Michael Prinz was born about 1749 most likely near Forth, Kr. Erlangen-Höchstadt, Bayern (at that time: Forth, Reichsstadt Nürnberg, Heiliges Römisches Reich) where his father Andreas Prinz is listed in 1767 Volga records coming from German village of Forth in the Nürnberg region.[1]
He is recorded having married Rosina (Meisner) and they are listed in Lauwe, Volga, census records.
Forth (Eckental), Kr. Erlangen-Höchstadt, Bayern in Bavaria, Germany[3][4][5]
Andreas Prinz, a farmer, his wife Maria, and children (Michael, age 17; Anna, age 11) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 12 September 1766 aboard a ship under the command of Skipper Heinrich Sager.
Andreas Printz [sic], his wife Juliana, and children (Michael, age 19; Anna, age 12) are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767 along with a note that his wife Juliana died en route.
They settled in the Volga German colony of Lauwe on 5 September 1767 and are recorded there on the 1767 census in Household No. 18.
The 1767 census records that Andreas Prinz came from the German village of Forth in the Nürnberg region.
Prinz Surname
Prinz name and origin - In German to English translation, it means “the first”, and descendants of this area are referred to as Prinz or Prince. The name be also be found as Prenz.[6]
German born Russian ruler Catharine II invites foreigners to settle in Russia. Guaranteed privileges: free land, travel, religious freedom, and exemption from military, and no taxes for 30 yrs.
Mass Settlement Volga River in Russia
1764 - 1773 • Saratov, Russia
Mass settlement in the Volga region near the city of Saratov: creation of 104 German colonies.
Lauwe, Russian name Jablonovka, on the East or Wiesenseite of the Volga River, was founded in 1767 by German colonists.
Michael Prinz, age 18 was most likely a first settler based upon first settlers list.
Lauwe was founded on 19 August 1767 by colonists recruited by LeRoy & Pictet. The original 41 families were from Nüremberg, Baden, Darmstadt, Neu-Isenburg, the Palatinate, the Rheinland, Saxony, and Brandenberg. Laub was named in honor of its first leader, Johann Lauwe.
Lauwe was one of the villages that was looted during the 1774 uprising by Pugachev.
During the famine in 1921, there were 94 people who died in Lauwe.
Today, what remains of the Volga German former colony of Lauwe is known as Yablonovka.
Church: The original founders of Lauwe were Lutheran.
1798 Census Register - Lauwe (Jablonowka), Kukkus, Samara, Russia (Volga German Colonies) Michael Prinz, age 49
1811 Russian Census - Michael Prinz age 62, Household 3 in Lauwe, with son Johann Gottlieb, age 32 and his sons: Johann Michael, age 12, Johann Konrad, age 10, and Heinrich Konrad, age 4[9]
1816 • Lauwe, Jablonowka, Samara, Russia
1816 Census Register - Lauwe (Jablonowka), Kukkus, Samara, Russia (Volga German Colonies) Michael Prinz, age 66
1834 • Lauwe, Jablonowka, Samara, Russia
1834 Census Register - Lauwe (Jablonowka), Kukkus, Samara, Russia (Volga German Colonies) Michael Prinz, died 1822
Hein, Maggie. Volga German researcher: 22 Jan 2022:
You stated a very specific origin location for the Prinz settler in Lauwe – “Forth (Eckental), Kr. Erlangen-Höchstadt, Bayern”. If I search Meyers-Orts for places called “Forth” and then limit that to places called Forth that are in Bavaria, there is one: “Forth, Erlangen, Mittelfranken, Bayern”. In Archion there are files that seem to match that place name listed under “Bayern: Landeskirchliches Archiv der Evang.-Luth. Kirche > Dekanat Erlangen > Forth”. As I mentioned in our Facebook conversation, I don’t see the Andreas Prinz family there.
In Meyers-Orts, if I do a “sounds like” Forth, and limit that to Bavaria, I get some other options, including multiple places in Bavaria called “Furth” or “Fürth”. There is a city called Fürth very close to Nürnberg. That is not a small place – it has 4 Protestant parishes according to the Meyers-Orts entry. I took a very quick pass through the ones that had an index within the books and no luck.
So, you seem to have two options here. (1) Assume that the place name is correctly spelled “Forth” and that it is somewhere in Bavaria (based on the reference to Nürnberg). That leaves you with only one place – Forth in Dekanat Erlangen. You could start going through adjacent parishes, or (2) you could assume that it is a misspelling of Fürth and that they are from somewhere in Dekanat Fürth (the one near Nürnberg).and start going through those parishes.
I don’t have a good sense of what “Nürnberg” territory would have been in 1766. There are a lot of places called “Furth” or “Fürth” in Bavaria, and I don’t know how many of them are close enough to Nürnberg to have been considered part of that region.
↑ American Historical Society of Germans From Russia Germanic Origins Project; "PrinzFN: said by the Lauwe FSL to be fromUC Forth, Nuernburg. PrinzFN: also see Brenz".
↑ 1811 - 34 Colonies in Russia Village Census Records, Translated by Dr. Mila Koretnikov Rastatt, Germany, Edited by Kevin D. Rupp Hays, Kansas, American Historical Society for Germans from Russia, Lincoln, Nebraska. Copyright 2021. Prinz, Michael 1811 Lauwe: Page 228, Lines 6069-6073.
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Michael by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA.
However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line.
It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Michael: