Our South Carolina Roots

The General Assembly of South Carolina enacted legislation on July 25, 1761, to pay for the passage of European immigrants to South Carolina and to grant 100 acres of land to the head of the household and 50 acres of land to each dependent in order to attract settlers from Europe to the New World of America. The port of entry was Charles Town, now Charleston, South Carolina.

One of the families arriving at Charleston was that of Johann Dietrich Utz. The family consisted of George Peter Utz, age 8, and Maria Catherine Utsin (the spelling “Utsin” denotes, in German, the feminine gender of the Utz surname), age 4. Dietrich’s wife, Anna Catharina (Eva) Gilbert, daughter of Marie Catharina Ackermann and Johannes (Hanss) Gilbert, age 27, had left Hoffenheim, Germany with her children but passed away in route to America and was buried at sea. For reasons not known, Dietrich arrived at Charleston on the ship, Britannia, which had departed from Rotterdam and arrived five days earlier on October 5, 1766. With Dietrich on the Britannia, was Anna Margaret Utsin. It is believed that Anna was a sister, aunt or other close relative to Dietrich. Another passenger on the Britannia was Maria Dorothea Sampei. She is notable because upon learning of the death of his wife, Eva Catherina, and during the time spent waiting for bounty land in Charleston, Dietrich and Dorothea were married in St. John’s Lutheran Church on November 25, 1766, in Charleston. They had five children in Newberry District, South Carolina, before moving the family to Edgefield District, South Carolina.

The Ouzts Family Association

The Ouzts Family Association was organized on August 25, 1929, when the first reunion of the Ouzts family descendants was held at McKendrea Methodist Church in Edgefield County, South Carolina. The principal promoter was Hon. Daniel Andrew Gaines (D.A.G.) Ouzts St., of Greenwood, South Carolina, who was a lawyer and great promoter of the family and family values. The gathered Ouzts descendants, numbering 600 or so, elected D.A.G. Ouzts as President and Treasurer of the Ouzts Family Association.

The Ouzts Family Association hosts a family reunion each year in August (more details available below). The earlier reunions were held at the McKendrea Methodist Church. More recent reunions have been held at the Hickory Knob State Resort Park in McCormick County, South Carolina, and at the First Baptist Church of NinetySix in Greenwood County, South Carolina. To this day, the Ouzts Family Association continues to promote the family, family values and family traditions.

First Baptist Church of NinetySix
205 Church Street NinetySix
Greenwood County, SC 29666

The 94th Annual Ouzts Family Reunion

About 40 members of the Ouzts Family assembled for the 94th Annual Ouzts Family Reunion at the First Baptist Church of NinetySix on Saturday, August 10, 2024, for family business, lunch, renewing relationships and visiting with the family. Two members were re-elected to three-year terms as Trustees of the Association.

The 93rd Annual Ouzts Family Reunion

The Ouzts Family assembled for The 93rd Annual Ouzts Family Reunion at the First Baptist Church of NinetySix on Saturday, August 5, 2023.

INFORMATION

The Ouzts Family Book

The Ouzts Family in America, Edgefield, South Carolina Roots is now available in CD format.  It is updated through July 15, 2010, and is a single volume with a single index for all family members.  The cost of the CD is $50.00 plus $5.00 shipping and handling.  Please contact Judy Long at judyl@nctv.com to purchase a copy.  All proceeds go to The Ouzts Family Association General Funds account.

The Ouzts Family in America, Edgefield, South Carolina Roots Book is a two volume set.  Volume One contains the John Calvin Ouzts through the Elizabeth Ouzts McDowell lines.  Volume One also has an introductory chapter, “South Carolina Roots,” and a chapter on the Ouzts Family Association history.  Volume Two contains the Martin Luther Ouzts through Benjamin James Ouzts lines and the lines of the half-brothers and sisters of George Peter Ouzts, Elizabeth Ouzts Lowery through the Jake Martin Ouzts line.

There are a total of 1,881 pages. Each volume is indexed with the family members who are presented in bold print.  If you do not find the person you’re seeking in one volume, check the index of the other.  Parents of the spouses are not indexed unless they are members in bold.  There are no pictures in the book except for the color rendition of the Utz-Ouzts Family Crest and the meaning of the Crest.

The book is bound in a blue linen binding with a place marker ribbon.  The lettering on the book is in gold.  There were 277 sets in the first printing.  Additional printing(s) will be considered based on requests for purchases.  You are requested to forward all corrections and additional family information to us for inclusion in any subsequent printing as soon as you can.  Additional details and the Family Group Record form are available below.

The book was distributed to those who purchased a copy or copies at the Ouzts Family Reunion on August 25, 2007.

All copies of the book are now sold. The original first printing price was $100.00 for the two volume set plus shipping.  For additional information, please contact Judy Long at judyl@nctv.com, call (864) 933-3013, or write to her at 182 Fieldcrest Drive, Central, SC 29630.

There was a modest profit from the sale of the book that will be retained by The Ouzts Family Association to be used to care for the Ouzts Family Monument and to do much needed work on the Ouzts Family Cemetery in McKendree, SC.  Details are available on the Finances page.

You may also download a copy of Peter Ouzts I and His Descendants, “The Original Ouzts Book” here.

Family Records

Record updates for existing or new Ouzts families and/or descendants need to be forwarded to the Ouzts Family Association. To download a Family Group Record (FGR) form, please click here. Record corrections may also be sent using this form. New and updated records will then be entered into our Family History file and into the continuing book manuscript.

• We will need the full and complete name of each individual, full date and place of all births, marriages, deaths and places of burial.  We will also need the parents’ names of all spouses along with their dates and places just as for family members.
• Please type the information or print very clearly and legibly.  All dates should be Day/Month/Year format such as 16 June 1965 or 16/6/1964.  It is difficult to decipher dates unless this format is strictly followed.  For example, 3/6/2006 is June 3, 2006, not March 6, 2006.
• The “Christened” and “Place” fields need not be filled in unless the individual was born before 1800 and the only record available is a church record.
• Remember, we have many family members with the same names so we must be able to tell what existing family the individual(s) in this FGR belongs.  The father’s and mother’s full names are critically important.
• Please enter the “Prepared By” information completely including your email address. If we have questions, email is the best method of contact and costs nothing to correspond.

Please send family information via email to hc@ouzts.net or directly to:

          H.C. Ouzts
          13551 South Sheps Ridge Lane
          Herriman, UT 84096

Coat of Arms

The Utz family originated in the Duchy of Franconie which later became Frankfurt-on-the-Main of the German Empire.  The family coat of arms, or crest (shown to the left), was granted in 420 AD and is of military origin.  The winged griffin suggesting horsemen (calvalry) who swooped down with a tremendous impetus on their enemies and when forced to dismount, fought back to back valiantly, which is suggested by the battle-axes so placed, and mentioned in history.

From “Reitstap’s Armorial General”, Volume 6, United States Library of Congress:

“Utz-Franconie.  Divided—The one part is of blue with a half-wing imposed of gold; the second part is silver with two halberds (or battle-axes) as they naturally appear, passing crosswise; crest: a gold griffin coming up blue-winged, holding in his right paw a palm of single and in his left, the halberds of the second part.”

Mr. Louis P. Selden, noted heraldic artist of Richmond, VA, related to Daniel Andrew Gaines (D. A. G.) Ouzts, his understanding of the Utz coat of arms thus:

“This is a very interesting coat of arms and an honorable one, of which an Ouzts or Utz can always be proud.  The colors and charges employed in blazoning this heraldic achievement have an ancient significance.  The gold wing on an eagle was given for illustrious deeds and generosity and purity, magnanimity and fortitude.  Wings conjoined or separate has been referred to one learned in war, who was thus prevented from fully asserting his powers.  The battle-axes indicated a crusader ancestry.”

He continued:

“We have every reason for family pride.  Generations come and go; and passing with each, the name remains and lives on.  We cannot choose our ancestors, but we can leave an impression on our descendants which is an important part of the average person . . . It is our duty to add to the name we bear, to lift it up and honor it.”