VGI Updates

There are three Grün families from the German village of Wolf that immigrated to Russia.

(1) Andreas Grün, son of Johannes Grün (b.1699) and Anna Elisabeth Heylmann, was born in Wolf, Büdingen, Oberhessen (Germany) on 17 August 1732. He married there on 12 March 1761 to Maria Anna Appolonia Hart, daughter of Johannes Hart (1706 - 13 November 1747) and Anna Dorothea Trieber (1708 - 17 December 1747). Andreas and Appolonia had 2 children in Germany before leaving for Russia: Wilhelm Friedrich (b. 3 October 1762) and Christina (b. 28 July 1765).

Johann Nikolaus Fuchs, son of Johann Franz Fuchs & his first wife Elisabeth Katharina Eicher, was born 29 December 1728 in the German village of Merxheim. Johann Nikolaus married Anna Elisabeth (surname unknown), and they raised their family in Martinstein, across the river from Merxheim.

The births of 5 of their children are recorded in the parish register of Martinstein: (1) Anna Eva, born 9 May 1752; (2) Johann Nikolas, born 25 May 1756; (3) Johann Philipp, born 19 May 1759; (4) Maria Catharina, born 29 April 1762; and (5) Johann Wilhelm, born 3 September 1765.

Johann Eberhard Fuchs, a censor in Pferdsfeld, Germany, is the grandfather of Johann Georg Fuchs who was born in approximately 1733 in Merxheim, and died in 1802 in Hussenbach. His ancestors came from neighboring Pferdsfeld.

Johann Georg Fuchß, son of Franz Fuchß, married on 24 November 1761 in Offenbach-am-Glan to Friederica Magdalena Greßer, daughter of Valentin Greßer. Friedrica had been baptized on 11 April 1741 in Ilgensheim, Rheingrafen von Grumbach Territory.

Johann Jakob Eurich (records in Germany sometimes record the spelling as Euring) was a vintner (Weingärtner) from Kettenbach im Taunus. He married in Gelnhausen on 5 December 1740 to Anna Christina Hubert, daughter of Hans Georg Hubert. They have the following children, each born in Gelnhausen: (1) Susanna Maria, born 21 August 1746; (2) Susanna Elisabeth, born 24 April 1749; (3) Johann Heinrich, born 4 September 1750; (4) Katharina, born 20 January 1752; (5) Johann Adam, born 26 December 1754; and (6) Anna Margaretha, born 13 November 1757.

Ludwig Christoph Dietz, son of Johannes and Anna Magdalena Dietz, was baptized on 21 March 1710 in Eichelsdorf. He married Anna Elisabeth Götz, daughter of Hans Heinrich Götz, on 9 June 1747. The baptism of one son, Johann Christian, is recorded on 2 May 1749 in Eichelsdorf.

Ludwig, Anna Elisabeth, and Johann Christian arrived at the port of Oranienbaum on 14 September 1766 aboard a ship under the command of Skipper Reders.

They settled in the Volga German colony of Yagodnaya Polyana on 16 September 1767 and are recorded there on the 1767 Census in Household No. 75.

Andreas Damm, son of Johannes Georg Damm & Catharina Eisen, was born 23 September 1739 in Bühl, southwest of Baden-Baden (today in the state of Baden-Württemberg).

Andreas Damm, a blacksmith, his wife Margaretha, and son Johann (age 1¼) arrived from Lübeck at the port in Oranienbaum on 19 July 1766 aboard a Russian packet-boat named Severnyi Orel (Northern Eagle) under the command of Lieutenant Pyotr Malenkov.

Johann Jakob Damm, son of Johann Nicolaus & Anna Elisabetha Damm, was born on 25 July 1731 in Kriegsfeld in the Kurpfalz (now in Rheinland-Pfalz) northwest of Mannheim.

He immigrated to Denmark (Schleswig-Holstein) in 1760.  He married Catherina Elisabeth Heinrich and they and their two children (Johann Heinrich, b. 1761, and Anna Christina, b. 1763).  In 1763, they joined the immigrated to Russia and settled in the colony of Schilling. They are recorded there on the 1775 Census of Schilling in Household No. 42.

Jacob Balthasar Binder, son of Caspar Binder, married Margaretha Doebele, daughter of Friedrich Doebele, on 10 Oct 1728 in the Evangelical Church in Erlenbach, about 4 kilometers northeast of Heilbronn city, in Baden-Württemberg.

Franz Heinrich Becker Sr., son of Johann Peter Becker, married on 11 February 1745 in the Fränkisch-Crumbach Evangelical (Lutheran) Church to Elisabetha Daab, daughter of Benedict Daab. Elisabetha had been born on 24 January 1726 in Brensbach, a village 4.3 kilometers north of Fränkisch-Crumbach.

Johann Simon Becker married Susanna Wetzel in 1746 in the Reformed Church of Dannstadt.

They had three known children, each born in Dannstadt: (1) Johannes, baptized 28 November 1751; (2) Georg Adam, born 20 November 1757, baptized 27 November 1757; and (3) Heinrich, born 15 March 1762.