Three children of Johann Caspar Walther of Eisenhammer immigrated to Russia. They arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 19 July 1766 aboard a barque named Fortitudo (Fortitude) under the command of Skipper John Scott.
(1) Johann Georg Hartmann Walther & Anna Gertraud Fuchs, daughter of Johannes Fuchs of Schlierbach, married in Schlierbach on 9 February 1758. The parish register of Hellstein records the baptism of their son Anthon on 11 June 1758.
Hartmann Walter, a farmer, his wife Gertruda, and son Anton (age 8) arrived in Oranienbaum.
They settled in the Volga German colony of Göbel on 20 August 1767 are recorded there on the 1767 census in Household No. 3.
(2) Johann Heinrich Walther & Maria Juliana Rödiger, daughter of Johann Peter Rödiger, married in Eisenhammer on 31 August 1744. The Hellstein parish register records the baptisms of eight of their children: (1) Johanna Elisabeth, baptized 15 November 1744; (2) Johann Heinrich Peter, baptized 24 January 1747; (3) Anna Gertraud, baptized 26 December 1750, died 2 March 1751; (4) Maria Christina, baptized 23 January 1752, died 13 December 1756; (5) Adam Philipp, baptized 27 April 1755; (6) Anna Margaretha, born 21 June 1758, baptized 25 June 1758; (7) Charlotte, born 18 October 1761, baptized 25 October 1761; and (8) Johann Georg Hartmann, born 22 January 1764, baptized 29 January 1764.
Heinrich Walter, his wife Julianna, and children (Johann, age 19; Konrad, age 17¼; Philipp, age 11; Margaretha, age 8; Charlotta, age 5¼; Hartmann, age 3) arrived in Oranienbaum.
They settled in the Volga German colony of Göbel on 20 August 1767 and are recorded there on the 1767 census in Household No. 8 along with Heinrich's new wife Appolonia.
Widower Peter Walter moved from Leichtling to Göbel. Peter Walter from Leichtling is recorded on the 1798 census of Göbel in Household No. Gb32.
Andreas Walter, son of Peter Walter, and his wife Katharina Holzmann are recorded on the 1798 census of Leichtling in Household No. Lg11.
Philipp Walter and his family are recorded on the 1798 census of Göbel in Household No. Gb17 along with a note that son Heinrich is working as a shepherd in the colony of Semenovka.
Philipp Walter's son Adam is recorded on the 1834 census of Göbel in Household No. 47 along with a note that he relocated to the colony of Katharinenstadt in 1827.
The 1850 census of Leichtling records that Peter Walter moved from Leichtling to Semenovka.
(3) Anna Catharina Walther & Johann Heinrich Fuchs, son of Johannes Fuchs from Schlierbach, were married in Schlierbach on 13 February 1758.
They settled in the Volga German colony of Norka and are recorded there on the 1767 census in Household No. 39. [See Fuchs Family of Norka.]
The Oranienbaum passenger list records that these Walter families came from the German region of Isenburg. The 1767 census records that these Walter families came from the German village of Schlierbach.
It should be noted that these Walter families are recorded as Catholic in the Facius List, the Oranienbaum passenger list, and the 1767 census. However, the marriages and children's baptisms are recorded in registers of the Protestant parish of Hellstein.
- 1834 Göbel Census (Household No. 47).
- 1834 Leichtling Census (Household No. 55).
- 1850 Leichtling Census (Household No. 90).
- Decker, Klaus-Peter, Büdingen als Sammelplatz der Auswanderung an die Wolga 1766 (Büdingen: Geschichtswerkstatt Büdingen, 2009): 117.
- Idt, Andreas and Georg Rauschenbach. Auswanderung deutscher Kolonisten nach Russland im Jahre 1766 (Moscow: Idt & Rauschenbach, 2019): 32.
- Idt, Andreas and Georg Rauschenbach. Deutsche Kolonisten im Jahr 1766 in Oranienbaum und in den Siedlungsorten: Die Kuhlberg-Listen (Moscow: Idt & Rauschenbach, 2024): 480.
- List of those recruited by Johann Facius from 13 November 1765 to 18 February 1766.
- 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): Gb13, Gb17, Gb32, Gb58, Lg11, Mv1556.
- Parish register of Hellstein (which includes the villages of Schlierbach & Udenhain).
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 2 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2001): 38, 39.
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): #3757, #3758.
Maggie Hein
Brent Mai
Max Weinbinder