«Neatly Built of Wood»
In the previous chapter we left Miastkivka at the end of the 18th c. — a market town on the Szpakowy Trail, with ~550 Jewish souls (not counting the Orthodox and Catholics), a masonry Roman Catholic church, and a kahal district of 25–30 villages. The owner — Mikołaj Jaroszyński, deputy to the Great Sejm, a knight of the Order of the White Eagle.
This chapter is about the 19th century: from Jaroszyński's death (1805) to Sietsinskyi's census (1901). A town that no one besieges or burns any more grows, trades, changes hands — and slowly loses its land.
From Voivodeship to District
Before moving on to the 19th c., — a pause on what happened to the administration. Miastkivka passed through four administrative transformations in 11 years:
Administrative changes 1793–1804
| Year | Event | Administrative unit |
|---|---|---|
| before 1793 | Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth | Bracław Voivodeship (VL T.9: parish of Bracław district) |
| 1793 | Second Partition of the Commonwealth — Russian annexation | Iziaslav Vicegerency |
| 1795 | Reorganization | Bracław Governorate, Olhopil (= Chechelnyk) district |
| 1796 | Podolia + Bracław → single governorate | Podolia Governorate, Olhopil district (19 districts) |
| 1804 | Final establishment — 12 districts | Podolia Governorate, Olhopil district (until 1923) |
The Olhopil district was at first called Chechelnyk — Miastkivka and Chechelnyk, both parts of the former Koniecpolski key, ended up in the same administrative unit. The district seat was the town of Olhopol (modern Olhopil), and Miastkivka had a volost board (Huldman, 1893) — that is, it was the centre of the lowest tier of imperial administration.
Marshal of Olhopil District
Mikołaj Jaroszyński (1742–1805) — the first owner of Miastkivka of whom we know that he lived and died here. The Koniecpolskis held their hundreds of towns from Warsaw and Pidhirtsi. The Lubomirskis — from Szarogród. Antoni Bielski of the Jelita arms (~1720–1789), Court Master of the Crown Hunt, Austrian count of Pieniaki in the Lviv region — restored the Roman Catholic church (1785) and figures in Marczyński as a former owner, but no deed of purchase of Miastkivka has been found. Jaroszyński died here, in the town on the Shumylivka, on 2 October 1805.
Mikołaj Jaroszyński (1742–1805)
| Fact | Source |
|---|---|
| Deputy to the Great Sejm (1790) from Bracław Voivodeship | sejm-wielki.pl, entry 8.495.65 |
| Knight of the Order of the White Eagle (1792) | sejm-wielki.pl |
| Stolnik of Vinnytsia, Cup-Bearer of Bracław | sejm-wielki.pl |
| Co-founder of the restoration of the Roman Catholic church (1785) together with Antoni Bielski | Schematism 1831 (Szczepaniak); DAChmO, f. 685, op. 4, spr. 23 |
| Sole owner of Miastkivka from 1791 | CDIAL, f. 166, op. 13, spr. 360 |
| Died in Miastkivka, 2.X.1805 | sejm-wielki.pl, entry 8.495.65 |
Mikołaj's father was Zachariasz Jaroszyński (1700–1774), stolnik of Vinnytsia. His wife — Marianna Kordysz. Their son — Jan (1783–1842), who would inherit both the town and the title of marshal of Olhopil district.
Jan Jaroszyński is the first owner of Miastkivka whom we can see through the eyes of a contemporary. In 1823 Wawrzyniec Marczyński, author of a statistical description of Podolia Governorate, records his estates:
«Jaroszyńskiego Jana, b. Marszałka powiatu olhopolskiego: W Miastkówce miasteczku d. m. 1130, Bołhanie 172, Słobodzie Chrystysce czyli Stawkach 229, Szarapanówce 697.»Marczyński W. Statystyczne... opisanie gubernii podolskiey. T. III. Wilno, 1823. P. 199
«W Wysokiey Grobli d. m. 178, Żydówce 68.»Ibid., p. 200
1130 male souls in Miastkivka. These are men only — total population is roughly twice that, i.e. ~2260 inhabitants. Together with the surrounding villages — Bolhany, Khrystysche (= Stavky), Szarapanówka, Wysoka Grobla, Żydówka — Jaroszyński holds ~4950 male souls, that is, about 10,000 subjects.
Wood, Stone, Brick
The same Marczyński also leaves the first physical description of Miastkivka:
«Miastkówka [...] leży nad Szumiłówką do Dniestru płynącą, porządnie z drzewa zabudowana [...] Kościół parafiialny murowany z cegły, założony 1785 r. przez Bielskiego. Jest tu kamień wapienny, ciosowy, murowy, młyński i na brusy oraz toczydła sposobny.»Marczyński, T. III, p. 200
Marczyński writes «założony 1785 przez Bielskiego» — but, as I have established, he means renovation, not construction: the Roman Catholic church had stood since 1747 (Schematism 1831; founder — prince Józef Lubomirski).
«Neatly built of wood» — this is a town where every house is wooden. The only exceptions are the masonry Roman Catholic church (built 1747, renovated 1785) and the stone Church of the Annunciation (rebuilt by Zelenskyi in 1708). But Marczyński adds an important detail: the stone is limestone, hewn, building-grade, millstone-grade, fit «for grinding-bars and whetstones».
On the same page (p. 188) Marczyński adds: Miastkivka has limestone, hewn stone, marl, clay, and glass-grade sand. In other words, under the inhabitants' feet lies a full set of building materials. But they build out of wood.
Churches of the Town
At its peak, in the second half of the 18th c., Miastkivka with Rotmystrivka had at least six places of worship: four Orthodox churches (two on each side of the Shumylivka), the masonry Roman Catholic church, and the synagogue. One of the churches became Greek Catholic. Not all of them survived into the 19th c.
The stone Church of the Annunciation
The second-oldest stone structure of Miastkivka after the fortress (the 17th-c. kamienica) — and the oldest temple still standing today. Rebuilt from wood into stone in 1708 by the Cossack Dmytro Zelenskyi — son of colonel Mykhailo, ally of Mazepa. A wooden Church of the Annunciation had existed here earlier — it is that church which Paul of Aleppo saw in 1654.
Church of the Annunciation (~1901)
| Feature | Value |
|---|---|
| Material | Stone; wall thickness — 1 sazhen (~2.13 m) |
| Cupolas | Originally 4 cupolas; by 1901 — 1 cupola externally (wooden superstructure), the other 3 covered by a hipped roof, with 4 of the 8 windows in the central cupola bricked up |
| Iconostasis | 3-tier, old; painting on a glue ground deteriorated from damp, replaced in 1888 |
| Church land | 74 desiatinas 2228 sazhens |
| Clergy buildings | 1884 |
Note: the originally four-cupola church had by 1901 only one cupola visible externally, the rest hidden under a hipped roof. This is not ruin — it is rebuilding, probably of the 19th c. Walls a sazhen thick (over two metres!) — a building designed for siege lives through the 19th c. as a parish church.
The Polozhenie-Poyasa church and the Union in Miastkivka
Sietsinskyi describes the religious map as follows: «as late as the 18th c. there were four Orthodox churches here: two on one side of the Shumylivka river, and two on the other, in the present village of Rotmystrivka, which was as it were a suburb of Miaskovka».
He then adds: «собственно въ м. Мясковкѣ было двѣ церкви: Благовѣщенская и Поясо-Положенская» («in the town of Miaskovka proper there were two churches: of the Annunciation and of the Placing of the Girdle»). So two churches were on the Miastkivka side, two — on the Rotmystrivka side (among them that of St. Nicholas). Patriarch Macarius in 1654 saw only two: «the Mistress's» (= the Annunciation) and «St. Nicholas's» (= the Church of St. Nicholas in Rotmystrivka).
To understand its fate, context is needed. After Podolia's return to the Commonwealth (~1699) the gradual expansion of the Union of Brest into the Right-Bank lands begins. In 1702 the first Uniate parish appears in Podolia (Kulchiivtsi); by 1747 there are close to 800, and by 1764 — about 2000.
Parishes were run by patrons (kolatores) — lay owners of the estates, who built the churches, supported them materially, and appointed the priests. This meant that the confessional allegiance of a parish often depended on the landowner's will, not on the parishioners' choice.
The visitation of the Lviv Greek Catholic eparchy of 1732–1733 (under metropolitan Atanasy Sheptytsky) records Miastkivka's neighbouring villages — Markivka and Yankuliv — but does not mention Miastkivka itself. This means that in the early 1730s its churches were still Orthodox.
Somewhere around the middle of the 18th c. the situation changes. Sietsinskyi, retelling the 18th-c. visitations preserved in the Miaskovka Roman Catholic church, describes the event thus:
«The Polozhenie-Poyasa church was seized by the Uniate dean Lubiński and converted into a Uniate one; since there were no Orthodox parishioners at it (because the Orthodox had not yet been converted to the Union), the Uniate priest was regarded as a vicar of the Church of the Annunciation, but used all the church properties, while the Orthodox rector was «denied everything».»Sietsinskyi, No. 1031 (paraphrased from 18th-c. visitations)
Who was Lubiński? Sietsinskyi's index distinguishes several; among them — Jan Lubiński, «Bracław Uniate official» (ecclesiastical judge). The same dean Lubiński in 1785 receives permission to build a new church in neighbouring Sloboda-Horiachkivka. So this is not an isolated episode but the activity of an influential Uniate family which for decades directed the church life of the region.
Miastkivka belonged to the Jampol deanery. Its scale is testified by the figure of Wasyl Jaworowski — «dean of Komargród, general visitator of the Jampol, Jaruga and Bracław deaneries». He studied at the Basilian schools in Bar, was ordained by the Uniate bishop Leon Szeptycki in 1770, and in 1795 — «joined Orthodoxy» at Vinnytsia.
Remarkably, in Miastkivka itself Sietsinskyi stresses: «the Orthodox parishioners had not yet been perverted into the Union» — and that is why the Uniate priest had no parishioners. But in Rotmystrivka — the suburb on the other bank — it was the reverse: «many Orthodox were converted either to Catholicism or to the Union». So the Uniate parishioners were in Rotmystrivka, not in Miastkivka. Does this not suggest that the Polozhenie-Poyasa church in fact served the Rotmystrivka bank?
In the neighbouring villages — the same picture. In Ternavka-Zhabokrytska the 1708 church «was converted into a Uniate one more than forty years later». In Khrystysche, Pishchanka, Popeliukhy — the same story.
After the Third Partition of Poland (1795) and Podolia's incorporation into the Russian Empire the Union was abolished. According to UGCC data, on the Right Bank alone this meant the loss of 9,316 parishes, 145 monasteries, 8 million faithful.
Around 1809 the wooden Polozhenie-Poyasa church was dismantled — the last material trace of the Greek Catholic presence in Miastkivka. Sietsinskyi writes that the Roman Catholic church stands on its site.
The two churches of Rotmystrivka
Rotmystrivka — a village adjoining Miastkivka, which, as Sietsinskyi says, «always formed one estate with the town of Miaskovka». Rotmystrivka consisted of three parts: Rotmystrivka proper, Ostapivka, and Hotsulivka.
On the right bank of the Shumylivka stood two churches, not one — and this is documentarily confirmed:
The two churches of Rotmystrivka: documentary evidence
| Church | First mention | Parish registers | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Nicholas | 1654 (Macarius) | 1796 (DAChmO) | Hotsulivka |
| Holy Archangel Michael | 1764 (parish register) | 1764–1794 (CDIAK f. 224); 1796–1859 (DAChmO f. 315) | Rotmystrivka |
The Church of St. Nicholas (Hotsulivka)
The wooden Church of St. Nicholas — this is the «St. Nicholas» from Macarius's account of 1654. In 1822 it burned together with all its documents.
The Church of the Holy Archangel Michael (Rotmystrivka)
The Michael's church had been built from charred remains of a previous burned church (which exactly — unknown; the fire happened before 1764). An 1809 case-file describes its state:
«Соборо Михайловская церковь, коя с начала перваго своего строения сложена была с недогарков, вынутых с пожара прежей погоренной церкви, некрепко в замет с типоваго ж недогоренаго дерева в столбы, то нынеж она со всех сторон стенами к разваленам клонится»Case on the repair of the Rokhmistrovo church, No. 399, 25 May 1809. Transcription: Boiko-Sokolovska T.; publication: Hyzhko V.
The parish — only ~30 houses of Rotmystrivka, Vysoka Hreblia and Marianivka. The owner Marianna Jaroszyńska refused to help build a stone church. The consistory in 1810 ordered the church sealed, the parishioners to go to Miastkivka.
After the fire of the Church of St. Nicholas (1822) the Michael's, despite its dilapidated state, remained the sole church of Rotmystrivka — and carried the parish until the stone Kazan church was built (1847). The last parish-register entry of the Michael's — 1859, the first entry of the Kazan church — 1863.
The Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (Hotsulivka)
In 1847 a new stone church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was built on the site of the burned St. Nicholas's. Of the old St. Nicholas's only the stone bell-tower survived (according to the old residents, demolished in the early 1930s). The iconostasis — one-tier. Church land — 83 desiatinas 76 sazhens. By 1900 — 1871 parishioners (Handbook of the Podolia Diocese).
The Church of the Immaculate Conception
Built of brick on stone foundations, in 1747 at the expense of prince Józef Lubomirski, renovated in 1785 by Bielski and Jaroszyński. Consecrated in 1841, a parish from 1808. By 1883 — 1962 parishioners. A filial chapel — at Dmytrashkivka.
The Synagogue
A stone synagogue and two wooden houses of prayer. The Jewish community — one of the oldest in the region: the 1765 census records more than 600 Jews and 138 houses. By the mid-19th c. — 1249 members. Where exactly the synagogue stood — unknown; it has not survived.
Churches of Miastkivka and Rotmystrivka: chronology
| Building | Status at the start of the 19th c. | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Church of the Annunciation (stone) | Active; 4 cupolas, walls a sazhen thick | Rebuilding: 1 cupola externally, iconostasis replaced 1888 |
| Polozhenie-Poyasa church (wood) | Greek Catholic from ~mid-18th c. (dean Lubiński) | Dismantled ~1809 |
| Church of the Immaculate Conception (masonry) | Built 1747 (prince Józef Lubomirski); renovation 1785 (Bielski + Jaroszyński); parish from 1808 | 1962 parishioners (1883); filial chapel at Dmytrashkivka |
| St. Nicholas, Hotsulivka (wood) | Active | Burned 1822 with all documents |
| Holy Archangel Michael, Rotmystrivka (wood) | Dilapidated; sealed 1810 | Carried the parish after 1822; last entry 1859 |
| Kazan Icon, Hotsulivka (stone) | — | Built 1847 on the site of St. Nicholas's |
| Synagogue | Active | Mentioned by SG (1885) and Sietsinskyi (1901) |
Schools
Neither Marczyński (1820) nor the Military-Statistical Survey of Podolia Governorate (1849) mentions any school in Miastkivka — although both sources describe the town in detail: Roman Catholic church, Orthodox church, trades, stone.
The first school in Miastkivka opened in 1862 — a parish school at the Annunciation parish.
In Rotmystrivka — a parallel process: the parish school from 1862 was closed in 1882 (because the ministerial school had opened in Miastkivka). But in 1898 the church-parish school was restored. In Vysoka Hreblia a school of literacy — from 1890, in Marianivka — from 1898.
Schools of the Miastkivka district
| Year | Type | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1862 | Parish school | Miastkivka |
| 1862 | Parish school | Rotmystrivka |
| 1881 | Single-class ministerial school | Miastkivka (shared with Rotmystrivka) |
| 1882 | Closed | Rotmystrivka (parish) |
| 1890 | School of literacy | Vysoka Hreblia |
| 1897 | School of literacy for girls | Miastkivka |
| 1898 | Church-parish school (restored) | Rotmystrivka |
| 1898 | School of literacy | Marianivka |
«Half — Jews»
«W połowie żydów» — the Słownik Geograficzny will write of Miastkivka in 1883. But the Jewish presence here is much older.
In the previous chapter we saw how the Jewish population of Miastkivka decreased from 604 souls (1765) to 440 (1784), and then stabilized at ~550 (1790). The censuses explain the dip by resettlement in the surrounding inns and leaseholds — but the chronology must be kept in mind. Between 1765 and 1784 the Haidamaka uprisings turned into mass violence against Jews: in 1765 Krasne was destroyed — the centre of the same Lubomirski key to which Miastkivka belonged — the castle and the town razed to the ground; in 1768 sotnyk Shylo slaughtered the Jews of Bałta (30 km away); the Koliivshchyna of Zalizniak and Honta led to a massacre in Uman and dozens of other townlets. Some of the Jews may have fled the conspicuous market centre for smaller villages, to wait it out. What does the 19th century show?
In 1797, after the Haidamaka catastrophes, the Jewish community of Miastkivka was forced to take out a loan of 1200 zlotys from the local Catholic church — a debt which it paid off over 60 years.
In 1832 all 61 craftsmen of Miastkivka were Jews. By 1883 SG will record only 36 craftsmen — a halving, probably through competition from factory production after the railway (1870).
The first known rabbi of Miastkivka — Meer Hershovych (census 1765). From 1886 the rabbi was Ephraim ben Baruch Stanislawski (b. 1856) — son-in-law of rabbi Shimon Joseph Auerbach, grandson of R. David Zvi, rabbi of Szarogród and Mohyliv-on-Dniester. Stanislawski is the author of at least two printed works: «Sama de-Hayei» (1896, on matzo-baking) and «Minchat Ephraim» (1905, on the laws of shechita), as well as several in manuscript — on the Torah, on the Shulchan Aruch, drashot.
The town in 1883
«Ma 722 dm, do 3000 mk., w połowie żydów, ziemi włośc. 3269 a dwors. 4100 dzies. [...] W mku 30 sklepów, 36 rzemieślników, 26 jarmarków. Cerkiew [...] ma 74 dz. ziemi i 2000 parafian. Kościół [...] ma 1962 [sic] 1883 r. parafian [...] Synagoga.»Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego, T. VI, p. 289 (entry «Miastkówka»; data for ~1883)
Miastkivka according to the Słownik geograficzny (~1883)
| Feature | Value |
|---|---|
| Status | Małe mko — small market town |
| Households | 722 |
| Inhabitants | ~3000, half — Jews |
| Peasant land | 3269 desiatinas |
| Manorial land | 4100 desiatinas |
| Shops | 30 |
| Craftsmen | 36 |
| Fairs per year | 26 |
| Orthodox parishioners | 2000 |
| Catholic parishioners | 1962 |
| Synagogue | yes |
26 fairs per year — this is a fair every two weeks. For a «small market town» that is a great deal: Nemyriv had 12 fairs, Tulchyn — 10. Miastkivka — a trading hub where two streams met: the Chumak stream (the Szpakowy Trail, from the Dniester to Bałta) and the local one (the surrounding 25–30 villages of the former kahal).
30 shops and 36 craftsmen — for a town of 722 households, this is about one shop per 24 households and one craftsman per 20. Sietsinskyi (1901) will specify that among the craftsmen are makers of kozhukhs (sheepskin coats), and Rotmystrivka specializes in the fattening of pigs for sale at the Miastkivka fair.
The Jewish population over the century grew from ~550 (1790) to ~1500 (1885). The average rate — ~1% per year, which is realistic for a trading town. But SG also adds a disturbing figure: 4100 desiatinas of manorial land against 3269 desiatinas of peasant land. By 1883 the landlord owns a larger share of the land than all the peasants combined.
«By Forced Sale — to Kochubey»
Marczyński (1823) records the owner — Jan Jaroszyński. SG (1885) records another:
«Założona przy końcu XVI w. stanowiła niegdyś osobny klucz Koniecpolskich, Lubomirskich. Potem należała do Bielskich i Jaroszyńskich, dziś drogą przymusowej sprzedaży Koczubeja.»SG T. VI, p. 289
«Drogą przymusowej sprzedaży» — «by forced sale». This is not simply about debts. After the January Uprising of 1863, Alexander II introduced a systemic policy of liquidating Polish landownership in Right-Bank Ukraine: confiscations of estates belonging to uprising participants, a ban on Poles purchasing new land (1865), forced sales in favour of Russian and loyal purchasers.
Miastkivka is not an isolated case. The same SG records «drogą przymusowej sprzedaży... od Jaroszyńskich do Koczubejów» for at least five Jaroszyński estates: Medvedivka and Popeliukhy (Novokostiantyniv key, 9171 desiatinas), Studenytsia (Tyvriv key), Mykhailivka (Vinnytsia district), and Miastkivka. The entry on Mykhailivka dates the forced sale outright: «po 1863 r.»
The purchaser — count Kochubey («hr. Koczubejów» — SG, entry «Michajłowka»). Sietsinskyi (1901) confirms: at the time of his description the owner of Miastkivka is «Kochubey».
1841 — an «acute conflict between the Jews and Ivan Jaroszyński over an exorbitant increase in taxes». The Jews complain of «the landlord ruining their homes, encumbering them with extra taxes, forbidding the sale of wine». The governorate administration orders the Olhopil court «to protect the petitioners without delay». Meanwhile Jaroszyński «forcibly seized part of the taxes collected by the Jews» and beat three Jews.
In 1849 Epsztein still records Waleria Jaroszyńska (widow) as owner of Miastkivka with ~2991 male souls. The forced sale took place after 1863 — simultaneously with the other Jaroszyński estates.
Chain of owners of Miastkivka (16th–19th c.)
| Period | Owner | How acquired | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ~1635–1682 | Koniecpolski | Foundation (privilege MK 182) | AYuZR; Przyłecki |
| ~1724–~1768 | Lubomirski | Acquisition of deserted estates; tribunal 1744 | SG; Heleniusz; Rolle |
| ~1760s–1789 | Antoni Bielski of the Jelita arms (~1720–1789) | Court Master of the Crown Hunt, Austrian count (1778). Marczyński: in the chain of owners. Deed of purchase from the Lubomirskis not found | Boniecki (Kalinowski); PSB II/60; Marczyński |
| 1789/91–1805 | Mikołaj Jaroszyński (1742–1805) | From Bielski's heirs. In the Land Register from 1791. Died in Miastkivka | CDIAL, f. 166, op. 13, spr. 360; sejm-wielki.pl |
| 1805–1842 | Jan Jaroszyński | Inheritance | Marczyński, T. III, p. 199 |
| 1842–after 1863 | Jan's heirs (Waleria Jaroszyńska) | Inheritance | Epsztein, pos. 1021 (1849: ~2991 s.) |
| after 1863–1885+ | Count Kochubey | Forced sale (after the January Uprising) | SG T. VI, p. 289; Sietsinskyi, No. 1031 |
| ~1885–1898 | F. Tereshchenko → N.F. Tereshchenko | Purchased by «the entrepreneur F. Tereshchenko» (ESU). 3550 desiatinas | Huldman (1898), p. 224; ESU, entry «Miastkivka» |
| ~1910–1917? | N. Uvarova (Tereshchenko) | «Last owner» (ESU). Marriage Tereshchenko × Uvarov? | ESU (secondary); Geni.com (not verified) |
Huldman: Statistics of 1893
Between SG (1885) and Sietsinskyi (1901) there is one more source: Vasyl Huldman, an official of the Podolia Governorate administration, who published two reference works — Populated Places (1893) and Landed Estates (1898). Together they give the fullest statistical portrait of Miastkivka at the end of the 19th c.
Miastkivka according to Huldman (1893)
| Feature | Value |
|---|---|
| Status | Town, privately owned |
| Distance from district seat | 70 versts |
| River | Markivka (here called Shumylivka) |
| Inhabitants (excl. hamlet) | 564 of both sexes; Jews ~75% |
| Households (excl. hamlet) | 258 |
| With hamlet | up to 5400 of both sexes; households 818 |
| Churches | 2 (one in the town, another in the hamlet) |
| Roman Catholic church | 1 |
| Synagogue | 1 + 2 houses of prayer |
| School | Single-class primary; 2 teachers, 51 pupils |
| Pharmacy | 1 |
| Distillery | 1 |
| Water mills | 3 |
| Craftsmen | 15 |
| Volost board | yes |
564 inhabitants in the town itself (without the hamlet) — seems low? This is because Huldman counts only the core, listing Rotmystrivka and the surrounding farmsteads as «the hamlet». With the hamlet — 5400 souls, which matches Sietsinskyi (~5934 in 1901).
But there are details that are not in SG or in Sietsinskyi: a pharmacy, a distillery, 3 water mills. Craftsmen — 15 (SG gave 36 for ~1883, but «61 craftsmen, all Jews» was recorded for 1832). The decline is a sign that factory goods are squeezing out cottage production.
Huldman's second reference work (1898) yields the name we were looking for. SG (1885) wrote «Kochubey» — but already by 1898 the owner of Miastkivka is Natalia Fedorovna Tereshchenko, Orthodox, noblewoman of Kyiv Governorate. Address: Kyiv, Aleksiivska St., house No. 3. The estate: Miastkivka with the folwark of Mordyt, the village of Marianivka, the village of Lysohirka. In total 3550 desiatinas (arable 2618, forest 726½, homestead 80½). The manager — Semen Feofanovych Khyzhynskyi.
What Sietsinskyi Sees
1901. Yukhym Sietsinskyi — priest, historian, member of the Podolia eparchial historical-statistical committee — publishes the most detailed description of Miastkivka and the surrounding villages among all we have. He works with parish documents, reads the 18th-c. visitations at the Miaskovka Roman Catholic church, and writes down local traditions.
Miastkivka according to Sietsinskyi (1901)
| Feature | Value |
|---|---|
| Status | Town |
| Topography | On the slope of a hill, on the Shumylivka river (→ Dniester); the slope cut by two deep ravines from the rains |
| Soil | Black earth in the fields; limestone along the banks |
| Orthodox | 2814 |
| Roman Catholics | 120 |
| Jews | ~3000 |
| Total | ~5934 of both sexes |
| Economy | Agriculture; plots fragmented, many landless; makers of sheepskin coats; Jewish competition |
| Owner | «Kochubey» (per Sietsinskyi); Huldman (1898) writes Tereshchenko — see below |
~5934 inhabitants — compare this with ~2260 in Marczyński (1823) and ~3000 in SG (1885). Over 80 years the population grew 2.5 times. But the proportions changed: Jews are no longer «half» (as in SG), but slightly more. Orthodox — less than half. Catholics — only 120 (whereas the Roman Catholic church had 1962 parishioners by SG's data for 1883 — but that parish covered the surrounding villages, whereas Sietsinskyi counts only the inhabitants of Miastkivka itself).
And here is a detail that will not find its way into any statistical handbook: «plots fragmented, many landless». This is no longer the market town of the Jaroszyńskis with 4100 desiatinas of manorial land. After the 1861 reform the peasants received land — but there was little of it, and with each generation the plots shrank.
Rotmystrivka — a satellite village
Sietsinskyi confirms what we suspected from the 17th-c. documents:
«[Rotmystrivka] always formed one estate with the town of Miaskovka.»Sietsinskyi, No. 1032
Together with Ostapivka and Hotsulivka (parts of Rotmystrivka) and the attached villages of Vysoka Hreblia and Marianivka — 3746 Orthodox souls. The trade — the fattening of pigs for sale at the fair in Miastkivka. In Vysoka Hreblia and Marianivka — many Catholics (in Vysoka Hreblia — half of the inhabitants), and Sietsinskyi specifies: these are «impoverished szlachta in a rent-paying status».
Traditions and Legends
Sietsinskyi is a diligent collector of traditions. He writes down everything he hears from the locals and reads in the 18th-c. visitations from the Roman Catholic church. But he does not verify these traditions documentarily — and that must be taken into account.
Traditions per Sietsinskyi vs. documentary sources
| Tradition | What Sietsinskyi says | What the documents say | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| «Shumyliv» | «Въ древности здєсь былъ городъ [...] „Шумиловъ"» («In antiquity there was here a town… „Shumyliv"») | No source of the 15th–17th c. knows the name «Shumyliv». Beauplan (~1637): Myaskowka | Unconfirmed |
| Name from «meat» (myaso) | «Остались одни только трупы (мясо), то вновь поселившіеся дали ему названіе „Мясковка"» («Only corpses (meat) remained, so the new settlers called the place „Miaskovka"») | A typical folk etymology. More likely: from the surname Myaskovsky/Myastkovsky, or from miasto («town») | Folk etymology |
| 4 churches in the 15th c. | «Ещё въ XV в. здєсь было четыре православныхъ церкви» («Already in the 15th c. there were four Orthodox churches here») | Jabłonowski (T.3, pp. 724–725): the basin of the Kosnica/Markivka — «a wilderness» until the start of the 17th c. Patriarch Macarius (1654) — 2 churches | Impossible |
| «Burned 7 times» | «Церковь семь разъ была сожигаема татарами, но стєны ея уцєлєли» («The church was seven times burned by the Tatars, but its walls survived», from the 18th-c. visitations) | The number «7» may be symbolic, but the fact of repeated burnings is plausible: walls a sazhen thick, region on a Tatar raid-route | Plausible (details unverified) |
The Fourth District
Sietsinskyi describes Miastkivka as the centre of the 4th ecclesiastical district of Olhopil uezd. Around it — villages we have met in the documents of the 17th–18th c. Now we see them in 1901:
Neighbouring villages of the 4th district (~1901)
| Village | Population (Orthodox) | Church | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zhabokrych, town | 2847 + ~1000 Jews | stone, Archangel Michael, 1862 | Brzozowski |
| Zelenianka, v. | 1172 | wood, 1744 | 3 owners |
| Levkiv, v. | 1564 | stone, 1858 | Brzozowski |
| Sl.-Horiachkivka | 2390 | stone, 1821 | Jaroszyński |
| St.-Horiachkivka | 2317 | wood, 1798 | Jaroszyński |
| Sl.-Khrystysche | 1443 | stone, 1790 | Jaroszyński |
| St.-Khrystysche | 2382 | stone, 1869–1874 | Stadnicki → Tyszkiewicz |
| Sl.-Szarapanówka | 1536 | wood, 1761 | — |
| St.-Szarapanówka | 1546 | wood, 1745 | Jaroszyński |
| Sokolivka | 3259 | wood, 1873; sugar factory | — |
| Chebotarka | 2078 | stone, 1881 (55,000 rubles) | — |
Note: Jaroszyński as the owner appears not only in Miastkivka, but also in the Horiachkivkas, Khrystysches, Szarapanówkas. That is, if Miastkivka passed to Kochubey «by forced sale», then the neighbouring villages remained with the Jaroszyńskis. Either this is a different generation of Jaroszyńskis, or the sale concerned only the town itself.
According to the census of 1897, 2105 Jews lived in Miastkivka — this is 26% of the total population (~8100). Compared with ~1500 per SG (1885) — a growth of ~40% in 12 years, linked to the growth of trade after the Odesa–Kyiv railway was laid (1870).
In 1889 there were in Miastkivka a stone synagogue and two houses of prayer. The rabbi — R. Ephraim Stanislawski, author of the halakhic works «Sama de-Hayei» (1896) and «Minchat Ephraim» (1905). In the old Jewish cemetery the headstones from the 18th c. have survived (the earliest dated — 1809).
Pishchanka and the «Myaskovka key»
A separate testimony from the neighbouring, 5th district. Sietsinskyi describes Pishchanka (1751 m. + 1772 f. + ~1500 Jews) and adds:
«П[ещанка] нєкогда принадлежала къ Мясковскому ключу имєній Конецпольскихъ, затємъ Любомирскихъ. Въ концє XVIII в. она поступила въ казну.»Sietsinskyi, No. 1060
«The Myaskovka key of the Koniecpolski estates» — Sietsinskyi records a term I had reconstructed from the 17th-c. registers. Miastkivka — the centre of the key (= administrative unit), which united at least 10–12 villages. Pishchanka is one of them, and at the end of the 18th c. it reverted to the treasury, that is, broke away from the key even before the Jaroszyńskis.
Conclusion: a portrait of the town in 1901
The 19th c. is the first century for which we have no testimony at all of sieges, burnings, or military destruction of Miastkivka. After 270 years of wars, sieges, and ruin, the town at last grows without interruption.
Miastkivka: growth through the 19th c.
| Year | Population | Households | Owner | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ~1823 | ~2260 (1130 male souls) | — | Jan Jaroszyński | Marczyński |
| ~1883 | ~3000 | 722 | Kochubey | SG T. VI |
| 1893/98 | ~5400 (with hamlet) | 818 | Tereshchenko (Huldman 1898) | Huldman (1893, 1898) |
| 1901 | ~5934 (2814 Orthodox + 120 Catholic + ~3000 Jews) | — | «Kochubey» (Sietsinskyi) ⚠ | Sietsinskyi |
From ~2260 to ~5934 — a 2.5-fold growth over 80 years. What was this town like on the threshold of the 20th century?
People. Almost 6000 inhabitants — three communities living side by side. The Orthodox (~2800) — «without exception, peasants»; plots fragmented, many left without allotments and living «exclusively by day-labour»; there are makers of sheepskin coats, but «owing to Jewish competition little of the earnings falls to their share». The Jews (~3000, 75% of the town's core) — shopkeepers, innkeepers, craftsmen; a stone synagogue, two houses of prayer, a rabbi-author of halakhic works, 18th-c. headstones. The Catholics (120) — descendants of Polonized szlachta and Polish colonists; among them, in Vysoka Hreblia — «impoverished szlachta in a rent-paying status».
Churches. The stone Church of the Annunciation (1708) — walls a sazhen thick, one cupola visible externally out of four originals, the iconostasis replaced in 1888. The masonry Roman Catholic church (1747, renovation 1785) — consecrated in 1841, parish from 1808, brick on stone foundations. The stone Church of the Kazan Icon in Rotmystrivka (1847). The synagogue. The Polozhenie-Poyasa church — dismantled already ~1809.
Trade. 26 fairs per year (a fair every two weeks!), 30 shops. For comparison: Nemyriv had 12, Tulchyn — 10. Three water mills on the Shumylivka, a distillery. A pharmacy.
Education. A single-class ministerial school (from 1881), 2 teachers, 51 pupils. A separate school of literacy for girls (from 1897). Four more schools in the neighbouring villages.
Administration. A volost board. Centre of the 4th ecclesiastical district of Olhopil uezd — 11 parishes around it. The owner per Huldman (1898) — Natalia Tereshchenko, a noblewoman from Kyiv; the manager Khyzhynskyi on the spot. Sietsinskyi (1901) still writes «Kochubey» — which of them is right is an open question. The neighbouring villages are held by other Jaroszyńskis and Brzozowskis — the old «key» has broken up.
Land. Here is what has changed for good. The manorial land (3550 desiatinas per Huldman) still exceeds the peasant land (3269 desiatinas per SG). Plots fragmented, the landless ever more numerous — but the land goes not to them, but to new landlords. The old «Koniecpolski key» has broken up: Pishchanka went to the treasury, Miastkivka — from the Jaroszyńskis to Kochubey «by forced sale», and then, probably, to the Tereshchenkos (per Huldman 1898).
A town founded to control the Kuczmański Trail (in the 1630s) has lived through sieges (1654, 1674), Ottoman occupation (1672–1699), destruction and restoration. In the 19th c. its enemies — no longer the horde or the Cossacks, but debts, the fragmentation of the land, and forced sales. Next — the 20th century.