The Unterreichenbach parish records report the baptism on 18 August 1757 of Anna Elisabeth, daughter of Johannes Herd from Oberreichenbach. The birth of another child, who died before baptism, is recorded on 7 January 1764. This record indicates that the parent's names were Johannes Herdt from Oberreichenbach and Anna Catharina Priess. The godparent of this child was the father's sister Susanna Herdt.
The Büdingen parish records report the birth on 6 May and the baptism on 9 May 1766 of Susanna, daughter of Johannes Herdt from Oberreichenbach, Russian Colonist, and his wife Anna Catharina. The godparent was the father's sister Susanna Herdt.
The couple and their two children arrived in Russia on 8 August 1766. Anna Catharina and daughter Susanna must have died during the journey to the villages. Johann Conrad, with his new wife Anna Margaretha and daughter Anna Elisabeth settled in Huck and are reported there on the First Settler's List in Family #48.
The next family on the First Settler's List (#49) is Johannes Hebdin and his wife Susanna. On the 1798 Census, Susanna's surname is reported as Herdt. This suggests that she is the sister mentioned in both baptism records. This couple arrived in Russia on the same ship as the Johannes Herdt family.
The Huck First Settlers List reports two additional Herdt families. Research is ongoing to determine how (or if) these Herdt families are related.
- Parish records of Unterreichenbach (including Fischborn, Hettersroth, Oberreichenbach, Obersotzbach, Radmühl, and Untersotzbach)
- Parish records of Büdingen on Archion.de
- Facius List extractions
- Mai, Brent Alan and Dona Reeves-Marquardt. German Migration to the Russian Volga (1764-1767) (Lincoln, NE: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 2003): p. 170 (the birth and baptism dates are incorrectly reported as occurring in June in this publication).
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): pp. 208, 214
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767; Band 2. (Göttingen: Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2001): p. 152
- 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, p. 506
