Sinner (Balzer)

Spelling Variations: 
Sinner (Balzer)
Синнеръ (Balzer)
Зиннеръ (Balzer)
Settled in the Following Colonies: 
Discussion & Documentation: 

Johannes Sinner, son of Sebastian Sinner, was baptized 2 September 1714 in Fischborn. He married in Fischborn on 11 December 1737 to Anna Maria Sauer, daughter of Henrich & Charlotte Sauer. She had been baptized 15 January 1715 in Fischborn.

The baptisms of several children of Johannes Sinner & Anna Maria Sauer are recorded in the parish register of Fischborn: (1) Anna Elisabeth, baptized 11 February 1741; (2) Johann Henrich, baptized 3 July 1738; (3) Ernestina Charlotta, baptized 16 March 1743; (4) Johann Conrad, baptized 8 August 1746; (5) Johann Georg, baptized 9 July 1749; (6) Anna Margaretha, baptized 23 March 1752; (7) Johannes, baptized 12 August 1755; and (8) Johann Heinrich, baptized 25 January 1758.

Eldest daughter Anna Elisabeth Sinner married 19 April 1766 in Büdingen to Johann Heinrich Becker from Fischborn. [See Becker Family.]

Johann Sinner, a farmer, his wife Anna Maria, and children (Konrad, age 23; Johann Georg, age 20; Anna Margaretha, age 15; Johann, age 12; Johann Heinrich, age 8) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 9 August 1766 aboard the pink Slon under the command of Lieutenant Sergey Panov.

Father Johann Sinner died after arrival in Russia. Widow Anna Maria Sinner and the children settled in the Volga German colony of Balzer on 8 August 1767. Widow Anna Maria Sinner, a farmer's wife, and her children ([a] Johann Konrad, age 23; [b] Johann Georg, age 20; [c] Anna Margaretha, age 18; [d] Johannes, age 15; [e] Johann Heinrich, age 12) are recorded on the 1767 census of Balzer in Household No. 102.

[a] Johann Konrad & [b] Johann Georg Sinner are presumed to have died in Balzer before the 1798 census. The following two men may be their descendants (or sons of Johannes below [d]):

In 1797, Johann Heinrich Sinner moved from Balzer to Norka. Heinrich Sinner (age 23) from Balzer and his family are recorded on the 1798 census of Norka in Household No. Nr094.

Johann Adam Sinner (age 17) and his sister Anna Maria Sinner (age 20) are recorded on the 1798 census of Balzer in Household No. Bz100 along with a note that he is working in Kukkus. The family does not continue in Kukkus.

[c] Anna Margaretha Sinner is recorded on the 1798 census of Dönhof in Household No. Dh100 as the wife of Johannes Schmidt. [See Schmidt Family.]

[d] Johannes Sinner (age 44) from Balzer and his family are recorded on the 1798 census of Galka in Household No. Gk38.

[e] Heinrich Sinner (age 42) recorded on the 1798 census in the colony of Dreispitz in Household No. Dr03. He is presumed to be the Johann Heinrich (age 12) recorded in Balzer in 1767.

Both the Oranienbaum passenger list and the 1767 census record that this Sinner family came from the German region of Isenburg.

Sources: 

- 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): Bz100, Dh100, Dr03, Gk38, Nr094, Mv0095.
- Mai, Brent Alan and Dona Reeves-Marquardt, German Migration to the Russian Volga (1764-1767) (Lincoln, NE: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 2003): #560.
- Parish register of Büdingen.
- Parish register of Fischborn.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 1 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 1999): 103.
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): #4035.

Contributor(s) to this page: 

Brent Mai

Wayne Bonner

Pre-Volga Origin

Volga Colonies

Immigration Locations