Mississippi
Culpepper Archives

Mississippi Culpepper History

All of the Culpeppers recorded in early Mississippi history appear to have been grandchildren or great-grandchildren of Joseph Culpepper of Edgecombe Co., NC

The first of these was Rev. John Culpepper, Jr. who came from from Georgia in 1810 with his sons, John and Sampson. They were all enumerated in the 1820 Mississippi census in Hancock County in southern Mississippi, across the Pearl River from eastern Louisiana.

Circa 1825, Benjamin Culpepper relocated from Edgefield District, South Carolina to Lawrence County near the Pearl River in southern Mississippi. By 1850, he and his sons, Joseph Richard and Benjamin R. had relocated up river about 100 miles north to Attala County. The second largest concentration of Culpeppers in the state is in this area, primarily in the towns of Sallis and Kosciusko.

Before 1840, four of the sons of Joseph Culpepper of Jackson County, Georgia (Henry, Simeon, Joel and Owen) had relocated to lands spanning eastern Lauderdale County, Mississippi and western Sumter County, Alabama. Many of their descendants persist in this area today. In fact, a majority of Mississippi Culpeppers, past and present, will be found in Lauderdale County, or within a 60 mile radius of its county seat, Meridian.

County Records

Culpeppers in the Mississippi Delta?

The Mississippi Delta is the distinct northwest section of the state of Mississippi that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. Technically, it is not a delta, but part of an alluvial plain. Created by regular flooding over thousands of years, the region is remarkably flat and contains some of the most fertile soil in the world. Running from Memphis to Vicksburg, it spans the  counties of De Soto, Tunica, Panola, Quitman, Coahoma, Tallahatchie, Sunflower, Bolivar, Carroll, Leflore, Humphreys, Washington, Holmes, Yazoo, Sharkey, Issaquena, and Warren,

While the early Culpepper settlers of Mississippi were certainly farmers, only a very small number resided in the fertile Delta region. By the late 19th century, however, quite a few African-American Culpeppers had moved in from further east to work this rich land.