Johann Weidemann, a farmer, his wife Anna, and children ([a] Heinrich, age 21; [b] Johannes, age 18; Charlotta, age 15; [c] Dorothea, age 10¼; Elisabeth, age 4) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 2 August 1766 aboard an English frigate named Love & Unity under the command of Skipper Thomas Fairfax.
Johann Weidemann, his wife Margaretha, and children (Conrad, age 21; Johannes, age 18½; Charlotta, age 15½; Dorothea, age 11) are recorded on a list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767 along with a note that father Johann died in route.
[a] Heinrich Weidemann (age 36 [sic]), a tailor (Schneider), his wife Appolonia, and his sister Dorothea (age 11) are recorded on an appendix to the 1767 census of Kaneau in Household No. 4 along with a note that they settled in the colony of Hockerberg in 1768.
The 1767 census records that Heinrich Weidemann came from the German village of Hetzbach.
[b] Johann Wiedemann [sic] (age 19), a farmer, and his wife Anna Christina settled in the Volga German colony of Philippsfeld on 3 August 1767. They are recorded there on the 1767 census in Household No. 46.
The 1767 census records that Johann Wiedemann [sic] came from the German region of Ansbach.
[c] Dorothea Weidemann (age 11) is recorded on an appendix to the 1767 census of Kaneau in Household No. 4 along with her brother Heinrich.
The Oranienbaum passenger list records that Johann Weidemann came from the German region of Hessen.
There are no known surviving male lines of this Weidemann family among the Volga German colonies.
- Idt, Andreas and Georg Rauschenbach. Auswanderung deutscher Kolonisten nach Russland im Jahre 1766 (Moscow: Idt & Rauschenbach, 2019): 33.
- Idt, Andreas and Georg Rauschenbach. Deutsche Kolonisten im Jahr 1766 in Oranienbaum und in den Siedlungsorten: Die Kuhlberg-Listen (Moscow: Idt & Rauschenbach, 2024): 668.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 2 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2001): 264.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 3 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2005): 412.
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766 (Saratov: State Technical University, 2010): #5305.
- Rauschenbach, Georg. Deutsche Kolonisten auf dem Weg von St. Petersburg nach Saratow: Transportlisten von 1766-1767 (Moscow: G.V. Rauschenbach, 2017): #3418-3423.
Brent Mai