There are several Schmidt families that settled in the Volga German colony of Boisroux on 7 June 1767. Two of them were believed to be related because they came from the same place in Germany. Research by David Schmidt confirms that they are brothers.
Among the children of Johann Christoph Schmidt & Elisabeth Dreßler/Drechsler whose baptisms are recorded in Rehsen are: (1) Johann Christian, born 21 October 1723, baptized 23 October 1723; and (2) Johann Friedrich, born 11 May 1730 in Gohrau, baptized 14 May 1730.
(1) Johann Christian Schmidt married on 22 April 1745 in Seegrehna to Maria Catharina Stallbaum, pregnant daughter of the deceased Gottfried Stallbaum. Since she was pregnant, they had gone to another village in order to get married. Maria Catharina Stallbaum had been baptized 21 November 1722 at the Lutheran Church in Seegrehna.
This couple had nine children: (1) Dorothea Elisabeth, born 7 July 1745, baptized 10 July 1745 in Rehsen; (2) Maria Catharina, born 20 October 1747, baptized 23 October 1747 in Rehsen; (3) Johann Christian, born around 1749 [baptism not found]; (4) Maria Dorothea, born 2 March 1751 in Hohenroda, baptized in Seegrehna; (5) Maria Elisabeth, born about May 1756, died 17 November 1760; (6) Johann Christoph, born 19 April 1758 in Gohrau, baptized 21 April 1758 in Riesigk; (7) Anna Elisabeth, born 25 July 1760 in Gohrau, baptized 27 July 1760 in Riesigk; (8) Gottlieb, born 16 September 1762 in Gohrau, baptized 19 September 1762 in Riesigk; and (9) Johann Gottfried, born 15 April 1765 in Gohrau, baptized 17 April 1765 in Riesigk.
In April 1767, the parish records of Rehsen note the departure of Christian Schmidt and his family.
An article by Hermann Wäschke records the following going to Russia: Christian Schmidt, with wife and 5 children (three sons & two daughters, the oldest of whom was 18 years old), from Gohrau in the district of Dessau.
Christian Schmidt, a farmer, his wife Maria, and children (Maria, age 18¼; Christian, age 17½, Christoph, age 8; Gottlieb, age 4; Anna, age 6) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 19 July 1766 aboard a ship named Die Zwei Gebrüder (The Two Brothers) under the command of Skipper Nicolaus Peter Pinck.
Christian Schmidt, his wife Maria, and children (Maria Dorothea, age 18; Christian, age 17¼; Christoph, age 8; Gottlieb, age 5) are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767 along with a note that mother Maria and son Gottlieb died en route.
Sons Johann Christian and Christoph are recorded on the 1767 census of Boisroux in Household No. 28 with their older sister, the above noted Dorothea Elisabeth and her family.
In 1772, Christian Schmidt moved from Boisroux to Katharinenstadt.
Christian Schmidt and his family are recorded on the 1798 census of Katharinenstadt in Household No. Ka001.
Philipp Schmidt, son of Christian Schmidt, and his family are recorded on the 1857 census of Rosental in Household No. 21 along with a note that they had arrived in Rosental from Katharinenstadt on 5 November 1856.
Nikolaus Schmidt, son of Christian Schmidt, and his family are recorded on the 1857 census of Katharinenstadt in Household No. 215 along with a note that they moved to Rosental in 1851 [sic]. Johann Nikolaus Schmidt and his family are recorded on the 1857 census of Rosental in Household No. 43 along with a note that they had arrived in Rosental from Katharinenstadt on 5 November 1856.
The Oranienbaum passenger list records that Christian Schmidt came from the German region of Dessau.
(2) An article by Hermann Wäschke records the following going to Russia: Friedrich Schmidt, a soldier (Soldat) of the Royal Prussian Battalion stationed in Brietzen, from Rehsen, born in Gorau [sic], with his wife and 3 children (one son & two daughters).
Johann Friedrich Schmidt married on 1 August 1756 in Rehsen to Maria Sophia Julius, daughter of Christoph Julius.
The baptisms of four of children born to Johann Friedrich Schmidt & Maria Sophia Julius are recorded in the Rehsen parish register: (1) Johanna Elisabeth, born 1 December 1756, baptized 4 December 1756; (2) Johann Friedrich, born 19 January 1758, baptized 21 January 1758; (3) Maria Sophia, born 2 September 1762, baptized 5 September 1762; and (4) Johann Christian, born 25 February 1765, baptized 27 February 1765.
Friedrich Schmidt, a farmer, his wife Maria, and children (Anna, age 9; Friedrich, age 8; Maria, age 6) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 9 June 1766 aboard an English barque named George under the command of Skipper Adam Bairnsfair.
Friederich Schmidt, his wife Maria Sophia, and children (Anna Elisabet, age 12; Johan Friederich, age 8; Emanuel Valetin [sic], born en route; Maria Sophia [age not recorded]) are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767.
They settled in the Volga German colony of Boisroux and are recorded there on the 1767 census in Household No. 43.
The 1767 census records that Friedrich Schmidt came from the German village of Rehsen in the region of Dessau. A note on the 1767 census records that he was born in the village of Gohrau.
- 1857 Katharinenstadt Census (Household No. 215).
- 1857 Rosental Census (Households No. 21, 43).
- Idt, Andreas and Georg Rauschenbach. Auswanderung deutscher Kolonisten nach Russland im Jahre 1766 (Moscow: Idt & Rauschenbach, 2019): 30, 31.
- Idt, Andreas and Georg Rauschenbach. Deutsche Kolonisten im Jahr 1766 in Oranienbaum und in den Siedlungsorten: Die Kuhlberg-Listen (Moscow: Idt & Rauschenbach, 2024): 197, 545.
- 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): Bx45, Ka001, Mv0275.
- 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): #4598-4603.
- 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): #1147, #1149.
- Parish register of Rehsen.
- Parish register of Riesigk.
- Parish register of Seegrehna.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 1 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 1999): 141, 146.
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): #1333, #4230.
- Rauschenbach, Georg. Deutsche Kolonisten auf dem Weg von St. Petersburg nach Saratow: Transportlisten von 1766-1767 (Moscow: G.V. Rauschenbach, 2017): #0660-0665, #5567-5572.
- Schmidt, David F. "Using Russian and German Records to Research Your Family Back to Germany." Journal of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia 40:1 (Spring 2017): 29-34.
- Wäschke, Hermann. "Deutsche Familien in Russland" in Roland, Archiv für Stamm- und Wappenkunde, Jubiläumsschrift, 18 January 1912: 83, 88.
David F. Schmidt
Brent Mai