Born about 1749 in Germany

Descendants

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Biography

Katharina (Pea) Schroeder is a Volga German.

Katharina (Pea) Schroeder has German Roots.

Family #50 in the 1767 Grimm census.
Family #127 in the 1775 Grimm census.
Family #144 in the 1798 Grimm census.

Anna Katharina Pea was born about 1749, probably in the Gelnhausen area of what is not Germany.

There is a Martin Schröder who married in Büdingen. His bride was "Anna Catharina Bra." ^[1] Obviously both female surnames are three letters, and some people would say that in some pronunciations, the surnames can sound similar. Researchers Dr. Brent Mai and Dona Reeves-Marquardt have confirmed that this couple who married in Büdingen was in fact the Martin and Anna Katharina Bra/Pea Schröder who settled in Grimm. ^[2] The problem is that no one really knows how Anna Katharina's last name was spelled prior to her marriage. In their book German Migration to the Russia Volga, Mai and Reeves-Marquardt show her surname spelled Bra and Grain. In the 1767, 1775 and 1798 censuses, the name is spelled Pea and Pia. The German Origins project on the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia website sheds no light on the name confusion:

"PeaFN: according to the Grimm FSL there was a single young Pea man living with a young Schroeder couple from Gelnhausen in which the young wife was also a Pea.

PeaFN: also see Bra."

The only name AHSGR Origins project does not mention is Grain.

Since Pea is the name used predominantly in the census records, her surname is spelled that way in this profile.

By the time Martin and Catharina were married, they had already decided to immigrate from Germany to Russia. Most immigrants were required to be married with children or newlyweds just starting their families. Many Volga Germans were married in Büdingen before they immigrated to Russia, as were Martin and his wife Catharina. Martin Schröder is listed in the Kulberg Reports with his wife Catharina and her brother Johann, age 18. From Büdingen, the couple and her brother made their way to Luebeck to board a ship for the first part of their journey. The trio arrived in Oranienbaum, Russia, on 19 July 1766, four months after their marriage. A little less than a year later, the group settled in Grimm, a village near the Volga River.

At the time of the first census, Martin and Katharina Schröder had a nine-month-old daughter. This means she was probably born in Oranienbaum before the German immigrants made the journey to the Volga River region. Counting backwards from August 1767 and forwards from March 1766, their first child was probably born in the November-December timeframe. This means that Katharina became pregnant soon after their marriage in Büdingen.

Living with the couple and their daughter was an aunt named Margaretha, who was 63 years old. No surname is given or her, which leads one to think it was probably Schröder, making Martin Schröder her nephew. Also living with the family was Johann Heinrich Pea, age 19, an orphan and the brother of Katharina Pea.

1767 Grimm Census ^[3]

Family # 50

Head of the Household Martin Schröder, age 22, Lutheran craftsman from Gelnhausen

Wife Katharina Pea, age 23

Child #1 Anna Margaretha Schröder, age 9 months

Aunt Margaretha, age 63

Note A surname is not given for Margaretha; it may not be Schröder unless she never married and she is a paternal aunt

Also living in the same household:

Family # 50a

Head of the Household Johann Heinrich Pea, age 19, single, orphan, lived with sister Katharina Pea, wife of Martin Schröder

By 1775, Martin and Katharina had four more children. Brother-in-law Johann Heinrich Pea was still living with the family, but Aunt Margaretha is no longer with them.

1775 Grimm Census ^[4]

Family # 127

Head of the Household Martin Schröder, age 27 [sic]

Wife Anna Katarina [sic] Schröder, age 25

Child #1 Johannes Schröder, age 2 years 6 months

Child #2 Anna Margareta [sic] Schröder, age 8

Child #3 Maria Elizabeta [sic] Schröder, age 6

Child #4 Anna Katarina [sic] Schröder, age 4

Child #5 Wilhelmina Schröder, age 3 months

Brother-in-Law Johann Heinrich Pia [?], age 23

1798 Grimm Census ^[5]

Family # 144

Head of the Household Martin Schröder, age 51

Wife Katarina [sic] Pea [?], age 49

Child #1 Johannes Schröder, age 26

Wife of Child #1 Katarina [sic] Heide Schröder, age 31

Child #2 Anna Katarina [sic] Schröder, age 24

Child #3 Anna Barbara Schröder, age 8

There were no Schröders in the 1834 census. ^[6] Grimm descendants of the Schröder family are through Martin's daughters. His son Johannes must have either had no sons or moved to another village.

Sources

1. ↑ Mai, Brent Alan, and Donna Reeves-Marquardt; German Migration to the Russia Volga (1764-1767), Origins and Destinations; American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln, Nebraska; Published 2003; page 57, #455, Martin Schroeder and Anna Catharina Bra married 20 March 1766 in Büdingen.
2. ↑ Ibid, page 57, footnote #448, Martin Schroeder and Anna Catharina Bra were from Gelnhausen, etc.
3. ↑ 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 79, family #50; page 80, family #50a.
4. ↑ 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 #127 in the 1775 census.
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 #144 in the 1798 census.
6. ↑ 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.

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