Johannes Happel (1737 - 1834)

Born 1737 in Hessen, Germany

Descendants

Died 1834 at about age 97 in Grimm, Saratov, Russia

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Biography

Johannes Happel was a Volga German.

Johannes Happel has German Roots.

Family #64 in the 1767 Grimm census.
Family #139 in the 1775 Grimm census.

Johann Happel was born about 1737, probably in the Isenburg area of what is now Germany. He married Anna Katharina before 1766. They immigrated to Russia on 29 August 1766, arriving on the Apollo", along with nearly 300 other families.

He is listed in the first census of Grimm along with his wife, Catharina, and orphan Gottlieb Sutter who they took into their home after the death of his parents.

1767 Grimm Census ^[1]

Family # 64

Head of the Household Johann Gabel, age 30, Lutheran farmer from Hessen

Wife Anna Katharina Gabel, age 20

Also living in this household:

Family # 64a

Head of the Household Gottlieb Sutter, age 13, orphan

Father Martin Sutter

Note Lives with Johannes Gabel family

The name was spelled Happel in the Kulberg Reports. In the 1767 census it was spelled Gabel, pronounced Ka-bul. By 1775, the quick pronunciation of the name caused census takers to write it as "Gapel [Happel?]." By 1834 and 1857, the spelling of the name was firmly back in the Happel corner.

1775 Grimm Census ^[2]

Family # 139

Head of the Household Johann Gapel [Happel?] [sic], age 42

Wife Anna Katharina Gapel/Gable, age 28

Child #1 Johannes Gapel/Gable, age 6 years 6 months

Child #2 Georg Christophel [sic] Gapel/Gable, age 3

Child #3 Johann Georg Gapel/Gable, age 9 months

Johannes Hapel's first wife most likely passed away prior to 1793. By 1798 he had remarried Johanna Schultz, a woman from Sarepta with a young daughter born out of wedlock. The child's biological father is unknown, and it is assumed that she used the Gabel/Gapel/Happel surname.

1798 Grimm Census ^[3]

Family # 104

Head of the Household Johannes Gapel [Happel?], age 66

Wife Johanna Schultz Gapel [Happel?] from Sarepta, age 40, second wife

Child #1 Louisa Gabel/Gapel/Happel, age 5, daughter of Johanna Schultz, born out of wedlock

Child #2 Johannes Gapel [Happel?], age 29

Wife of Child #2 Maria Barbara Jäger Gapel [Happel?], age 29, from Dietel

Grandchild #1 Georg Gapel [Happel?], age 7

Child #3 Johann Georg Gapel [Happel?], age 25

Wife of Child #2 Elizabeta [sic] Felde Gapel [Happel?], age 24

Grandchild #2 Katharina Gapel [Happel?], age 6 months

Johannes Happel's son Johannes, born about 1768, matches Johannes Happel in the 1834 census, family #126. ^[4]

This family should not be confused with the Heppel family, spelled with two E's, which was listed separately in the 1775 and 1798 Grimm census. ^[5] The Heppel family had no children to carry on the family name in Grimm.

Thus all Grimmers born after 1800 with the surname Happel were in fact descendants of Johann Happel of this profile.

Research Notes

Note: Johannes Happel traveled on the same ship from Germany to Russia as these Grimm residents:

• Valentin Prester/Brester, a stocking maker from Isenburg
• Conrad Leonard, a stocking maker from Isenburg
• Johann Happel, a stocking maker from Hessen
• Jacob Maus, a tailor from Darmstadt
• Adam Kraft, a farmer from Friedeburg
• Wilhelm Brungardt, a farmer from Friedeburg
• Johann Felde, a farmer from Darmstadt
• Johann Peter Walter, a farmer from Darmstadt
• Andreas Albrand, a farmer from Darmstadt
• Johann Valentin Kaiser, a farmer from Darmstadt
• Conrad Mueller, a farmer from Darmstadt
• Georg Waag/Wag, a farmer from Isenburg

It is an established fact that these families intermarried with each other throughout the generations in Russia. Most probably knew each other from their time in Germany.

Sources

1. ↑ Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet 1764-1767, Band 2, Herausgegeben von Alfred Eisfeld under Mitarbeit von Sabine Eichwald, Published by the Nordost-Instsitut - 38085 Göttingen, 2005; page 81, family #64 and family #64a.
2. ↑ The 1775 and 1798 Census of the German Colony on the Volga, Lesnoy Karamysh, also known as Grimm; Published by the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Published date: 1995; family #139 in the 1775 census.
3. ↑ The 1775 and 1798 Census of the German Colony on the Volga, Lesnoy Karamysh, also known as Grimm; Published by the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Published date: 1995; family #104 in the 1798 census.
4. ↑ 1834 Census of Grimm in the District of Saratov, Russia, dated 2 February 1835; Translated by Brent Mai, Concordia University, Portland, Oregon; Published by Dynasty Publishing, Beaverton, OR, USA; Published 2011; page 39, family #126.
5. ↑ The 1775 and 1798 Census of the German Colony on the Volga, Lesnoy Karamysh, also known as Grimm; Published by the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Published date: 1995; family #122 in the 1775 census and #46 in the 1798 census.