Ossowski family (Dołęga coat of arms)

The surname Ossowski (singular masculine), Ossowska (singular feminine), or Ossowscy (plural) (also Osowski / Osowska / Osowscy) belongs to a Polish noble family. The name derives from the Polish place-name Ossowy, with the suffix -ski indicating land-ownership or lordship. Variants of the name include Ossowskiego, Ossowskich, and Ossowskliéj; the German or Prussian equivalent sometimes appears as von Ossowski. The family originally belonged to the clan Dołęga but began to use the present surname in the 14th or 15th century.

History

The Ossowski family is believed to have come from Płock, later moving to the villages in the Ossowa area now called Osowa Krzeczanowska, Osowa Łaszewska, and Osowa Drobińska, in the Mazowieckie region of Poland. There they were in service to the Senat, with royal appointments under the Przywilej koszycki, held for life and only subject to recall upon conviction of high treason.

According to tradition, King Boleslaw Krzywousty (1102–1139) won a victory over the Prussians with the help of a bowman named Dołęga, inspiring a popular uprising. Dołęga was rewarded with an arrow as an augmentation to his Pobóg arms, and the resulting coat of arms was named after him. The Dołęga clan was famous for the precision of their bowmen and the bravery of their cavalry.

Jan Dołęga-Ossowski is believed to be the founder of the Ossowski noble family (szlachta). He had some connection to John Ossowski^[1] of Szczecin-Osów, who received recognition from King Louis I of Hungary for victualling the army when it arrived in his territory in 1374. Komes Dołęga-Ossowski also owned a manor house in the village of Szczecin-Osów and was a member of the Polish Order of the Virtuti Militari. The family achieved its greatest importance during the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795).

St Jadwigi Church, Dębowa Łęka

In the 15th century the family's holdings expanded; they established the settlement of Osowa Sień near Wschowa, and built the village church of St. Fabian and St. Sebastian. Mikolaj Dołęga-Ossowski was appointed deputy district judge (podsędek ziemski) of Wschowa in 1517, and in 1540 founded the original church of St. Jadwigi in Dębowa Łęka. The Renaissance tomb of Bishop Albert Ossowski, from 1572, can be seen in a wall of the church.

Bishop Albert Ossowski's tomb

During the 16th and 17th centuries some of the Dołęga clan emigrated to Vilna (Vilnius, Lithuania). Their noble title was renewed in Lithuania in 1674 by John III Sobieski, King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1674–1696). When West Prussia was restored to Prussia, in 1774, the family's high noble rank was recognised by King Frederick II ("the Great", 1740–1786). The title was renewed again in Poland, in 1825 and 1850, by Mieczysław Dołęga-Ossowski.

Battles

Members of the szlachta had a personal obligation to defend the country with men from their own towns and villages. The basic tactical unit of the army was the Chorągiew, a group of approximately 200 fighting men financed by a noble clan, capable of operating independently with its own support and transport auxiliaries.

The Dołęga-Ossowski Officers (Rotmistrz) who supplied themselves and men for the following battles were:-

• Maciej Dołęga-Ossowski - Połock Fortresses (August 1579)
• Wacław Dołęga-Ossowski - Kremlin, Moscow (October 1610)
• Stefan Dołęga-Ossowski - Zborów (August 1649)
• Piotr Dołęga-Ossowski - White Orthodox Church (Summer 1651)
• Piotr Dołęga-Ossowski - Battle of Berestechko (June 1651)
• Stanislaw Dołęga-Ossowski - Batoh, Ukraine (June 1652)

Family

• Mikołaj Dołęga-Ossowski (died 1552), General in Polish Army

• Jeanette Dołęga-Ossowska (born 24 June 1808 in Prussian Stargard)

• Married Count Ludwig von Rittberg (born 23 March 1810 in Stangenberg)

Children:

• Count Georg von Rittberg (21 July 1833 in Danzig – 27 May 1887 in Memel)

Sister:

• Petronela Dołęga-Ossowska (1810–1862)

• Married Józef Pierzchała-Oborski of Obór (Obóry) (born 1797)

Children:

• Aleksander Pierzchała-Oborski
• Teresa Pierzchała-Oborski
• N Pierzchała-Oborski
• Kazimierz Pierzchała-Oborski

Brother:

• Mieczysław Dołęga-Ossowski (died 1906 in Ukraine)

• Married Helena ???

References

1. ^ See names bearing the coat of arms.

External links

Verification and sources:-

• [1] - Ossowski Family Tree
• [2] [3] - Osowa Sień, Wschowa
• [4] - Title recognition by German aristocracy
• [5] - St. Jadwigi, Debowa Leka
• [6] - Alphabetical List Of Polish Battles
• [7] - Polish Aristocratic Families
• [8] - Dynasties and Aristocratic Families
• [9] - Title recognition by King Friedrich II
• [10] - Noble property in West Prussia 1700-1800
• [11] - Polish Order of the Virtuti Militari
• [12] - private site Osowa Sien