Johann Valentin Melchert (son of Johannes Melchert and Catharina Elisabeth Gilbert) was born in Wehrda on 28 Feb 1728. Anna Margaretha Hämelmann (daughter of Johann Daniel Hämelmann and Anna Elisabeth Grun) was born in Wehrda on 26 Jun 1732 (she is the half-sister of the wife of Johannes Wagner). They married in Wehrda in 1754. They had three children prior to emigrating to Russia: Johann Valentin, born 21 Aug 1756 (died 1 Dec 1760), Anna Elisabetha, born 14 Jul 1758, and Johann Daniel, born 4 Jun 1761 (died 1 Nov 1763).
The family arrived in Russia on 14 Sep 1766. They are reported on the Walter First Settler’s List in Family #22. The surname is generally spelled Melcher in later records.
Four Melcher families from Walter relocated to Brunnental in 1859.
- Parish records of Wehrda on Archion.de.
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010) p. 405
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 4 (Göttingen: Nordost-Institute, 2008): p. 302