Johann Heinrich Martin, son of Georg Pancratius Martin & Elisabetha Schraub, was baptized 15 November 1719 in Neulußheim, across the Rhein River southeast of Speyer in what today is the German state of Baden-Württemberg. He married there on 16 February 1745 to Maria Christina Kuppinger, daughter of Johann Thomas Kuppinger & Anna Maria Bertsch. Maria Christina had been born in Neulußheim on 29 August 1725.
Johann Heinrich and Maria Christina had at least six children in Neulußheim: (1) Georg Jakob, baptized 20 December 1745 (died 5 January 1746); (2) Anna Elisabeth, baptized 5 November 1747 (died in June 1749); (3) Andreas, baptized 10 August 1750; (4) Maria Christina, baptized 3 December 1752; (5) Georg Adam, baptized 7 October 1755; and (6) Johann Thomas, baptized 14 December 1758.
The Martin family immigrated to Denmark [Schleswig-Holstein], departing from Altona, Duchy of Holstein, on 12 March 1761. They arrived in the city of Schleswig on 17 March 1761 with several other families from Neulußheim and are recorded on 8 August 1761 in the colony of Friderichsau. They are recorded again in April 1762 in the same colony, but had exchanged homesteads with Peter Meisner. In June 1763, Johann Heinrich and his family voluntarily left Friderichsau and emigrated to Russia.
In route to Russia, Johann Heinrich died, and his widow married Johann Gottlieb Melzer. They arrived in the colony of Holstein on 26 May 1765 and are recorded there on the 1767 Census in Household No. 13.
Son Georg Adam Martin is recorded on the 1798 Census still in the colony of Holstein in Household No. Ho02. His brother Thomas is recorded in the 1798 Census of Galka in Household No. Gk01.
Reinhard Martin from Holstein and his family are recorded on the 1857 census of Oberdorf in Household No. 31.
- 1857 Oberdorf Census (Household No. 31).
- Eichhorn, Alexander. The immigration of German colonists to Denmark and their subsequent emigration to Russia in the years 1759-1766 (Deiningen, Germany: Steinmeier, 2012): 512, 670, 675.
- 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): Ho02, Ho21, Ho48, Gk01, Gk60, Mv0907.
- Ockert, Wolfgang. Ortssippenbuch Altlußheim (2003).
- Parish records of Altlußheim (LDS Films No. 1189158 & 1189161).
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 2 (Göttingen: Nordost-Institut, 2001): 128.
Allison Wysocki
Brent Mai