Matthias Stork, the son of Christian and Anna Maria Stork, was born 26 Feb 1740, and baptized 27 Feb 1740, in Lampertheim (near Worms). A few years before he left for Russia, he was involved in an interesting event that was recorded in the church records. He found a child in the forest under an oak tree. It was assumed that the child had not been baptized. She was given the name Christina after her godmother, and given the surname “Eichbaum” (“Oaktree). On 25 Jan 1766 Matthias Stork married Margaretha (surname unclear). The couple arrived in Russia on 13 Sep 1766, and settled in Rothammel a year later. A descendant (Conrad Stork) later moved to Brabander and is reported there in 1798 Census Household #20.
(Thanks to the members of the Genealogy Translations Facebook group for help with translating the story about the child found in the woods.)
- Catholic Parish Records of Lampertheim (FHL Microfilm 949583)
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): p. 373.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 4 (Göttingen: Nordost-Institute, 2008): p. 85.
- 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).