Geier (Messer)

Johannes Geyer married Lucia Elisabeth Tritter. They had 7 children: (1) Jakob, born about 1744; (2) Christoph Daniel, born about 1746; (3) Johann Heinrich, born about 1748; (4) Amalia Wilhelmina, born about 1751; (5) Elisabetha, born about 1753; (6) Reinhard August, born about 1759; (7) Louisa, born about 1761, died 1761. Mother Lucia died in 1761.

On 24 November 1763 in Büdingen, widower Johannes remarried to Anna Elisabeth Lehning, the widow of Georg Philipp Schmick [see Schmick family from Yagodnaya Polyana]. Johann[es] Geier, a farmer, and his children (Jakob, age 24; Johann [Heinrich], age 20; Amalia, age 18; Anna [Elisabeth], age 16) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 14 September 1766. His wife, the widow Anna Schmick, was aboard the same ship along with his son Heinrich [Geier] (age 3) and her Schmick children.

Johannes Geyer [sic] and his children (Johann Jacob, age 23; Johann Heinrich, age 20; Willhelmina, age 18; Elisabeth, age 17) are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767.

The oldest Geier children (Johann Jakob, Johann Heinrich, and Wilhelmina) settled in the Volga German colony of Messer on 14 September 1767. They are recorded there on the 1767 census in Household No. 89. Johann Jakob is recorded on the 1798 census of Messer in Household No. Ms26. Johann Heinrich from Messer is recorded on the 1798 census of Galka in Household No. Gk20.

The youngest son of Johannes Geier, Heinrich Geier (age 3 above) is recorded on the 1798 census of Yagodnaya Polyana in Household No. Yp97.

Johannes Geier from Yagodnaya Polyana and his family are recorded on the 1857 census of Neu-Yagodnaya-Polyana.

The translation of the 1767 census of Messer by Dr. Igor Plehve errantly records the Geier surname as Herr.

Both the Oranienbaum passenger list and the 1767 census record that this Geier family came from the German region of Isenburg.