William Araspes Culpepper

Male, #32464, (10 Oct 1839 - 8 Jul 1912)

Parent*Rev. William Henry Culpepper (17 Oct 1813 - 22 Mar 1909)
Parent*Sarah Leslie (15 Feb 1808 - 22 Jan 1849)
William Araspes Culpepper|b. 10 Oct 1839\nd. 8 Jul 1912|p32464.htm|Rev. William Henry Culpepper|b. 17 Oct 1813\nd. 22 Mar 1909|p32073.htm|Sarah Leslie|b. 15 Feb 1808\nd. 22 Jan 1849|p32074.htm|John Culpepper of Randolph Co., AL|b. 1 Oct 1772\nd. 13 May 1855|p31566.htm|Nancy Gillespie|b. circa 1778\nd. 25 Jul 1848|p31584.htm|Joseph? Leslie|b. circa 1778|p13728.htm|Mary? Calhoun ?|b. circa 1781|p13729.htm|

Birth*10 Oct 1839 William was born at Meriwether Co., Georgia, on 10 Oct 1839. 
 He was the son of Rev. William Henry Culpepper and Sarah Leslie. 
1840 Census1 Jun 1840 John and William was probably a free white male, under 5 years old, in Rev. William Henry Culpepper's household, on the 1840 Census on 1 Jun 1840 at Meriwether Co., Georgia.1 
Marriage*10 Oct 1860 He married Zillah Ann Caroline Barron at Randolph Co., Alabama, on 10 Oct 1860. 
Civil War*between 1862 and 1865 He served in the War Between the States between 1862 and 1865. 
1870 Census*1870 William was listed as the head of a family on the 1870 Census at Louina, Randolph Co., Alabama. 30 m-p. 573, hh 22. 
Employment* William's occupation: HISTORY OF RANDOLPH COUNTY, ALABAMA, AS WRITTEN BY GEN. B.F. WEATHERS (written circa 1900). This entire document is located at .

The excerpt follows:
"...In 1874 [Gen. B. F.] Weathers was appointed postmaster. Capt. Thompson, of Stroud, rode the mail from West Point, Ga., to Wedowee. Bill Culpepper rode the mail from Louina to Franklin, Ga. ..." at Randolph Co., Alabama. 
Photographed*circa 1875 He and Zillah Ann Caroline Barron were photographed Back Row, L to R: Zilla Barron Culpepper holding Charles E. , and Mary A. Eliza; Front Row, L to R: Adella Zilla in lap of William A., Sarah Elizabeth, and James Francis.

This photo was sent to Lew Griffin in 1980 by Manola Culpepper Logan (Mrs. Thomas G. Logan) of Detroit, MI. She was a descendant of Elias Daniel Culpepper, and suggested that this photo was of his family. However, if one looks at the children, and their ages and sexes, this cannot possibly be the Elias Daniel Culpepper family. But the photo is a perfect match for the family of Elias D.'s brother, William A. Culpepper. So I'm posting the photo here. Further information on this photo will be appreciated. circa 1875 at Randolph Co., Alabama.
William Araspes Culpepper family
1880 Census*1880 William was listed as the head of a family on the 1880 Census at Randolph Co., Alabama. 40 m-ED 111-4. 
1900 Census*1900 William was listed as the head of a family on the 1900 Census at Randolph Co., Alabama. 60 m-. 
Death*8 Jul 1912 He died at Wadley, Randolph Co., Alabama, on 8 Jul 1912. 
Burial*circa 10 Jul 1912 His body was interred circa 10 Jul 1912 at Wadley, Randolph Co., Alabama. 
Biography* William Araspes was the sixth child and fourth son of William Henry and Sarah (Leslie) Culpepper. He was noted as an infant in his father's house in the 1840 Meriwether Co., GA census and this is where he is presumed to have been born. William's middle name is a puzzle. There is no other record of it except in the Bible record but the Bible record is very clear. No other name has been found like it. It is presumably a phonetic spelling of a name which William Henry or Sarah (Leslie) Culpepper knew. It has been suggested that the name might be Erasmus with the m heard as a p. The name Erasmus is known to have been used for three generations in the line of Erasmus Culpeper, son of Benjamin Culpeper, the ferryman, of North Carolina. This was the Erasmus that inherited the land that Joseph and Benjamin Culpeper, sons of Robert Culpepper, son of Henry Culpepper, Sr., settled on Fishing Creek in North Carolina (see appendix C). William was eight years old when his parents moved the family to Alabama. A few months later, William's mother died. William was noted living with his widowed father in 1850 census records of Randolph Co., AL and with his father and stepmother 1860 census records of Randolph Co., AL.

William A. Culpepper married on his 21st birthday and six months later the Civil War began. William A. Culpepper joined the Confederate Army and he served as a private in Company B of the 37th Alabama Infantry Regiment. Capos Conley "Chip" Culpepper, II, a great- great-grandson of William Henry and Sarah (Leslie) Culpepper, obtained copies of William A. Culpepper's Civil War records from the National Archives. Unfortunately, William's cousin, William W. Culpepper, served in the same outfit and their records have been filed together. According to a record from the file, William was enlisted on April 28, 1862 at Auburn, AL by Capt. Hamner. May 13, 1862, the regiment was mustered into Confederate service at Auburn, AL under Col. James F. Dowdell.2 On September 19, 1862, the regiment engaged in battle at Iuka, MS.3 A record in William A. Culpepper's file shows that from September 19, 1862 through October 22, 1862, he served "as Nurse" at the General Hospital at Lauderdale Springs, MS. He received $8.25 for the service. The regiment then took part in the battles of Chickasaw Bayou on December 27-29, 1862 and the Yazoo Pass Expedition on February 3-10, 1863.3 William A. Culpepper is next noted back at the Lauderdale Springs, MS General Hospital, but this time as a patient during March and April, 1863. The Regiment then fought at Port Gibson on May 1, 1863, Champion Hill on May 16, 1863, and, for a month and a half, was bombarded and under siege by Ulysses S. Grant at Vicksburg.3 The men were starved out of Vicksburg in July of 1863 and paroled. The company reorganized at Demopolis, AL and, in November of 1863, the Regiment was declared "exchanged."4 On November 23-25, 1863, the Regiment fought under General Braxton Bragg against Ulysses S. Grant in the Battle of Chattanooga in Tennessee.3 From May to September, 1864, the Regiment took part in the Atlanta Campaign 3in which it took part in the effort to block Gen. William T. Sherman as he marched from Chattanooga, TN to Atlanta, GA and, after bombarding and capturing Atlanta, he marched to Savannah, destroying everything in his path.5 The Regiment fought at Rocky Face Ridge May 5-11, 1864; at Resaca May 14-15, 1864 and at New Hope Church May 25-June 4, 3 For five weeks, Sherman besieged the Confederate troops under General John Bell Hood, including the Alabama 37th Infantry Regiment, and finally defeated them on July 22, 1864.6 Less than a week later, on July 28, 1864, the same troops fought again at Ezra Church (the second Battle of Atlanta) and again General Hood's troops were defeated.6 There were 10,000 Confederate casualties during the two battles.6 In November 1864, leaving Atlanta in ruins, Sherman, with 60, 000 troops, cut a mile wide path to the sea.6 The remnants of the 42nd and 54th Infantry Regiments were consolidated with the 37th Infantry Regiment to form the Alabama 37th Infantry Regiment Consolidated and these troops then took part in the Carolinas Campaign from February until April 26, 1865 when, under General Joseph E. Johnston, they surrendered at Durham Station, Orange Co., NC.7

After the War, William A. Culpepper returned to his wife and young family and he settled down to farm in the Louina P. O. District which is now in the Wadley, AL area. This is where he was noted in the 1870 census records. In the 1880 census, a 55 year old "Mary E. Pearson" born in Georgia was listed as a sister-in-law in the household, presumably an older sister of Zillah. Mrs. D. W. (Lavyn Wright) Sisco wrote:8

William A. and Zillah Barron Culpepper were living in Hopkins County [TX] for a period of time and lived near Billy [William Jehu] Culpepper. When they returned to Alabama, all of their children accompanied them.

William Jehu Culpepper moved to Texas in the early 1890's. William A. Culpepper and his family presumably moved to Texas after that but they returned by 1900 since William and his wife are recorded in the 1900 census of Randolph Co., AL with a boarder, "Marton L. Dean." Possibly this was Martin Luther Dean, the grandson of William's sister, Mrs. J. J. F. (Mary B. Culpepper) Dean. William A. Culpepper has not been located in the 1910 census. He died two years later, in 1912, at the age of 72. 

Family

Zillah Ann Caroline Barron (30 Oct 1839 - 13 Nov 1927)
Children

Charts Descendants of Joseph Culpepper of Edgecombe Co., NC (Six Generations)
Descendants of William Araspes Culpepper of Randolph Co., AL
Last Edited 7 Jul 2008

Citations

  1. 1840 Federal Census, United States.
    Page 123, Unk Twp, Meriwether Co., GA
    William H. Culpepper, 2 M0-5, 2 M5-10, 1 M20-30, 1 F0-5, 1 F5-10, 1 F30-40.
  2. Stewart Sifakis, Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Alabama (New York: Facts on File) p.106
  3. Stewart Sifakis, Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Alabama (New York: Facts on File) p.107
  4. from an article about William A. Culpepper's brother, John Malcolm Culpepper, "Pioneers and Veterans," unknown source, possibly a Saltillo, Hopkins Co., TX paper, circa 1912-14?
  5. Sol Holt, The Dictionary of American History (New York: MacFadden-Bartell Corp., 1964, c1963) p. 44
  6. James Trager, The People's Chronology: A Year-by-Year Record of Human Events from Prehistory to the Present (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1992) p. 495
  7. Stewart Sifakis, Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Alabama (New York: Facts on File) p.106-107
  8. letter 15 Apr 1994