Two Kromm families settled in the Volga German colony of Yagodnaya Polyana. They both came from the village of Schotten, east of Giessen. Their relationship to each other, if any, needs additional research.
(1) Johann Conrad Kromm married in 1743 to Anna Margaretha Ilges, daughter of wool weaver Johannes Ilges. Her mother's maiden name was Ruhl. Anna had been born 2 February 1724 in Schotten. The Kromms had four known children: (1) Christian, born 29 November 1749; (2) Johann Georg, born in 1751; (3) Anna Katharina, born in 1756; and (4) Anna Maria, born in 1763.
Konrad Kromm, his wife Anna, and children (Christian, age 17¼; Johann, age 14; Katharina, age 11) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 22 August 1766 aboard a galliot named Die Vergoldete Weintraube (The Guilded Grape) under the command of Skipper Joachim Hermann Andersen.
Conrad Kroms [sic], his wife Anna Margreth., and children (Christian, age 20; Johann Georg, age 15; Catharina, age 12) are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767.
The family arrived in Yagodnaya Polyana on 16 September 1767. Widow Anna Margaretha and the children are recorded on the 1767 census of Yagodnaya Polyana in Household No. 20.
In the 1798 census of Yagodnaya Polyana, widow Anna Margaretha is still living in Household Yp37 with son Georg and his family. Son Christian Kromm is recorded at Household No. Yp52, and daughter Katharina has married Heinrich Jungmann and is recorded in Household No. Yp56.
Konrad Kromm, son of Christian Kromm, and his family are recorded on the 1834 census of Pobochnaya in Household No. 89.
On the 1798 Census of Yagodnaya Polyana, Anna Margaretha Ilges Kromm is recorded in Household Yp37 with the surname of Baum. It is assumed that she married Johann Reinhard Baum who had arrived in Yagodnaya Polyana as a widower.
(2) Philipp Kromm was born about 1712 in Schotten. He married an Anna Elisabeth (surname unknown), and they had the following children: (1) Anna Elisabeth, born about 1743; (2) Conrad, born about 1753; and (3) Anna Maria, born about 1755.
Philipp Kromm, a weaver, his wife Anna Elisabeth, and children (Anna Elisabeth, age 24; Konrad, age 16; Anna Maria, age 13) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 18 August 1766 aboard the galliot named Die Perle (The Pearl) under the command of Skipper Gerhardt Hermann Thomsen.
Phillip Krum [sic], his wife Anna Elisabeth, and children (Elisabeth, age 24; Conradt, age 14; Anna Maria, age 12) are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767.
Philipp Kromm and his family arrived in Yagodnaya Polyana on 16 September 1767, the same day as the Conrad Kromm family, although their daughter Anna Elisabeth was not listed among those that arrived with the family.
Son Konrad is recorded on the Yagodnaya Polyana 1798 Census in Household Yp20 with younger sister Anna Maria is next door at Household No. Yp21 with her husband Adam Schreiner.
Peter Kromm, Konrad Kromm, and Georg Johannes Kromm from Yagodnaya Polyana and their families are recorded on the 1857 census of Neu-Yagodnaya-Polyana.
- 1834 Pobochnaya Census (Household No. 89).
- 1857 Neu-Yagodnaya-Polyana Census.
- "Auswandererliste aus Ober-Lais Eichelsdorf nach Jagodnaya Poljana." Eicheltäler Heimatglocken 2 (February 1929): 73.
- Die Geschichte der Wolgadeutschen vom Vogelsberg zur Wolga (Alsfeld, Wiesbaden: Die Albert-Schweitzer-Schule, 1990): 55.
- Idt, Andreas and Georg Rauschenbach. Auswanderung deutscher Kolonisten nach Russland im Jahre 1766 (Moscow: Idt & Rauschenbach, 2019): 34.
- Idt, Andreas and Georg Rauschenbach. Deutsche Kolonisten im Jahr 1766 in Oranienbaum und in den Siedlungsorten: Die Kuhlberg-Listen (Moscow: Idt & Rauschenbach, 2024): 779, 818.
- 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): Yp20, Yp37, Yp52.
- 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 441-446, 7098-7102.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 2 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2001): 178 & 181.
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): #6233, #6549.
- Rauschenbach, Georg. Deutsche Kolonisten auf dem Weg von St. Petersburg nach Saratow: Transportlisten von 1766-1767 (Moscow: G.V. Rauschenbach, 2017): #8212-8216, #8411-8415.
Bill Pickelhaupt
Brent Mai