Johann Christian Seifert (abt. 1720 - bef. 1775)

Born about 1720 in Baden-Durlach

Husband of Augusta Maria (Unknown) Schneider — married about 1749 in Baden-Durlach

Descendants

Died before 1775 in Grimm, Saratov, Russia

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Biography

Christian Seifert is a Volga German.

Christian Seifert has German Roots.

German-Denmark-Russia

Family A23-15 in The Immigration of German Colonists to Denmark and Their Subsequent Emigration to Russia in the Years 1759-1766.

Family B-1570 in The Immigration of German Colonists to Denmark and Their Subsequent Emigration to Russia in the Years 1759-1766.

Family Rus14-54 in The Immigration of German Colonists to Denmark and Their Subsequent Emigration to Russia in the Years 1759-1766.

Family #111 in the 1775 Grimm census.

Johann Christian Seifert was born in 1720 in the Margrave of Baden-Durlach. ^[1] During that time, Germans were suffering from war and famine, and had difficulty providing for their families. He married wife Augusta Maria around 1749-1750. Their first child was born in 1751, and by 1759, the couple had four children.

In 1759, Danish King Frederick V invited Germans from Hessen and the Palantinate to help settle the area of Schleswig-Holstein, at that time under the control of the Danes. The king was interested in converting the marsh lands to arable farm land. Germans were known for their good farming skills and for being hard workers, so it seemed like a win-win situation both both Danes and Germans. Eager to provide a better life for his family, Johann Christian decided the opportunity to immigrate to Denmark was too attractive to pass up.

He departed Germany on 02 June 1761 with a group of other emigrants under the direction of Johann Peter Hornus.^[1] The group arrived in the city of Schleswig on 06 June 1761. He was traveling with his wife August Maria and five children:^[1]

• Eva Catharina, born in 1751
• Maria Louisa, born in 1752
• Johann Friedrich, born in 1754
• Johann Christian, born in 1757
• Augusta Maria, born in May 1761

On 08 August 1761, the family lived at Number 11 Frisch auf in Colony G16 Prinzenmoor in the district of Gottorf.^[1] Three years later on 10 November 1764 they lived at Number 8 Auf dem Brinck in the same district.^[1]

The marshlands were very inhospitable to the farmers. Although the Germans were good farmers with typical farm land, it was far more difficult to convert these former wetlands and grow crops. Most of the German immigrants barely reaped enough to feed their families, let alone to provide food for others in Denmark. When Catherine the Great invited Germans to immigrate to Russia, Johann Christian decided it offered him a better opportunity to provide for his family.

The family left Denmark on 22 November 1765 and are included on a list of German Danes bound for Grimm, Russia.^[1]

Christian Seifert is listed in the first census of Grimm, Russia.

1767 Grimm Census ^[2]

Family #: 27

Head of the Household: Johann Christian Seifert, age 38, Lutheran craftsman from Durlach

Wife: August Maria, age 35

Child #1: Jakob Friedrich, age 14

Child #2: Christian August, age 11

Child #3: Louisa, age 15

Child #4: Augusta, age 9

Those early years in Grimm were difficult, too, with the settlers often attacked by the Cossacks from the Ukraine and other local bandits and tribal people. One researcher tells of 1,573 settlers being kidnapped in 1774; only half were freed and the rest were killed or made slaves.

It was during this time frame that Johann Christian Seifert passed away. It's not clear exactly how he perished, but hundreds of German settlers lost their lives during battles that occurred during the early years of settlement in the Volga colonies.

By the time of the 1775 census, Johann Christian's wife Augusta Maria had remarried Adam Schneider. Only three of her children were still living with their mother and step father: ^[3]

• Johann Friedrich
• Johann Christian
• Augusta Maria

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} Eichhorn, Dr. Alexander, Dr. Jacob and Mary Eichhorn, The Immigration of German Colonists to Denmark and Their Subsequent Emigration to Russia in the Years 1759-1766; Bonn, Germany and Midland Michigan, USA; Drukerei und Verlag Steinmeier GmbH & Co. Kg, Deiningen, Germany, 2012; pages 265, 603, and 674.
2. ↑ 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 #27.
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, NE, USA; Published 1995; 1775 census, family #111; details list his wife Augusta as remarried and named his children.

See also:

• Darrel P. Kaiser (2006). Origin & Ancestors Families Karle & Kaiser Of the German-Russian Volga Colonies. Darrel P. Kaiser. ISBN 978-1-4116-9894-9. Darrel P. Kaiser (2006).

• The Center for Volga German Stuies at Concordia University, online resources, History, Denmark, see: http://cvgs.cu-portland.edu/history/denmark.cfm.

• Wikipedia, Volga Germans, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volga_Germans.

• Wikipedia, Cossacks, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cossacks.

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