Johann Nicolaus Wenzel, from Lissberg, and Susanna, daughter of Johann Heinrich Müller, were married in Gelnhaar on 18 Nov 1760. The baptisms of two children are recorded in the Gelnhaar parish records: Johann Georg, born 28 Sep, baptized 30 Sep 1761; and Anna Elisbetha, born 26 Jun, baptized 28 Jun, 1765. Susanna also had an illegitimate child, Wÿgand, who was born on 28 Dec 1757, and baptized on 4 Jan 1758. The baptismal entry records that the father is Johann Heinrich Beck (who was the son of Johann Ehrhard Beck). Even though the record notes that Johann Heinrich Beck denied this paternity, Wÿgand and his descendants used the surname of Beck in later records. It is not clear when the two Wenzel children died, but they are not listed when the family arrived in Russia. Johann Nicolaus, Susanna, and Wÿgand arrived in Russia on 15 Sep 1766, and are reported on the Walter First Settler’s List in Family #91.
- Parish records of Gelnhaar, Family Search film #1201724
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): p. 384
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 4 (Göttingen: Nordost-Institut, 2008): p. 315