Johann Matthias Kexel married Albertina Wengenroth, daughter of Johann Georg Wengenroth, on 15 January 1737 in the Evangelical Church of Westerburg, 50 kilometers northeast of Koblenz. Albertina had been baptized in Westerburg on 4 October 1711.
They had nine known children, each baptized in Westerburg: (1) Wilhelm Anton, on 31 January 1738; (2) Johann Michael, on 15 June 1740; (3) Johann Friedrich, on 16 August 1744; (4) Johann Heinrich, on 21 February 1747; (5) Anna Margaretha, on 12 March 1749; (6 & 7) twins Johann Adam & Georg Philipp, on 13 August 1751; and (8 & 9) twins Maria Catharina & Johann David, on 21 November 1753.
Johann Adam Kexel, a very close relative or brother of Johann Matthias Kexel, married on 12 November 1737 to Anna Maria Grimmel (Krümmel) in Westerburg. They had twelve known children, each baptized there: (1) Johann Matthias, on 26 September 1738; (2) Anna Sophia, on 28 April 1740; (3) Johann Christian, on 5 May 1743; (4) Unnamed boy, on 14 November 1745; (5) Georg Jacob, on 17 May 1748; (6) Johann Karl, on 12 April 1750; (7) Georg Peter, on 26 September 1752; (8) Anna Sophia (again), on 7 November 1754; (9) Albertina Maria Dorothea, on 17 August 1755; (10 & 11) twins Anna Margaretha & Louisa Christina, on 14 February 1758; and (12) Georg Philipp, on 22 November 1761.
Johann Matthias & Johann Adam Kexel and their families arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 28 August 1766 aboard the ship Der Junge Heinrich under the command of Skipper Heinrich Niemann.
Both families arrived in the Volga German colony of Kaneau on 17 Aug 1767 where they spent the first winter. They are recorded there on the 1767 census with Johann Adam in Household No. 8, Johann Matthias Sr. in Household No. 9. Johann Michael is recorded on the 1767 Census in Boisroux in Household No. 57. Johann Friedrich is recorded on an appendix to the 1767 Census of Nieder-Monjou in Household No. 81. Johann Matthias Jr. is recorded on the Orlovskaya 1767 Census in Household No. 36.
By the time of 1798 Census, Johann Karl is recorded in Bettinger in Household No. Bt45. Descendants of Johann Heinrich are recorded in Boisroux in Household No. Bx31.
Johann Adam Jr. moved to Fischer in 1785 where he is recorded in Household No. Fs05. Johann Christian is recorded in Hockerberg in Household No. Hb10.
In 1780, Georg Peter moved from Hockerberg to Kind where he is listed in Household No. Kd14. Maria Catharina moved from Boisroux to Meinhard where she is recorded in Household No. Mn06.
In 1783, Johann Michael, his wife Barbara Elisabetha, and their children Johann, Adam, Johann, Wilhelm, David, Elisabetha, & Anna Elisabetha are recorded moving to the colony of Kautz, but they aren't registered there on the 1798 census.
Gottlieb Keksel and his family are recorded on an 1865 list of colonists who resettled to Lilienfeld along with a note that they had arrived in Lilienfeld from Boisroux on 30 March 1859.
- 1865 Lilienfeld List.
- Idt, Andreas and Georg Rauschenbach. Auswanderung deutscher Kolonisten nach Russland im Jahre 1766 (Moscow: Idt & Rauschenbach, 2019): 35.
- Idt, Andreas and Georg Rauschenbach. Deutsche Kolonisten im Jahr 1766 in Oranienbaum und in den Siedlungsorten: Die Kuhlberg-Listen (Moscow: Idt & Rauschenbach, 2024): 888.
- 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): Bt45, Bx31, Fs05, Kd14, Mv0307, Mv0870, Mv0872, Mv1657.
- Parish records of Westerburg (LDS Film No. 1340476).
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 2 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2001): 265.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 3 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2005): 218.
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): #7266, #7267.
Corina Hirt
Brent Mai