There are two Schäfer orphans [?] that settled in the Volga German colony of Katharinenstadt on 27 August 1766. Their relationship to each other, if any, needs further research.
(1) Ulrich Schäfer (age 15) is recorded on the 1767 census of Katharinenstadt in Household No. 214.
Ulrich Schäfer (age 21), a fisherman (Fischer), and his wife Elisabeth née Molting (age 21) are recorded on the 1776 Katharinenstadt Grundbuch [Land Register] in Household No. 107.
(2) Gottlieb Schäfer (age 14) is recorded on the 1767 census of Katharinenstadt in Household No. 215.
Gottlieb Schäfer (age 20), a farmer, and his wife Elisabeth née Rediger (age 19) are recorded on the 1776 Katharinenstadt Grundbuch [Land Register] in Household No. 108.
Both the 1767 census and the 1776 Katharinenstadt Land Register record that both of these Schäfers came from the town of Den Haag in Holland. The 1776 Katharinenstadt Land Register records that Elisabeth née Molting came from the German village of Amorode in the region of Hessen-Darmstadt. The 1776 Katharinenstadt Land Register records that Elisabeth née Rediger came from the German village of Lohr near Mainz.
There are no known surviving male lines of this Schäfer family among the Volga German colonies.
- 1776 Katharinenstadt Grundbuch [Land Register] (Households No. 107, 108).
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 2 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2001): 319, 320.
Brent Mai