catholic inhabitants (in 1864 there were 81 souls per the rewizja).
Source: Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1889, vol. 10, p. 680]
Subbotniki
SUBOTNIKI - is a small town on the Gawia River in the 3rd police district of Oszmiana province, comprising a gmina and rural districts. The town lies 29 mi. distant from Oszmiana, 9.3 mi to Dziewieniszki and 80 mi to Wilno; it contains 39 homes with 347 inhabitants (according to the 1882 tax census, it had 523 inhabitants). In the town are a Roman Catholic church, the gmina administrative center, and a public school (in 1885 it had 56 peasant boys and girls attending). It also has a post office station on the highway to Soly and a Romanesque stone railroad station, a mill, and a brewery. The parish church (under the patron St. George), was built of wood in 1636 by Duchess Albrechta Radzwill. According to Korjewy, the church was founded in 1573 and restored in 1755. Belonging to the Wiszniew deaconate, the Catholic parish has 4,593 faithful, with another affiliate church in Lazduny, and chapels at Kaplica and Kwiatkow having a total of 8,856 parishioners. The town is now the property of Umiastowski. The Subotniki rural district is comprised of the town of Subotniki as well as the villages: Annopol, Borowki, Czechowka, Dowgialowszczyna, and Nickiewicze, from which 285 land-holding peasants and 17 tenant farmers were identified in the 1865 revision lists. The gmina reports to the 2nd peace court for peasant affairs, as well as the 3rd conscription district. It it is divided into 5 rural districts: Subotniki, Kudcjsze, Huta, Zalesie and Wodol, embracing 42 populated locations, 520 homes and 4,881 peasants. According to the 1865 lists, there were 2,593 land-owning peasants and 49 tenant farmers.
Additional Słownik information on Subotniki from Volume XV:
SUBOTNIKI- Otherwise known as "Old Gieranony", it is a town in Oszmiana Province. In 1492, it belonged to Sofia (nee Monwid) Nicholas Radziwill and remained with the Prince Radziwill clan until 1805. Prince Albrecht Radziwill founded the Catholic Church of St. George there in 1573 (with suitable renewal funding including 600 acres of grounds, 3 enclosures, 3 public houses or taverns/small inns, [ed- ** 10-ta**? translated as substantial portions] of the courtly grain produce provided from every tillable acreage, and free grinding of grain at the local mills. Around 1774, Jerzy Abramowicz erected a new wooden Catholic church. Subotniki mortgaged its estate (up to 1712) to the Neswisz Dominican order, redeeming it in 1747. Restitution was accomplished in 1747 by the Radzwill known as "sweetheart", the mortgage to Jerzy Abramowicz costing 68,152 zlotys. The "dear princess" [ed-- **Ks. Panie Kochanku**] assumed the mortgage in 1762 for the sum of 90,653 zlotys. There were at the time 73 households in the little town. In 1805, Prince Dominick Radzwill sold Subotniki to Jacob Umiatowski for 38,000 gold zlotys and paid the sum of the mortgage to Abramowicz. Across the Gawja River from the town on the left bank, are a mound and "kurgan" [ed. burial tomb] in the vicinity, having a circumference of about 40 fathoms (240').
Source: Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1890, vol. 11; 1902, vol. 15]
Szczuczyn
Szczuczyn, 1.) called Szczuczyn Litewski, "Lithuanian Szczuczyn," a town on the Szczuczynka river, in Lida powiat, in the 3rd political district, center of a gmina and rural district, at 53° 36' north and 22° 18' east, on the mail route from Wilno to Grodno, a distance of 52 km. southwest of Lida [now in Belarus] and 146 km. from Wilno [Vilnius, Lithuania]. It has 123 houses, 1,088 inhabitants (as of the year 1866), an Orthodox parish church of brick, a Catholic church, a Jewish house of prayer, a parish school (78 boys and 6 girls in 1885). It is the site of the headquarters of its political administrative district and of its gmina, and has a pharmacy, a post office, a market every Sunday, and fairs on August 15 and October 16. The Catholic parish church of Jesus Christ was built of brick in 1829 by Prince Drucki-Lubecki. Before that there was a Catholic church in Szczuczyn made of wood, St. George's, which eventually fell into ruin. The Catholic parish, in the deanery of Lida, has 2,057 faithful. It had a chapel in Jatwisk. The Orthodox parish, Szczuczyn deanery, has 901 faithful. The Orthodox deanery of Szczuczyn [the exact term is blagoczynia, in the Orthodox church a provostry], comprises 10 parishes: Szczuczyn, Dziembrowo, Dzikuszki, Glebokie, Orla, Ostryna, Rakowiec, Sobakince, Turejki, and Wasiliszki, and it includes 10 Orthodox churches, 9 chapels, and 25,795 souls.
The gmina belongs to the 2nd district for peasant affairs, 2nd conscription district, and the 2nd judicial district, consisting of three rural districts (Szczuczyn, Krasne and Iszczolno), with 56 inhabited localities, 412 homesteads, and 6,596 peasant residents. The rural district includes the town of Szczuczyn and the following villages: Bale 1 and 2, Bartosze, Bujwicze, Dogi, Dubrowlany, Gierniki, Kulaki, Lack, Micary, Murawiуwka, Nowosiolki, Ogrodniki, Planty, Podgajniki, Rogacze, Rzeszotniki, Topoliszki, Turуwka, Worony, Wyzgi, Zaguny, Zarzecze, Zylicze, and the colony of Turya, for a total of 836 souls as of the year 1865, according to the rewizja.
Szczuczyn formerly belonged to the Scypio family, who, according to Balinski (Star. Polska, III), supposedly endowed a Piarist college and founded schools there. A 1726 resolution confirmed the Piarist college in Szczuczyn, and gives the name of its founder as Hlebicki-Jуzefowicz, Polock wojski. The Piarists settled near the parish church, and, with the permission of the episcopal consistory, took possession of the secular priests' parsonage with all incomes and buildings. The Piarist college in Szczuczyn was quite prominent, and supported a Piarist seminary and academies, in which even Oriental languages were taught. In the year 1755 the college president was Lukasz Rosocki, professor of oriental languages. The other professors were: Kanty Wykowski, history; Jуzef Szaniawski, theology; Eustachy Kurowski, moral studies; Wincenty Kloss, natural history; Jуzef Ketrzynski, logic and metaphysics; and Wojciech Komorowski, elocution and poetry. In the year 1742 Teresa Scypio, nйe Hlebicki-Jуzefowicz, the wife of the castellan of Smolensk, established a congregation of the Sisters of Charity there and founded a hospital. The educational committee for organizing national schools elevated the Szczuczyn school to the rank of sub-faculty [podwydzialowy] with three classes. After the Scypio's, Szczuczyn was transferred to the princes Drucki-Lubecki, in whose possession it remains to this day. - J[уzef] Krz[ywicki]
Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1890, vol. 11, p. 864-865]
Bielica
Small town in first administrative district of Lida, on right bank [shore] of the Nieman near the confluence of Molczadka and Niemenek Rivers, 116 wiorsts from Wilna, 28 wiorsts from Lida. Inhabitants of both sexes 877. At one time regional administration (starosty), with a very old castle. Zygmunt August presented Bielica to Mikolajowi Radziwil Rudy who returned the parish church to the Calvinists in 1553. Calvinist synods took place here in the seventeenth century. Formerly, there were here also an Orthodox Church, a ford across the Niemen, observation station and port. After Radziwil, Bielica was inherited by the present [1888] Count Piotr Wittenstein. Balinsky (Staroz. Polska, volume III, page 263) erred, writing that there was a Dominican church here, founded by Prince Sapieha: this church is actually in Jelna, 3 wiorsts from Bielica, on the road to Lida. In Bielica there is only a chapel of Jelna parish. Rural commune Bielica, powiat (administrative district) Lida has 5,489 population, i. e. 2,624 males, 2,865 females. Inhabitants of the small town Podsol have 2,962 dz. [measurement of area=2400 sq. saz., 1.9508 new Polish morgs, 109.252 ars.] under cultivation. Rural administrative district Bielica counts 674 homesteads, and consists of 6 rural districts and 28 villages. Districts are: 1) Bielica, 2 ) Baczepicze, 3) Krasna, 4) Poniemunce, 5) Bucile, 6) Tobola. Rural district Bielica has these precincts: small city Bielica: villages Badary, Czaplewszczyzna, Zarzeczany, Liniany
Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1890, vol. 11, p. 212]
Bakszty
Rural administrative district and village, Oszmiany district, with 475 homesteads, 3,473 farmers/peasants, & inhabitants of both sexes. Management communes in the village of Bakshty. Rural administrative district composed of 3 rural districts: Bakszty, Grabowo, Dziewiergi -- 52 villages in all.
Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1890, vol. 11, p. 85]
Bialohruda
Small town, Lida powiat, 3 mila from Lida, in hilly area, on the rivers Dzitwa and Niecuecza. Has Catholic parish church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, wwooden, built 1609 by voivode Jan Zawisza. Bialohrud Catholic parish deanery in Lida with 1,922 souls [parishioners].
Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1890, vol. 11, p. 190]
Bieniakonie, Beniakoni
Country town, Lida powiat, in second administrative district, landed estate of Mr. Rymsza, 47 wiorsts from Wilna, 43 from Lida. Inhabitants of both sexes; 63. Wooden Catholic parish church dedicated to John the Baptist, established 1634 by Jan Dzaplinski. Catholic Parish belongs to decanate [a church administrative district of 10 churches, no longer used, not in Encyclopedia Britannica] of Radun, with 4370 members. There is a branch of this church in Butrymance. Parish village Bieniakonie, Lida powiat, has a population of 2,840 with males 1,436, females 1,494. The terrain consists of cultivated flat land, forest, swamp, much fallow ground; rivers - Solcza and Zyzma.
Bolczeniki/Bolkieniki/Bolcieniki, rural district of Bieniakonie township, powiat Lida, includes the villages: Kiemiele, Zygi, Wisgirdy, Brazelce, Lubarty, Posolcze, Zelwidory, Koniunchy, Michniuny; Zelwidory vicinity. The estate Bolczeniki at one time belonged to the families Puttkamer.
Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego - Warsaw [1890, vol. 11, p. 218, 298]