Culpepper Connections!
The Culpepper Family History Site

Ten Years Old!
On April 19, 2008, Culpepper Connections celebrated its tenth anniversary. During the past ten years, we have had over a thousand Culpeppers provide us with genealogies, other forms of new or corrected information, photographs, biographies, and more. Lew Griffin and I say a hearty thanks to each and every one of our contributors! It has been a lot of fun meeting and corresponding with so many of you, some of whom have now become good friends.

                 - Warren Culpepper

A new version of the Culpepper Family Tree was published on March 30, 2008. We have added 600 new individuals, nearly 400 of whom are Culpeppers. We’ve also updated the records for about 2,400 other individuals, including quite a few old photographs added by Lew Griffin. See Index. Our next update is scheduled around July 13, 2008

What Else is New?
Northern Mississippi Data in Family Tree. The archival data (see next entry) for all of the counties in Northern Mississippi have been used to create new family tree records and update many others. Southern Mississippi updates should be complete before the July 1 family tree update. (30 Mar 2008)

Mississippi Archives. Shannon O’Connor Christian has provided transcriptions of the Culpeppers found in the1850-1910 US Census for Mississippi. Both Shannon and Linda Cushing transcribed 1920, splitting the counties between them. And Malcolm Wickes Culpepper has provided transcriptions for 1930. All of the census entries, along with all of the marriage, land, death and burial records which we could find were added to our Mississippi archives. (10 Mar 2008)

A Newly Discovered Culpepper Cousin: Diana Princess of Wales
Diana's 12th great-grandfather was John Culpeper of Wigsell (1531-1612). Most modern-day Culpeppers also descend from John. This may make Diana your 13th cousin, more or less, depending on the number of ancestors between you and John. Put a smile on your granddaughter's (or grandmother's) face and tell her she has a real princess for a cousin. (Diana's Genealogy) (10 Mar 2008)

New Photos of Publisher and Family. All the children and grandchildren at Christmas (10 Jan 2008)

DNA Project. Over the past several months, a great deal of behind-the-scenes effort has been expended on our DNA project. This includes attending a genealogical DNA conference in Houston, identifying potential project members, soliciting their membership, organizing and analyzing test results and splitting out the family tree charts into a larger number of smaller branches. We also continue to refine some of our ancestral theories based upon the results of our DNA testing. Currently there are over 50 project members, and we are targeting a total of 100 or more by the end of 2008. For a rewritten and simplified explanation of what DNA testing is all about, how it is helping us, and how you can help, see: DNA.

Family Tree Charts. About 250 branches of our family are now pictorially illustrated in chart form, more than double the number that we previously displayed. Each has been made more compact and more relevant to each family member's immediate branch. See Charts

Virginia: Our Next Major Project. During the course of 2008, we intend to post North Carolina and Virginia transcriptions of deed, tax and probate records that have been gathered during many research trips to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. We will also enter all applicable Culpeppers from the Ancestry.com and USGenWeb databases into our Virginia archives. This will include records from censuses, births, marriages, deaths, cemeteries and more. We currently have one volunteer helping to transcribe the Virginia census records, and if you would like to also help out, please contact me.

North Carolina Archives. We have completed our project to enter all applicable Culpeppers from the Ancestry.com and USGenWeb databases into our North Carolina Culpepper Archives.  We have also attempted to match and transfer all of this archival data to the appropriate records in our family tree. (October 7, 2007).

Charts Can Now Be Printed! Since our charts were first published nearly five years ago, most people have not been able to print them. Users of Internet Explorer 7.0 should now be able to get good results.

All significant site updates since January 2003.



 

DNA Project
DNA Testing Project.  In early 2007 we launched a DNA project. With widespread participation, we hope to identify unique DNA signatures for most of the branches of the family. In the process, we will be able to confirm, or modify as necessary, our paper-based theories about ancestral connections in the 17th and 18th centuries. For qualifying individuals, free testing is available. More information on the Culpepper DNA project.

Seven Ways You Can Help
If you have found information on this site that was helpful, it was probably something that was provided by another Culpepper family member. Wouldn't you like to return the favor? Listed below are seven ways you can do that.
   1. In our Family Tree, can you tell us which members of your family are missing? Or can you provide additional or corrected facts?
   2. Join our DNA project. We seek at least one participant from each major branch of the Culpepper family. For qualifying individuals, testing is free.
   3. Contribute to the DNA Project. Help others to be tested by making a financial contribution to the Culpepper DNA Project
   4. In our Photograph Index, we show the names of all deceased family members for whom we have photographs. Can you provide photographs of your ancestors?
   5. In our Archives, can you scan the names in your family's States and Counties and see if you can identify any of the unknowns?
   6. Do you know a Culpepper in the Military that is not reported or whose ancestry is unknown? Do you have a photograph of one in uniform that we could publish?
   7. We are in the process of transcribing the census records for every Culpepper in every US Census that has been released to the public (1790-1930). Description and how you can help on the census.

The Culpepper Archives
Census, marriage, deed, death, wills and other archived records of genealogical significance. Also includes over 200 places (towns, cemeteries. islands, streets, mountains and streams) named Culpepper

* Portraits reproduced by kind permission of the Trustees of the Leeds Castle Foundation.

Stay Informed
To keep up with news on our DNA project as well as interesting updates to our Culpepper web site and family tree, join our Culpepper mailing list at RootsWeb. To join, click here to initiate an e-mail message, and then place the word "subscribe" as the body of the text.

Lew Griffin's Culpepper Daughters Website
Descendants of many female Culpeppers can be found at Culpepper Daughters. These include descendants of the daughters and granddaughters of John and Nancy (Gillespie) Culpepper of Randolph County, Alabama; of Benjamin Culpepper of South Carolina, and of Sheriff Joseph Culpepper of Pike County, Georgia, as well as non-Culpepper ancestors of many of these folks.

Ancestry of John Culpeper the Merchant GEDCOM
John Culpeper, the Merchant (born 1606), is the progenitor of virtually all American Culpeppers. In John's  GEDCOM, we detail his ancestry back to Sir Thomas Colepeper, the Recognitor (born 1170), as well as to three Magna Carta Sureties of 1215; to Charlemagne, Emperor of the West (born 742); and to Alfred the Great (born 849). A GEDCOM is a standard genealogical file used as input to genealogical programs such as Family Tree Maker or The Master Genealogist. The John Culpeper GEDCOM is the only one we make available, and it was last updated 11 Dec 2005. (Download GEDCOM)