Meisinger

Johann Valentin Meisinger, son of Johannes & Margaretha Meisinger, was baptized in Aulendiebach on 3 March 1706. He married Anna Catharina Hart, daughter of Jacob Hart in Aulendiebach on 6 October 1734. She died and Valentin married on 3 July 1755 in Aulendiebach to Catharina Hensel. Valentin and his second wife are recorded in the parish records of Rohrbach as leaving for Russia in 1766 along with other families from the area. They arrived at the port in Oranienbaum on 4 July 1766 along with 4 children: Anna (age 24), Margaretha (age 20), Elisabeth (age 17½), and Johann (age 9). A married son, Johannes, and his wife Eva Popp also accompanied them. Valentin and his second wife evidently died in route to the colonies along the Volga.

Son Johann Heinrich is recorded on the 1767 Census of Messer in Household No. 57 as the orphan child of Valentin Messinger. Johann Heinrich was baptized in Aulendiebach on 21 October 1757. In Messer he is living with his sister Anna Margaretha and her husband Adam Lang. Anna Margaretha had been baptized in Aulendiebach on 27 November 1747.

Recorded in Household No. 58 on the 1767 Census of Messer is another sister, Anna Maria, and her husband Anton Herdt. She was baptized in Aulendiebach on 23 August 1744.

Recorded in Household No. 59 on the 1767 Census of Messer is another sister, Anna Appolonia, and her husband Johannes Geiss. She was baptized in Aulendiebach on 24 October 1737.

Another sister, Anna Elisabeth, was baptized in Aulendiebach on 19 March 1750. At age 17½, she is recorded arriving with her father and stepmother in Oranienbaum. She has not been located on the 1767 Census, but reappears on the 1798 Census in Schilling (Household No. 22) married to Johannes Kaufmann.

Valentin's oldest son, Johannes, was baptized in Aulendiebach on 11 September 1740. He married Eva Bopp, daughter of Johann Heinrich & Anna Elisabeth Bopp. She was also baptized in neighboring Rohrbach on 12 August 1740. They settled in the colony of Balzer on 18 June 1767 and are recorded there on the 1767 Census in Household No. 62 along with their newborn son, Johann Heinrich (age 3 months).

Anna Catharina Meisinger was baptized in Aulendiebach, Isenburg on 10 August 1760. She is recorded as the illegitimate daughter of Elisabeth Meisinger. Johann Ernst Popp is the alleged father. She arrived in Russia on the same ship as the other Meisinger family members. Catharina is listed on the ship list as a child, age 5, of Heinrich and Anna Geist.  This Anna Geist is the daughter of Valentin and Anna Catharina Meisinger. She is shown as a step-daughter, age 7, of Johannes and Anna Appolonia Geis in the Messer First Settlers List, family #59.