Mississippi Culpepper Archives
Bolivar County

County History

The County of Bolivar was created February 9, 1836 from the Choctaw Cession of 1830 during the administration of Governor Charles Lynch. It was named for General Simon Bolivar, a South American patriot. The first settlers of Bolivar County were planters who found the forty to sixty foot deep Delta soil to be rich and fertile. The land had to first be laboriously cleared of the evergreen, cane and bamboo, but once cleared, the settlers found rivers, bayous, and lakes filled with edible fish, such as perch, jack, trout, bass, and big river catfish weighing as much as 200 pounds. Game, such as wild ducks, turkeys, deer, and quail were found in large numbers. The levee system was first implemented during the 1850's to the 1860's. The County Courthouse was burned by Federals in 1863 and entombed by flood in 1865. The County is now divided into two judicial districts, the line of division running north and south. Rosedale, situated on the Mississippi River, is the county seat of the first district, and Cleveland, situated on the main line of the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad, is the county seat of the second district. As of 2000, the population was 40,633. Bolivar County is bordered by Coahoma County (north), Sunflower County (east), Washington County (south) and Desha County, Arkansas (west).

Any names below in red have not been matched with a person in the Culpepper family tree. If you can identify any of them, please let us know.

Census Records

No Culpeppers were found in any Bolivar County censuses prior to or after 1920.

1920 US Census

Transcribed for Culpepper Connections by Linda Jones Cushing

Military Records

World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918

Source: National Archives and Records Administration. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-18 (database online) Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2002. National Archives and Records Administration. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. M1509, 4,277 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration

U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946

Source: National Archives and Records Administration. U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 (database online). Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2005. Original data: Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946 (Archival Database); World War II Army Enlistment Records; Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 64; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD.

Marriages

Mississippi Marriages, 1776-1935

Source: Hunting For Bears, comp.. Mississippi Marriages, 1776-1935 (database on-line). Provo, UT, USA: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2004. Original data: Mississippi marriage information taken from county courthouse records. Many of these records were extracted from copies of the original records in microfilm, microfiche, or book format, located at the Family History Library.

Land Records

Mississippi Land Records

Source: United States, Bureau of Land Management. Mississippi Land Records (database on-line). Provo, UT, USA: MyFamily.com, Inc., 1997. Original data: United States, Bureau of Land Management. Mississippi Pre-1908 Patents: Homesteads, Cash Entry, Choctaw Indian Scrip and Chickasaw Cession Lands. General Land Office Automated Records Project, 1997

Deaths

Social Security Death Index

Source: Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index (database on-line). Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2007. All records of deaths on or before 31 Dec 2007 in which the final benefit was paid or final residence was in this county.

Places