Herman Schmidt (abt. 1737)

Born about 1737 in Germany

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Biography

Herman Schmidt was a Volga German.

Herman Schmidt has German Roots.

Family #74 in the 1767 Grimm census.

Family #148 in the 1775 Grimm census.

Family #85 in the 1798 Grimm census.

1767 Grimm Census ^[1]

Family # 74

Head of the Household Herman Schmidt, age 31, Lutheran craftsman from Darmstadt

Wife Anna Maria Schmidt, age 41

Child #1 Anna Katharina Schmidt, age 7

Also part of his household:

Family # 74a

Head of the Household Katharina Margaretha Heil, age 16, orphan

Father Johann Heil, deceased

Note Lives with Herman Schmidt family

The 1775 census reveals a more complex family structure:

• Katharina Margaretha Heil was no longer living with his family. She was probably married and living with her husband's family.

• First son listed, Matthias, is by wife Katharina Schmidt. She is his second wife.

• Second child listed, Anna Katharina, is 14 years old, too old to be the daughter of 21-year-old Katharina Schmidt in this census. Ergo, she must be the daughter of a previous wife and Herman Schmidt.

• Previous wife, also his first wife, was named Anna Maria, according to the 1767 census. She was 10 years older than Herman, and she had a child by her first husband, a Mr. Eberhard. This son, Johannes Eberhard, was born in 1754. He should have been included in the 1767 census, when he was just 12 years old, but is missing. This could mean that Johannes Eberhard's father was not deceased and that the couple instead divorced. It could also be a census taker omission.

1775 Grimm Census ^[2]

Family # 148

Head of the Household Herman Schmidt, age 38

Wife Katharina Schmidt, age 21 [second wife]

Child #1 Matthias Schmidt, age 6 months, by second wife

Child #2 Anna Katharina Schmidt, age 14 years, 6 months, by first wife

Child #3 Johannes Eberhard, age 21, step-son by first wife Anna Maria

By 1798, only one child is listed as living with Herman and Katharina Schmidt: Johann Wilhelm Schmidt, born in 1776.

1798 Grimm Census ^[3]

Family # 85

Head of the Household Herman Schmidt, age 64

Wife Katharina Merkel, age 44

Child #1 Johann Wilhelm Schmidt, age 22

Wife of Child #1 Anna Barbara Groh, age 19

Herman Schmidt is not listed in the 1834 census and had most likely passed away. Had he survived, he would have been 100 years old.

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 83, family #74.
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 #148 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 #85 in the 1798 census.