Johann Heinrich Burgdorff was one of Napoleon's soldiers who was captured by the Russians and resettled to the Volga German colonies following the War of 1812. He was born on 24 October 1786 in Broistedt.
He is recorded on the 1834 census of Stahl am Tarlyk in Household No. 82. The parish register in Stahl am Tarlyk records that he died there on 19 November 1854.
Through the years, descendants of this family have adopted various spellings of the surname including Borgdorf, Burgdorf, and Burgdorff.
Milovidov records that Heinrich Burgdorf came from the German village of Broistedt in Westfalen [referring to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Westfalen which existed from 1807-1813]. Today, Broistedt is located in the German state of Niedersachsen. Some documents have mis-transcribed Broistedt to be Preisstadt. A listing of Napoleonic soldiers records that Heinrich Burgdorf came from the village of Hary which is located 40 kilometers southwest of Broistedt. This may have been the town from which he mustered as a soldier.
- Letter from Igor & Ludmila Plehve dated 6 November 2001.
- 1834 Census of Stahl am Tarlyk.
- Belousov, S.V. "Prisoners of war of Napoleon's army in the Volga region: the arrangement, content, relationships with the local population." Bulletin of the Samara State University, No. 1 (Samara, Russia: Samara State University, 2006): 48-55.
- Milovidov, B. P. "Prisoners of War of the Napoleonic Army in the Saratov Colonies in 1813-1820: New Documents." (p. 38, #23)
- Stadtarchiv Mölln. "Nachweis über 1058 Individuen der ersten namentlichen Liste" (No. 154).
- Parish register of Stahl am Tarlyk.
Ted Burgdorff
Brent Mai
Carsten Burgdorff
Immigrated to the following locations
Entry from "Nachweis über 1058 Individuen der ersten namentlichen Liste" (#154) recording that Henry Burgdorf came from the village of Hary.
Source: Carsten Burgdorff.