There are two Schäfer families that settled in the colony of Stephan on 24 August 1767 that came from the German village of Wininghausen [Willingshausen]. They both arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 29 July 1766 aboard the ship Fortitude under the command of Skipper John Scott. Their relationship to each other is not recorded, but they are presumed to be brothers.
(1) Eckhardt [sic] Schäfer, a farmer, his wife Apollonia, and daughter Anna (age 5) arrived in Oranienbaum.
Gebhard [sic] Schäfer, his wife Apollonia, and daughter Anna (age ¼) are recorded on the list of those being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767 along with a note that both Apollonia and Anna died in route.
Eckhard [sic] Schäfer (age 28), a farmer, and his [new] wife Margaretha Elisabeth are recorded on the 1767 census of Stephan in Household No. 14.
Gebhardt [sic] Schäfer and his family (sons: Albertus Jakob, age 28; Johann Konrad, age 25; Johannes, age 21; Johann Heinrich, age 17; Andreas, age 14) are recorded on the 1798 census of Stephan in Household No. Sp27 along with a note that Johann Konrad is working in Kraft and Johannes is working in Grimm.
Brothers Albertus & Johann Heinrich Schäfer and their families are recorded on the 1834 census of Stephan in Household No. 69.
Heinrich Peter Schäfer from Stephan and his family are recorded on the 1857 census of Oberdorf in Household No. 13.
[Johann] Konrad Schäfer from Stephan is recorded on the 1811 census of Reinwald in Household No. 18 along with a note that he had arrived in Reinwald from Stephan in 1800.
Johannes Schäfer and his family are recorded on the 1834 census of Stephan in Household No. 88.
(2) Johann[es] Schäfer, a single farmer, arrived in Oranienbaum.
Johannes Schäfer (age 21), a farmer, and his [new] wife Anna Katharina are recorded on the 1767 census of Stephan in Household No. 15.
Johannes Schäfer and his family (sons: Johann Andreas, age 27; Johann Philipp Jakob, age 24; Johann Heinrich, age 11) are recorded on the 1798 census of Stephan in Household No. Sp35 along with a note that Johann Philipp Jakob was working in the colony of Kraft.
Brothers [Johann] Andreas & Johann Heinrich Schäfer and their families are recorded on the 1834 census of Stephan in Household No. 6.
Johann Georg Schäfer, son of Andreas Schäfer, from Stephan and his family are recorded on the 1857 census of Oberdorf in Household No. 14.
Georg Heinrich Schäfer, son of Andreas Schäfer, from Stephan and his family are recorded on the 1857 census of Oberdorf in Household No. 15.
Jeremias Schäfer, son of Andreas Schäfer, from Stephan and his family are recorded on the 1857 census of Oberdorf in Household No. 16.
The Oranienbaum passenger list records that both of these Schäfer families came from the German region of Darmstadt.
- 1811 Reinwald Census (Household No. 18)
- 1834 Stephan Census (Households No. 6, 69, 88).
- 1857 Oberdorf Census (Households No. 13, 14, 15, 16).
- 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): Bz062, Gm163, Sp27, Sp35, Mv2849.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 4 (Göttingen: Nordost-Institut, 2008): 224.
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): #3652, #3690.
- Rauschenbach, Georg. Deutsche Kolonisten auf dem Weg von St. Petersburg nach Saratow: Transportlisten von 1766-1767 (Moscow: G.V. Rauschenbach, 2017): #1976-1978.
Brent Mai