[Preface] [Introduction] [Beginnings] [Antireformation] [Breakdown] [Dreams]
A Genealogy of a Czech millers´family Kysilka
Part Three
The Mill at Horni Ujezd - Hranicky
House No. 8old/9 new
The oldest known roots of our KYSILKA family began at the village of Horni (Horni = Upper) Ujezd in the first half of the 16th century.
Horni Ujezd is located on the Desna creek and consists of five, formerly independent parts Veska (later known as Laskoves), Cikov, Hranicky, Krasnoves and Lubnicek.
In 1535 A.D., a man named "Prokop of the Mill" bought a field and dwelling in Horni Ujezd. This is the oldest reference to our family name. I found it in the oldest Land Register Book of Litomysl. In 1548 this Prokop and his family are mentioned in the Litomysl Estate´s Book of Serfdom Duties (Urbar in Czech and German) as inhabitants of a cottage in the part of Ujezd´s called Veska. His cottage was located on the slope at the end of the hollow way going up through the village, where today stands a house No. 103.
The miller´s trade was widespread in this coutry. Dozens of small grinders were clacking away in the basins of the small rivers--Desna, Loucna and Novohradka. Mills are mentioned in Litomysl, Trzek, Nedosin, Hrusova, Sloupnice, Nemcice, Opatov, Trstenice, Litrbachy, Porici, Ujezd and Osik as early as the 14th century.
In 1557 there were 42 millers on the Litomysl estate. There is a remark referring to Horni Ujezd that "...there are three peasant mills with five flour wheels in that village." The mill´s owners along with the local judges (richtar in Chech, Richter in German) formed a kind of a village aristocracy. The millers were a stubborn and pride folk. And their pride continued over from one generation to another through centuries. They knew each other well and their relationships and families firmly attached them to one another.
A miller´s trade from Orbis Pictus by J. A. Comenius -Komensky
Millers had to know more than just how to grind corn. They were carpenters as well. A miller had to be able to construct or repair various parts of the mill´s gear, to strike and balance the mill´s stones, and to repair the stamps. He was also an expert in water works (i.e., flow, weirs and drainage).
The 1535 A.D. source (above) mentioned that Prokop was from the mill, probably a miller´s son, undoubtedly from Horni Ujezd. If not, his name in records would be something like "Prokop of the village AB" and not simply "Prokop of the mill."
Horni Ujezd had three mills: The lowest one was in Viska. In 1548 it belonged to a miller named Machovec. Another was located a bit farther up the river Desna, in a place called Hranicky--the Border. The owner (and miller) of the second mill in 1548 was a certain Tobias. And the third mill--the uppermost one--was Jiri Lizak´s mill in Cikov.
I am of the opinion, that Prokop hailed from the mill in Veska and the miller Machovec was his relative, perhaps a brother rather than father. First of all, this mill was the nearest one to the later cottage of Prokop in Viska. Secondly, Prokop had a son named Mach. Machovec is a different form of the Christian name Mach. Machovec means an older Mach, whereas Prokop´s son was the younger one. Perhaps Machovec was Mach´s Godfather simultaneously and people needed to distinguish between the two Machs in the village (a speculation, not a hypothesis).
Another record, referring to Prokop is found in 1566. However, rather than Horni Ujezd and Veska, Prokop is found in the neighboring village of Desna. That year, on the Day of the "Saint Magister Joannes Huss" (a Saturday) a miller Prokop Vessky (Prokop of Veska) makes his testament and dies.
This is probably not a coincidence of names, and Prokop in Viska (1535, 1548) is more than likely the same Prokop Vessky, the miller at Desna in 1566.
So, in 1566, Prokop bequeathed a mill and all his belongings in Desna to his son Vavra (Laurentius, Lawrence) for a total sum of 286 three-score of "Meissner Groschen". Thirty was to be paid as cash in advance and the rest in regular annual installments, each eight tree-score of Groschen. In his last will Prokop mentions besides Vavra his further children: the son Mach in Veska, then Jan (who was apparently a miller too), Jira (George), Jakub, and daughters Manda (Magda) and Gedruda.
As to which mill in Desna belonged to Prokop, we can only speculate. Likewise, we do not know for sure how or when he actually took possession of this mill. A part of the village of Desna was owned by the town of Litomysl, another part belonged to the castle of Rychmburk. There were probably two mills in those times, one in each part of the village. Unfortunately there are no written sources for the period 1543 - 1572 to provide proof of this assumption. The upper mill was in the west part of Desna, probably on the land of Rychmburk´s estate; the lower mill was in the eastern part (Litomysl), adjoining the first houses of Horni Ujezd, just a short distance from Lezak´s mill. This Lower mill was probably the mill held by Prokop (in the 19th century this mill was called Chadima mill).
A record in the Land Register Book of the Litomysl´s estate indicates that in 1557 A.D. "Visek Bastovsky bought a mill with fields and a garden at Osik (3 miles to the west of Horni Ujezd) This property was purchased from a miller, called Prokop, for 820 Meissner three-scores." A second record in the same book states that in 1558, there was a miller in Litrbachy (2 miles SE) known as Jan Prokopu (Jan of Prokop). This simply means that sometime between 1548 and 1557 Prokop moved from Veska to Osik and then to Desna. His oldest son, Mach, stayed on the farmstead in Veska; his second son, Jan, was a miller in Litrbachy; and Jira, Vavra and Jakub had not reached their majority.
This record also explains that the mill in Desna in 1566 was inherited by Vavra. Two other sons already had their own businesses. What happened to Jira, we do not know. Jakub was the youngest (later in 1569: Jakub, Vavra´s youngest brother)
A year later (in autumn, 1567) Mach in Viska deceased and left a widow, Anna, and an unspecified number of children, who all probably died a bit later. The house (or cottage) in Viska was bought by Jirik, son of Holub, for 290 three-scores and installments were paid to Prokop´s sons, Jan Novak of Bitovany (did he move from Litrbachy ?) and Vavra until 1603 A.D.
Vavra did not stay on the mill at Desna too long. Between 1566 and 1569 he gave the mill to Jakub. On Saturday before St. Sophie, 1569 A.D. Vavra Vessky (!) gave his equity in the mill ( to Jakub) and apparently left Desna. Where did he go ?
The Desna Valley near Horni Ujezd by Karl Liebscher.
(Repro from J. Otto - Cechy, East Bohemia, 1908)
In the year 1569, there were three mills in Horni Ujezd as we already said. The one in the middle was the mill on the Hranicky (the Border). As mentioned earlier, Litomysl estate´s Book of Serfdom Duties (Urbar) from 1548 A.D. states that this mill was owned by Tobias, the miller, who paid interest to the landlords as 13 three-scores and 2 1/2 bushels of oats on each St. George and St. Gallus Days. The owner of the mill in 1556 was Jakub (who bought it for 400 three-score of "Meissner Groschen"), and then Jira Prudik, from whom the mill was acquired by Vavra, the Miller in 1569 A.D.
Would you please compare the above mentioned facts? Vavra, Prokop´s son, disappeared from the mill in Desna between 1566 - 1569, and in 1569 A.D. he bought a new mill on the Hranicky; therefore, we are undoubtedly speaking of the same person.
He bought the mill for 730 three-score of "Meissner Groschen". Within 15 years the selling price of the mill appreciated almost 100 percent. Vavra paid 145 three-scores in cash, and the rest was to be paid in installments of 30 three-scores each year on St. John the Baptist Day 30. When one of the installments was paid in 1582 A.D., Vavra was mentioned for the first time as Vavra Kysylko.
This is the earliest reference to our surname--Kysilka. It was derived from the adjective "kysely" or sour, bitter. Kyselo was a cream soup with kraut, originating in East Bohemia.
The last-known reference on Vavra was recorded in a Book of Testaments from the years 1600-1651, which covered the last wills of village serfs of the Litomysl estate. Vavra-Vavrinec--died in 1606 A.D. He made out his last will on the 22 February 1606, after he realized: "...when being confined with a serious illness, but using a good memory and a sound sense," that "...I have to part this miserable life and to enter the other world..."
Vavra commended the mill to his oldest son, Vaclav: "Let him be the master of the mill. All personal things that belong to the miller´s trade,and all the neals--two cows and a heifer, seven hens with a rooster, and corn, no matter how much in the barn might be--be left with the mill..." The price of the mill was set at 800 three-score Groschen. Vaclav had to balance with his mother and four siblings.
Vaclav (Venceslaus, Vencel) Kysilka is a true progenitor of all today´s Kysilkas in Dolni and Horni Ujezd, Litomysl, Chotenov, Osik, Sec, Mladocov, Sebranice, Policka, Lubna, Vysoky Les and Leznik and probably in Sloupnice, Krouna, Trebova, Vysoke Myto e.t.c.
When his father deceased in 1606 A.D., Vaclav was at least 25 years old, and he already had a family of his own. In 1601 a first son Jan was born, followed by Magdalena, Justina, Ondrej (Andreas) and, probably in 1622, the youngest, Vit -Vitus.
Then, war held the country in its evil grasp. Land was plundered and devastated, inhabitants were killed or routed, and the social position of the serfs deteriorated, increasing their oppression. Fortunately, Kysilka´s mill on the Hranicky survived the war years and Vaclav prospered, multiplying his property. In 1630 A.D., he bought a hayfield for 14 three-score. One year later he purchased a devastated farm having been abandoned by Jan Dibysar, paying 80 three-score of Meissner Groschen for it.
But why did he need a second house ? Perhaps he divided his mill with his oldest son, Jan, who was already in his thirties and whose wife was pregnant, giving birth in 1632 AD. This child was christened Jiri-George. The second son, Matej, was born in 1636.
Vaclav Kysilka died at the end of 1649. His youngest son, Vit, was 27 years old at that time. All if Vaclav's siblings died during the Thirty-Years-War.
Jan Kysilko, Vaclav's oldest son, who was 48 in 1649 was master of the mill and became the head of the whole family. He belonged to the esteemed neighbors in the village, though he was only a cottager, in social position. He owned seven "korec" (about five acres) in fields, two pigs, one cow and one heifer. Since he owned a mill, however, he ranked higher than a cottager. He was one of three village aldermen. The family became catholic.
Jan's wife was Salomena and they had two sons. The first son, Jiri (George), was probably born in 1632, the second son, Matej (Matthew), was born in 1636. Jan died in 1655 and his son, Jiri, became a mill owner, as he was the oldest son. His issue kept the mill on the Hranicky until 1780s. Jiri´s great-grandson, Jan Kysilka, sold it to his brother-in-law, Josef Hajek, in 1783. Then, the mill burned and Jan was heavily in debt. Jan Kysilka then setup housekeeping in house No. 131/117 in Dolni Ujezd and all the Kysilkas in Dolni and Horni Ujezd are his descendents.
