Most researchers tend to agree that the earliest of this line to arrive in America was Johan Leonhard Kepplinger, who was born in Germany about 1688, was married to Maria Elizabetha, born about 1692, arrived in Philadelphia PA with his family on the ship Thistle of Glasgow on August 29, 1730 and settled in Berks Co., PA. Their children, all born in Schweigem, Kraichgau, Germany, are shown as:
1. Johannes Kepplinger/Caplinger, b. June 1, 1713, m. Lydia (unknown), and d. about 1787 in Rockingham Co., VA
2. Johan Georg Kepplinger, b. February 27, 1718/19, m. (1) Barbara Avensheen and (2) Maria Elizabetha Umbenhauer
3. Johan Paul Kepplinger, b. November 7, 1721, m. Maria Catharine Kuhn April 23, 1749, d. 1776 in Berks Co., PA
4. Johan Leonhard Kepplinger, Jr., b. January 20, 1723/24, m. Anna Maria Rausch November 28, 1749
5. Maria Elizabetha Kepplinger, b. March 17, 1725/26, m. Jacob Rausch
6. Christian Kepplinger, b. May 14, 1728, d. May 20, 1728
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gabfa/keplinge.htm