Two Heldt families 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. They also settled together in the Volga German colony of Philippsfeld on 3 August 1767. They are presumed to be father and son, but further research is need to confirm this relationship.
(1) Michael Heldt, a farmer, his wife Anna, and children (Anna, age 16½; Johann, age 9) arrived in Oranienbaum.
Michael Heldt, his wife Anna Maria, and children ([a] Anna Margaretha, age 15; [b] Johannes, age 6) are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767.
They are recorded on the 1767 census of Philippsfeld in Household No. 25.
[a] Anna Margaretha Lies née Heldt and her family are recorded on the 1798 census of Philippsfeld in Household No. Pp06.
[b] Johannes Heldt and his family (including sons Heinrich & Johannes) are recorded on the 1798 census of Philippsfeld in Household No. Pp04.
Johann Heinrich Heldt and his family are recorded on the 1834 census of Philippsfeld in Household No. 10.
Johannes Heldt and his family (including son Johannes [junior]) are recorded on the 1834 census of Philippsfeld in Household No. 19.
Johannes Heldt [junior] and his family are recorded on the 1857 census of Philippsfeld in Household No. 41 along with a note that he and his second son Johann Ludwig moved to Rosental in 1856.
Johann Gottfried Heldt, son of Johannes Heldt [junior], and his family are recorded on the 1834 census of Philippsfeld in Household No. 52.
Johann Gottfried Heldt and his family are recorded on the 1857 census of Philippsfeld in Household No. 82 along with a note that they moved to Rosental in 1856.
Gottfried Heldt and his family are recorded on the 1857 census of Rosental in Household No. 28 with his father recorded in Household No. 29 and a note that they had both arrived from Philippsfeld on 5 November 1856.
(2) Herrmann Heldt, a farmer, and his wife Anna arrived in Oranienbaum. They are recorded on the 1767 census of Philippsfeld in Household No. 42.
Herrmann Heldt & Anna Catharina Dietrich had been married on 15 July 1766 in the Lutheran Cathedral (Evangelische Kirche Dom) in Lübeck.
Herrmann Heldt and his family are recorded on the 1798 census of Paulskaya in Household No. Pp08.
There are no known surviving male lines of this Held family among the Volga German colonies.
The Oranienbaum passenger list records that both Michael & Hermann Heldt came from the German region of Hessen. The 1767 census records that they both came from the German village of Hirschfeld in Hessen.
- 1834 Philippsfeld Census (Households No. 10, 19, 47).
- 1857 Philippsfeld Census (Households No. 18, 19, 20, 21, 41, 78, 82).
- 1857 Rosental Census (Households No. 28, 29).
- 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): 676.
- 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): Pp04, Pp06, Pp08.
- Mai, Brent Alan & Dona Reeves-Marquardt. German Migration to the Russian Volga (1764-1767): Origins and Destinations (Lincoln, NE: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 2003): #179.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 3 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2005): 408, 412.
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): #5370, #5371.
- Rauschenbach, Georg. Deutsche Kolonisten auf dem Weg von St. Petersburg nach Saratow: Transportlisten von 1766-1767 (Moscow: G.V. Rauschenbach, 2017): #3526-3529.
Brent Mai