Grocholski Marcin (1727-1807), the last Voivode of Bracław. Son of Michał, a district judge of Bracław, and Anna Radzimińska, cupbearer of Czernihów. From ensign of Dźwinogrod (1760) to ensign of Winnica (1762), Bracław (1772), he became the Castellan of Bracław in 1774, and in 1790 the Voivode of Bracław. He was a member of the crown emphyteutic commission in 1775 and the military commission of both nations, presiding over it twice between 1788-92. Szerokogrobelski and Kruszliniecki starost, in 1766 he received an appointment for a pancerny banner after his father’s resignation. Initially, along with his father and brother, Franciszek, he belonged to the “patriotic” camp, in 1760 he was a deputy to the Sejm from the Bracław Voivodeship, after the accession of Stanisław August to the throne, to whom the Grocholski family owed much, he sided with him. The king considered him a trusted friend and entrusted him with the distribution of minor offices in Bracław, seeking in him and his brother, along with their family and adherents, a counterbalance to the power of Szczęsny Potocki. Hence, frequent clashes between these two camps occurred, despite the appearance of good relations between the Grocholski and Potocki families and without visible differences in goals.
G. Firm, unyielding, left the leadership of the nobility at assemblies to his brother, eloquent and held in high regard. G. was active in organizing the Black Sea trade campaign; between 1782-4 he engaged in lively correspondence with the king on these matters. In May 1783, he met with Potemkin in Bila Tserkva and was invited by him to Kherson to negotiate Black Sea trade. After consulting with the king and receiving appropriate authorizations and instructions, he went to Kherson, returning in July, immediately reporting to the king the “favorable outcomes obtained for our future trade.” During this Kherson visit, he received from Potemkin a privilege to conduct trade on the Black Sea under the Russian flag on his own ship. At the Four-Year Sejm, he did not show much activity. In the May days, malcontents counted on Grocholski as an opponent of the law, but they were disappointed, as he did not join any protest, neither in Warsaw nor in Bracław, but on the contrary, in February and April 1792, he strove for the Bracław assemblies to adopt the oath of the 3 May Constitution and send a delegation with thanks to the king, which indeed happened, and the king thanked Grocholski in a letter dated 23 April for this assembly held under the guidance of his son, Jan Duklan, Field Crown Quartermaster. Grocholski resided more often in Hryców in Volhynia, where he built a beautiful palace, chapel, and Uniate church, less often in Pietniczany near Winnica. Both here and there, he hosted Stanisław August in 1781, who later in a letter dated 10 January 1782, inquired about the “plans and designs” of both palaces. He did not increase the significant fortune inherited from his parents, having to pay dowries to his sisters and provide for his daughters (Potocka, Zamoyska, and Czetwertyńska) from his first marriage to Cecylia Chołoniewska. From this marriage, he left 5 sons: Jan, Field Crown Quartermaster, Adam, who died at Maciejowice, Michał, starost of Dźwinogrod, Mikołaj, governor of Podolia, and Ludwik.
In his later years, he remarried Antonina Łoska, née Gałecka, divorced from her second husband, mentor to Szczęsna Potocka, “Greek,” not favorably mentioned by contemporaries. G. died in Lviv on 28 October 1807, buried under the Dominican church in Winnica.
“Polish Biographical Dictionary” volume VIII, Ossolineum, PAN Publishing House Wrocław – Kraków – Warsaw 1959-1960
by Karol Rolle, p. 587
GROCHOLSKI M. (1727-1807) – political activist. Son of → Michał and Anna Radzimińska, brother of → Franciszek. In 1760 he became a deputy to the Sejm from the Bracław Voivodeship. Zwenihorodski (1760), Winnicki (1762), and Bracławski (1772) standard-bearer, Bracławski Castellan (1774), G. was a member of the Crown Emphyteutic Commission (1775) and the Commonwealth military commission, which he chaired twice in the years 1788-92. Szyrokohreblianski and Kruszylynecki starost, since 1766, after his father’s resignation, he received a diploma for an armored banner. Initially, along with his father and brother Franciszek, he belonged to the Potocki camp, the so-called “Patriotic Party.” After Stanisław August took the throne, to whom Grocholski owed much, he sided with him. The king considered G. one of his close friends and entrusted him with the distribution of minor positions in the Bracław region, hoping that G and his brother would counterbalance → S. S. Potocki. Hence, contradictions arose between the two camps, with presumed good relations and without significant differences in objectives.
G. actively participated in the organization of the Polish trading company (the so-called Black Sea; → P. Potocki): he was one of the 45 founding members and joined the first board, which operated from 17 March to 1 July 1783. Between 1782-84 he engaged in lively correspondence with the king on the company’s matters. In May 1783, he met with G. Potemkin in Bila Tserkva. The latter invited him to Kherson to discuss the state of Black Sea trade. With appropriate authorizations and instructions from the king, G. went to Kherson, received from Potemkin a privilege to trade on the Black Sea on his own ship under the Russian flag. Upon returning in July, he informed the king of the negotiation results.
As a result of Stanisław August’s privilege from 20 October 1790, he became the Voivode of Bracław. At the Four-Year Sejm, he supported the constitution’s supporters. In February and April 1792, he demanded that the Bracław assembly take the oath of the 3 May Constitution and send a delegation to thank the king. When this happened, the king, in a letter dated 23 April 1792, thanked G for the assembly held under the leadership of his son Jan Duklan. He was a knight of the Orders of St. Stanislaus (1776) and the White Eagle (1777).
Marcin Grocholski and his first wife Cecylia from Chołoniewski. Artist Jan Chrzciciel Lampi *.
As a result of the division of parental estates with his brother Franciszek (1771), he received the Hrycewski key in the Krzemieniecki district and Stryżawka, Desna (or Michałówka), Kołomyjówka, Ławrówka, Pereorki, Stadnica, and Piatniczany in the Winnica district, a manor in Winnica, half of the lifetime estates in the Zoziwski key, and shared with his brother the use of the manor in Lviv. Additionally, at the Warsaw Sejm of 1775, he received the right of emphyteutic Kruszelnica Duża and Mała, Szeroka Grobla, and Eliaszówka, titles confirmed to him in the Russian Empire (by decree from 19 April 1794). In Grycew, he built a beautiful Rococo-style palace (completed in 1782). Here the G. family lived in the summer, moving to Piatniczany for winter. The Voivode himself most often stayed in Warsaw. In 1781, he hosted Stanisław August in both estates. To commemorate the king’s stay in Piatniczany (19 November), he established a linden avenue. A kilometer from the Piatniczany castle in the Black Forest, he created a game reserve, where fallow deer and deer were kept. He did not increase the estates inherited from his parents, having to pay dowries to his sisters and provide dowries for his daughters. In his estates, he supported both the Catholic and Uniate churches, notably building a Catholic chapel and a Uniate church in Grycew (in 1785 he made significant donations to the Uniate Church in Ławrówka (around 1774). He was married to Adam Chołoniewski’s daughter, Cecylia. In his old age, he married the divorced (widowed?) Antonina from Gałecki, first married to Piotr Zawadzki, captain of the crown artillery, second to Karol Łoski, lieutenant of the crown artillery. This marriage allegedly occurred due to intrigues. — S. Potocka, who had a promissory note from G. for several hundred thousand zlotys and “with the promise of destroying this note forced the Voivode to marry” her companion, who “coined her from neo-Greek manners and incorporated her into higher society”**. On 14 December 1795 in Grycew, G. issued a partition act, dividing all his movable and immovable properties among his sons and setting dowries for his daughters.
He died on 28 January 1807 in Lviv, buried in the family tomb in the Dominican church in Winnica. After his death, the widow lived in Tulczyn, at the Potocki’s.
He had children only from his first marriage: Jan Duklan, starost of Zwenigorod, royal chamberlain, captain of national cavalry (1783), Field Crown Quartermaster in the rank of lieutenant general (1790), knight of the Orders of St. Stanislaus (1787) and the White Eagle (1792), married to Urszula Wisłocka, Adam, who died heroically in the ranks of the insurgents → T. Kościuszko at Maciejowice on 10 October 1794, Michał (1765-1833), captain of national cavalry (1789), starost of Zwenihorod (1790), knight of the Orders of the White Eagle (1793) and St. Stanislaus, married to Maria from Śliźniów (→ K. Grocholska, — G. Rzewuski), → Mikołaj, Ludwik, marshal of the nobility of the Zasław district, married to Maria Baworowska, Anna Salomeja, first married to Joachim Potocki, second to Józef Dziekoński, Ludwika – married to Stanisław Zamoyski, Apolonia, who entered the Lublin convent of the Visitation, and Małgorzata (Idalia) (15 July 1782-22 February 1846)- with Prince Ludwik Czetwertyński (son of → J. Czetwertyński).
PSB (K. Rolle); Geogr. Dictionary (Pietniczany); *Aftanazy, l 10, p. 285, 286, 307, 394, 406, 407 (wife’s image); Boniecki, vol. VII, **Chrząszczewski, p. 121;
Grocholski Z. Pietniczany //PK, vol. III, p. 84-88; Drwęca [Radzimiński] Pietniczany and their heirs, Kr. 1878, p. 6-7; Urbański (I) p. 63-64 (p. 63*); Uruski, vol. IV, p. 380: PEEISK Works, p. 239, 245, 248, 385; Malakov (1), p. Teodorovich M.I. Historical and statistical description of churches and parishes of the Volhynia diocese, Poch., 1893, vol. III, p. 554-557, 564; — DAVO: f. 417, op. 2, spr. 4, ark. zv.; f. 470, op. 1, spr. 881, ark. 41-52; f, 470, op. 3, spr. 20a; f. 477, op. 1, spr. 37, ark. 209-219 zv., 222-222 zv., 384-386 zv., 470 zv.-474; f. 480, op, 1, spr. 4, ark. 644 zv.-650, spr. 16, ark. 125- 130,606 zv.-609, cnpt. 105, ark. 39 zv.-45.
The biography comes from the book FAMOUS POLISH PEOPLE IN THE HISTORY OF VINNYTSIA REGION by Mrs. Wiktoria Kolesnyk.