Jerry asked that I forward the attached to Ger-Volga via email. Fran ----- Original Message ----- From: Jerry and Fran Goertzen To: NEIL AND VICKI NUSZ Sent: Tuesday, March 08, 2011 9:19 PM Subject: Your email of 02-26-11 Immigration of Germans from Germany to......... Neil; I may be able to answer some of your questions and give you some sources for more data. In the early days, the Lords of Isenburg ruled at the Isenburg Castle and the Lords of Büdingen ruled from Büdingen Castle. The Isenburg Castle was located on the east side of the Rhine about 15 miles north of Koblenz. In 1240, Garloch II, the Lord of Büdingen died. He left no male heirs, only haveing four daughters, so his close relative, Ludwig I, the Lord of Isenburg, inherited the Castle and moved his residence there. Ludwig called the new area Isenburg-Büdingen. He and his descendants expanded the area considerably and it became the Province of Isenburg-Büdingen, part of the Grand Duchy of Hessen. At the time our ancestors left 'Germany' for Russia, Germany did not exist. It was the Holy Roman Empire consisting of many different Kingdoms, Duchys, Provinces and City States. The Holy Roman Empire ruled until 1806 and the German Empire wasn't established until 1871. Until the German Empire, there were no civil records. The only records were the church parish records. To find information on your ancestors, you need a village name. Then you have to find the parish for that village and see if it has been microfilmed for/by the LDS Family History Library. The best source for that data comes from Kevan Hansen's series "Map Guide to German Parish Registers". In your case, Isenburg is in the book "Grandduchy of Hessen, Vol I. These books are available from the publisher at < www.GermanMapGuide.com >. The publisher is Family Roots Publishing and they have many books on German History. Question 4. During the Seven Years War, 1756-1763, Count Ferdinand Casimir I of Isenburg-Büdingen helped the Russian Army and Catherine, Empress of Russia presented him with an award. Casimir in turn, invited the Russian recruiter and Commissar, Johann Facius, to set up an immigration office in Büdingen. That is where the colonists applied for their passports and visas to emigrate. The colonists also had to pay all taxes and debts that they owed. Johann Facius was the most successful of the recruiters and a large percent of the colonists went through Büdingen. I have heard of exit lists and other records that were from that time but no one seems to have found them. The church records from Büdingen have been filmed and are available but they are in German. The best source is Professor Brent Mai's "German Migration to the Russian Volga". The colonists gathered at a number of locations waiting for transport. In each town, there were births, marriages and deaths that were recorded in the various churches. Brent Mai has also translated many of those church records in this book. In your case, there are records for the Büdingen and Lübeck churches. Brent Mai also published a book on the "Transport of the Volga Germans from Orienbaum to the Colonies on the Volga". Your family is in the book, #3894 to 3901.This lists the whole family and it shows the father, Johann Jacob as dying enroute. You apparently have the before and after data of 1766 and 1767. There is also a 1775 census of Messer. For the 1798 census, I would recommend Brent Mai's "1798 census of the German Colonies along the Volga". This 2 volume set is more than just a census, it covers all the villages. The Nuss family had spread to other villages by 1798 and this shows your Georg Ernst Nuss (1750) and his family living in Dobrinka (#D 40). This set of books also include a history of each village and the religion of the village and where the parish records were. Messer had its own parish church but Dobrinka was in the Galka parish. The 1798 Agricultural census also includes each family's taxable possesions for each village in the Volga. For example, Georg Ernst Nuss (Db40) had 7 horses, 22 cows, 15 sheep, 10 swine, and 30 chickens. It also states how much he harvested from his 1797 crops of rye, wheat, oats, potatoes, etc. There are many good books on the German and Volga history but the most comprehensive ones I found are: "Catharine to Khrushchev" by Adam Geisinger, The German Russians, those who came to Sutton (Neb)" by James Greiss and "Wir Wollen Deutsche Bleiben" by George Walters (in English). All of the books mentioned are available from: < www.ahsgr.org > If you want later Volga information, Brent Mai is translating and publishing the census records for the 1800s. Brent has the 1834 and 1857 census reports for Dobrinka also the 1834, 1850 and 1857 census records for Messer. These records are available from < [email protected] >. If you are looking for internet information, the best is from the Center for Volga German Studies at the Concordia University and is under the leadership of Professor Brent Mai. They have an excellent website at < www.cvgs.cu-portland.edu >. I hope this helps you and other people interested in their family history from the Volga Germans. Becoming familiar with sources materials is very like a "return to college" but so interesting readings and no final exam! Jerry Goertzen