Emigrants from Oppenheim, Hessen: the Lepp Family

Wilhelm "William" Lepp was born in 1828 in Oppenheim. Today Oppenheim lies in the state of Rheinland-Pfalz, but in the mid-19th century, it was in the state of Hessen-Darmstadt. William emigrated from Oppenheim with his mother, stepfather and two brothers and stepbrother in 1849.

The Hessen archives list the following family in their emigrant database:

Date: 1849-02
Ziel (Goal): Amerika, USA
Origin: Oppenheim
Reitz, Johann Gottfried (age 29) with Ehefrau (wife) Johanna geb. Leip und Sohn (son) Ludwig 3 J. (years) sowie Stiefsöhnen (stepsons) Friedrich Lepp, Wilhelm Lepp, Johann Lepp.

The rest of the family:
Reitz, Johanna nee Leip (age 44)
Lepp, Friedrich (age 24)
Lepp, Wilhelm (age 21), Bäcker (baker)
Lepp, Johann (age 15)
Reitz, Ludwig (age 3)

According to William's death record, he arrived in Waterloo November 21,1849. Not surprisingly the Reitz-Lepp family was living in Waterloo, Monroe County, Illinois when the 1850 Census was taken (p.85b):

NAME_________AGE SEX BORN OCCUPATION
Reitz John ___30 M Germany Farmer
Reitz Johanna 45 F Germany
Lepp Wm ______23 M Germany Baker
Lepp John ____15 M Germany
Reitz Louis ___4 M Germany

Friedrich was living in nearby St. Louis where he worked as a potter.

William lived in St. Louis for a year, then returned to Monroe County. He eventually settled in Columbia with his second wife, Pauline nee Wehinger and their children.

Links
•1848 Map of Hessen (Oppenheim is in southern Hessen-Darmstadt).
•Hessisches Archiv-Dokumentations- und Informations-System (Hessen archives - in German)
•History of Oppenheim with pictures in German. Includes Wappen (coat of arms), Geschichliches (history), Stadtrundgang (region, including history and photos of churches), Bauwerke (buildings), and Historische Ansichten (historical drawings). Translate text here
.Geschichtsverein Oppenheim (Oppenheim Historical Society - in German)
•Things to see in Oppenheim