Jakob M. Barkman was born in Rückenau, Molotschna Colony, South Russia, to his parents Martin J. Barkman (1796-1872) and Katharina Regier (1800-66). His father was the son of Jakob Bergmann (1756-ca.1819) and Katharina Wiens. Henry Schapansky has written that the information on Jakob Bergmann is speculative but that he might have been the son of Jakob Bergmann (died 1780) who in turn may have been the son of Abraham Bergmann (1708-77) listed in the 1776 census as resident in Neuedorf, Prussia: letter Nov. 28, 1992.