There are three Ruhl families that settled in the Volga German colony of Köhler on 21 August 1767. Their relationship to each other, if any, needs further research.
They all arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 13 September 1766 aboard the hooker Die Jungfer Dietrika under the command of Skipper Christian Korsholm.
(1) Zacharius Ruhl, a weaver, his wife Elisabeth and daughters (Anna Maria, age 11; Barbara Katharina, age 2) arrived in Oranienbaum.
Zacharias Ruhl, his wife Elisabeth, and daughters (Anna Maria, age 16; Barbara Catrina, age 2) are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767 along with a note that daughter Barbara Catrina died en route.
Zacharius Ruhl (age 40), a weaver (Weber) and his family are recorded on the 1767 census of Köhler in Household No. 30.
(2) Lorenz Ruhl, a farmer, his wife Maria Barbara, and daughter Anna Barbara (age 3) arrived in Oranienbaum.
Lorentz Ruhl and his wife Maria Barbara are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767 along with a note that Maria Barbara died en route.
Lorenz Ruhl (age 34), a farmer and his wife Katharina are recorded on the 1767 census of Köhler in Household No. 33.
(3) Philipp Ruhl, a weaver, and his wife Maria Sabina arrived in Oranienbaum.
Philip Ruhl and his wife Anna Sabina are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767.
Widower Philipp Ruhl (age 34), a farmer, is recorded on the 1767 census of Köhler in Household No. 34.
The Oranienbaum passenger list records that all three of these Ruhl families came from the German region of Fulda. The 1767 census records that all three of these Ruhl families came from the German village of Herbstein in the Fulda region.
- 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): Kl70, Kl71.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 2 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2001): 367, 368.
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): #5700, #5701, #5743.
- Rauschenbach, Georg. Deutsche Kolonisten auf dem Weg von St. Petersburg nach Saratow: Transportlisten von 1766-1767 (Moscow: G.V. Rauschenbach, 2017): #2590-2591, 2595-2600.
Brent Mai