The article analyses some episodes from biography and the daily life of elder of
Merkinė, vogt and colonel of a petyhorcy unit of the armed forces of the Grand
Duchy of Lithuania Mateusz Ogiński (1738–1786). On the basis of the documents
preserved in the Ogiński foundation of the Lithuanian State history archive
(F. 1177), the article argues that Mateusz Ogiński was mainly occupied with the
maintenance of his properties and litigation in courts, not actually seeking any
political or public career. He personally issued directions to the stewards of his
properties and controlled execution of his orders. Somewhere close to the First
Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1772) he was known for the
detailed regulation of his economic activities. He put effort to concentrate in his
hands some real estate (by buying plots and houses in Merkinė), invested and
developed various businesses (renting a windmill and a pub, operating a coffee
shop, building a sawmill and a brickyard, fishing, shipping timber to Konigsberg,
renovating Merkinė’s town hall, etc.). Later M. Ogiński was often renting out his
properties to other individuals, but that had a negative influence on his possessions.
Lifestyle that disregarded the income made M. Ogiński drown in debt early,
and he entered a loop of having to start borrowing to pay debts. Elder of Merkinė
Ogiński would borrow and spend large sums of money to make purchases of various
items of luxury abroad and in Lithuania (clothes, jewellery, alcohol, species,
fruits, etc.), and to maintain his manor and even a folk music group. M. Ogiński
litigated in many Lithuanian courts and, judging from his letters (and quite many
of them survived), he would have inhabited these litigation processes, taking
interest in legal nuances and using different opportunities to influence court
processes to his advantage (making acquaintance with judges, looking for third
party interceders, writing letters to judges, and personally participating in court
proceedings). Most common lawsuits against him were about unpaid debts, yet
his own claims were against stewards of his properties, and real estate rights.
Keywords: eldership of Merkinė, the Ogiński, daily routine, economics, courts.