Susanna (Unknown) Kaiser (abt. 1730)

Born about 1730 in Hessen, Germany

Wife of Johann Ludwig David Kaiser — married about 1760 in Denmark [uncertain]

Died [date unknown] in Grimm, Saratov, Russia

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Biography

Susanna (Unknown) Kaiser was a Volga German.

Susanna (Unknown) Kaiser has German Roots.

The family is listed on page 169 on the Kulberg Reports.

Susanna was Ludwig Kaiser's first wife. Her last name at birth is unknown at this time. She was born about 1730 in the province of Hessen.

The Kulberg Reports also show that Ludwig, a Lutheran, was a farmer from Hessen, Germany. Frankenbach is in what is now the State of Hesse. ^[1]

The Germans in Denmark who decided to go on to Russia were transported separately from those listed in the Kulberg Reports. They arrived before 1766 and were placed in a temporary village until the rest of the Volga villages were ready for the main group of German colonists. To my knowledge, a list of these immigrants is not available to current researchers, if it exists at all. Since Ludwig appears to be listed both in Denmark records and the Kulberg Reports, it's possible that he left Denmark and returned to Germany before deciding to emigrate to Russia in 1766. This would result in him being listed in documentation for both groups.

By the time he immigrated to Russia, he was married with two children.^[1] At that time, he said his last previous home was in Frankenbach, Hesse.^[1] His transport document number was 2424. ^[1] He departed Luebeck on the Galliot "Die Fortuna," with the skipper Peter Stahl. ^[1] They arrived in Oranienbaum on July 4, 1766. ^[1] They remained there for approximately one year before traveling to Grimm in July of 1767. ^[1]

In The Immigration of German Colonists to Denmark and Their Subsequent Emigration to Russia in the Years 1759-1766, his age is given as 21 in 1761. ^[2] That would make his birth year 1740. This source also lists him as single, ^[2] but we know from the Volga German Transportation List and Kulberg Reports that in 1767 he was married with two children. ^{[3] [1]} He must have married in Denmark shortly after his arrival, which allowed for him to have a child born in 1759. This child would have been 7 years old in 1766, when the Kulberg Reports were originally created. ^[1] The list also includes the name of his wife, Susanna, and two daughters, Margaretha, 8, and Maria, 2. ^[1]

The Volga German transport list, however, does not list Margaretha, the oldest daughter who at this time would have been nine years old. ^[3] It's possible she died in Oranienbaum, but we cannot be sure from these records. The transport list adds a son, Johann Kaeyser, who was 1 year 3 months old and died enroute to Grimm. ^[3] Daughter Maria also perished before reaching Grimm. ^[3]

According to Dr. Brent Mai, many Germans perished on the journey to their new colonies along the Volga. There were also deaths from raiding Mongols and other nomadic tribes who lived in the Volga area and battled the settlers for their land.

By 1770, Ludwig Kaiser had married Eva Maria Reisig and their first child was born in 1771.

1775 Grimm Census ^[4]

Family # 45

Head of the Household Ludwig Kaiser, age 36

Wife Eva Maria Kaiser, age 26

Child #1 Johann Michael Kaiser, age 2

Child #2 Eva Katharina Kaiser, age 4

The Kulberg Reports show that she arrived in Russia with her husband, Ludwig, and two young daughters (see page 169). Another child was born to the couple while they waited in Oranienbaum to be transported to the Volga region. By the time they made their way to Grimm, however, the youngest daughter had perished and the older daughter was not accounted for, also probably dead.

Because Susanna and her son Johann do not appear in the 1775 census, it is likely that they both passed away prior to 1770. The 1775 census tells us that her husband had remarried and had a new daughter in 1771.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9} 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 169, Ludwig Kaiser, Lutheran farmer from Hessen, document 2424, wife Susanna, children Margaretha, 8, and Maria, 2.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Eichhorn, Alexander, Dr., and Dr. Jacob and Mary Eichhorn. The Immigration of German Colonists to Denmark and Their Subsequent Emigration to Russia in the Years 1759-1766, Druck and Bindung: Druckerei and Verlap Steinmeier GmbH & Co. KG, 86738, Deiningen, Germany; Published 2012, Ludwig Kaiser,
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Transport of the Volga Germans from Oranienbaum to the Colonies on the Volga 1766-1767. Translated and edited by Brent Alan Mai; Published by the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1998.
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 #45 in the 1775 Grimm census, Ludwig Kaiser family.