The Eptings: A Documented History 1700-ca. 1920
    
Including selected allied families of Chapman, Cloy, Geiselhardt, Kibler, Lohner, Riddlehover, Schwartz, Sligh, Stoudemayer, and Summer.

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COMPILED BY: Jean Epting Blackmon of Roswell, Georgia.
Genealogy Book    Hard Cover   8.5 x 11  714 pages with extensive Index. 

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Preface  Table of Contents   Page 1   Page 2    Page 3  Also see another book about Jacob Epting 

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Barbara Osiander Epting immigrated with her husband Johan Adam Epting from Germany to S.C. in 1749. As a widow, she was involved in a complicated and most interesting land transaction in S.C., and she donated supplies to the Americans in the Revolutionary War. Discover how neighbors like Abraham Chapman and Henry Schwartz fit into the Epting picture, and enjoy reading about newly identified Epting men and early Epting women who have been unable to claim their Epting heritage until now.

Joseph Warren Epting, great grandfather of Jean Epting Blackmon. Born on January 2, 1854, he died in 1933.  Double click photo for larger image.  

PREFACE

In July of 1997, armed with Ted Epton’s information to guide me, I fulfilled a ten-year dream by visiting my tiny ancestral home, Rötenberg, in the Black Forest or Schwarzwald area of Germany. My husband Fred and I rented a car and drove down the Autobahn from Stuttgart about 45 minutes south to exit 33 where we turned west toward Alpirsbach, the town where Ted Epton discovered the very first Epting records–(Christoph Hepting). Christoph (or Stoffel) had his son christened in Alpirsbach in 1648, but later he moved his church home to Rötenberg.

It was raining when we arrived in Rötenberg about six o’clock that evening. According to the villagers, the small town was comprised of about 1500 people. There were several guesthouses to choose from, so we chose one that was about a half block from the Evangelical (Lutheran) church, which was in the center of town. The owners of the guesthouse did not speak English, so we began rifling through our English-German dictionary. Since they were very bright people, they realized that we were telling them that my forefathers were from Rötenberg, and we were there to look at the church records. The owner made a call in German, wrote down "9:00" on a piece of paper and handed it to me. I thought he meant the church would be open at 9:00 the next day.

That evening we were too late to eat at his restaurant, so he sent us to another guesthouse that stayed open later for meals. When we walked in, we were the only customers, but there was a waitress/owner and three local men chatting. They politely stared at us like small town people are accustomed to doing when they see strangers. We ordered dinner and smiled a lot because they were laughing and smiling too. Again, we stumbled over German words telling the waitress that my forefathers were from Rötenberg, and she translated to the men. They got so interested that one of them went home and got his book on the history of Rötenberg, and found the information on our forefather named Johann Lukas Osiander who was the minister (pfarrar) at the Rötenberg church from 1677 to 1715. Then the owner’s husband brought in a vacation booklet of the whole Schwarzwald area that had a map of the town, and they told us how to find the road on which they thought the Osiander ancestor had lived. We left there very excited and appreciative of their kindness and hospitality.

That night in our room we studied all the information Ted Epton had written about the German "Hebding" records. The next morning we found out that we had a 9:00 appointment with the minister of the church. The owner of the guesthouse walked us up to the church office and introduced us to the English-speaking minister. We chatted for awhile, and then he brought IT out. IT was a book, not as large as the deed books in our American courthouses, but a thick book about the size of a very large Bible. Inside, in perfectly neat columns of brown ink, were the christening dates of our Hebding / Hepting / Hepding ancestors. I had gone prepared to photograph the pages, but the minister asked me not to do that because the strong light from the flash would fade the ink. What he did tell me though, was how to get microfilmed copies of the pages from an archive in Stuttgart. (When I wrote to them later, they told me that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints had microfilmed the records and had them in Salt Lake City, Utah.) Then he let us take pictures, from a short distance, of him holding the book, and of "happy me" holding the book.

After we talked excitedly a while longer, he brought out the marriage book that had the record of the marriage of John Adam Epting (Johann Adam Hepding) and Christina Barbara Osiander which had taken place right there in that church in 1738.

I also saw the earlier records that contained the actual handwriting of Barbara’s grandfather Johann Lukas Osiander who had been the minister there for 38 years and who had written down all the births, deaths, and marriages during his tenure there.

The minister then turned us loose to tour the church next door. We were surprised to find that the ancient graves were no longer in sight. They had totally disappeared, but a new graveyard for the church was about 200 meters down the church alley (Kirchegasse) behind the church. It had only very recent burials in it; none of the people were born before the end of the 19th century, and none were Eptings or Osianders. However, the graves were beautiful because family members had planted displays of flowers covering each one, and the cemetery was like a glorious colorful garden.

  The church in Rötenberg where John Adam Epting and family were baptized members before they left Rötenberg, Germany, in 1749.
 Double click photo for larger image.

The church itself has a cornerstone dated 1128 (A.D.), and owns some Roman artifacts that sit in a corner of the church outside. (Rötenberg was at the top of a hill where the Romans changed and watered their horses on their trips to and from various towns in their empire.) Inside the church, we took pictures, but tried not to distract the kindergartners who were practicing for a play. The minister said much of the interior had been remodeled, but the floor in the back of the church was still very old.

After leaving the church, we took photos of the town. There were only two "manufacturers" in the small village. One was a glass blower, where we stopped to buy souvenirs, and one was a potter, whose studio we also visited. We then went out to the road where the villagers thought the Osiander house stood on Hohreinweg (HohreinWay). We took photos, but later a villager told us that the house we photographed was not old enough to have been the original Osiander home. Since we were not exactly sure we had the right house, we went out again and took a panoramic view of the farm surrounding the two homes on Hohreinweg. Oddly enough, the farm looked very similar to my own grandfather’s (and later father’s) farm in Newberry, S.C.

After saying goodbye to our guesthouse owners, we headed four or five miles north to Alpirsbach. We saw the Abbey where Christoph Hepding’s child was christened, but we could not go in because they were setting up for a special event there. The grounds were absolutely lovely, planted with all kinds of flowers. We bought books and postcards about the town and church, and realized that the whole area is a health resort, with lots of hiking trails, etc.

We were running short on time, so we headed to Nuremberg where the earliest Osiander ancestor was the "Reformer of Nuremberg." Andreas Osiander was a friend of Martin Luther. The information about him is better read from Ted Epton’s own thorough research. It is complete with pictures and many interesting details. Andreas Osiander’s church was a huge cathedral called Lorenzkirche (St. Lorenze Church) right smack in the middle of old Nuremberg. It is filled with many colorful ancient paintings and statues. I would suggest planning ahead and arranging for an English-speaking tour of the church. We were not that organized, and felt that we would have learned so many interesting things if we had taken a tour. We did find one English-speaking employee selling postcards inside the church who was kind enough to take us into a locked room on the right side of the interior of the church, about four steps up. In that room were lots of ancient portraits hanging high up on the interior wall. We had made copies of Osiander’s portraits from Ted Epton’s book in an attempt to identify our ancestor’s portrait once we got there. The room was dimly lit, and we couldn’t see well enough to be sure which one was "Granddaddy Osiander," so we took photos of all of the portraits. Lo-and-behold, when we returned home, Ted Epton identified the photo of the portrait of Andreas Osiander, documented in a book he had about the church. That was exciting!

If I had to sum up the experience in a few words, I would call it exhilarating and very informative. One thing I would do differently would be to plan for more time in Nuremberg. I would also go hiking and take in all the health resort benefits while in the Black Forest area. I would visit the city of Tubingen where the university by the same name is located. Many Osiander ancestors were professors and chancellors of that university, and their portraits hang there today. I would also try to locate Epting relatives in the town of Peterzell and surrounding areas. But, for a first visit, especially one that in ever in my wildest dreams thought I would get to take, it was a pretty wonderful experience.

Jean Epting Blackmon

 

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction

Chapter One
  My Hepdings, My Eptings

Chapter Two
First Generation Male Eptings (and comments about the First Generation Female Eptings)
Section One Johan Jacob Epting
The Geiselhardts-A Study
Section Two Adam Frederick Epting
Henry Schwartz Annex
Section Three Old John Epting
The Lohner Family Annex

Chapter Three
Jacob Epting; John Epting, Sr.; George Epting, Sr.; [John] Adam Epting, Sr.; and David Epting
Section One Jacob Epting of Lexington (d. 1821)
Section Two John Epting, Sr
Section Three George Epting, Sr. Brother of John Epting, Sr.
Mary Margaret Sligh Epting’s Ancestors
Section Four [John] Adam Epting of Lexington District
Section Five David Epting, born about 1783
Section Six John Epting, the Mystery Man

Chapter Four
The children of John Epting (who was born June 2, 1778)
Section One Captain George Epting
Section Two Eva Christina Epting
Section Three John Epting, Jr.
Section Four Anna Epting
Section Five Catrina Caroline Epting
Section Six Jacob Epting, Sr.
Section Seven Mary Eliza Epting
Section Eight Harrison Israel Epting Son of John and Elizabeth Werts Epting

Chapter Five
The Children of George Epting, Sr. and Mary Margaret Sligh Epting
Section One Susannah M. Epting
Section Two Jacob Epting, Jr
More about Joseph Warren Epting
The Stoudemayer Family Annex
Section Three Mary M. Epting
Section Four Eveline Epting, daughter of George Epting, Sr

Chapter Six
The Children of [John] Adam and Elizabeth Counts Epting
Section One Christina "Tina" Epting
The Children of Andrew and Christina Epting Summer
Mollie Summer Rister
John Adam Summer
William Anderson Summer
Jacob Summer
Elizabeth Summer Eargle
Section Two Adam Epting
Section Three William Epting
Section Four Ephraim Epting
Section Five Sally Epting

Chapter Seven
Children and Grandchildren of David Epting
Section One William Epting
Section Two John A. Epting
Section Three Mary Magdalena "Polly" Epting
Section Four Mary Ann Epting
Section Five Elizabeth Epting
Section Six Keziah Epting
Section Seven Eliza Epting

Chapter Eight
Selected Chapman Families of the Dutch Fork And their Relationships to the Epting Families
Section One Abraham Chapman
Section Two John Chapman
Section Three Selected Children of John Chapman, Sr
Adam Chapman
Joseph Counts Annex
David Chapman
John Chapman, Jr.
William Chapman, Jr.
Abraham Chapman
Mary Magdalene Chapman
Section Four William Chapman, Sr.
Section Five George H. Chapman
Section Six Kibler Appendix to Chapman Chapter
Section Seven Dr. James K. Chapman

Chapter Nine
The Ridlehoover Family

Chapter Ten
The sons of Adam Frederick and Anna Christina Setzler Epting
Section One John Adam Epting
Section Two Jacob Epting
Section Three John (his mark, JE) Epting, Jr.

Chapter Eleven
The Grandchildren of Adam Frederick Epting and Anna Christina Setzler Epting
Section One Mary Epting and Elizabeth Epting
Section Three Adam Epting Son of Jacob Epting and Mary Cannon
Jacob Epting Known as "Major" Jacob
Samuel A. Epting
Walton Jabez Epting
Warren T. Epting
Hadessa A. Epting Daughter of Adam and Harriet S. Epting
Alice A. Epting
Section Four William Epting
Section Five John Henry Epting
Section Six Nancy Epting
Section Seven Anna Epting
Section Eight Elizabeth Epting

Chapter Twelve
Children of John and Caty Epting
Section One John Epton
Section Two George A. Epting
Section Three Henry Epting
Section Four Jacob Epting
Section Five Eve Epting

Chapter Thirteen.
Selected Censuses from 1800 to 1920 551
1800 Censuses: Selected households
1810 Censuses
1820 Censuses
The 1830 Censuses
The 1840 Census
1840 Newberry Census
The 1850 and 1860 Newberry and Lexington Censuses
Lexington County, Broad River Section 1870
Lexington County Saluda Township 1870 Census
1870 Census Newberry County
1880 Soundex for Eptings, Eptons, Eptin
Shealy 1880 Census notes
Selected 1880 "Census" Sheely Families (Shealy)
1880 Soundex for Families and possible relationships to Eptings
Boyds in 1880 Soundex
1900 Soundex for Eptings, Eptons
1910 Soundex for South Carolina Eptings
1920 South Carolina Soundex

Chapter Fourteen
Colonial and State Grants, Plats, and Memorials 589

Chapter Fifteen
Some Eptings who attended Newberry College and Clemson College

Bibliography

Index

Section of the Dutch Fork showing locations of several Epting families’ land

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