Donation of the Toll Counts in the Rural Space of the Kingdom of Poland

Abstract

After the defeat of the November Uprising, donations belonging to Russian high-ranking officers and the Tsar’s official elite appeared in the rural space of the Kingdom of Poland. Tsar Nicholas I gave them these goods, above all for their services rendered during the suppression of the Polish uprising and faithful service. One of the biggest donations was received by infantry general Karol Wilhelm, count Toll, from the so-called Balts (Baltic nobility). He was one of the most significant tsarist commanders in the Polish-Russian war in 1831. In 1836 he received part of Uniejów’s treasury goods with an area of over 5,500 morgens. This donation was in the possession of the von Toll family for 80 years. After the defeat of the January Uprising, they received a small donation from Grzybki. In addition, they were owners of the Stemplew estate. The next three generations of this family were increasingly associated with the region, and after the creation of the independent Republic of Poland, the descendants of the first donor remained in our country. However, they were no longer the owners of the donation, which was taken over by the Polish state in 1919. In the first part of this article, a synthetic description of the land goods in the hands of the counts of the Tolls was made. In the second part, however, an attempt was made to reconstruct the genealogy of the Uniejów line of this family, and often presented the complicated fate of the descendants of the first donor.