Altergott

Georg Friedrich Altergott, son of Johann Martin Altergott & Anna Maria Pfeiffer, was born in Feldrennach on 1 August 1714. He married there on 2 January 1739 to Elisabetha Gorgus, daughter of Johann Georg Gorgus & Christina Wentz. Elisabetha had been baptized on 7 January 1717 in nearby Gräfenhausen. The couple had eight known children, each of whom had been born in Feldrennach. Among those are: (1) Margaretha Barbara, born 5 July 1740 [married to Heinrich Conrad Lichtenwald ]; (2) Georg Friedrich, born 17 April 1743; (3) Ludwig Friedrich, born 13 January 1748; and (4) Johann Martin, born 12 January 1753.

They and their children immigrated to Denmark (today part of Schleswig-Holstein), departing the gathering place of Altona in the Duchy of Holstein on 3 June 1762 in a convoy under the leadership of Johannes Wenner. They arrived in the city of Flensburg, Duchy of Schleswig, on 9 June 1762. Georg Friedrich died shortly after their arrival in Denmark, sometime in 1762 or 1763.

Widow Elisabetha, her children, and their families left Denmark on 22 November 1765 and immigrated to Russia. They arrived from Lübeck at the port in Oranienbaum on 3 June 1766 aboard the galliot Adler with skipper Paul Adolph Drath at the helm. On this ship with Elisabetha was Johann Heinrich Frank and his wife Maria. At some point in the journey from Oranienbaum to the Volga colonies, Maria Frank died, and the widow Elisabetha Altergott married Heinrich Frank.

The newly combined Frank-Altergott families arrived in Dönhof on 18 June 1767. They are recorded on the 1767 Census of Dönhof in Households No. 88 (Franks & son Martin), No. 91 (Ludwig), No. 92 (Barbara), and No. 94 (Friedrich).