Dapšioniai

History

After the partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the place administratively belonged to the Vilna Governorate, and to the Kovno Governorate since 1843. In 1829 stone foundations of the church were built by the funds of local landowner Wincenty Pereszczako. First owned by treasurer of Livonia Michal Wladyslawowicz Matuszewicz, and then by his grandson Jakub Jakubowicz, the estate was eventually sold to Mateusz Sawicki. In 1817 the estate belonged to Józef Sawicki. A school was built before the First World War, however, the parish gradually disintegrated and only began to be referred to as a parish by church records. After Lithuanian independence in 1918, the place belonged to the Smilgiai district municipality. From 1919 to 1939 the estate was held by Hipolit Pereszczako and Sabina Januszewska. Dapšioniai housed its own Riflemen's Union squad, postal agency, choir, and school. In 1934 Martnyas Venclova became the permanent priest of the church, repairing it, building a parish hall and fixing the organs. During the Soviet occupation of Lithuania, the area belonged to the Šeduva district.