There are two Staab families that settled in the Volga German colony of Katharinenstadt. Their relationship to each other, if any, needs further research. [Information previously posted here stating that Jacob Staab who was born 29 May 1740 and Johannes Staab born 1 October 1731, both in Orb, are the two individuals below is not correct.]
(1) Jakob Staab and his wife Maria arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 15 September 1766 aboard a ship under the command of Skipper Hans Karholm.
Jacob Stab [sic] and his wife Maria are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767.
Jakob, his [new] wife Magdalena, infant son Johannes, and Magdalena's mother are recorded on the 1767 census of Katharinenstadt in Household No. 134. They had arrived in Katharinenstadt on 3 August 1767.
The widow of Jakob Staab, Magdalena née Seipel, and her family are recorded on the 1798 census of Katharinenstadt in Household No. Ka075.
Son Johannes Staab and his family are recorded on the 1798 census of Katharinenstadt in Household No. Ka054.
(2) Johann Staab, son of Johannes & Maria Staab, was baptized 7 March 1759 in Orb.
Johann Staab, a farmer, his wife Maria, and children (Johann, age 7; Maria, age 7-weeks) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 12 September 1766 aboard an English frigate under the command of Skipper Adam Beerfeier.
Johann Staab, his wife Maria, and children (Johann, age 9; Maria, age ½) are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767 along with a note that wife Maria died en route.
They settled in Katharinenstadt on 3 August 1767 where they are recorded in Household No. 132 on the 1767 census.
Widow Margaretha Staab née Jonas, presumed widow of Johann Staab and her family are recorded on the 1798 census of Katharinenstadt in Household No. Ka079.
Johannes Staab, presumed son of Johann & Margaretha Staab, and his family are recored on the 1798 census of Katharinenstadt in Household No. Ka111.
In 1786, Johannes Staab and his family moved from Katharinenstadt to Saratov. He is presumed to be the pharmacist Staab recorded on the 1798 census of Kraft in Household No. Kf52.
The Oranienbaum passenger list records that Johann Staab came from the German region of Mainz.
- Kertel, Karola. Ortsfamilienbuch Bad Orb. [Online]
- 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): Ka054, Ka075, Ka079, Ka111, Kf52, Rh24, Mv1186.
- McGinnis, Sean. The Founding Families of Catharine, Kansas (2007).
- Parish register of St. Martin's Catholic Church in Orb.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 2 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2001): 304 & 305.
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): #4463, #7101.
- Rauschenbach, Georg. Deutsche Kolonisten auf dem Weg von St. Petersburg nach Saratow: Transportlisten von 1766-1767 (Moscow: G.V. Rauschenbach, 2017): #4580-4581, 6140-6143.
Sean McGinnis
Brent Mai