Maria Elizabeth (Volkmar) Prester (abt. 1736 - bef. 1834)

Born about 1736 in Hessen, Germany

Descendants

Died before 1834 before about age 98 in Schauffhausen, Volga Region, Russia

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Biography

Maria Elizabeth (Volkmar) Prester was a Volga German.

Maria Elizabeth (Volkmar) Prester has German Roots.

Document #5196 on page 330 in the Kulberg Reports.
Family #152 in the 1767 Norka census.
Family #140 in the 1775 Norka census.

Maria Elisabeth's last name at birth is taken from the birth record of her son Johann Jacob Priester: Volkmar. There is a chance that it was misspelled and could also be: Volker, Volmer, or Vollmer, to name a few alternatives. Her son Johann Jacob was born in Lübeck, prior to the family's departure to Russia. The child is not, however, listed in the Kulberg Reports, nor in the first census of Norka in 1767. This indicates that the boy died shortly after birth or, if he was omitted from the Kulberg Reports, along the journey from Lübeck to the Volga River colonies.

Birth Record of Son Johann Jakob Priester ^[1]

Name: Nicolaus Priester

Gender: männlich (Male)

Spouse: Maria Elisabeth Volkmar

Child: Johan Jacob Priester

Date: 17 July 1766

Parish as it Appears: St. Jacobi

City or District: Lübeck

Film Number: 326169

According to the Kulberg Reports, Maria Elisabeth and her family traveled from Hessen, Germany to Russia. They traveled with their daughter Catharina Elisabeth, age 13, on document number 5196. They left Luebeck on the ship the Apollo, commanded by Detlov Merberg, and arrived in Russia on 29 August 1766. ^[2]

Because she and her husband were born in the 1720s-1730s, it suggests that they may have had additional, older children who may or may not have traveled with them to Russia. We already know at least two of her husband's brothers were with him, although they ended up in different villages.

Evidence discovered by the German Origins Project reveals that Nicolaus Prester lived for a time in Norka, which coincides with what we know about his brother Valentin and his family, before Valentin moved to Grimm. I was unable to find the family in the Volga German transport list, but they obviously arrived in the Volga colonies at some point.

1767 Norka Census ^[3]

Family # 152

Head of the Household Nicolaus Prester, age 40, Reformed, farmer from Hesse

Wife Maria Elisabeth Prester, age 31

Child #1 Katharina Elisabeth Prester, age 14

1775 Norka Census ^[4]

Family # 140

Head of the Household Nikolaus Prister [sic], age 48, should be Prester

Wife Elisabeth Prister [sic], age 38, should be Prester

Child #1 Katharina Prister [sic] Guno [sic], age 19, should be Gukon

Husband of Child #1 Jakob Guno [sic], age 25, should be Gukon

Schaffhausen (Volkovo) was on the east side of the Volga River, an area that was predominantly Catholic. Two of her husband NIcolaus' brothers lived in Grimm, on the west side of the Volga River, the area that was predominantly Lutheran or Reformed Lutheran. Her daughter Katharina Elisabeth's second husband moved his family to Schaffhausen in 1786. ^[5] Some sources state that the Nikolaus Bristel listed in the 1798 Norka supplemental census details is in fact Nikolaus Prester. This record states that he moved his family to Schaffhausen in 1792. ^[6] Nikolaus Prester is not listed in the 1798 Schaffhausen census, nor is he listed in any other Volga German village census taken that year. ^[7] This record shows his Nicolaus's wife, Maria Elisabeth, as living with her daughter and her family. She is not listed as a widow, but that is the implication.

1798 Schauffhausen Census ^[8]

Family #Sh41

Head of the Household Johannes Helzer, age 52, from Norka

Wife Katharina Prester Helzer, age 46, from Norka, divorced from Jakob Gukon

Child #1 Valentin Helzer, age 5

Child #2 Heinrich Helzer, age 3

Child #3 Margaretha Helzer, age 14

Child #4 Anna Maria Helzer, age 9

Child #5 Nikolaus Gukon, age 25, stepson, father Jakob Gukon

Wife of Child #5 Maria Schneider Gukon, age 20, from Norka

Grandchild #1 Johann Heinrich Gukon, age 1 year 6 months

Child #6 Johann Heinrich Gukon, age 21, father Jakob Gukon

Child #7 Katharina Gukon, age 18, father Jakob Gukon

Mother-in-Law Maria Elisabeth Prester, age 64, Katharina's mother, wife of Nikolaus Prester from Norka

Maria Elisabeth was likely deceased before the 1834 census was taken. Had she survived, she would have been 98 years old.

Sources

1. ↑ Ancestry.com. Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1500-1971 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Nicolaus Priester, father of Johan Jacob Priester, 17 July 1766, Lübeck, Germany.
2. ↑ Pleve, Igor, Lists 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 330, document number 5196, Nicolaus Prester, Reformed Lutheran, farmer from Hessen, wife Maria Elisabeth, daughter Catharina Elisabeth, age 13.
3. ↑ Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet 1764-1767, Band 3, Herausgegeben von Alfred Eisfeld under Mitarbeit von Sabine Eichwald, Published by the Nordost-Instsitut - 38085 Göttingen, 2005; page 270, Nicolaus Prester, age 40, reformed farmer from Hesse.
4. ↑ The 1775 and 1798 Census of the German Colony on the Volga Norka also known as Weigand; the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln, Nebraska, published 1995; page 24 of the 1775 Norka census, family #147, Nicolaus Prester family.
5. ↑ The 1775 and 1798 Census of the German Colony on the Volga Norka also known as Weigand; the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln, Nebraska, published 1995; page 24 of the 1775 Norka census, page 71, #3 Johannes Helzer family moved to Norka.
6. ↑ The 1775 and 1798 Census of the German Colony on the Volga Norka also known as Weigand; the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln, Nebraska, published 1995; page 72 of the 1798 Norka supplemental census, #48, Nikolaus Bristel family, moved to Schaffhausen in 1792.
7. ↑ Mai, Brent Alan; 1798 Census of the German Colonies along the Volga, Volumes 1 & 2; American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln, Nebraska; Published 1999 and 2005; see index.
8. ↑ Mai, Brent Alan; 1798 Census of the German Colonies along the Volga, Volumes 1 & 2; American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln, Nebraska; Published 1999 and 2005; page 887-888, family #Sh41, Johannes Helzer family.

See also:

• 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, 1998, Lincoln, Nebraska.