Claudia Belle Culpepper1,2

Female, #1606, (circa 1900 - before 2000)

Parent*John Nathaniel Culpepper (Jun 1870 - 1911)
Parent*Cora Evelyn Foshee (Jul 1876 - 21 Aug 1953)
Claudia Belle Culpepper|b. circa 1900\nd. before 2000|p1606.htm|John Nathaniel Culpepper|b. Jun 1870\nd. 1911|p1584.htm|Cora Evelyn Foshee|b. Jul 1876\nd. 21 Aug 1953|p1595.htm|Benjamin F. Culpepper|b. 27 Feb 1845\nd. 19 Sep 1890|p1492.htm|Nancy Howard|b. 27 Aug 1845\nd. 19 Feb 1918|p1583.htm|John W. Foshee|b. 11 Aug 1841\nd. 14 Jul 1919|p1795.htm|Frances E. Pool|b. 14 Nov 1840\nd. 11 Mar 1902|p1796.htm|

Birth*circa 1900 Claudia was born at Chilton Co., Alabama, circa 1900. 
 She was the daughter of John Nathaniel Culpepper and Cora Evelyn Foshee. 
1910 Census15 Apr 1910 Pearl, Claudia and Eula was listed as a daughter in John Nathaniel Culpepper's household on the 1910 Census at Chilton Co., Alabama.3 
Married Name10 Nov 1918  As of 10 Nov 1918, her married name was Weldon. 
Marriage*10 Nov 1918 She married Henry Clayton Weldon Sr. at Chilton Co., Alabama, on 10 Nov 1918.4 
Death*before 2000 She died at Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama, before 2000.4 
Biography Culpepper / Gallman
By: Louise Davis, 2843 NW 21st Terrace, Gainesville, FL 32605

After the 1997 Culpepper/Gallman reunion, my sister and I drove out to the farm my grandparents had when we were growing up. It's still a magical place. The country is beautiful. The neighbors are still as friendly as they were 40 years ago. As we drove back to Clanton through Jemison and Thorsby, I felt quite at home. I am proud to have roots in Chilton County.

I was fortunate to know four of John and Cora's five children: Pearl, my grandmother Claudia, Eula, and Herman (Carl died before I was born). At times they came to visit in Birmingham or at the farm and helped with farming, canning, or building. They usually brought children or grandchildren. Pearl and George Daniel are buried in Double Springs. Carl is buried at Liberty Hill Cemetery in Clanton. Herman and Claudia with her husband, Henry, are buried in Birmingham. Herman's wife, Agnes, lives in Louisiana with family. At 92 Eula still lives in Birmingham. The last time she came to the reunion in Clanton, she brought three generations with her.

Claudia and Henry Weldon were married on November 10, 1918, at the home of Rev. Foshee attended by Eula, George Daniel, and Lige (E.T.) and Addie Maye Weldon. For almost 20 years Claudia, Henry and their children moved between Birmingham and the Chilton and Shelby County areas. Henry worked in the grocery, restaurant, insurance, and transit businesses. They had five children: Willie Mae, Mary Lane, Henry C., Jr., Louise, and Donald. In 1936 Henry traded their farm in Columbiana for a home in Birmingham where he worked for the city transit company.

In 1955 they bought a 35-acre farm between Calera and Jemison. Little did they know how special that farm would be as a gathering place for the family on holidays, weekends, and summer vacations.

The little red house with white trim was set back off the road. Front and back porches ran the width of the house. Water came from a spring in the front yard and the toilet was an outhouse in back. After adding a new well and plumbing, the back porch was enclosed for a bathroom and storage area. Later the front porch was screened and shaded by a white awning. A large carport was added to the back for canning and storage. Behind the house was a patio under the trees, a chicken coop, and a tool shed where the tractor, truck, tools, and equipment were stored. To the left of the house were a porch swing, a barbecue pit, an open fire pit, a smokehouse and a compost site. Farther left was an orchard, mostly apples. The fields around the orchard, the house and the outbuildings were vegetable gardens behind which were a barn and a pig pen. Pastures and woods surrounded the gar-dens. In back of the far right pasture was a pond, with a brook running through the woods onto the next farm.

The Weldons were hard-working people. Henry got up before the sun to feed the chickens, milk the cows, and work the fields. Claudia made breakfast and had a project for the day started before anyone else was up. Since Sunday is the Lord's Day, only essential work was done that day. All in the house went to church, and sometimes a homecoming, dinner-on-the-grounds, or an all-day gospel singing. Henry and Claudia had a way of making an ordinary day into a special occasion ... riding a horse around the yard, boiling green peanuts in a big black kettle on the open fire pit, or having fresh lemonade, watermelon or cantaloupe out on the patio. The place was always filled with music, laughter, and love.

Some of my favorite memories are being with my grandparents at the auctions and flea markets, shopping in Clanton, Thorsby, Jemison, or Calera, fishing at the river, the swimming hole, and the drive-in movie (Grandmother liked Alfred Hitchcock). I cherish most of the quiet times - sitting on the front porch learning to crochet or quilt or listening to the rain or the bobwhite off in the distance, wading in the pond after picking blackberries, and watching a spider build a web on the giant elephant ears.

My grandparents taught me to respect the land, the water, and every creature on earth. They shared with me their faith in God and their love of family. I hope to share these things with my grandchildren.

Sources: Most information supplied by Thurman L. Gallman's research of censuses, family, county and state records and various cemeteries. Also included are verbal and written recollections of some family members.5 

Family

Henry Clayton Weldon Sr. (24 Feb 1898 - May 1968)

Charts Descendants of John Nathaniel Culpepper of Chilton Co., AL
Last Edited 6 Oct 2005

Citations

  1. E-mail from J. Weldons, e-mail address to Weldon List at Rootsweb (e-mail address), Mar 2002.
  2. The Heritage of Chilton County, Alabama, Clanton, Alabama: Heritage Pub. Consultants, 2000, Repository: LDS Family History Library - Salt Lake City, Call No. US/CAN 976.181 H2h.
    "Claudia and Henry Weldon", p. 351.
  3. 1910 Federal Census, United States.
    ED 38, Page 4B, Lines 71-78, Pct 4, Chilton Co., AL
    John M. Culpepper, Head, Wh, M, 39, md1-15yrs, AL/GA/GA, Farmer
    Cora Culpepper, Wife, Wh, F, 34, md1-15yrs, ch 5/5, AL/AL/AL
    Pearl Culpepper, Daughter, Wh, F, 14, sng, AL/AL/AL, Farm Laborer
    Carl Culpepper, Son, Wh, M, 12, sng, AL/AL/AL, Farm Laborer
    Claudie Culpepper, Daughter, Wh, F, 10, sng, AL/AL/AL
    Eula Culpepper, Daughter, Wh, F, 5, sng, AL/AL/AL
    Herman Culpepper, Son, Wh, M, 2, sng, AL/AL/AL
    William A. Blackman, Boarder, Wh, M, 18, sng, AL/AL/AL, Farm Laborer.
  4. The Heritage of Chilton County, Alabama, Clanton, Alabama: Heritage Pub. Consultants, 2000, Repository: LDS Family History Library - Salt Lake City, Call No. US/CAN 976.181 H2h.
    "Culpepper/Gallman", p. 189.
  5. The Heritage of Chilton County, Alabama, Clanton, Alabama: Heritage Pub. Consultants, 2000, Repository: LDS Family History Library - Salt Lake City, Call No. US/CAN 976.181 H2h.
    p. 189.