VGI Updates

Widow Barbara Pfenning and her children (Johann, age 20; Friedrich, age 16; Johann, age 11; Anna, age 3) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 8 August 1766 aboard a ship under the command of Skipper Heidemann.

They settled in the Volga German colony of Norka. Son Friedrich Pfenning appears on the 1798 census of Norka in Household No. Nr099.

The Oranienbaum passenger list records that Barbara Pfenning came from the German district of Birburg.

There are two Prester families that traveled together to Russia, settled in the colony of Norka, and whose descendants moved to the colony of Grimm. Their relationship to each other, if any, needs further research.

Adam Preuss arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 9 August 1766 aboard the Russian galliot Strelna under the command of Lieutenant Sornev. 

He settled in the Volga German colony of Norka on 15 August 1767 and is recorded there on the 1767 census along with his new bride and her sister in Household No. 98. 

The Oranienbaum passenger list records that Adam Preuss is a hosier (stocking maker) while the 1767 census records that he is a farmer. Both documents record that he came from the German district of Isenburg.

Johannes Printz, son of Michel Printz, was born 31 January 1739 in Rothenbergen and baptized 4 February 1739. Elisabetha Stumpf, daughter of Michel Stumpf, was born 17 August 1737 in Rothenbergen and baptized on 25 August 1737.

Johannes Printz & Elisabetha Stumpf married in Rothenbergen on 14 April 1763. The birth & baptism of one child is recorded in Rothenbergen: Catharina, born 28 September 1764, baptized 30 September 1764. 

The parish register of St. Jacob's Lutheran Church in Lübeck records the marriage of Johann Kaspar Schleuning, tailor (Schneider) from the area of Stolberg, and Elisabeth Gebel [sic], from the area of Hessen-Darmstadt, on 11 July 1766.

Johann Kaspar Schleuning and his wife Elisabeth [Schneider] arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 29 July 1766 aboard the ship Apollo under the command of Skipper Friedrich Detloff Mörenberg. Elisabeth Schneider's parents are also recorded on this ship.

There are two Schleicher families that settled in the Volga German colony of Norka. Their relationship to each other, if any, needs further research.

Heinrich Eberling, a farmer, and his wife Katharina arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 31 May 1766 aboard the pink Slon under the command of Lieutenant Sergey Panov.

The settled in the Volga German colony of Preuss on 12 May 1767 and are recorded there on the 1767 census in Household No. 48 along with their newborn daughter Katharina.

The 1767 census records that Heinrich Eberling came from the German village of Stierstadt.

Widow Anna Preisach settled in the Volga German colony of Preuss on 15 July 1767. She is recorded there on the 1767 census in Household No. 133. There are no known surviving male descendants of the Preisach family so this surname does not continue among the Volga German colonies.

The 1767 census records that Anna Preisach came from the German village of Stierstadt in the Kurmainz.

There are two Glock families that settled in the Volga German colony of Preuss on 15 July 1767.  They had both arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 18 June 1766 aboard the ship Die Junger Friederika under the command of skipper Christian Korsholm.

(1) Johann Nikolaus Glock, a farmer, and his wife Susanna (along with her son from a previous marriage, Heinrich Messer) immigrated to Russia. Only Susanna and her son survived the journey and are recorded on the 1767 census of Preuss in Household No. 132.