[Various documents record this surname as Morbei, Morbe, Morben, Morbeu, Morbeux, Morbius, Morbi.]
Jean Morbei from Distroff [Diesdorf], son of Gerardi Morbei, married on 4 February 1710 in Königsmacher to Margaretha Sandian from Regismacher [Königsmacher], daughter of Joseph Sandian.
The births of the following children born to Jean Morbei and Margaretha Sandian are recorded: (1) Johannes Nikolaus, born 26 January 171; (2) Jakob, born 17 July 1712; and (3) Alexander, born 5 April 1714.
Alexander Morbe from Oppag [Apach], son of Johannes Morbe & Margaretha Sandian, married on 12 Feburary 1743 in Manderen to Maria Becher from Königsmacher, daughter of Johannes Becher & Margaretha Laglos [?]. She died 19 September 1756.
Alexander Morben remarried on 10 February 1757 in Manderen to Elisabetha Mousson, daughter of Peter Mousson & Susanna Kohn.
The births of two sons born to Alexander Morben and Elisabetha Mousson are recorded in the parish register of Manderen: (1) Adam, born 20 April 1760; and (2) Christoph, born 4 May 1763.
Alexander Morbius [sic], a coppersmith, his wife Elisabeth, and sons (Georg, age 8; Christoph, age 3) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 19 July 1766 aboard the galliot named Elisabeth Catharina under the command of Skipper Heinrich Ludwig Gottknecht.
Alexander died and his widow Elisabeth appears to have remarried first to Friedrich Zanner (who was also on the ship with them) and then to Michael Zimmermann (who was also on the same ship).
The two surviving sons (Georg & Christoph) are recorded on the 1798 census of Seelmann in Households No. Sm19 & Sm48. These are believed to be the same boys who are recorded on the 1767 census of Seelmann as Georg & Christoph Zanner in Household No. 24.
The 1834, 1850, and 1857 censuses of Seelmann record this surname as Morbi.
Jakob Morbi, son of Christoph Morbi, and his family are recorded on the 1834 census of Hölzel in Household No. 21.
The Oranienbaum passenger list records that Alexander Morbius came from the German region of Lothringen.
- 1834 Hölzel Census (Household No. 21).
- 1834 Seelmann Census (Household No. 46).
- 1850 Hölzel Census (Household No. 42).
- 1850 Seelmann Census (Households No. 19, 135, 156).
- 1857 Hölzel Census (Household No. 51).
- 1857 Seelmann Census (Household No. 172).
- Idt, Andreas and Georg Rauschenbach. Auswanderung deutscher Kolonisten nach Russland im Jahre 1766 (Moscow: Idt & Rauschenbach, 2019): 32.
- Idt, Andreas and Georg Rauschenbach. Deutsche Kolonisten im Jahr 1766 in Oranienbaum und in den Siedlungsorten: Die Kuhlberg-Listen (Moscow: Idt & Rauschenbach, 2024): 397.
- 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): Sm19, Sm48.
- Parish register of Manderen.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 4 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2008): 154.
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): #3037, #3042, #3052.
Brent Mai
Anonymous2