Johann Heinrich Burbach was born in Obersotzbach, Birstein, Hessen, Germany and baptized on 14 May 1722 in the nearby parish church located in Unterreichenbach. He was the son of Johann Georg Burbach and Susanna Verneuler.
Johann Heinrich married Anna Justina (surname unknown) about 1743 in Unterreichenbach. At least three children were born to Johann Heinrich and Anna Justina in Obersotzbach: Melchior, baptized on 17 Dec 1747; Johann Heinrich, baptized 23 Aug 1753; and, Lorenz, baptized 30 Sep 1756.
Johann Heinrich, Anna Justina, and their sons Melchior, Johann Heinrich and Lorenz arrived in Russia on 29 Aug 1766 aboard a Lübeck ship commanded by Johann Schkott.
Heinrich died en route to the settlement area on the lower Volga River. Anna Justina, Johann Heinrich and Lorenz arrived in the colony of Norka on 26 Aug 1767 and were recorded as household 185 in the 1767 census. Anna Justina later married the widower Friedrich Lehl who was recorded in household 186 in 1767. Melchior originally settled in Kraft on 18 Aug 1767 and was recorded as household 72 in 1767. He joined his family in Norka in 1768.
Landeskirchliches Archiv Kassel, Kreis Gelnhausen, Unterreichenbach Kirchenbuch 1662-1770 on Archion.de.
Decker, Klaus-Peter. Die Auswanderung von 1766/67 aus der Grafschaft Ysenburg-Büdingen nach Russland (Büdingen: Geschichtswerkstatt Büdingen, 2015): p. 104.
Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): p. 239.
Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 3 (Göttingen: Nordost-Institute, 2005): p. 278-279.
Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 2 (Göttingen: Nordost-Institute, 2005): p. 411.
Rauschenbach, Georg. Deutsche Kolonisten Auf Dem Weg Von St. Petersburg Nach Saratow (Moscow: 2017): p. 139.
Stumpp, Karl. The Emigration from Germany to Russia in the years 1763 to 1862. (Lincoln, NE: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1982): p. 123.
