Johannes Hofferber (some German documents record the surname as Hofferbert or Hofferberth or Hoffärber), son of Hanss Leonhard Hofferber & Anna Elisabeth Karg, was born 23 November 1721 in Sandbach, just northeast of Höchst im Odenwald, and baptized on 26 November 1721 in Höchst. He married there on 11 November 1751 to Anna Margaretha Amend, daughter of Paul Amend. They have 3 known children, each born in Sandbach: (1) Johann Nikolaus (born 16 March 1751, yes before they were married); (2) Maria Magdalena (born 17 February 1756); and (3) Maria Barbara (born 17 December 1760).
Johann Leonhard Hofferber (sometimes spelled Hofferbert in German records), son of Anton Hofferber & Anna Regina Tyrolff, was born on 20 June 1743 and baptized on the same day in Höchst. He immigrated to Russia along with other Hofferber families from Höchst, and married in route to Anna Regina Dachs on 28 April 1766 in Büdingen. She was from nearby Wald-Amorbach.
The relationship between Johannes Hoffenber and Johann Leonhard Hofferber has yet to be determined, but they immigrated together to Russia, arriving from Lübeck at the port in Oranienbaum aboard the Russian galliot Citadel on 11 August 1766.
(1) Johann Hoferbarth [sic], his wife Anna Margretha, and children (Johann Nickel [sic], age 18; Maria Magdalena, age 12; Maria Barbara, age 7) are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767.
(2) Johann Bernhard Hoferbarth [sic] and his wife Cathrina are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767.
The two Hofferber families arrived in the Volga German colony of Frank on 1 September 1767, and are recorded there on the 1767 Census in Households No. 99 (Johannes) and No. 100 (Johann Leonhard).
By the time that the 1798 Census of Frank was taken, Johannes & Margaretha had died. Their son Nikolaus is recorded there in Household No. Fk024. Maria Magdalena married Konrad Lenhardt and is recorded in Household No. Fk099. Leonhard and his wife are still living and recorded in Household No. Fk088.
Johannes Hofferber's younger sister, Anna Barbara, also immigrated to Russia and settled in Frank. She was married to Johann Adam Fröhlich.
- Gieg, Ella. Auswanderungen aus dem Odenwaldkreis Band 1 (Lützelbach: E. Gieg, 1988-1997).
- 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): Fk024, Fk088.
- Mai, Brent Alan, trans. & ed. Transport of the Volga Germans from Oranienbaum to the Colonies on the Volga: 1766-1767 (Lincoln, NE: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1998): entries 7205-7209.
- 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): #605.
- Parish records of Höchst (LDS Film Nos. 1193268 & 1193269).
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 1 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 1999): 435.
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): #5215 (p.331), #5216 (p. 331).
- Rauschenbach, Georg. Deutsche Kolonisten auf dem Weg von St. Petersburg nach Saratow: Transportlisten von 1766-1767 (Moscow: G.V. Rauschenbach, 2017): #8319-8325.
Bill Pickelhaupt
Brent Mai
Maggie Hein
Sandbach (1960).
Source: Ernst Ludwig Sanatorium.