Manor of Glindjich (Glindzicz) | Kvatary

Kwatery Manor

The oldest existing document relating to the estate of Kwatery dates from 1617. It is a decree by Mikolai Volski bequeathing the estate to the monastery of “Regularni Kanonicy” of which he was founder. It was in 1690 that part of the farm building was bought by a woman called Ciehanovska as collateral, and given to Tomash Jaskold in obligation, or perhaps surety.

If it is true, as local history has it, that the Glindjich family built the present manor in the year 1776, they could only have done so on that part of the estate which was given as surety to Tomash Jaskold. The family may have obtained the land by purchase or inheritance, but the remainder of the estate continued under the ownership of the monastery until 1830 (1832?) when it was confiscated by the czarist regime. The confiscation must have taken place well after the November Uprisings in 1830 when the czarist authorities looked upon the Catholic Church as a stronghold of Polish traditions and heritage. As a consequence, the monasteries were evicted from the borderlands and their wealth confiscated.

The Glindjich family, otherwise written as Glindziecz, Gliendzicz, or Glindzicz, whose name and estate was taken on by the last landlord of Kwatery, was an ancient family from the province of Grodno in Kresy which had developed many branches. The family coat of arms is known as Ostoja and was graded as of the II category within the ranks of the Polish nobility.

In 1776 when the Glindjich family were building the manor house on the site of the old farm building, they also owned the surrounding villages. Thus, in the year 1855 the estate records in the province of Grodno show Antoni Glindjich to be the owner of Siemierenki and Kwatery. Three years later an inventory of Kwatery lists the following as belonging to the estate:
in the Kwatery farmstead - 10 villiens
in the village of Chaplice - 57 villiens
in the village of Zajechany - 8 villiens
in the village of Horbachi - 29 villiens
in the village of Siroyeshki - 39 villeins

With time, the estate of Kwatery grew. According to records from 1872, which confirm the bequest of Antoni Glindjich to his wife, the estate included 446 dziesiecinas (1,233 acres) of farmed land, 89 dziesiecinas (246 acres) of woodland and 118 dziesiecinas (326 acres) of fallow. In 1904 the estate comprised 891 dziesiecinas (2,460 acres), thus constituting a substantial holding.

There are documents in existence which record the various members of the Glindjich family as follows:
The 18th Century: Andjei - a senior official of the chancery of the Kingdom of Lithuania, and later civil and military governor of the district of Grodno, married to Konstancia Puciata (1786, 1792) : Adam - a canon in the district of Smolensk and dean of Slonim (1789).

The 19th Century: Miechiswav (Mieczyslaw) (1836-1916) - a medical doctor who later played a part in the Polish National Government which formed the main body of resistance to the Russian occupation of Poland. He fulfilled the role of commanding officer for the civil organisation of the district of Wolkovysk during the preparations preceding the January Uprising of 1863.

Together with his brothers, Miechiswav took part in this patriotic action which was doomed to failure, costing all of them dearly. After the outbreak of the uprising he organised paramedical teams within the Ramotovsky regiment, and from May to September 1863 it was with this regiment that he took part in the fighting, around Augustov, on the outskirts of Kadish, in Grooshky, in Kozi Rynek, outside Jeshniki and in Schelsovizna. When the regiment was surrounded and defeated, he kept his head, took a few brave men with him and broke through the enemy lines to make his escape. Because of his part in the fighting he was pursued by the Russians. On learning of the death of his brother Jan in the prison in Volkovysk, Miechiswav fled abroad. Polish records have it that he reached France, where he resumed his medical studies. According to French sources he married Rose Gozzini and had a family. Alternatively, Russian sources show that he was imprisoned and deported into the depths of the Russian Empire. Perhaps the Russian authorities did not want to have it known that one of the district commanders had eluded them.

Antoni - the brother of Miechiswav and Jan - was lord of the manor of Kwatery and held a distinguished position within the Civil Council of the district of Grodno. Antoni married Teodora Ojeshko (Orzeszko), the sister of Piotr who married Eleeza Pavlovska. Eleeza later gained fame as a writer in the Pozitivist movement.

The estates of the Glindjich family in the province of Grodno were as follows: Glindjiche, Macheyeviche, Stanieviche, Boornievo, Siemierenki, and in the district of Volkovysk - Kwatery. The estate of Nowosady in the district of Novogroodek was added through marriage. Jan Glindjich married Marianna Horehlad (or Goreglad). Jan and Marianna Glindjich passed on the estate of Nowosady to their daughter Klementyna, who in about 1893 married a doctor of medicine from Sviswotch (Swislocz), Dr. Adolf Bitner.

In 1904, Klementyna’s brother Jozef Glindjich (Glindzicz) received into ‘safekeeping’ the estate of Kwatery. This must have taken place after the death of Teodora, the widow of Antoni. It is not known whether Antoni and Teodora had any children. If not, then the transferral into Jozef Glindjich’s “safekeeping” must have been an official arrangement as it would have had to be formally registered with the appropriate czarist authorities. The estate, once nearly confiscated, was entrusted to Jozef, by virtue of his close blood relationship with Antoni (his nephew), or as a concession to a loyalist, holding the esteemed position of honorary magistrate in the county of Wolkowysk. In either case, the estates found their way to the relatives of the Glindjich family: Nowosady through the maternal line; Siemierenki (which was later sold) through the paternal line (Jan Glindzicz); and Kwatery from Antoni and Teodora.

In 1905 Jozef, being childless, adopted his nephew, the son of his sister Klementyna and Doctor Bitner. He bestowed his own name on the nine year old Dolek Bitner, and made him heir to Kwatery. This is not to be thought of as simply a kind gesture, rather the aim was to keep the estates in one family in the event of Jozef’s death without an heir. It must be remembered that only Russians held the right to buy land in Kresy and therefore, in the event of an absence of heirs, the estate would have to be sold to one of them. Thanks to this state of affairs then, Dolek became the (last) rightful heir to the estates of Nowosady from his mother, and Kwatery from his uncle. From the time of his adoption, Dolek used the double barrelled name of Bitner-Glindzicz. His descendants still carry their ancestors’ seal with the coat of arms of the Glindjich family.

Helen Bitner
I obtained most of my information from
The History of the Bitner-Glindzicz Family of Kwatery and Nowosady
By Tadeusz Kobrzynski which was written in Polish and translated (unpublished)