Waldschmidt (Keller / Ober-Monjou)
Johann Wilhelm Waldschmid, son of Heinrich Waldschmid from Hasselbach, married on 21 February 1730 in Oberreifenberg to Anna Magdalena Beltz, daughter of Johann Anton Beltz.
The baptisms of the following children born in Hasselbach to Johann Wilhelm Waldschmid & Anna Magdalena Beltz are recorded in the parish register of Oberreifenberg: (1) Johann Michael, baptized on 8 July 1731; (2) Johann Ludwig, baptized 21 October 1734; (3) Maria Eva, baptized 22 June 1741; and (4) & (5) Johann Wilhelm & Maria Ursula, baptized 26 September 1742. The two oldest sons migrated to the German colonies along the Volga River.
(1) Johannes Michael Waldschmidt married on 16 December 1751 in Oberreifenberg to Anna Maria Usinger, daughter of Johann Georg & Anna Elisabeth Usinger.
Record of the baptisms of the following children born to Johann Michael Waldschmidt & Anna Maria Usinger have been located in the parish register of Oberreifenberg: (1) Maria Elisabeth, baptized 19 September 1753; (2) Johann Georg, baptized 13 February 1756; (3) Johannes, baptized 20 May 1760; (4) Christian, born 8 May 1762, baptized 9 May 1762.
Johann [Michael] Waldschmidt, a hosier (Strumpfwirker), his wife Anna, and children (Ursula, age 16; Johann, age 11; Johannes, age 6; Christian, age 4) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 12 September 1766 aboard the English frigate Love & Unity under the command of Skipper Thomas Fairfax.
Michael Waldschmidt, his wife Anna Maria, and children (Ursula, age 16; Johann Georg, age 11, Elisabeth, age 2-days, died en route) are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Oranienbaum in 1767.
They settled in the Volga German colony of Ober-Monjou on 23 July 1767 and are recorded there on the 1767 census in Household No. 80.
Widower Michael Waldschmidt, his son Sebastian, and Sebastian's family are recorded on the 1798 census of Ober-Monjou in Household No. Om65.
Ursula Kaiser née Waldschmidt and her family are recorded on the 1798 census of Luzern in Household No. Lz31.
The 1767 census records that Johann Michael Waldschmidt came from the German village of Resfenberg [sic] in the region of Bassenheim.
(2) The baptism of the following daughter born to Ludwig & Clara Waldschmidt is recorded in the parish register of Oberreifenberg: (1) Anna Margaretha, born & baptized on 3 January 1764.
Ludwig Waldschmidt, a hosier (Strumpfwirker), his wife Clara, and children (Johann, age 8; Konrad, age 7; Anna, age 3) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 18 June 1766 aboard the hooker Anna Catharina under the command of Skipper Adolph Scharpenberg.
They settled in the Volga German colony of Keller on 12 May 1767. Widower Ludwig Waldschmidt (whose wife had died on 1 November 1767) and his children (Johann Georg, age 10; Konrad, age 8; Maria Margaretha, age 1) are recorded there on the 1767 census of Keller in Household No. 68.
Following the destruction of Keller, the Waldschmidt family resettled to the colony of Neu-Kolonie where they are recorded on the 1798 census in Household No. Nk43.
The 1767 census records that Ludwig Waldschmidt came from the German village of Reifenberg in the region of Bassenheim.
- 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): Lz31, Nk43, Om65.
- Parish register of Oberreifenberg.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet 1764-1767 Band 2 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2001): 356.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 3 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2005): 307.
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): #849, #5429.
- Rauschenbach, Georg. Deutsche Kolonisten auf dem Weg von St. Petersburg nach Saratow: Transportlisten von 1766-1767 (Moscow: G.V. Rauschenbach, 2017): #6955-6959.
Brent Mai
Anastasia Berdakov