Maria Dorothea (Rusch) Heide (abt. 1746 - aft. 1810)

Born about 1746 in Neubrandenberg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany [uncertain]

Descendants

Died after 1810 after about age 64 in Grimm, Saratov, Russia

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Biography

Dorothea (Rusch) Heide was a Volga German.

Dorothea (Rusch) Heide has German Roots.

Family #105 in the 1775 Grimm census.

Family #45 in the 1798 Grimm census.

Birth Date and Place

• about 1746
• Neubrandenberg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany or Pommern, Germany

Parents

Marriage

• Johannes Heide
• by 1766
• Saint Petersburg, Russia

Children

• Anna Dorothea Heide, born 1767
• Maria Katarina (Heide) Schroeder, born 1769
• Georg Heinrich Heide, born 1773
• Johann Philip Heide, born 1775
• Georg Christoph Heide, born 1778, probably a twin with Louisa Margaretha
• Louisa Margaretha Heide, born 1778, probably a twin with Christoph
• Katharina Heide, born 1780
• Ernst Friedrich Heide, born 1783
• Anna Barbara Heide, born 1787
• Adolph Heide, born 1791
• Unknown Heide, born 1810

Death Date and Place

• after 1798
• Grimm, Saratov, Russia

By 1767, Dorothea Rusch was married to Johann Heide, a man 18 years her senior. She was probably the daughter of another immigrant whom he married after the death of his wife. The only child in their family was two week old Anna Dorothea. If Dorothea had a full-term pregnancy, she would have become pregnant in October of 1766, while the immigrants were still in Saint Petersburg. Minimally, her husband's first wife perished in the Russian capital, while his children may have died at any time between 15 September 1766 and August of 1767, when the first census was taken.

1767 Grimm Census ^[1]

Family # 21

Head of the Household Johannes Heide, age 39, Lutheran craftsman from Brandenburg.

Spouse Elisabeth Dorothea, age 20

Child #1 Anna Dorothea, 2 weeks old

Johannes told the 1767 census taker he was a handwerker or craftsman from Brandenburg, but he was probably from Neubrandenburg, near Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Neubrandenburg had a Scandinavian population which would account for his surname being written as von der Heide in the Kulberg Lists, which was not a common surname prefix in those records. Heide coming from Neubrandenburg doesn't square with the information in the Kulberg Reports, which say he was from Darmstadt. ^[2] The two locations are more than 400 miles apart, so we are not talking about a suburb or nearby town. That original group of travelers may have stopped in Neubrandenburg before reaching Lübeck, their port of departure for Russia, ^[3] or the Heides may have been able to join the group from Darmstadt by simply meeting up with them in Lübeck, only about 160 miles from Neubrandenburg. ^[4]

By 1775, Johann and Dorothea Heide had 5 children ranging from 8 years to 1 week old. Dorothea was probably related to Samuel Rusch (#106) and/or August Ertman Rusch (#107) who appear on the same page as Johann and Dorothea Heide in the 1767 census and immediately after Johann Heide (#105) in the 1775 census.

Samuel Rusch is included on the Kulberg Lists, but he has no daughter named Dorothea, only Helena and Catharina. ^[5] In the 1767 census, he lists a daughter named Dorothea, but she is only 10 years old. ^[6] Could he have had an older daughter with the same name? Or is there an error with the age of her daughter in the 1767 census? If there was a typographical error in her age, it may have actually been 20, and that's a match for the Dorothea Rusch who married Johann Heide. It's possible she was accidentally listed in both censuses.

The other Rusch in Grimm, August Erdmann Rusch, looks like he could be a brother to Samuel, with their ages just one year apart. August doesn't appear in the Kulberg Lists, although he does show up in the 1767 Grimm Census. ^[7] August has no daughter named Dorothea in 1775, but if his family was accidentally omitted from the Kulberg Reports, and he did have an older daughter named Dorothea, that would explain why her name was missing from the Kulberg Reports. Had she not married Johann Heide or anyone else before 1767, she likely would have appeared as a child in the entry for either Samuel's or August's family in the 1767 census.

1775 Grimm Census ^[8]

Family # 105

Head of the Household Johann Heide, age 45

Spouse Maria Dorotea, age 29

Child #1 Johann Philip, 1 week old

Child #2 Georg Heinrich, 1 year 6 months

Child #3 Anna Dorotea, age 8

Child #4 Maria Katarina, age 6

By 1798, there were 7 children living with Johann Heide and his wife. The names of three older children are missing, most likely because they married and were living in a different household. Of course this does not include the four children who did not survive the journey to Grimm.

1798 Grimm Census ^[9]

Family # 45

Head of the Household Johann Heide, age 70

Spouse Dorotea Rusch, age 52

Child #1 Georg Christof, age 20

Child #2 Ernst Friedrich, age 15

Child #3 Adolph, age 7

Child #4 Maria Katarina, age 29

Child #5 Louisa Margareta, age 20

Child #6 Katarina, age 18

Child #7 Anna Barbara, age 11

Sources

1. ↑ Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet 1764-1767, Herausgegeben von Alfred Eisfeld under Mitarbeit von Sabine Eichwald, Published by the Nordost-Instsitut - 38085 Göttingen, 2005; page 76, family #21, Johannes Heide, age 39, wife Elisabeth Dorothea, age 20, daughter Anna Dorothea, 2 weeks old.
2. ↑ Darmstadt to Neubrandenburg, 437 miles, see: https://tinyurl.com/y95o833v.
3. ↑ Googlemaps.com, Darmstadt to Lübek, 360 miles, see: https://tinyurl.com/yajakl6t.
4. ↑ Googlemaps.com, Neubrandenburg to Lübeck, 160 miles, see: https://tinyurl.com/y8juwkx6.
5. ↑ Pleve, Igor. List of Colonists to Russia in 1766, "Reports by Ivan Kulberg," Ministry of Education and Science of Russian Federation, Saratov State Technical University; Published in Saratov, Russia 2010; page 442, Samuel Rusch, Lutheran, farmer from Mecklenburg, document number 7455, wife Anna, children: Georg, 9, Christian, 9 months old, Helena, age 20, Catharina, age 8.
6. ↑ 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 76, family #22, Samuel Rusch, 68, Lutheran farmer from Pommern; wife Anna Margaretha, age 41; daughter Dorothea, age 10; son Friedrich, age 18; son Johann Georg, age 12; son Christian, age 4.
7. ↑ 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 76, family #24, August Hartmann Rusch, 70, Lutheran farmer from Pommern; wife Katharina Engel, age 40; son Ernst Christian, age 26, son August Hartmann, age 12.5, and daughter Christina, age 8.
8. ↑ 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, NE, USA; Published 1995; family #105 in the 1775 census, Johann Heide, age 45; family #45 in the 1798 census, Johann Heide, age 45, Maria Dorotea, age 29, Johann Philip, 1 week old, Georg Heinrich, 1 year 6 months, Anna Dorotea, age 8, and Maria Katarina, age 6.
9. ↑ 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, NE, USA; Published 1995; family #105 in the 1775 census, Johann Heide, age 45; family #45 in the 1798 census, Johann Heide, age 70, Maria Dorotea, age 52, Georg Christof, age 20, Ernst Ffriedrich, age 15, Adolph, age 7, Maria Katarina, age 29, Louisa Margareta, age 20, Katarina, age 18, Anna Barbara, age 11.