Fredrich Heinrich Jeppe

The first Jeppe Migrant was Hermann Otto, born in 1819, who arrived sometime in the 1850s. In 1861, he was followed by his younger brother, Friedrich Heinrich and their sister Francina and her German officer husband, a Captain Dietrich. A third brother, Julius Jeppe arrived in 1870. ...

Friedrich Heinrich Jeppe, who followed his brother to Potchefstroom in 1861, is described in the South African Dictionary of Biography as ‘a versatile Transvaal official, cartographer and artist.’ In 1863 he married Susanna Wilhelmina Truter in Rustenburg. In 1867 he became acting Postmaster General of the Transvaal Repubic. In 1868 Friedrich published his first article and a map of the Transvaal in Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen. His later geographical/geological maps earned him the reputation of being the most important cartographer in the Transvaal. When he became Postmaster in 1868, he introduced mail-carts to the Free State and the British colonies. He designed and introduced the first postage stamps (1d, 3d, 6d, one shilling) to the country and used his younger brother Julius, to oversee their printing, in Germany. Friedrich was one of the founders of the Royal Philatelic Society in London.

Given the slow, animal drawn transport of the day, which rendered the Transvaal remote and distant from civilization, this appears unusual testimony to his own energy and obvious talent. In 1870 Friedrich began what was a steady stream of writings including a Transvaal Almanac and Jeppe’s map of the Transvaal or South African Republic and surrounding territories. His geographical publications earned him fellowship in the Royal Geographical Society. In 1886 he was asked to record all the Republics laws under the supervision of Chief Justice J G Kotze.

While working as chief draughtsman in the Surveyor General’s office, Friedrich Jeppe died in 1889 of a liver complaint and lies in Pretoria’s old cemetery. He was known as a modest man, quiet and unassuming, who did not dabble in politics. He belonged to the Lutheran Church in Pretoria and, as were all his brothers, a freemason.

http://www.theheritageportal.co.za/article/history-jeppe-family