JOHAN PETER BOPP, SR., 1812-1901
Born Germany, arrived New Orleans in 1852, settled in Missouri
Descendant of Henn Schmid Bopp b. 1606,
d. 21 Apr 1673, in Bermuthshain, Germany
[Hesse Darmstadt]
(Revised 14 February 2008)

PETER BOPP, SR. was born Jan. 29, 1812, in Groszherzogtum Hesse-Darmstadt, Grebenhain, Germany (east of Frankfurt). Like his father (who is said to have frozen to death in the Schwarzwald), Peter Bopp earned his living as a shoemaker. On Sep. 28, 1852, the family left Germany for America arriving in New Orleans on Dec. 20, after a voyage of 72 days. They remained in New Orleans until April 28, 1853, when the threat of cholera epidemic caused them to removed to St. Louis County [MO]. Mr. Bopp farmed for twelve years at Harwood and Gilbert Roads, and helped to found St. Paul's Lutheran Church at Des Peres. On March 15, 1865, he moved to Kirkwood, where he and his children were among the founders of the Concordia Lutheran Church. Still later he helped to found Friedensgemeinde in Kirkwood. Mr. Bopp died April 6, 1901; he is buried in Park Hill Cemetery at Sappington, Mo.

The above paragraph is from a 12 page BOPP GENEALOGY [1812-1938] prepared for the BOPP FAMILY REUNION held June 18, 1938, in Kirkwood, MO.  The copy on this website was scanned from a copy belonging to my husband’s father, Clarence H. Bopp (1915-1997); in the 1970's and '80's he made the "corrections" noted on his copy:
Click here for PDF copy of the document.   

See photograph

Ancestry
Johan Peter Bopp (JPB) was the son of Johann Velten Bopp (1787-1832, born in Grebenhain, Germany) and Anna Katharina Muth (1785-1872, born in Bermuthshain, died in Grebenhain); they married in 1811. Before World War II, JPB descendant Joachim Weidhaas (1916-2005), went to Germany and researched German church records in Crainfeld and Grebenhain.  Weidhaas and my husband's father, Rev. Clarence H. Bopp, were first cousins (grandchildren of JPB’s son Emil). The Weidhaas information traces the direct ancestry of JPB to Henn Schmid Bopp, b. 1606, d. 21 Apr 1673, in Bermuthshain, Germany.  My husband has a copy of this information but it is undocumented and as yet, the information has not been put online.

Y-DNA Signature
The Y-DNA Signature of Johan Peter Bopp has been established:  See Bopp DNA .

JPB is not the progenitor of Bopp Chapel line
Johan Peter Bopp is often mistakenly believed by some to be an ancestor of Louis H. Bopp, founder of the Bopp Chapel Funeral Home in Kirkwood, Missouri. Some have confused Johan Peter's son Sebastian (below) with Sebastian Bopp c.1822-1896.  We have traced both lines to Germany and know that the two families lived in Bermuthshain but we have not yet found a shared common Bopp ancestor.  If there is a relationship the most recent common/shared ancestor was back in Germany.

Summary of Wives & Children of Johan Peter Bopp

Johann Peter Bopp, Sr. b. 29-Jan-1812 d. 6-Apr-1901 See photograph
m. 13-Aug-1833 Sabina Straub
m. 9-May-1841 Gertraud Lind b. 8-May-1818 d. 1863 (?) See photograph
m. 18-Nov-1864 Gustina Geidel [no issue]

   Andrew Bopp b. 1833 d. 8-Apr-1915 m. 1860 Katherine Blase   [his mother - Sabina Straub]

   Sebastian Bopp b. 5-Jan-1835 d. 1925 m. Elizabeth Hoffmann     [his mother - Sabina Straub]

   Henry Bopp b. 23-Jan-1842 d. 1924 m. Margareta Knobeloch-Hoch

   Katherine Bopp b. 15-Oct-1843 d. 30-Apr-1930 m. William Wehmeyer

   Valentine Bopp b. 20-Dec-1845 d. 27-Feb-1933 m. Katherine Woerthers

   Peter Bopp, Jr. b. 1-Apr-1848 d. 6-May-1923 m. Elizabeth Wilhelm

   Dora Bopp b. 1852 d. 1900 m. William Goltz

   Emil Theodor Balthazar Bopp, Sr. b. 29-Oct-1855 d. 20-May-1943   [my husband's line]
          m. 26-Jan-1879 Katherine Leuthauser b. 18-Jan-1857 d. 6-Oct-1936

GKBoppHOME