Reiswig (Norka / Stephan / Walter)

There are three Reiswig families from villages in the Niedermittlau parish that settled in the Volga German colonies of Norka, Stephan, and Walter. Their relationship to each other, if any, needs further research.

(1) Conrad Reuswig, son of Andreas Reuswig, was born 4 March 1716, and baptized 6 March 1716, in Neunhaßlau (part of the Niedermittlau Parish). On 21 April 1740, he married Anna Margaretha Sell, daughter of Michael Sell, in Rothenbergen (part of the Gründau Parish). Anna Margaretha Sell was born in Rothenbergen and baptized 14 March 1717. The baptisms of six children were recorded in the Gründau parish records: (1) Catharina on 14 December 1742; (2) Michael on 24 January 1746; (3) Catharina on 19 April 1748; (4) Johann Peter on 3 February 1751; (5) Johann Heinrich on 17 May 1756; and (6) Johann Peter on 14 October 1760.

The family immigrated to Russia, arriving from Lübeck at the port in Oranienbaum aboard the pink Slon under the command of Lieutenant Sergey Panov on 9 August 1766.

They settled in the Volga German colony of Norka on 15 August 1767 and are recorded there on the 1767 Census in Household No. 75.

Heinrich Reiswig, believed to be the son of Conrad, and his family are recorded on the 1798 census of Messer in Household No. Ms14.

(2) The marriage of Johannes Reiswig, a widower, and Anna Catharina (surname unclear), is also recorded in the Niedermittlau parish records on 3 February 1757.  The births of two children are also recorded in Neuenhaßlau: (1) Johann Georg, born 11 November 1757 and baptized 13 November 1757, and (2) Anna Margaretha, born 9 May 1762 and baptized 16 May 1762.

Johannes and his family arrived from Lübeck at the port in Oranienbaum aboard a ship under the command skipper John Scott on 29 August 1766.

The parents survived the trip to the Volga German colony of Walter, and are recorded there on the 1767 Census in Household No. 46.

(3) According to a publication by the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia titled "File on Those Colonists Departing in 1773; also about their dispatch to Saratov under escort of Kontora Cavalry Seargeant-Major Gomolka and the discharge of several colonists upon payment; No. 25882," the Conrad Reiswig family was from the German village of Hailer.

They arrived in St. Petersburg from Lübeck aboard a ship under the command of Skipper Martin Friedrich Marcau on 29 May 1773.

This document records:

Conrad Reiswig, 39, from Hailer in Isenburg, Reformed, farmer
wife: Anna Maria, 35
son: Ernst Christian, 7
daughter: Anna Margaretha, 2

Conrad Reußwig, son of Johann Georg Reußwig, was born on 1 February 1734 in Niedermittlau, and baptized 7 February 1734. Anna Maria Reuter, daughter of Johann Heinrich Reuter, was born 17 September 1739, and baptized 20 September 1739. The couple was married on 26 February 1761 in Niedermittlau. Their son, Ernst Christian, was born in Gondsroth on 14 November 1766, and baptized on 16 November 1766. Their daughter, Anna Margaretha, was born in Gondsroth on 14 October 1771, and baptized on 20 October 1771.

This family is recorded on the 1798 census of the Stephan in Household No. Sp14.

Johann Georg Reiswig from Stephan and his family are recorded on the 1857 census of Gnadentau.

Another Reiswig family is also affiliated with Norka.

Johann Peter Reiswig, a bleacher (Bleicher), his wife Katharina Elisabeth, and daughters (Anna Maria, age 14; Christina Margaretha, age 6) are recorded on the 1767 census of Laub in Household No. 54 along with a note that they relocated to the colony of Norka in 1768. They had settled in Laub on 19 August 1767. The 1767 census records that this Johann Peter Reiswig came from the German region of Frankfurt am Main.