Culpepper Connections! was initiated in early 1998 by Warren Culpepper to publish Lew Griffin's Culpepper family research, which he began in 1976. The site is now a collaborative effort of a group of people with interest in Culpepper family history. Over two thousand people have contributed information for our site. Many of our contributors could well be classified as 'Storytellers of the Tribe,' as described in the following text by an unknown author.
"In each family there are one or two who seem called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again, to tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know and approve. Doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who have gone before. We are the storytellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called, as it were, by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us, 'Tell our story!' So, we do.
"In finding them, we somehow find ourselves. How many graves have I stood before now and cried? I have lost count. How many times have I told the ancestors, 'You have a wonderful family; you would be proud of us.' How many times have I walked up ...to a grave and felt somehow there was love there for me? I cannot say. It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who am I and why do I do the things I do.
"It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference and saying, 'I can't let this happen.' The bones here are bones of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It goes to doing something about it. It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish, how they contributed to what we are today. It goes to respecting their hardships and losses, their never giving in or giving up, their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their family. It goes to deep pride that the fathers fought and some died to make and keep us a Nation. It goes to a deep and immense understanding that they were doing it for us.
"It is of equal pride and love that our mothers struggled to give us birth. Without them we could not exist, and so we love each one, as far back as we can reach. That we might be born who we are. That we might remember them. So we do. With love and caring and scribing each fact of their existence, because we are they and they are the sum of who we are. So, as a scribe called, I tell the story of my family. It is up to that one called in the next generation to answer the call and take my place in the long line of family storytellers. That is why I do my family genealogy, and that is what calls those young and old to step up and restore the memory or greet those whom we had never known before."
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The list below represents those who have been most active as "storytellers of their tribe" in providing content for Culpepper Connections.
In the compilation of any list such as this, it is inevitable that some individuals will have been inadvertently omitted. If you, or someone you know, belongs in this list, please notify Warren Culpepper (warren@culpepper.com).
"In each family there are one or two who seem called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again, to tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know and approve. Doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who have gone before. We are the storytellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called, as it were, by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us, 'Tell our story!' So, we do.
"In finding them, we somehow find ourselves. How many graves have I stood before now and cried? I have lost count. How many times have I told the ancestors, 'You have a wonderful family; you would be proud of us.' How many times have I walked up ...to a grave and felt somehow there was love there for me? I cannot say. It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who am I and why do I do the things I do.
"It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference and saying, 'I can't let this happen.' The bones here are bones of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It goes to doing something about it. It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish, how they contributed to what we are today. It goes to respecting their hardships and losses, their never giving in or giving up, their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their family. It goes to deep pride that the fathers fought and some died to make and keep us a Nation. It goes to a deep and immense understanding that they were doing it for us.
"It is of equal pride and love that our mothers struggled to give us birth. Without them we could not exist, and so we love each one, as far back as we can reach. That we might be born who we are. That we might remember them. So we do. With love and caring and scribing each fact of their existence, because we are they and they are the sum of who we are. So, as a scribe called, I tell the story of my family. It is up to that one called in the next generation to answer the call and take my place in the long line of family storytellers. That is why I do my family genealogy, and that is what calls those young and old to step up and restore the memory or greet those whom we had never known before."
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The list below represents those who have been most active as "storytellers of their tribe" in providing content for Culpepper Connections.
In the compilation of any list such as this, it is inevitable that some individuals will have been inadvertently omitted. If you, or someone you know, belongs in this list, please notify Warren Culpepper (warren@culpepper.com).
- Barbara S. Lockard (1930-2005), Fort Worth, TX (Link to Joel Culpepper)
One of Lew Griffin's early contacts from the late 1970's. She contributed much of our information on the descendants of Joel Culpepper and Rebecca Hammack of Harris Co. GA. She also shared her extensive research on all branches of the Culpepper family over a number of years. Barbara died in August 2005. - Bill Russell, Alexandria, VA (Link to John Culpeper, the Merchant)
William A. 'Bill' Russell is a researcher of the colonial Culpeppers and their linkage to Barbados and England. In his spare time, Bill is a scholar of early Virginia history, and it was Bill who first put us in touch with William S. Smith Jr., mentioned below, and with Dr. Warren M. Billings, author of a monumental work on Sir William Berkeley. - Cathy McBirnie Griffin, Phoenix, AZ (Link is to Lew's nearest Culpepper ancestor)
Lew Griffin says, "Somehow it seems fair to include my wife Cathy in this list, as she has been a great help to all of us, over the years, as far as publishing our records on the Culpepper family. I can't tell you how many hours she has spent, just typing various records for inclusion at our web site, in the last fifteen years or so. I suspect that with the exception of Warren and me, no one can yet compete with her as far as time spent on our Culpepper family tree." - Rev. Charles Lee Culpepper (1895-1986), San Antonio, TX
Charles and his sister Martha Anne Culpepper Hunt (1890-1978) compiled extensive records on the family of their grandfather Francis Gillespie Culpepper, which the Rev. Culpepper generously shared with Lew Griffin in the late 1970's. These records, including updates from the current Culpepper Heritage Association, founded by Rev. Culpepper's grandson, Tom S. Culpepper, form the core of our records on this branch of the family - Dorothy Nash Roberts, Denton, TX (Link to her nearest Culpepper ancestor)
Researcher of the Francis Gillespie Culpepper descendants. Has also provided transcriptions for nearly half of the Culpepper families in the 1930 census. - Eleanor Culpepper Willingham (1908-2009) - Grantville, GA
Eleanor was a major contributor to Lew Griffin in his George Washington Culpepper line of the Culpepper Chronicles. She was still an active family and community historian when she died at 100. - Ellaree Dean Speer (1900-1996), Birmingham, AL (Link to her nearest Culpepper ancestor)
Was Lew Griffin's double cousin, on the Culpepper side, and supplied his first records on and contacts among the family of John Wesley and Betsey (Culpepper) Dean. She was also a source of old photos in the Lewis Peek Culpepper family, old family stories, and old letters. - Fred Gleaton, Atlanta, GA (Link to his nearest Culpepper ancestor)
Fred first put Warren Culpepper and Lew Griffin in touch with one another in 1997. Thanks to Fred's initial encouragement, our current Culpepper web site was born in April 1998. See About this Web Site on our Culppeper Connections home page for all the details. Fred is also a major contributor on the family of David Culpepper (1823 - 1893) and Argent Sutton, of early Dooly / Crisp Co. GA. - Gennie Taylor Harris, Dallas, TX
Researcher of the descendants and ancestry of Joel Culpepper of Cherokee Co., AL, and of his wife, Ann Elizabeth Tyler. Gennie's work on both the Culpeppers and the Tylers / Theilers has been meticulous. She has also provided a considerable amount of material for our Civil War section. - Gertrude Walker "Trudie" Stone (1925 - 2001), Newnan, GA
The chief researcher of the descendants of Malachi Culpepper, and over a 20 year period, was a great help to Lew Griffin in locating correspondents in many other branches of the Culpepper family as well. - Glen N. Colepeper, Cape Town, South Africa
Researcher of the South African Colepepers. - Harry Linwood "Lin" Monell, Portsmouth, VA (Link to Robert Culpeper, head of line covered by report)
Wrote an extensive and thorough report entitled The Descendants of Robert Culpeper and Elizabeth Bracket which he published 28 Aug 1993. Contributor Diane Mathena sent us a copy, with Lin's permission, in 1998. An early researcher of note on this line was Joseph G. Merrell. - John Leland Culpepper (1915-1998), Meridian, MS
Primary researcher of the descendants of Joseph Culpepper, who came from Jackson County, GA, around 1840, and settled in Lauderdale Co., MS, and Sumter Co., AL. Leland was kind enough to share his many family group sheets with Lew Griffin. Those were the days of the earliest IBM PC's. It was Lew's wife Cathy who first put those records into computer format, on that old PC. Early on, Leland's research, and Cathy's data entry, was shared with Levin Ellis Culpepper who eventually published those records, with his own additional research appended. Levin Culpepper's book on these Culpeppers can be found at the the LDS Library in Salt Lake City. Of course, our own current records on this family are here at Culpepper Connections! - Kathyrn English Culpepper (1905 - 1996), Rome, GA
Kathyrn and her sister Louise Culpepper Broach (1903 - 1983) of Rome, GA, were great resources on the family of Charles William Culpepper of Gordon Co. GA. Louise was one of Lew Griffin's early correspondents, and supplied her recollections of various early family members. Kathryn put her own extensive family recollections into a 75 page handwritten narrative, and in 2002, Lorinda Culpepper (see below) shared a copy of this narrative with Lew Griffin. - Levin Ellis Culpepper (1925-2003), Meridian, MS
Published an expanded version of the Mississippi Culpepper research originally done by John Leland Culpepper and Lew Griffin. Levin Culpepper's book on these Culpeppers can be found at the the LDS Library in Salt Lake City. More current as well as more detailed records on this family are here at Culpepper Connections. - Lew Griffin, Phoenix, AZ (Link is to his nearest Culpepper ancestor)
A double Culpepper descendant who has been the primary source of the genealogical information at Culpepper Connections! He focuses, in particular, on the descendants of John and Nancy Gillespie Culpepper, and on this couple's ancestry, as well as on the descendants of the closely related lines of Benjamin Culpepper, Rev. Sol., of SC, and Joseph Culpepper, Rev. Sol., of SC. - Loris O. Brewer, Lockhart, TX
Researcher of the descendents of Allison Culpepper of Georgia. - Malcolm Culpepper, Clinton, MS
With his brother Royce, a researcher of the line of Mathew Nathan Culpepper of Chickasaw Co., MS. Malcolm has also provided full transcriptions of the 1930 US Census in Mississippi and is a member of the Culpepper DNA project. - Margaret Phillips Dodd (1904 - 2002), Winter Haven, FL
A great storyteller who supplied much information and many old family stories about her grandfather Lewis Peek Culpepper and his children, which brought those people to life. - Martha Ann Culpepper Hunt (1890-1978), San Antonio, TX
Martha and her brother Rev. Charles Lee Culpepper (1895-1986) compiled extensive records on the family of their grandfather Francis Gillespie Culpepper, which the Rev. Culpepper generously shared with Lew Griffin in the late 1970's. These records, including updates from the current Culpepper Heritage Association, founded by Rev. Culpepper's grandson, Tom S. Culpepper form the core of our records on this branch of the family. - Mary Lillian Butler Pierce (1915 - 2000), Albertville, AL,
One of Lew Griffin's long-time correspondents from the late 1970's, and a storehouse of information on the family of John Jefferson Culpepper (1797 - 1885). Our records on this branch of the family, including old family stories, and other contacts, came largely from Mary Lillian's personal knowledge of the family. - Royce Culpepper, Mt. Juliet, TN
With his brother Malcolm, a researcher of the descendants of Mathew Nathan Culpepper of Chickasaw Co., MS. Has also provided content for Culpepper Places and the Culpepper Archives sections of this web site. - Sandra Durbin, Riverside, CA (Link to Luke Culpepper (bc 1817), progenitor of Riverside Culpeppers)
Researcher of the African-American Culpeppers of Riverside Co., CA and Wilcox Co., AL, and her many other lines as well. Sandra's interest in family history goes back many years. As a young person, she used to write letters back to Alabama for one of her elderly relatives, and she still remembers old bits and pieces of family history in her family which have long been forgotten by others. She has also traveled extensively over the years, pursuing leads on her various ancestral lines wherever she can find them. Sandra's determination and persistence sets a good example for anyone with difficult lines to research. - Warren H. "Dick" Culpepper, Provo, UT
Dick has been researching the Culpeppers about as long as Lew Griffin has, but oddly enough, the two were not in touch with each other until about 1992. Dick has collected extensive records over the years on the Culpepper family in England, Virginia, and the Carolinas. In 2008, he published a book: "Culpepper’s of England and America", available for online purchase at Stevenson Genealogy & Copy Center: http://sgenealogy.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1501 - William S. Smith Jr., Raleigh, NC (Link to John Culpeper of Albemarle)
Allowed us to reprint his Master's Thesis, "Culpeper's Rebellion, New Data and Old Problems", a paper originally written in 1990.