Heinrich Barthelmeß, son of Hans Barthelmeß & Anna Margaretha Künrich, was born in about 1660 in the German village of Wüstensachsen. He married 21 January 1690 in Gersfeld to Eva Richter, daughter of Hans Richter & Magdalena Hechenhan. Eva Richter had been baptized in Gersfeld on 7 August 1668. Heinrich died and was buried in Dresselhof on 16 September 1738. Eva died there on 9 July 1740. The births of 10 children are recorded in the parish register of Gersfeld: (1) Friedrich Henrich, born 5 November 1690; (2) Georg Elias, born 28 February 1692, died 15 August 1748; (3) Henrich, born 29 January 1694, died 14 March 1717; (4) Elisabetha, born 1 July 1696; (5) Barbara, born 20 February 1698, died 27 February 1698; (6) Katharina, born 15 February 1700, died 13 March 1770; (7) Johannes, born 25 November 1700, died 9 August 1707; (8) Sebastian, born 27 July 1701; (9) Anna Margaretha, born 3 November 1708, died 23 June 1710; and (10) Nikolaus, born 2 May 1711.
The families of the oldest and youngest sons immigrated to Russia. They arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 14 September 1766 aboard a ship under the command of Skipper Reders. They settled in the Volga German colony of Walter on 10 September 1767.
(1) Friedrich Heinrich Bartolomas. He married Anna Raab. They had two sons: (a) Georg Elias, born 19 January 1727 in Gersfeld; and (b) Nikolaus. Friedrich Heinrich died in Gersfeld on 29 May 1761. His widow Anna and these two sons and their families immigrated to Russia.
(a) Georg Elias married Veronica Trapp on 10 January 1758. Their first child, Agatha, was born in 12 October 1758 in Gersfeld.
Georg Bartholomaeus, his wife Anna [sic], and daughter Anna [sic] (age 1 [probably 7]) are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767 along with a note that wife Anna died en route.
Georg Elias, his [new] wife Anna (age 18), and daughter Agathe (age 8) are recorded there on the 1767 census of Walter in Household No. 103.
The children of Georg Bartolomae (Adam Georg, age 22; Maria, age 17) are recorded on the 1798 census of Walter in Household No. Wt010.
Adam Georg Bartolomei is recorded on the 1811 census of Walter in Household No. 10 along with a note that he relocated to the colony of Frank.
Adam [Georg] Bartolomei from Walter is recorded on the 1811 census of Frank in Household No. 83 along with a note that he had arrived in Frank from Walter in 1801.
Agatha Bartolomae, wife of Friedrich Meier, and her family are recorded on the 1798 census of Walter in Household No. Wt011.
(b) Nikolaus married Katharina [surname unknown]. They arrived in Oranienbaum, but evidently did not survive to settle among the Volga German colonies.
(2) Nicolaus Barthelmes married Maria Barbara Heitzenröder. They were travelling with 2 sons, (a) Georg & (b) Nikolaus, and their families.
Nicolaus and Maria Barbara both appear to have died before arriving in Walter.
(a) Johannes [sic] Bartholomaeus, his wife Margaretha, and son Georg (age 6) are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767 along with a note that father Johannes died en route.
Georg's widow remarried to Hermann Heinrich Borgens. They (along with son Georg, age 8) are recorded on the 1767 census of Walter in Household No. 73.
Georg (junior) Bartolomae and his family are recorded on the 1798 census of Walter in Household No. Wt107.
Justina Bartolomae, believed to be the widow of Georg (junior) and her son are recorded on the 1834 census of Kaneau in Household No. 4.
(b) Nikolaus (junior) Bartholomæus from Gersfeld & Catharina Eliesabetha Heberlin from Reppeshein had been married on 15 June 1766 in the Lutheran Church of Büdingen.
Nicolaus Bartholomaeus and his wife Cathar. Elisabeth are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767.
Nikolaus (junior) Bartholomäus and his new wife Dorothea are recorded on the 1767 census of Walter in Household No. 17.
Dorothea, widow of Nikolaus Bartholomae, and their children are recorded on the 1798 census of Walter in Household No. Wt007.
Both the Oranienbaum passenger list and the 1767 census of Walter record that both of these Bartholomäus families came from the German village of Gersfeld.
- 1811 Frank Census (Household No. 83).
- 1811 Walter Census (Household No. 10).
- 1834 Kaneau Census (Household No. 4).
- Mai, Brent Alan. 1798 Census of the German Colonies along the Volga: Economy, Population, and Agriculture (Lincoln, NE: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1999): Wt007, Wt010, Wt011, Wt107.
- Mai, Brent Alan and Dona Reeves-Marquardt, German Migration to the Russian Volga (1764-1767) (Lincoln, NE: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 2003): #694.
- Parish register of Gersfeld.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 4 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2008): 299, 318.
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): #6431, #6436, #6439, #6443, #6490.
- Rauschenbach, Georg. Deutsche Kolonisten auf dem Weg von St. Petersburg nach Saratow: Transportlisten von 1766-1767 (Moscow: G.V. Rauschenbach, 2017): #7368-7370, 7375-7377, 7382-7383.
Margo Sherer
Maggie Hein
Brent Mai
Natalie Vil