Levin Ellis Culpepper

Male, #4147, (25 Jul 1925 - 4 Mar 2003)

Parent*Samuel Culpepper (13 Feb 1891 - 11 Jan 1954)
Parent*Hassie Undene Ponds (2 Nov 1891 - 23 Jul 1978)
Levin Ellis Culpepper|b. 25 Jul 1925\nd. 4 Mar 2003|p4147.htm|Samuel Culpepper|b. 13 Feb 1891\nd. 11 Jan 1954|p4137.htm|Hassie Undene Ponds|b. 2 Nov 1891\nd. 23 Jul 1978|p4141.htm|Alfred M. Culpepper|b. 8 Mar 1863\nd. 14 Aug 1925|p4042.htm|Julia A. Ellis|b. 3 Apr 1856\nd. 29 Aug 1893|p4043.htm|Joseph W. Ponds|b. 30 Aug 1862\nd. 13 Jun 1933|p4286.htm|Mary A. Goodwyn|b. 3 Oct 1871\nd. 25 Oct 1958|p4285.htm|

DNA* He has been proven by DNA and genealogical research to be a descendant of Joseph Culpepper of Edgecombe Co., NC, who is a grandson of Henry Culpepper of Lower Norfolk, VA.1 
Birth*25 Jul 1925 Levin was born on 25 Jul 1925. 
 He was the son of Samuel Culpepper and Hassie Undene Ponds. 
World War II*between 1943 and 1946 He served in World War II between 1943 and 1946
(US Navy, Motor Machinist Mate, First Class. Served on Landing Ship Medium #14 (USS-LSM #4) in Pacific).2 
Death*4 Mar 2003 He died at Meridian, Lauderdale Co., Mississippi, on 4 Mar 2003. Services for Levin E. Culpepper Sr. will be held Thursday at 3 p.m. at Barham Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Dr. Malcolm Lewis officiating. Burial will be in Clay Memorial Cemetery in Cuba, Ala.

Mr. Culpepper, 77, of Meridian, died Tuesday, March 4, 2003, at Rush Foundation Hospital. He was a Baptist and was retired from SW&IB, which is affiliated with the U.S. Railway System.

He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy and served in World War II on the LSM#4. He was a volunteer with the Lauderdale County Department of Archives and History for several years.

Survivors include his wife, Elenor Shaw Culpepper of Meridian; a daughter, Dianne Culpepper Kelly of Thomaston, Ga; a son, Levin E. Culpepper Jr. and his wife, Lynn, of Cuba, Ala; a brother, Sam C. Culpepper and his wife, Almogene, of Whynot; two grandsons, Nathan Culpepper of Meridian and Matt Culpepper of Starkville; and several other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Sam and Hassie Culpepper.

Memorials may be made to Lauderdale County Department of Archives and History.

Pallbearers will be Bobby Barrett, Sammy Culpepper, Michael Goetz, Ronald Gough, Theron Smith and Clay Wheeler.

Honorary pallbearers will be Bill Benton, Ward Calhoun Sr., James Gough, Buddy Pogue, Ed Reynolds and members of the USS LSM-LSMR Association.

Visitation will be today 5 p.m.-8 p.m. at the funeral home..3,4 
Burial*6 Mar 2003 His body was interred on 6 Mar 2003 at Clay Memorial Cemetery, Cuba, Sumter Co., Alabama.4 
Biography* Levin was one of the leading researchers on the descendants of Joseph Culpepper, who came from Jackson County, GA, around 1840, and settled in Lauderdale Co., MS, and Sumter Co., AL.5 
Biography11 Nov 2004 Local genealogy buff honored for long service as volunteer

(Photograph Caption. Photo not available) PROUD MOMENT - Levin Culpepper Jr., left, talks with the Rev. Max Burris while Eleanor Reynolds hugs her friend Eleanor Culpepper, widow of the late Levin Culpepper Sr. " honored Wednesday for his longtime volunteer service at the Lauderdale County Department of Archives and History.

By Penny Randall / staff writer, November 11, 2004

Levin Culpepper was a history and genealogy buff, so his wife was not at all surprised when he began volunteering at the Lauderdale County Department of Archives and History.

"He loved talking about history and World War II," Eleanor Culpepper said. "He really enjoyed it and he didn't do many things he didn't enjoy."

Culpepper was a volunteer at the department, on the second floor of the Raymond P. Davis Courthouse Annex in downtown Meridian, for almost 20 years.

"We have such fond memories of Mr. Culpepper," Ward Calhoun told an audience of family and friends Wednesday as he dedicated a research room at the department in Culpepper's honor.

Calhoun is the department's records manager.

"He was a fixture here," he said. "He was here when I came and I was glad of it. He was a tremendous amount of help."

Culpepper died in March 2003 at the age of 77. He was a veteran of World War II and served in the U.S. Navy. He retired in 1986 from the Southern Weight and Investment Bureau and then began volunteering at the archives.

Fellow volunteer Ed Shields described Culpepper as a man "full of life."

"People like Levin are the people we have the most trouble being parted from," Shields said. "We thought he was going to live forever."

Culpepper's children also spoke about their father on Wednesday.

"We knew how he loved coming up here," Levin Culpepper Jr. said.

His daughter, Dianne Kelly, said her father was a man dedicated to his family: "He had his priorities straight and wanted to help everybody, but he always put his family first."6 

Family

Eleanor Christine Shaw (living)
Children

Charts Descendants of Alfred Mickens Culpepper of Lauderdale Co., MS
Last Edited 23 May 2008

Citations

  1. Culpepper Project at FamilyTreeDNA.com, http://gen.culpepper.com/dna/results.htm[:WEB].
  2. Levin E. Culpepper, The Descendants of Joseph Culpepper who died in 1816, in Jackson County, Georgia, P. O. Box 5511, Meridian, MS 39302-5511: Lauderdale County Dept. of Archives & History, 1990's.
  3. Judy Gilmer e-mail, 6 Mar 2003.
  4. Obituary in The Meridian (MS) Star (Online edition), Wednesday, 5 Mar 2003.

  5. Lewis W. Griffin Jr., 4307 North 34th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85018, e-mail address, Phone: (602) 955-2597.
  6. The Meridian Star, Meridian, MS.
    http://www.meridianstar.com
    Article by Penny Randall, Staff writer, November 11, 2004.