Kaspar Hepp (abt. 1748 - bef. 1816)

Born about 1748 in Darmstadt, Germany [uncertain]

Husband of Anna Maria (Unknown) Hepp — married about 1766 in Oranienbaum, Russia

Husband of Maria Elisabeth (Salzman) Hepp — married before 1775 in Grimm, Saratov, Russia

Husband of Katharina (Schwarz) Hepp — married before 1791 in Grimm, Saratov, Russia

Descendants

Died before 1816 before about age 68 in Grimm, Saratov, Russia

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Biography

Kaspar Hepp was a Volga German.

Kaspar Hepp has German Roots.

Family #36 in the 1767 Grimm census.
Family #115 in the 1775 Grimm census.
Family #28 in the 1798 Grimm census.

Kaspar Hepp was born about 1748, probably in the Darmstadt area of what is now Germany. That is where he said he was from when he immigrated to Russia, and it's possible he was born elsewhere and moved to Darmstadt in the years leading up to his immigration.

According to the Kulberg reports, his name was spelled Caspar. He was a weaver from Darmstadt. Document number 2320. At the time of his immigration to Russia, he was single. Caspar departed from the port at Luebeck and arrived in Oranienbaum, Russia, on 22 July 1766 via the Pink "Lev". ^[1]

Kaspar probably married his first wife while the couple was still in Oranienbaum. Nearly one year later he was headed to Grimm with wife Anna Maria Hepp and son Johann Friedrich Hepp. Johann Friedrich was almost certainly the son of Anna Maria and a previous husband who did not survive the journey to the Volga River. Johann Friedrich was already 3 years old in 1767, giving him a birth year of 1764. Kaspar may have formally adopted the young boy, or he may have simply told the census taker that the child had the same surname as he did in order to simplify the record keeping.

1767 Grimm Census ^[2]

Family # 37

Head of the Household Kaspar Hepp, age 29, Lutheran Strumpfworker from Hessen Gelnhausen

Wife Anna Maria Hepp, age 30 [first wife]

Child #1 Johann Friedrich Hepp, age 3

By 1775, Johann Friedrich Hepp was missing from the next census. He would have been only 11 years old, too young to be living in another household. He most likely did not survive. Anna Maria Hepp also did not survive, and Kaspar remarried Maria Elisabeth Saltzmann, a woman 14 years younger than his first wife. Maria Elisabeth also happened to be his neighbor in Grimm. At the time of the census, the couple had one child. Additionally, Maria Elisabeth's mother and brother also lived with them.

1775 Grimm Census ^[3]

There is a problem with his age in this census; based on his age in 1767, he should be 8 years older in 1775, or 37. The age "27" is most likely a typographical error. Also note that he has a different wife than the one listed in the 1767 census, and that his son Johann Friedrich is not included in this census entry.

Family # 115

Head of the Household Kaspar Gep [Hepp?], age 27

Wife Maria Elisabeth [Saltzmann] Hepp, age 24 [second wife]

Child #1 Maria Katharina Hepp, age 6 months

Mother-in-Law Katharina Elisabeth Salzman [sic], age 64

Brother-in-Law Gottfried Salzman [sic], age 18

The 1798 census reveals that Maria Elisabeth had three children, Gottfried, Ludwig, and Johannes. His second wife passed away between 1785 and 1791, and he married for a third time, Katharina Schwarz, with whom he had two children.

1798 Grimm Census ^[4]

Family #28

Head of the Household Kaspar Hepp, age 51

Wife Katharina Schwarz Hepp, age 48

Child #1 Gottfried Hepp, age 22, from 2nd wife

Child #2 Ludwig Hepp, age 16, from 2nd wife

Child #3 Johannes Hepp, age 13, from 2nd wife

Child #4 Johann Georg Hepp, age 4, from 3rd wife

Child #5 Anna Maria Hepp, age 6, from 3rd wife

The youngest child from his second wife was 13 years old, and the oldest child from his third wife was 6. This means his first wife passed away between 1785 and 1791. By 1791, Kaspar would have been married to his third wife, and their first child was born in 1792.

There is no Kaspar Hepp in the 1834 census. ^[5] He most likely passed away before 1816, and his death was noted in the 1816 male-only census.

Sources

1. ↑ Pleve, Igor R., List of Colonists to Russia in 1766' "Reports by Ivan Kulberg," Ministry of Education and Science of Russian Federation, Saratov State Technical University, Published in Saratov, Russia, 2010.
2. ↑ Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet 1764-1767, Herausgegeben von Alfred Eisfeld under Mitarbeit von Sabine Eichwald, Published by the Nordost-Instsitut - 38085 Göttingen, 2005; page 78, family #36.
3. ↑ The 1775 and 1798 Census of the German Colony on the Volga, Lesnoy Karamysh, also known as Grimm; Published by the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln, NE, USA; Published 1995; family #115 in the 1775 census.
4. ↑ The 1775 and 1798 Census of the German Colony on the Volga, Lesnoy Karamysh, also known as Grimm; Published by the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln, NE, USA; Published 1995; family #28 in the 1798 census.
5. ↑ 1834 Census of Grimm in the District of Saratov, Russia, dated 2 February 1835; Translated by Brent Mai, Concordia University, Portland, Oregon; Published by Dynasty Publishing, Beaverton, OR, USA; Published 2011; page 11, family #33.