Franz Heinrich Becker Sr., son of Johann Peter Becker, married on 11 February 1745 in the Fränkisch-Crumbach Evangelical (Lutheran) Church to Elisabetha Daab, daughter of Benedict Daab. Elisabetha had been born on 24 January 1726 in Brensbach, a village 4.3 kilometers north of Fränkisch-Crumbach.
They had nine children, the first five of them being baptized in the church in Fränkisch-Crumbach, and the last four in Brensbach: (1) Franz Heinrich Jr., born 13 May 1746 and baptized 14 May 1746; (2) Johann Nikolaus, born 11 September 1747 and baptized 12 September 1747; (3) Johannetta, born and baptized 24 December 1748; (4) Maria Elisabetha, born 1 December 1749 and baptized 3 December 1749; (5) Dorothea Friderica, born and baptized 19 August 1751; (6) Anna Katharina, born 30 December 1754 and baptized 1 January 1755; (7) Johann Andreas, born 16 August 1757 and baptized 18 August 1757; (8) Johann Wilhelm, born 10 December 1759 and baptized 11 December 1759; and (9) Johannetta Elisabetha, born 21 November 1761 and baptized 22 November 1761.
Franz Becker, a farmer, his wife Elisabeth, and children (Franz, age 22; Johann [Nikolaus], age 20; Dorothea, age 17½; Katharina, age 12; Andreas, age 10¼; Wilhelm, age 7; Elisabeth, age 5¼) arrived from Lübeck at the port in Oranienbaum on 17 July 1766 aboard a pink named Lev (Lion) under the command of Lieutenant Fyodor Fyodorov.
Franz Heinrich Becker [Jr.], his wife, and sister Dorothea are recorded on the 1767 census of Walter in Household No. 48. They has arrived in Walter on 25 August 1767.
Widower Franz Heinrich Becker [Sr.], his children (Anna Katharina, age 20; Andreas, age 18; Johannes Wihelm, age 16; Julietta Elisabeth, age 14), and stepchildren [surname Jäkel] (Johann Nikolaus, age 16; Johann Valentin, age 10; Eva Magdalena, age 8) are recorded on the 1775 census of Beideck in Household No. 68.
[Johann] Nikolaus Becker and his wife Anna Margaretha are recorded on the 1775 census of Beideck in Household No. 69.
Nikolaus Becker and his wife are recorded on the 1798 census of Beideck in Household No. Bd29.
Andreas Becker and his family are recorded on the 1798 census of Beideck in Household No. Bd27.
Wilhelm Becker from Beideck is recorded on the 1798 census of Shcherbakovka in Household No. Sv33.
Konrad Becker from Shcherbakovka and his family are recorded on the 1857 census of Eckheim.
The Oranienbaum passenger list records that Franz [Heinrich] Becker [Sr.] came from the German region of Darmstadt. The 1767 census records that Franz Heinrich Becker [Jr.] came from the German village of Krumbach in the Hessen-Darmstadt region.
- 1775 Beideck Census (Households No. 68, 69).
- 1857 Eckheim Census.
- Idt, Andreas and Georg Rauschenbach. Auswanderung deutscher Kolonisten nach Russland im Jahre 1766 (Moscow: Idt & Rauschenbach, 2019): 31.
- Idt, Andreas and Georg Rauschenbach. Deutsche Kolonisten im Jahr 1766 in Oranienbaum und in den Siedlungsorten: Die Kuhlberg-Listen (Moscow: Idt & Rauschenbach, 2024): 316.
- 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): Bd27, Sv33.
- Parish records of Fränkisch-Crumbach, Starkenburg (LDS Film No. 1190572).
- Parish records of Brensbach and Nieder Kainsbach (LDS Film No. 1190544).
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 4 (Göttingen: Nordost-Institut, 2008): 306.
- Pleve, Igor. List of Colonists to Russia in 1766 "Reports by Ivan Kulberg" (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): #2333.
Corina Hirt
Brent Mai