Johann Adam (Hepding) Epting (abt. 1720 - abt. 1764)

Born about 8 Mar 1720 in Rötenberg, Oberndorf, Herzogtum Württemberg, Heiliges Römisches Reich

Ancestors

Husband of Christina Barbara (Osiander) Hepding — married 2 Sep 1738 in Rötenberg, Oberndorf, Herzogtum Württemberg, Heiliges Römisches Reich

Descendants

Died about 1764 at about age 43 in Saxe Gotha Township, Dutch Fork, South Carolina

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Biography

John Adam (Hepding) Epting has German Roots.

Birth: 8 Mar 1720 in Rötenberg. Johann Adam was the son of farmer Hans Cunrad Hepding and Catharina Beck.^[1]

Marriage: 2 Sep 1738 in Rötenberg. Johann Adam Hepding (son of farmer Hans Cunrad Hepding) with Christina Barbara (daughter of the former baker and school teacher Daniel Osiander).^[2][3][4]

With his wife and family, Johann "Hans" Adam emigrated to America, arriving in Charles Town (Charleston) in 1749 on the ship "Griffin",^[5][6] at the urging of John Jacob Riemensperger, a Swiss-born South Carolina agent seeking emigrants.^[7] John Adam was from Rötenberg in the Black Forest area of southwestern Germany. He received a bounty of 250 acres representing a family of five; the grant was on Crims Creek, near where St. John's Lutheran Church was eventually established. John was a founding Elder of St. John's Lutheran Church. He died before 1768, and his land was inherited by his eldest son, John Jacob Epting. The land is the location of Epting Cemetery #2 at Pomaria.

The original plat for John's land, dated 28 November 1749, shows it in an area then known as the Saxe Gotha Township. The survey for the plat was based on an approval date of 20 October 1749, which granted the land to John. The area later became known as the "Dutch Fork"^[8] and later as Lexington County.

Name:

John Adam Epting.

Given Name: John Adam.

Surname: Epting.

Johann Adam Hepding and Christina Barbara Osiander came to America from Rötenberg, Aichhalden, Baden-Württenberg, Germany. The family came on the "Griffin", brought by Jacob Ramensperger.^[9]

Note about early German settlers in the Dutch Fork

Although John Belton O'Neall and John Abney Chapman credit John Adam Epting as the organizer of a group which came to South Carolina from the city of Heidelberg in 1763, the group consisting of Shealy (John Shealy), Leitzey (Johann Jacob Leitze), Setzler (John Adam Setzler), Cromer (John George Cromer) and Myer (Andreas Meyer),^[10] we do not know the source of his information.

Their arrival dates according to Carl W. Nichols and Hannelore Enderle are:^[5][6]

• John Shealy from Unterhausen, Württemberg, the only adult Shealy immigrant, arrived in Charleston on "Caledonia" in 1752.
• Johann Jacob Leitze from Eningen unter Achalm, Württemberg, arrived on "Griffin" in 1749.
• John Adam Setzler Sr. from Ober-Sensbach, Beerfelden, Erbach, arrived on "Brittannia" in 1766.
• John George Cromer from Erpfingen, Württemberg, arrived on "Elizabeth" in 1752.
• Andreas Meyer (1707-) from Merklingen, Württemberg, arrived on "Caledonia" in 1752.

O'Neall's and Chapman's date could have been off. They also refer to Epting as "the pioneer of the colony",^[11] thus suggesting his prior move there. Since John Adam Hepding/Epting is described, on a list of immigrants to the Dutch Fork, as having arrived in South Carolina in 1749 aboard the "Griffin",^[6] his early arrival would justify the title pioneer to later arrivals. Heidelberg may have been an assembly point for some immigrants, however without documentation. The following German settlers and their families came from the Heidelberg area:^[5][6]

• Martin Luther Reisor/Riser from Heidelberg, Baden.
• Lorentz Le Grome from Schönau, Palatinate, arrived on "Upton" in 1752.
• Hans Peter Dickert from Mannheim or Leimen, Palatinate, arrived on "Cunliffe" in 1752.
• Matthias Wicker Sr. from Baiertal, Wiesloch, Palatinate, arrived on "Upton" in 1752.
• John Michael Suber from Baiertal, Wiesloch, Palatinate, arrived on "Cunliffe" in 1752.
• Hans Ulrich Sligh from Wiesloch, Palatinate, arrived on "Cunliffe" in 1752.
• Johann Jacob Schumpert from Hebstahl, Beerfelden, Erbach, arrived on "Brittannia" in 1766.

Note that Heidelberg and the surrounding area (including Mannheim, Leimen, Schönau and Wiesloch) were part of Electoral Palatinate ("Kurpfalz"). Palatinate was combined with Bavaria in 1777. The Palatine territories on the right bank of the Rhine (including Heidelberg and the surrounding area) became part of Baden in 1803.^{[12][13][14][15]}

Sources

1. ↑ Church book Rötenberg, Württemberg: Landeskirchliches Archiv Stuttgart > Dekanat Sulz am Neckar > Rötenberg > Mischbuch 1633-1740 Band 1 Archion
2. ↑ Church book Rötenberg, Württemberg: Landeskirchliches Archiv Stuttgart > Dekanat Sulz am Neckar > Rötenberg > Eheregister 1650-1808 Band 2 Archion
3. ↑ "Deutschland, ausgewählte evangelische Kirchenbücher 1500-1971," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP52-C3P3 : 27 October 2021), Joh Adam Hepding, 2 Sep 1738; images digitized and records extracted by Ancestry; citing Marriage, Rötenberg, Oberndorf, Württemberg, Deutschland, German Lutheran Collection, various parishes, Germany.
4. ↑ Ancestry.com. Württemberg, Deutschland, evangelische Kirchenbücher, 1500-1985 (database on-line). Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} German Settlers in the Dutch Fork of South Carolina. Compiled by Carl W. Nichols and Hannelore Enderle.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3} Dutch Fork Chapter, SCGS, Inc.: Early German Settlers of South Carolina.
7. ↑ https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/saxe-gotha-township/
8. ↑ http://www.dutchforkchapter.org/dutch_fork.html
9. ↑ Council Journal 17-2: 663 and 671
10. ↑ O'Neall, John Belton and Chapman, John Abney. The Annals of Newberry : in two parts. Newberry, S.C. : Aull & Houseal, 1892, p. 626
11. ↑ O'Neall, John Belton and Chapman, John Abney. The Annals of Newberry : in two parts. Newberry, S.C. : Aull & Houseal, 1892, p. 627
12. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_Palatinate
13. ↑ https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurpfalz
14. ↑ https://www.leimen.de/de/stadt-leimen/stadtgeschichte/leimen
15. ↑ https://www.wiesloch.de/pb/Home/Ueber+Wiesloch/Geschichte.html

See also:

• Epton, Theodore. A History of the Epting and Epton Families of South Carolina. December 1979.

• "Shealy Family Genealogy 1752- 1992", compiled by George Benet Shealy and Nancy Elaine Shealy.

• "The Shealys" by Carl W. Nichols, screunion.com/the_shealys.htm

• South Carolina Department of Archives and History

• Source Württemberg, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1500-1985

• German Settlers in the Dutch Fork of South Carolina. Compiled by Carl W. Nichols and Siegbert Frick

• Hallman, Elmer B.. Early Settlers in the Carolina Dutch Fork, 1744-*1760. Master's thesis, History, Wofford College, 1944

• Summer, George Leland. Newberry County, South Carolina: Historical and Genealogical Annals. Newberry, SC: Clearfield, 1950. Reprint: Baltimore MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980, p. 217, 218

• Source: http:\/trees.ancestry.com - iPhone image.

• https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L8BY-4KM/johann-john-adam-epting-1720-1764, accessed 15 Apr 2021

• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/2Z3G-VTP, accessed 15 Apr 2021

• https://gedbas.genealogy.net/person/show/1118037856, accessed 14 May 2021

• https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5802c4d9414fb5e45ce4dc44/t/5cf291fe29215a0001e0d310/1559400959275/Platts+Genealogy+8.pdf, accessed 13 Jan 2022