Melchior Hahn was born on 14 September 1742 in Altengronau, Schlüchtern, Hessen, Germany. Melchior is the son of Johann Nicolaus Hahn (born 1715) and Anna Maria Höhn from Vollmerz. Melchior married Anna Elisabeth Rau on 8 March 1764 in Altengronau. Anna Elisabeth was born on 14 April 1743 in nearby Elm, Schlüchtern, Hessen, Germany. A son, Johann Conrad Hahn, was born on 27 January 1765 in Marjoß, near Altengronau. Melchior worked as a herdsman on the upper Rohrbacherhof estate which was located just east of Marjoß.
Melchior, Anna Elisabeth, Johann Conrad and Anna Elisabeth's widowed mother, Anna Maria, arrived in Russia on 19 July 1766 aboard the Russian vessel Slon (Elephant).
The Hahn's arrived in Norka on 15 August 1767 and were recorded in the 1767 census as household number 148. Melchior's mother-in-law, Anna Maria Rau, is not listed in this household. It is unknown whether she died en route to the settlement area or remarried and is listed in another household.
Melchior Hahn had a sister named Eva Elisabeth Hahn who was born in Altengronau on 2 December 1744. This may be the same Eva Elisabeth Hahn who married Johannes Brill in Lübeck on 2 July 1766. The Brill families arrived in Russia on the same ship as the Hahn family.
Landeskirchliches Archiv Kassel, Schlüchtern, Marjoß, Kirchenbuch 1743-1773 on Archion.de.
Landeskirchliches Archiv Kassel, Schlüchtern, Altengronau, Kirchenbuch 1650-1759 on Archion.de.
Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): p. 264.
Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 3 (Göttingen: Nordost-Institute, 2005): p. 268.
