Capos Conley Culpepper

Male, #35364, (6 Apr 1879 - 11 Apr 1959)

Parent*John Malcolm Culpepper (13 Nov 1835 - 10 Jan 1927)
Parent*Sarah Ann Elizabeth Stephens (22 Oct 1839 - 21 Jul 1906)
Capos Conley Culpepper|b. 6 Apr 1879\nd. 11 Apr 1959|p35364.htm|John Malcolm Culpepper|b. 13 Nov 1835\nd. 10 Jan 1927|p32460.htm|Sarah Ann Elizabeth Stephens|b. 22 Oct 1839\nd. 21 Jul 1906|p32461.htm|Rev. William H. Culpepper|b. 17 Oct 1813\nd. 22 Mar 1909|p32073.htm|Sarah Leslie|b. 15 Feb 1808\nd. 22 Jan 1849|p32074.htm|||||||

Name Variation  Capos Conley Culpepper was also known as Cape. 
Birth*6 Apr 1879 Capos was born at Randolph Co., Alabama, on 6 Apr 1879. 
 He was the son of John Malcolm Culpepper and Sarah Ann Elizabeth Stephens. 
1880 Census1880 John, Daniel, Robert and Capos was listed as a son in John Malcolm Culpepper's household on the 1880 Census at Randolph Co., Alabama. 46 m-Beat 8 ED 111-19. 
1900 Census1 Jun 1900 Capos was listed as a son in John Malcolm Culpepper's household on the 1900 Census at Hopkins Co., Texas.1 
Marriage*2 Sep 1901 He married Lou Anna Augusta Atchley at Sheridan, Grant Co., Arkansas, on 2 Sep 1901.2 
Photographed*say 1902 He was photographed say 1902 at Grant Co., Arkansas.3
Capos Conley Culpepper
1910 Census*1910 Capos was listed as the head of a family on the 1910 Census at Jefferson Co., Arkansas. 31 m-32/121/17. 
1920 Census*1920 Capos was listed as the head of a family on the 1920 Census at Grant Co., Arkansas. 41 m-ED 92/14/24. 
Employment* Capos's occupation: CaptainPine Bluff Police Department at Pine Bluff, Jefferson Co., Arkansas.4 
1930 Census*1 Apr 1930 Capos was listed as the head of a family on the 1930 Census at Washington, Grant Co., Arkansas.5 
Death*11 Apr 1959 He died at Sheridan, Grant Co., Arkansas, on 11 Apr 1959. 
Burial*circa 14 Apr 1959 His body was interred circa 14 Apr 1959 at Center Grove Cemetery, near, Sheridan, Grant Co., Arkansas.6 
Biography* Capos Conley Culpepper was the youngest son of John Malcolm and Sarah Ann Elizabeth (Stephens) Culpepper. A one year old "Capers C. Culpepper" was noted in the 1880 census of Beat 8 in Randolph Co., AL and this is where he is presumed to have been born. Beat 8 appears to have been in the vicinity of Flatrock, near Almond to the west of what is now known as Wadley, AL. The name "Capos" is unique and it is interesting to note that the name was recorded as "Capers" in the 1880 census record. A grandson who shares the name, Capos Conley "Chip" Culpepper, II, believes that "Capers," through transmission with a Southern accent, might have become "Capos." A cousin who was born in 1860 was named "Charles Capers Culpepper." He is supposed to have been named after a Methodist Bishop. Chip investigated this and he wrote:7

FYI William Capers ... was elected a Bishop in the Methodist & Episcopal Church in 1846. The next year, 1847, he was sent to be the first Bishop of the Church in of all places... Arkansas... Coincidence? I don't think so.... I now have a print of what appears to have been an old wood-cut portrait of the good Bishop. He looks rather like George Washington on a dollar bill (a bit more hair though).... One reference to him calls him "...that great messenger of the gospel to the slaves."

Sometime after the 1880 census, Cape's parents moved the family by wagon train to Grant Co., AR. Chip compiled a book, A Collection of Culpeppers 8 which focuses on the Capos Conley Culpepper family and in it 9 Chip notes that Cape was about six or seven when the family moved from Alabama to Arkansas and recalled "how the family landed by flatboat at Pine Bluff in Jefferson County, Arkansas after crossing the Mississippi."
In 1892,10 Cape's parents took him and his older sister, Melvina Miriam, accompanied by their older brother, Luther, and they went by train to Saltillo, Hopkins Co., TX 11 where they settled down in the Pine Forest Community. They were soon followed by the William "Billy" Jehu Culpepper family.

It was not long after this that Cape went back to Arkansas. Mrs. R. W. (Tommie Reeves) Smith, a William Jehu Culpepper family historian, passed on 12 a story that she had heard about Cape and Billy:

Capus came riding up to Billy's home on his horse. Billy's dog came out as usual and as always was barking and yipping at the horse's feet scaring the horse. Capus took a gun he had, reportedly only to scare the dog away but his aim was such on the moving horse that he shot the dog dead on the spot. History does not say what Billy's response was but Chip and I think it was about this time Capus probably decided that Texas wasn't quite big enough for both he and Billy.

Whatever the reason, Cape returned to Arkansas where he met Annie Atchley and they married in 1901. Cape brought his bride back to Texas but, based on birth states of their children noted in census records, they returned to Arkansas around 1905. Mrs. D. W. (Lavyn Wright) Sisco, a John Malcolm Culpepper family historian, wrote13 that Annie thought Texas was "a God Forsaken Country" and wanted to go back to Arkansas. In Arkansas, Cape became a law enforcement officer, eventually becoming Captain of the Pine Bluff Police Department.14

Chip wrote15 that Cape suffered a stroke and died a short time later on April 11, 1959 at the age of 80 years. 

Family

Lou Anna Augusta Atchley (12 Jan 1878 - 9 Sep 1960)
Children

Charts Descendants of Capos Conley Culpepper of Grant Co., AR
Last Edited 13 Mar 2004

Citations

  1. 1900 Federal Census, United States.
    ED 50, Sheet 8A, Pg 100A-101, Pct 2, Gen.com Img 14, Hopkins Co., TX
    Jno. Culpepper, Head, M, Nov-1835, 64, md-43 yrs, GA SC GA, Farmer
    S. E. Culpepper, Wife, F, Oct-1839, 60, md-43 yrs, Ch 9/8, MS GA MS
    Capos Culpepper, Son, M, Apr-1879, 21, S, AL GA MS, Farm Laborer.
  2. Capos Conley Culpepper II, A Collection of Culpeppers, Vol I, unpublished manuscript, 225 p., July 1993,
    p 67; location Mrs. Sisco CC Culpepper family group sheet.
  3. E-mail from Sandra Lynn Culpepper Merritt (Mrs. Stan Merritt), e-mail address to Lew Griffin & Warren Culpepper, 2001-2004.
  4. Capos Conley Culpepper II, A Collection of Culpeppers, Vol I, unpublished manuscript, 225 p., July 1993,
    p. 67.
  5. 1930 Federal Census, United States.
    ED 27-14, Sheet #2-B, No street addresses, Washington, Grant, AR
    Home owned, Value not given, Radio=blank, Farm=Yes
    C. C. Culpepper, Head, M, 51, M, md@22, AL/GA/GA, Policeman, City Force, Vet=No 
    Annie Culpepper, Wife, F, 52, M, md@23, AR/TN/TN, Not employed
    W. J. Culpepper, Son, M, 14, S, AR/AL/AR
    Oscar Culpepper, Son, 12, S, AR/AL/AR
    Joyce Culpepper, Dau, 9, S, AR/AL/AR
    Conley Culpepper, Son, 6, S, AR/AL/AR.
  6. Capos Conley Culpepper II, A Collection of Culpeppers, Vol I, unpublished manuscript, 225 p., July 1993,
    p 67.
  7. e-mail message 15 Apr 1994
  8. Little Rock, AR: self published, 1993
  9. biographical information at the back
  10. "Beautiful Tribute Paid to Uncle John Culpepper" unknown source, presumably a Hopkins Co., TX paper, circa 12 Jan 1927
  11. Mrs. D. W. (Lavyn Wright) Sisco, "John Malcolm Culpepper," typed sheet and letter 15 Apr 1994
  12. e-mail posting to e-mail address Sun, 05 Apr 1998
  13. summary of the children of John Malcolm Culpepper
  14. Capos Conley "Chip" Culpepper, II, A Collection of Culpeppers (Little Rock, AR: self published, 1993) p. 67
  15. e-mail 7 Apr 1994