Sebastian Haffner, a master millwright (Mühlarzt) from Reutlingen, married on 11 January 1746 in Weingarten to Anna Maria Lotholtz, daughter of Hans Martin & Margaretha Lotholtz. She had been born 18 August 1718 in Ellmendingen.
The births of the following children born to Sebastian Haffner & Anna Maria Lotholtz have been located: (1) Margaretha, born 18 August 1746 in Weiler; (2) Anna Maria, born 8 April 1748 in Nöttingen; (3) Johann Friedrich, born 27 January 1750 in Ellmendingen; (4) Andreas, born 29 November 1752 in Bulach; (5) Juliana, born 29 January 1758 in Teutschneureut; and (6) Bernhard, born in 1760 in Ellmendingen.
[Earlier research concluded that this family was Johann Sebastian Haffner, son of Sebastian Haffner & Margaretha, who had been baptized on 26 March 1715 in the Johannes Evangelical (St. John's Lutheran) Church in Münchingen. This Sebastian married Katharina Mann, daughter of Johann Mann, on 10 November 1739 in Münchingen. Subsequent research reveals that Sebastian Haffner and his family continue in Münchingen past the time of the migration to Russia.]
Sebastian Haffner and his family immigrated to Denmark, departing from Altona, Duchy of Holstein, on 29 June 1761 with a group under the leadership of Thomas Gabler. They arrived in the city of Schleswig, Duchy of Schleswig, on 4 July 1761.
The Haffners lived in Denmark until 02 Jun 1764, when they departed to the Volga German colonies in Russia.
Sebastian Haffner (age 52), a farmer, his wife Anna Maria (age 45), and sons (Friedrich, age 15; Bernhard, age 5) are recorded on the 1767 census of Shcherbakovka in Household No. 23. They arrived in Shcherbakovka on 15 June 1765.
On the 1798 census of Shcherbakovka, descendants of this Haffner family are recorded in Households No. Sv01 & Sv52.
The 1767 census of Shcherbakovka records that Sebastian Haffner came from the German village of Elmendina [Ellmendingen].
- Eichhorn, Alexander. The immigration of German colonists to Denmark and their subsequent emigration to Russia in the years 1759-1766 (Deiningen, Germany: Steinmeier, 2012): 270, 428 & 684.
- 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): Sv01, Sv52.
- Parish register of Ellmendingen (LDS Film No. 1238357).
- Parish register of Münchingen (LDS Films No. 1056691 & 1056692).
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 4 (Göttingen: Nordost-Institut, 2008): 251.
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): 83.
Corina Hirt
Brent Mai
Dave Lutz