Johannes Schmidt, a farmer, his wife Katharina, and children (Johann, age 14; Ursula, age 11; Heinrich, age 1¼) arrived from Lübeck via Reval [Estonia] at the port of Oranienbaum on 24 May 1766 aboard a pinque named Лапоминк (Lapomink - a Russian river) under the command of Lieutenant Dmitry Krykov.
Johann Biersack, a a hosier (Strumpfwirker), his wife Susanna [widow Theirauch], and his brother Philipp (age 23) arrived from Lübeck via Reval [Estonia] at the port of Oranienbaum on 24 May 1766 aboard the pink named Лапоминк (Lapomink) under the command of Lieutenant Dmitry Krykov.
Johannes Birsack (age 28), a farmer, his wife Susanna, and daughter Appolonia (age ½) are recorded on the 1767 census of Keller in Household No. 58. They had arrived in Keller on 12 May 1767.
Christoph Gutmann, son of Johannes & Elisabetha Guttman, was baptized in Büdingen on 5 July 1744. Christina Elisabetha Geÿer, daughter of Wilhelm Ludwig & Maria Margaretha Geÿer, was baptized in Büdingen on 30 April 1741.
Christoph Guthmann, son of Johannes Guthmann from Büdingen, & Christine Eliesabethe Geÿer, daughter of the deceased Wilhelm Ludwig Geÿer a tanner (Rothgerber) from Büdingen, were married on 8 April 1766 in the Lutheran Church of Büdingen.
Johann Adam Sturm, son of Johannes & Anna Dorothea Sturm, married on 8 May 1753 in Oberreifenberg to Susanna Verrhoff, daughter of Conrad & Anna Catharina Verrhoff.
The baptisms of the following children born to Johann Adam Sturm & Susanna Verrhoff are recorded in the parish register of Oberreifenberg: (1) Maria Eva, baptized 19 March 1754; (2) Johann Jacob, baptized 27 August 1756; (3) Anna Margaretha, baptized 20 February 1759; (4) Johannes, born 4 June 1762, baptized 5 June 1762; and (5) Catharina, born & baptized 6 August 1765.
Ernst Fochs [sic], a farmer, his wife Anna, and children (Anna, age 7; Johann age ¼) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 22 July 1766 aboard a barque named Der Junge Mattias (The Young Mattias) under the command of Skipper Johann Gottfried Selander.
They settled in the Volga German colony of Dehler on 1 July 1767. Arnestus, a farmer, his wife Elisabeth, and daughter Elisabeth (age 8) are recorded on the 1767 census of Dehler in Household No. 8.
Johann Heinrich Vest, son of Johann Philipp & Amalia Vest, was born 30 October 1719 and baptized 1 November 1719 in Oberreifenberg.
Two Brendel families are recorded on the 1767 census of the Volga German colonies. They both came from the German village of Reifenberg in the Bassenheim region, but their exact relationship to each other, if any, needs further research.
(1) Johannes Kaspar Brendel was born 13 December 1691 in Oberreifenberg. He married on 4 April 1712 to Anna Maria Dieter [?].
Today, Reifenberg is divided into Niederreifenberg and Oberreifenberg, and administratively part of the municipality of Schmitten, northwest of Frankfurt. When the Volga Germans left for Russia in the 1760s, Reifenberg was part of an area controlled by the Counts of Bassenheim. In 1803, it became part of the Duchy of Nassau, and in 1868 became part of the district of Usingen. Today, it is located in the German State of Hessen.
Gemünden is located about 40 kilometers down the Main River from Würzburg, today in the German State of Bayern (Bavaria).