There are three Grün families from the German village of Wolf that immigrated to Russia.
(1) Andreas Grün, son of Johannes Grün (b.1699) and Anna Elisabeth Heylmann, was born in Wolf, Büdingen, Oberhessen (Germany) on 17 August 1732. He married there on 12 March 1761 to Maria Anna Appolonia Hart, daughter of Johannes Hart (1706 - 13 November 1747) and Anna Dorothea Trieber (1708 - 17 December 1747). Andreas and Appolonia had 2 children in Germany before leaving for Russia: Wilhelm Friedrich (b. 3 October 1762) and Christina (b. 28 July 1765).
Andreas Grün, a farmer, his wife Appolonia, and children (Wilhelm, age 4; Christina, age 1) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 4 July 1766 aboard the English frigate Love & Unity under the command of Skipper Thomas Fairfax.
These two children are presumed to have died either in Germany or en route to the Volga, because the couple is recorded on the 1767 census of Balzer (Household No. 67) without children. They had arrived in Balzer on 18 June 1767.
Andreas is a cousin of Johann Heinrich Grün who settled in Kutter.
The Oranienbaum passenger list records that Andreas Grün came from the German region of Isenburg.
(2) Johann Heinrich Grün, son of Andreas & A. Elisabeth Grün, was baptized on 7 April 1724 in Wolf. He married there on 30 January 1755 to Anna Dorothea Hart, daughter of Johannes & A. Dorothea Hart. She had been baptized also in Wolf on 6 October 1733. Their daughter, Anna Catharina, was also baptized there on 10 February 1756.
Heinrich Grün, a farmer, his wife Dorothea, and children (Katharina, age 11; Johann, age 6) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 19 July 1766 aboard the barque named Fortitudo under the command of Skipper John Scott.
This boy must have died in route to the colonies along the Volga because only the parents and daughter arrived in Kutter on 16 August 1767 where they are listed on the 1767 Census in Household No. 81.
Johann Heinrich is a cousin of Andreas Grün who settled in Balzer.
(3) Johann Caspar Grün, son of Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Grün (5 July 1711 - 6 June 1773) & Anna Margaretha Noß (4 December 1712 - 22 April 1773), was baptized on 13 December 1738 in Wolf near Büdingen. He married there on 3 November 1763 to Gertrude Elisabeth Geiß, daughter of Heinrich David Geiß & Eva Katharina Hencken.
Johann Kaspar Grün and his wife Gertruda arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 10 August 1766 aboard the Russian pink Vologda under the command of Lieutenant Sergey Bartenyev.
They arrived in Norka on 15 August 1767 and are recorded there on the 1767 Census at Household No. 32.
Kaspar Grün and his family are recorded on the 1775 census of Norka in Household No. 206.
The Oranienbaum passenger list records that Karpar Grün was a tailor while the 1767 census records that he was a craftsman (Handwerker).
- 1775 Norka Census (Household No. 206).
- Bonner, Wayne H. Volga German Settlers Identified in Isenburg and Other German Church Records Part I (Gardena, CA: Wayne Bonner, 2007): 33, 42.
- Kaiser, Darrel P. Origin & Ancestors : Families Karle & Kaiser of the German-Russian Volga Colonies (Corpus Christi, TX: Darrel P. Kaiser, 2006), 285-291.
- Mai, Brent Alan. 1798 Census of the German Colonies along the Volga (Lincoln, NE: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1999): Bz050, Kt38, Nr038, Nr148, Nr215.
- Parish register of Wolf (included with those of Dudenrod and Pferdsbach).
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 1 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 1999): 91.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 2 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2001): 496.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 3 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2005): 237.
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): #1721, #3711, #4864.
Wayne Bonner
Darrel P. Kaiser
Brent Mai
Joanne Krieger