VGI Updates

Johann Schwerdt, a farmer, and his wife Maria arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 4 July 1766 aboard the English frigate Love & Unity under the command of Skipper Thomas Fairfax.

Johann Schwerdt and his wife Maria Christina are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767.

They settled in the Volga German colony of Paulskaya on 7 June 1767 where he is recorded on the 1767 census in Household No. 11 along with his new wife Christina and her daughter Dorothea [surname not recorded] (age 18).

Heinrich Stitz, a farmer, and his wife Maria settled in the Volga German colony of Paulskaya on 7 June 1767 and are recorded there on the 1767 census in Household No. 40.

The 1767 census records that Heinrich Stitz came from the German village of Wepblank [?].

There are no known surviving male lines of this family among the Volga German colonies.

Nikolaus Dussold, a single mason, arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 12 September 1766 aboard an English frigate under the command of Skipper Adam Beerfeier.

Nicholaus Dussold is recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767.

He evidently setttled in Paulskaya. In 1789, Nikolaus Tusolt went insane and disappeared from Paulskaya.

The Oranienbaum passenger list records that Nikolaus Dussold came from the German region of Bamberg.

An article by Hermann Wäschke records the following:

Johann Martin Wartmann, a tenant farmer (Halbspänner) from Quellendorf, who moved there from Oster-Nienburg in 1754, with wife and 3 children (one son & two daughters). Gottfried Selle from Zehmitz bought his farm with one Hufe plowed land and furnishings for 110 Thlr. His debts of 73 Thlr. 3 Gr. were paid, and the remaining 36 Thlr. 21 Gr. were sent to the ducal government.

Zacharias Weydenhammer [sic] and his wife Maria are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767.

Zacharias Weidenhammer, a carpenter (Zimmermann), and his wife Maria settled in the Volga German colony of Paulskaya on 7 July 1767 and are recorded there on the 1767 census in Household No. 33 along with his widowed mother-in-law Maria Werner (age 58).

Recorded on the 1776 Katharinenstadt Land Register in Household No. 116:

Johann Martin Wiedemach, a silk weaver (Seidefabrikation), and his wife Julianna are recorded there on an appendix to the 1767 census of Paulskaya in Household No. 75 along with a note that they settled in the colony of Paulskaya in 1768.

The 1767 census records that Johann Martin Wiedemach came from the German region of Sachsen (Saxony).

There are no known surviving male lines of this family among the Volga German colonies.

Jakob Bauer, a farmer, and his wife Katharina settled in the Volga German colony of Norka on 15 August 1767 and are recorded there on the 1767 census in Household No. 41.

The 1767 census records that Jakob Bauer came from the German region of Isenburg.

Johann Georg Bauer, a maker of gloves, his wife Anna, and daughter Anna (age one-month) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 19 July 1766 aboard the barque named Fortitudo under the command of Skipper John Scott.

Georg Bauer, a craftsman (Handwerker), and his wife Anna Margaretha settled in the Volga German colony of Norka on 2 September 1767. They are recorded there on the 1767 census in Household No. 194 along with stepchildren (Johann Just Messer, age 8; Elisabeth Messer, age 5), whose deceased father was Johannes Messer.

Johann Bauer, a tailor, his wife Antonetta [sic], and children (Johann, age 16; Katharina, age 6) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 29 July 1766 aboard the ship Apollo under the command of Skipper Friedrich Detleff Mörenberg.

Johann Georg Bauer, his wife Anna Netta [sic], and children (Johann Georg, age 14; Anna Catrina, age 8) are recorded on a list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767 along with a note that father Johann Georg Bauer died en route.

Johann Georg Bauer, a musketeer from Dudenrod, obtained special permission to marry Anna Louisa Sittner, daughter of Thomas Sittner from Pferdsbach "in der Stille" [quietly]. They were married in the parish church in Wolf on 18 June 1759. Their “quiet” [not public] marriage was due to the birth of an illegitimate son.