Johann Wendel Schwann, son of Caspar Schwann & Ottilia Vogler, was born in Schriesheim on 8 August 1739.
He immigrated to Denmark (Schleswig-Holstein), arriving in Fridericia on 2 November 1759. He married in Fredericia on 14 April 1760 to Anna Barbara Zahn. They were settled in Havredal colony.
The parish register of Frederica [Denmark] records on 14 April 1760 the marriage of Wendel Schwann of Schriesheim to Anna Barbara Zahm [sic].
The parish register of Friderisheede (Karup Parish) records the baptisms of two children born to Wendel & Anna Barbara Zahn: (1) Johann Christoph, baptized 12 April 1761; and (2) Hans Michael, baptized 27 June 1762.
The Wendel Schwann family is last recorded among the Danish colonies on 26 April 1763.
They joined the migration to Russia and arrived in Messer on 7 July 1766. They are recorded there on the 1767 Census in Household No. 23.
In 1790, Wendel Schwan and his family moved from Messer to Franzosen.
Peter Schwan from Franzosen and his family are recorded on the 1857 census of Erlenbach in Household No. 61.
Johann Mattias Schwan from Franzosen and his family are recorded on the 1857 census of Gnadentau.
- 1857 Erlenbach Census (Household No. 61).
- 1857 Gnadentau Census.
- Eichhorn, Alexander, Jacob & Mary Eichhorn. The Immigration of German Colonists to Denmark and Their Subsequent Emigration to Russia in the Years 1759-1766 (Deiningen, Germany: Drukerei und Verlag Steinmeier GmbH & Co. Kg, 2012): B-1537.
- Lang, Gerhard. German Colonists of Denmark on the Volga.
- Mai, Brent Alan. 1798 Census of the German Colonies along the Volga (Lincoln, NE: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1999): Fz15, Fz37, Fz44, Mv1719.
- Parish register of Frederica [Denmark] (LDS Film No. 053464].
- Parish register of Friderisheede (Karup Parish) [Denmark].
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 3 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2005): 136.
- Schuhmann, Karl. Familienbuch Schriesheim: 1650-1900 (Schriesheim, Germany: Odenwaldklub Schriesheim, 2004): #9228.
Gerhard Lang
Brent Mai
Wayne Bonner