There are several Nazarenus families, all believed to be from the German village of Lorbach. Their relationship to each other, if any, needs further research.
(1) Johann Conrad Nazarenus, son of Johann Heinrich & Anna Margaretha Nazarenus from Lorbach, was confirmed in 1716 in the Reformed Church in Herrnhaag. He married there on 20 January 1726 to Luisa Margaretha Jockel [sometimes recorded subsequently as Jackel]. Johann Conrad Nazarenus & Luisa Margaretha [recorded as Elisabeth Margaretha on the baptismal entries of her children] had at least six children. She died in February 1741.
Widower Johann Conrad Nazarenus re-married on 17 August 1741 to Catharina Elisabeth, the daughter of Jacob [surname illegible] from Bleichenbach. [Her name is written as Catharina Elisabeth in the marriage record and Anna Catharina in all subsequent records.]
The baptisms of the following children born in Lorbach to Johann Conrad & Anna Catharina Nazarenus are recorded in the parish register of Herrnhaag: (1) Johann Heinrich, baptized 22 July 1742; (2) Anna Sabina, baptized 6 September 1744, buried 8 November 1744; (3) Maria Elisabeth, baptized 24 October 1745; (4) Jonas, baptized 6 February 1747, buried 4 April 1747; and (5) Johann Ernst, baptized 18 August 1748. There were also twin daughters (Anna Margaretha & Anna Catharina) born in about 1751, but their baptisms are not recorded in Herrnhaag.
Johann Heinrich Nazarenus from Lorbach [son of Johann Conrad & Anna Catharina Nazarenus] married on 23 April 1766 in Büdingen to Anna Maria Koch, daughter of the deceased Johann Caspar Koch from Lorbach. She had been born in Lorbach and baptized in Herrnhaag on 9 November 1736.
Johann Heinrich Nazarenus, his wife Maria Katharina [sic], his sisters Anna Katharina and Anna Margaretha (both age 16), and his mother Anna Katharina arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 17 July 1766 aboard the Russian ship Novaya Dvinka.
Johann Heinrich Nazarenus, his wife Anna Maria, son Johann Michael (age 1½), and sister Anna Margretha are recorded on the 1767 census of Kutter in Household No. 67. They had arrived in Kutter on 29 July 1767.
Michael Nazarenus and his family are recorded on the 1798 census of Kutter in Household No. Kt41.
Michael Nazarenus and his descendants are recorded on the 1834 census of Pobochnaya in Households No. 14 & 21.
Anna [Catharina] Nazarenus had married Jakob Dietz during the voyage. They are recorded on the 1767 census of Walter in Household No. 69 and on the 1798 census of Walter in Household No. Wt002.
(2) Ludwig Nazarenus, a farmer, his wife Anna, and children (Johann, age 20; Kasimir, age 17¼; Johann [Peter], age 14; Maria, age 11; Anton, age 8; Barbara, age ¼) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 19 July 1766 aboard the snow-brig named Christina under the command of Skipper Jacob Stappenberg.
They settled in Kutter on 8 July 1767 and are recorded there on the 1767 census in Household No. 31.
The widow and children of Johann Nazarenus appear to be recorded on the 1798 census of Kutter in Household No. Kt05.
Kasimir Nazarenus and his family are recorded on the 1798 census of Kutter in Household No. Kt12.
The death of Kasimir Nazarenus in 1819 is recorded on the 1834 census of Kutter in Household No. 29. A note on this census records that his son Andreas Nazarenus relocated to the colony of Beideck.
[Johann] Peter Nazarenus and his family are recorded on the 1798 census of Kutter in Household No. Kt35.
Maria Elisabeth Nazarenus, wife of Philipp Jakobÿ, is recorded on the 1798 census of Kutter in Household No. Kt34.
Anton Nazarenus and his family are recorded on the 1798 census of Kutter in Household No. Kt67.
(3) Johannes Nazarenus, a single farmer, is recorded on the 1767 census of Anton in Household No. 19 along with Konrad Kletter and his family. The 1767 census does not record a relationship between the Nazarenus & Kletter families. A note on the 1767 census records that Johannes Nazarenus relocated to the colony of Kutter in 1768.
The 1767 census records that Johannes Nazarenus came from the German region of Isenburg.
(4) The 1798 census of Anton records Ludwig Nazarenus and his family in Household No. An48.
- 1834 Kutter Census (Households No. 20, 29, 30, 90, 103, 111, 117, 127, 135, 143).
- 1834 Pobochnaya Census (Households No. 14, 21).
- Bonner, Wayne H. Volga German Settlers Identified in Isenburg and Other German Church Records Part I (Gardena, CA: Wayne Bonner, 2007): 42.
- Decker, Klaus-Peter. Büdingen als Sammelplatz der Auswanderung an die Wolga 1766 (Büdingen: Geschichtswerkstatt Büdingen, 2009): 70.
- Idt, Andreas and Rauschenbach, Georg. Auswanderung deutsche Kolonisten nach Russland im Jahre 1766 (Moscow: 2019): 31.
- 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): An48, Kt05, Kt12, Kt35, Kt41, Kt67, Wt002.
- 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): #577.
- Parish register of Vonshausen (including Herrnhaag & Lorbach).
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 1 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 1999): 58.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 2 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2001): 483 & 492.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 4 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2008): 310.
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): #3187, #3828.
Walter Research Project
Brent Mai
Steve Schreiber
Entry from the Oranienbaum passenger list recording the family of Ludwig Nazarenus.
Source: Brent Mai.
Entry from the Oranienbaum passenger list recording Johann Heinrich Nazarenus, his mother, and his sisters.
Source: Brent Mai.