Johann Christoph Wasam, a son of Johannes & Anna Katharina Wasam, was born on 4 June 1725 and baptized on 6 June 1725 in the Meisenheim Evangelical Church, about 39 kilometers north of Kaiserslautern, in Rheinland-Pfalz. He married Maria Charlotta Hermann, a daughter of Philipp Hermann and Maria Susanna Korn, in 1748 in Meisenheim. Maria Charlotta had been born on 29 June 1724 and baptized on 3 July 1724 in Otterberg, 30 kilometers south of Meisenheim.
They had ten children, each baptized in Meisenheim: (1) Maria Katharina, on 10 December 1748; (2) Johann Peter, on 20 February 1750; (3) Christoph, on 24 August 1751; (4) Susanna Maria, on 9 September 1753; (5) Johannes, on 19 November 1754; (6) Johann Nikolaus, on 24 February 1756; (7) Anna Elisabetha, on 3 October 1757; (8) Johann Daniel, on 30 May 1759; (9) Maria Elisabetha, on 3 September 1761; and (10) Johann Andreas, on 29 May 1764.
Christoph Wasen [sic], his wife Charlotta, and sons (Christoph, age 15; Johann, age 12; Nikolaus, age 10; Daniel, age 7; Andreas, age 2) [it is not known why the daughters are not recorded] arrived from Lübeck at the port in Oranienbaum on a vessel commanded by Hans Karholm on 15 September 1766.
Christoph Wasen, his wife Charlotta, and children (Susanna, age 18; Christoph, age 16; Susanna [again], age 13; Johann, age 12; Nikolaus, age 10; Daniel, age 7; Elisabeth, age 6; Andreas, age 2) are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767 along with a note that mother Charlotta, daughter Elisabeth, and sons Daniel & Andreas all died en route.
They arrived in the Volga River area on 3 August 1767 and are recorded on the 1767 census in a list of Beauregard's recruits (No. 5). By this time, Christoph is remarried to Elisabeth and also have her daughter Katharina Schwab (age 12) in their household.
Johann Christoph's descendants are recorded on the 1798 census of Zürich in Households No. Zr05, No. Zr26, and No. Zr29. [Household No. Zr29 incorrectly records this surname as Basel in some translations.]
Descendants of Johann Christoph Wasem are recorded on the 1834 census of Zürich in Households No. 17, 35, & 101.
The 1767 census records that Christoph Wasen came from the German village of Breitenheim which is located a few kilometers southwest of Meisenheim..
Some published translations record this surname as Wasen or Wassen.
- 1834 Zürich Census (Households No. 17, 35, 101).
- 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): Zr05, Zr26, Zr29.
- Parish register of Meisenheim (LDS Films No. 193979, 193980, & 975061).
- Parish register of Otterberg (LDS Film No. 488742).
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 4 (Göttingen: Nordost-Institut, 2008): 350.
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): #7046.
- Rauschenbach, Georg. Deutsche Kolonisten auf dem Weg von St. Petersburg nach Saratow: Transportlisten von 1766-1767 (Moscow: G.V. Rauschenbach, 2017): #4374-4383.
Corina Hirt
Brent Mai
Pre-Volga Origin
Volga Colonies
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