Johann Jacob Gies was a Saltzsieder (salt maker) at the Soderwerck (salt works) in Büdingen. His father Johannes Gies was also a Saltzsieder. Johann Jacob married Girtraut Böcher (daughter of Johann Wilhelm Böcher from Glauberg) in Büdingen on 24 April 1749. This couple had two children, baptized on the following dates in Büdingen: Johann Valentin, 4 June 1752; and Johann Caspar, 24 November 1754. Girtraut died on 13 July 1758. Jacob then married Anna Maria Glitscher (daughter of Joachim Glitcher) from Düdelsheim on 27 September 1759. Anna Maria had been baptized 2 February 1731 in Düdelsheim. Jacob and Anna Maria had three children. The first two were baptized in Büdingen on the following dates: Heinrich, 23 March 1761; and (Johannes) Christian, 6 October 1762. The youngest, Johann Jost, was baptized in Düdelsheim on 26 September 1765.
The family arrived in Russia on 4 July 1766. They settled in Moor and are reported there on the First Settlers List in Household #28.
Anna Maria was still living in Moor in 1798 according to the 1798 Census and is reported there in Household #4. Johann Caspar is reported in Household #16, and Johann Valentin is reported in Household #34.
- Parish records of Büdingen on Archion.de, and FHL Films #1197020 and #1197023
- Parish records of Düdelsheim on Archion.de and FHL Film #1201789
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010) p. 96
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 3 (Göttingen: Nordost-Institute, 2005): p. 162-163
- Mai, Brent Alan. 1798 Census of the German Colonies along the Volga: Economy, Population, and Agriculture (Lincoln, NE: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1999): Volume 1, pp. 725, 727, and 730.
