Rau (Grimm-1)

Johann Baltzer [sic] Rau, son of Johannes Rau & Anna Catharina Keil, was born in Nieder-Ohmen on 22 March 1732, baptized there on 24 March 1732, and confirmed there on 5 June 1746.

He married in Nieder-Ohmen on 18 July 1755 to Maria Henckel, daughter of Johann Adam Henckel & Ctharina Margaretha Kißner.

The baptisms of the following children born to Johann Balthasar Rau & Maria Henckel are recorded in the parish register of Nieder-Ohmen: (1) Caspar, born & baptized 8 November 1755, died 26 July 1756, buried 27 July 1756; (2) Anna Margaretha, born 9 June 1757, baptized 10 June 1757; (3) Juliana, born 24 February 1760, baptized 26 February 1760; and (4) Johann Henrich [sic], born 3 February 1763, baptized 4 February 1763.

Balthasar Rau, a farmer, his wife Maria, and children (Anna, age 9; Julianna, age 6; Heinrich, age 4; Susanna, age 1/6) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 22 July 1766 aboard the pink Lev under the command of Lieutenant Fyodor Fyodorov.

They settled in the Volga German colony of Grimm and are recorded there on the 1767 census in Household No. 12.

Balthasar is recorded on the 1775 census of Grimm in Household No. 94 along with his new wife Elisabeth and brother-in-law David Lutz and his wife Anna Margaretha.

Both the Oranienbaum passenger list and the 1767 census recorded that Balthasar Rau came from the German region of Darmstadt.