There are two Schmidt families from the French village of Evendorff that settled in the Volga German colony of Kamenka. Their relationship to each other, if any, needs additional research.
(1) The births of the following children born to Johannes Schmidt & Margaretha Püttlinger of Evendorff are recorded in the parish register of Kirschnaumen: (1) Maria, born 13 May 1749; (2) Johannes, born 28 July 1751; (3) Anna Maria, born in May 1754; and (4) Gabriel, born 24 March 1756.
There is also evidence of additional children born to Johannes Schmidt & Margaretha Püttlinger of Evendorff:
[a] The parish register of Kirschnaumen records that Nikolaus Schmidt of Evendorff, son of Johannes Schmidt & Margaretha Püttlinger, married on 28 February 1764 to Maria Laumersfeld.
Nikolaus Schmidt, a farmer, his wife Maria, and daughter Susanna settled in the Volga German colony of Kamenka on 6 July 1765. They are recorded there on the 1767 census in Household No. 39.
The 1767 census records that Nikolaus Schmidt came from the village of Sierck.
There are no known surviving male lines of this Nikolaus Schmidt family among the Volga German colonies.
[b] Pierre Mellinger (age 27), son of Jacob Mellinger of Sierk[-les-Bains], married on 11 January 1763 in Sierck-les-Bains to Suzanne Schmit (age 28), daughter of Jean Schmit & Margritte Püttlinger of Evendorff. [See Mehlinger Family.]
Widow Margaretha Schmidt, a farmer's wife, and her children (Johannes, age 18; Anna Maria, age 15; Gabriel, age 12) settled in the Volga German colony of Kamenka on 6 July 1765. They are recorded there on the 1767 census in Household No. 25.
Johannes Schmidt and his family are recorded on the 1798 census of Kamenka in Household No. Km038.
Gabriel Schmidt and his family are recorded on the 1798 census of Kamenka in Household No. Km014.
The 1767 census records that Margaretha Schmidt came from the town of Saarlouis.
(2) The parish register of Kirschnaumen records that Gabriel Schneider & Margaretha Hensgen had the following children: (1) Johannes Bernhard, born 5 November 1750 in Evendorff; (2) Susanna Schneider, born 15 September 1753 in Kirschnaumen; (3) Anna, born 27 August 1756 in Kirschnaumen; and (4) Anna Maria, born 23 January 1759 in Kirschnaumen.
Father Gabriel Schneider died 16 December 1758 in Kirschnaumen.
Widow Margaretha Schneider née Hensgen remarried on 26 December 1760 in Kirschnaumen to Nikolaus Astgen. [See Astian Family.]
Nikolaus Astian, a farmer, his wife Margaretha, son Nikolaus (age 5), and [step-]children (Johannes [Schneider], age 19; Susanna [Schneider], age 16; Anna [Schneider], age 13) arrived in the Volga German colony of Kamenka on 6 July 1765. They are recorded on the 1767 census of Kamenka in Household No. 43.
There are no known surviving male lines of this Gabriel Schmidt family among the Volga German colonies.
- 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): Km014, Km038.
- Parish register of Kirschnaumen.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 2 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2001): 221, 225.
Brent Mai
Cilian (Wolgadeutsche.net Forum)