Johann Leonhard Hellmuth, son of Matthias Hellmuth, married Anna Christina Frey on 19 October 1727 in Heidelberg. They had, at least, three sons: (1) Johann Peter, born 11 October 1728, and baptized 14 October 1728 in the Heiliggeist Evangelical Church; (2) Johann Michael, born 18 February 1731, and baptized 20 February 1731 in the same church; and (3) Johann Christoph, born 3 March 1735, and baptized on 5 March 1735 in the Wieblingen Evangelical Church.
The three brothers, who had already married, immigrated to Denmark (Schleswig-Holstein), departing from Altona, Duchy of Holstein, on 31 October 1760. They arrived in the city of Fridericia, Jutland, on 11 November 1760. While living in Denmark, Johann Peter and his wife had a daughter, Anna Christina, in 1761; Johann Michael and his wife had a daughter, Anna Margaretha, who was born 7 January 1761; and Johann Christoph and his wife had a son named Johann Michael, also born in 1761.
The three families departed for Russia on 26 April 1763. They settled in the Volga German colony of Schilling and are recorded there on the 1775 Census as follows: Peter's widow & family in Household No. 25; Michael & family in Household No. 26; and Christoph & family in Household No. 47.
Michael Helmut is still living at the time of the 1798 Schilling census in Household No. Sg026. Other Helmut descendants are registered on the same census in Households No. Sg003, Sg013, Sg025, & Sg056. Georg Helmut (born in 1766) moved to Stahl am Tarlyk in 1792. He is recorded there in Household No. St29.
- Eichhorn, Alexander; Eichhorn Jacob & Mary. The Immigration of German Colonists to Denmark and Their Subsequent Emigration to Russia in the Years 1759-1766 (Deiningen: Steinmeier, 2012): 248, 440/41, & 685.
- 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).
- Parish records of Heidelberg (LDS Film No. 1189250).
- Parish records of Heiliggeist (LDS Film No. 1189244).
- Parish records of Wieblingen (LDS Film No. 1189465).
- Rye, Richard. The 1775 Census Revision of the Volga German Colony of Schilling (Lincoln, NE: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1995).