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Melchoir Ott 1699 Switzerland – 1755 SC

Melchoir Ott, who was born 1699 in Switzerland, may have been the son of Hans Ott, who was born 1669 in Switzerland, and Anna (Imdorff) Ott. Melchoir came to South Carolina in 1735[i], at the age of 36. 

Melchior Ott arrived with a group from Switzerland in 1735. Others in that group were: John and Jacob Geissendanner, Martin Kooner, Zibilla Wolf, Peter Hugg and Hans Henry Felder. More groups came in 1736, 1737 and 1750. They were farmers and tradesmen.[i]

In October 1735 Melchoir Ott had 350 acres of land on the Pon Pon River in Orangeburgh District and a half acre “town lot” in Orangeburgh Township.[i]   

Melchoir Ott had married Gretchen Schmitts in Siwtzerland. They had at least four child born in Switzerland: Casper Ott, b1721; Esther Ott, b 1723; Jacob Ott I, born 1725; and Isaac Ott, b 1729.[i]

About 1749 a petition supporting Rev. John Giessendanner was signed by many citizens of Orangeburg Township. Three of the signers were Melchoir Ott, Jacob Ott [Jacob Ott I] and Casper Ott.[ii]

Melchoir died 23 October 1755, twenty years after arriving in South Carolina. He was buried the following day at his plantation. 

On Thursday Oct 23d died after a long disorder and a few days confinement in Bed and on Friday Oct 24 was Entered at the Plantation of Melchoir Ott, a native of Switzerland who settled in the said Township in the year 1735 aged about 57 years. [iii]


[i]Ott, Leo E. Us Otts, The Search for our Family(Yuba City, CA, 1999).

[ii]South Carolina Historical Society, Petitions of Citizens of Orangeburgh Township in Behalf of Rev. John Geissendonner, 1749; South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Vol. 14, Jan-Apr 1923; digital image, Genealogy Gophers (gengophers.com: accessed February 2019) 48-51.

[iii]Salley, Jr., Alexander S. The History of Orangeburg County South Carolina(Baltimore, MD: Regional Publishing Company, 1969) 201.


[i]South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Colonial Plat Books;Series S213184, Volume 16, Page 557, Item 2; digital image (scdah.sc.gov: accessed March 2019) Melchior Ott, 1735, Orangeburgh District. 


[i]Salley, Jr., Alexander S. The History of Orangeburg County South Carolina(Baltimore, MD: Regional Publishing Company, 1969) 29-30.


[i]McCrady, Edward. The History of South Carolina Under the Royal Government, 1719 – 1776; digital image, Genealogy Gophers (gengophers.com: accessed February 2019) 131. 

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