Johann Jacob Schmeer, son of Johannes Georg Schmeer & Otilla Seebold, was born 9 April 1728 in Heddersdorf and baptized on 11 April 1728 in the parish church in nearby Frielingen. He married on 1 October 1748 in Heddersdorf to Anna Eva Glebe, daughter of David Glebe & Margaretha Will. Anna Eva had been born in Biedebach, Kr. Hersfeld-Rotenburg, on 28 March 1724 and baptized 4 April 1724 in nearby Obergeis.
They had three children whose births in Heddersdorf are recorded in the parish register of Frielingen: (1) Johann Georg, born 25 October 1749, baptized 26 October 1749; (2) Anna Gertruda, born 25 September 1752, baptized 30 September 1752; and (3) Anna Katharina, born 16 December 1757, baptized 20 December 1757.
Johann Schmer, a farmer, and his family arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 19 July 1766 aboard the barque named Fortitudo under the command of Skipper John Scott.
They settled in the Volga German colony of Norka on 15 August 1767 and are recorded there on the 1767 census in Household No. 143.
Jakob Schmeer, his wife Anna Eva, and daughter Katharina (age 18) are recorded on the 1775 census of Norka in Household No. 4 along with his son Johann Georg, daughter-in-law Anna Maria, and granddaughter Anna Eva (age 6-weeks).
Heinrich Schmer from Norka and his family are recorded on the 1857 census of Oberdorf in Household No. 73.
Both the Oranienbaum passenger list and the 1767 census record that Johann Schmer came from the German district of Hessen.
- 1775 Norka Census (Household No. 4).
- 1857 Oberdorf Census (Household No. 73).
- 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): Nr191.
- Parish register of Frielingen (including Heddersdorf).
- Parish register of Obergeis (including Biedebach).
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 3 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2005): 267.
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): #3616.
Alexander Schmer
Brent Mai