Johann Melchior Bauer (1711)

Born 29 Aug 1711 in Obereisesheim, Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg

Descendants

Died [date unknown] in Shcherbakovka, Saratov, Russia

Biography

Melchior Bauer was a Volga German.

Melchior Bauer has German Roots.

Family B-59 in The Immigration of German Colonists to Denmark and Their Subsequent Emigration to Russia in the Years 1759-1766.

Family #16 in the 1767 Shcherbakovka census.

Baptism Record for Son Georg Friedrich Bauer ^{[1] [2]}

Name: Georg Friedrich Bauer

Event Type: Taufe (Baptism)

Birth Date: 20 Apr 1755

Baptism Date: 21 Apr 1755

Baptism Place: Obereisesheim, Württemberg, Deutschland (Germany)

Father: Melchior Bauer

Mother: Anna Elisabeth Bauer

Author: Evangelische Kirche Obereisesheim (OA. Neckarsulm)

City or District: Obereisesheim

Christening Records

Record #1 ^[3]

Name Johann Melchior Bauer

Gender Male

Christening Date 29 Aug 1711

Christening PlaceEvangelisch, Böckingen, Neckarkreis, Württemberg

Father's Name Hannss Michael Bauer

Mother's Name Anna Maria

Record #2 ^[4]

Name: Johann Melchior Bauer

Event Type: Taufe (Baptism)

Baptism Date: 29 Aug 1711

Baptism Place: Biberach, Böckingen, Heilbronn u. Oa, Württemberg, Deutschland (Germany)

Father: Hannß Michael Bauer

Mother: Anna Maria Bauer

Author: Evangelische Kirche Biberach ( OA. Heilbronn)

City or District: Biberach, Böckingen, Heilbronn u Oa

Johann Melchior lived during a time when many families in Württemberg were struggling to survive. The economic conditions there in the mid-1700s were poor, due to war, famine, high taxes and burdensome tithing expected by the local Church. As a shoemaker and a day laborer, Melchior had difficulty feeding his children and poor prospects for the future.

In 1759, the Danish government offered these disadvantaged Germans a chance for a new life in Denmark, helping to farm what was currently unfarmable land. Those who chose to immigrate would be given an opportunity for a brighter future via homesteaded land or through a land lottery.

Johann Melchior and Anna Elisabeth and two sons, Christoph, age 11, and Georg Friedrich, age 7, arrived in the Flensburg on 09 June 1762. ^[5] A little over a month later, he took his oath of allegiance to Denmark. The family members were considered reserve colonists. As of 05 August 1763, they lived at Wohnstelle Number 34 in Colony G18 Neubörm in the region of Gottorf. ^[5]

After nearly three years of unsuccessful farming and after Catherine the Great issued her invitation for Germans to immigrate to Russia, Georg Friedrich's family deserted Denmark and made their was to Shcherbakovka along the Volga River in Russia. The date was 27 June 1764. ^[5] Although it's not clear how the family came to be in Shcherbakovka before the main wave of German immigrants in 1766, the 1767 census states that the family arrived in their new colony on 15 June 1765.

1767 Shcherbakovka Census ^[6]

Family #: 16

Head of the Household: Melchior Bauer, age 60, Lutheran, farmer from Obereisesheim

Wife: Anna Elisabeth, age 54

Child #1: Georg Friedrich, age 14.

His older son Christoph is not named in this census, when he would have been about 16 years old. ^[6] The journey from Saint Petersburg to the Volga River was treacherous and many people did not survive. Because he was still only about 16, it seems unlikely that he separated from his family or married. He most likely did not survive the journey to their new home.

Melchior may be listed in the 1775 Shcherbakovka census, but I don't have a copy of that source to confirm. By 1798, there was no Melchior Bauer living in Shcherbakovka. ^[7] Had he survived to that year, he would have been 85 years old.

Sources

1. ↑ Lutherische Kirchenbücher, Ancestry.com. Württemberg, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1500-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Original data: Lutherische Kirchenbücher, 1500-1985. See: https://tinyurl.com/y9fdgl7q.
2. ↑ Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet 1764-1767, Band 4, Herausgegeben von Alfred Eisfeld under Mitarbeit von Sabine Eichwald, Published by the Nordost-Instsitut - 38085 Göttingen, 2005; page 249, family #16, Melchior Bauer, aage 60, Lutheran, farmer from Obereisesheim; wife Anna Elisabeth, age 54; son Georg Friedrich, age 14.
3. ↑ "Deutschland Geburten und Taufen, 1558-1898," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NXJC-M3J : 11 February 2018), Johann Melchior Bauer, 29 Aug 1711; citing ; FHL microfilm 816,315.
4. ↑ Lutherische Kirchenbücher, Ancestry.com. Württemberg, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1500-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Original data: Lutherische Kirchenbücher, 1500-1985. See: https://tinyurl.com/y8vub58e.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Eichhorn, Alexander, Dr., and Dr. Jacob and Mary Eichhorn. The Immigration of German Colonists to Denmark and Their Subsequent Emigration to Russia in the Years 1759-1766, Druck and Bindung: Druckerei and Verlap Steinmeier GmbH & Co. KG, 86738, Deiningen, Germany; Published 2012; pages 295, 341.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet 1764-1767, Band 4, Herausgegeben von Alfred Eisfeld under Mitarbeit von Sabine Eichwald, Published by the Nordost-Instsitut - 38085 Göttingen, 2005; page 249, family #16, Melchior Bauer, age 60, Lutheran, farmer from Obereisesheim; wife Anna Elisabeth, age 54; son Georg Friedrich, age 14.
7. ↑ Mai, Brent Alan; 1798 Census of the German Colonies along the Volga, Volumes 1 & 2; American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln, Nebraska; Published 1999 and 2005.