Sebastian Bopp c. 1822-1896
(probable son of Sebastian Bopp, c. 1792)
of St. Louis County, Missouri
(the Bopp Chapel Family Line)
GKBopp – 1 December 2007

Our Bopp relatives in Kirkwood, St. Louis County, Missouri, are frequently asked if they are related to the Bopp Chapel Funeral Home family. My husband's father, Rev. Clarence H. Bopp, (now deceased) did not believe there was a close relationship but a couple of undocumented genealogies on the internet indicate otherwise. In a June 2005 visit to Kirkwood, my husband, Thomas T. Bopp, had limited time but did find enough information to determine that the earliest known ancestor of the Bopp Chapel family line was not a descendant of Johan Peter Bopp (1812-1901), the immigrant ancestor of our Bopp line.⁽¹⁾ There is no evidence in America to indicate these two families are related; however, the immigrant ancestors of both families came from Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, and it is possible there is link back in the old country.⁽²⁾

The Bopp Chapel family of Kirkwood, Missouri, descends from Sebastian Bopp (c. 1822-1896) who married Mary Milt/Mild. This family was in St. Louis County, Missouri, before 1850. Their Sebastian has been confused with Sebastian Bopp (1835-1925) who married Elizabeth Hoffmann. This Sebastian was a son of our Johan Peter Bopp, whose family was not in Missouri until 1853. While the Bopp Chapel ancestor was in St. Louis County, Missouri, before ours, descendants of that family were not in Kirkwood until after 1900, whereas our Johan Peter Bopp came to Kirkwood in 1865. These two families have been confused by some contemporary researchers because of the Kirkwood locale and because both families had members named Sebastian, Henry, and Louis.⁽³⁾

Sebastian Bopp (c. 1822-1896)

This Sebastian is mentioned in the History of St. Louis Co, Missouri - Compendium [etc.]⁽⁴⁾ in an entry under his son Henry Bopp. Henry is noted therein as the father of Louis H. Bopp. Louis, who also has an entry in this book, is identified as the "Sheriff of St. Louis County, and proprietor of the Bopp Undertaking Company of Kirkwood." The 1896 death year for Sebastian is from the entry under Henry; Sebastian's estimated birth year of 1822 is based on census records.⁽⁵⁾

It is very likely that Sebastian's father was the Sebastian Bopp of Bonhomme Twp., St. Louis, County, who appears in 1850 and 1860 census records. These indicate this elder Sebastian was born about 1792 in Germany. This elder Sebastian is most likely identical to the Sebastian Bopp, native of "Hessa Darmstadt," age 48, who declared his intention to become a citizen of the U.S. before the clerk of St. Louis County in December 1840.⁽⁶⁾ Based on Bonhomme Twp. Census records, it appears likely that the elder Sebastian had sons Christian (b. ca. 1820), Sebastian (b. ca. 1822), and Henry (b. ca. 1828) all born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany.

The entry under Sebastian's son Henry in the History of St. Louis Co, Missouri - Compendium [etc.] states Sebastian was married to Mary Milt⁽⁷⁾ (native of Darmstadt), that he remained in Bonhomme until 1876, then settled near Ballwin, and that he was one of the first Methodists of Ballwin. Census records for his household include Sebastian, Maria/Mary, and children Henry, Christine, Catherine/Kate, John, Louisa, Sebastian, William, and Lizzie.

Sebastian's son Henry is noted in the History of St. Louis Co, Missouri - Compendium [etc.] as being born in 1850, but all census data suggests he was born in 1849. His entry indicates he married Mary L. Kessler on January 3, 1871, and she was the mother of his nine children. She died in 1902 and five years later Henry married Mary Lincoln Lane (Mrs. F. M. Tully). One of Henry's sons was Louis H. Bopp, who was born in 1871, married Florence Eickman in 1895, and had three children. The entry for Louis, and census data, indicates Louis became an undertaker in Kirkwood after 1900.

This family is not the Bopp family listed in the "1938 Bopp reunion" booklet (that is Johan Peter Bopp's line)

See also:
http://www.boppchapel.com/about_past_to_present.htm
http://www.boppchapel.com/about_people.htm

==========================================

(1) Johan Peter Bopp, Sr. (1812-1901), known as Peter Bopp, and his family arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1852, came to St. Louis County in 1853, and settled in Kirkwood in 1865. His parents were Johann Velten Bopp (1787-1832) and Anna Katharina Muth (1785-1872), of Bermuthshain and Grebenhain. He was married to (1) Sabina Straub (mother of two children, she died in Germany), (2) Gertraud Lind (mother of six children, she died in Missouri), and Augustina/Gustina Geidel (no issue). This family was very active in the Lutheran Church and is the family listed in the BOPP GENEALOGY [1812-1938] booklet prepared for the BOPP FAMILY REUNION, June 18, 1938. The family reportedly descends from Henn Schmid Bopp (1606-1673) of Bermuthshain. See Johan Peter Bopp, Sr.

(2) Hesse Darmstadt, often referred to as Hesse (German: Hessen) is one of Germany's sixteen federal states.
See http://www.answers.com/topic/hesse-darmstadt and/or search on "Hesse Darmstadt"
The Johan Peter Bopp line is known to come from the towns of Bermuthshain and Grebenhain; the name of the town for the ancestor of the Bopp Chapel line is not known.

(3) Sebastian's son Henry, of the Bopp Chapel line, was born in 1849, and his son Louis (who acquired the undertaking business) was born in 1871. Johan Peter Bopp's son Sebastian had a son Henry born about 1860 (who never married) and a son Louis born in 1876.

(4) History of St. Louis Co, Missouri Compendium of Useful Information Written and Compiled From the Most Authentic Official and Private Sources. 1920, Clayton, Missouri Watchman-Advocate
St. Louis County Library call number - R977.865/H673 [oversized book section]
Early History section
Henry Bopp, Page Seventy-seven,
Louis H. Bopp, Page One Hundred Seventy-six
There are no entries in this book for anyone linked to the Johan Peter Bopp family.

(5) U.S. Census data is not cited herein. All census information (except 1850 - under Rapp) was located by searching under Bopp in St. Louis County, MO, in the Ancestry.com subscription service.

(6) Naturalization papers, available in St. Louis County and on LDS microfilm.

(7) Index to St. Louis County marriage records lists a Sebastian Bopp married to Mary U. Mild, 1 July 1844 (Vol. 03-097).

GKBoppHOME