Culpepper Family History & Genealogy

History

We don't have any information on the history of the Culpepper name. Have information to share?

Name Origin

A surprising number of Americans have as part of their oral family tradition that they have a Native American ancestor.
In addition, there are legends about an Indian Princess (generally Cherokee) from whom certain Culpeppers are reportedly descended.
However, Native American historians dispute the use of the "Indian Princess" term. Of course, there is the modern-day father-daughter YMCA-sponsored program using the term. Also in modern times, some Indian tribes, such as the Pawnees, have used the term to refer to the daughters of the chief or in connection with a beauty contest. But there is no evidence that such a term was used in the pre-20th-century times during which the ancestral claims are made.
It is possible that the claimed Indian ancestry may not have been American Indian at all, but rather African-American. A researcher of another surname received a message that her "Indian princess" ancestor had turned out to be African-American, and when she did more research into it, "Indian princess" and "Cherokee princess" were sometimes used in the South as somewhat derogatory terms for light-skinned mulatto women (similar to "high yellow.") This appellation may have been passed down by people who were unaware of its original meaning.

Spellings & Pronunciations

Culpeper

Nationality & Ethnicity

Archaeologists, farmers, and metal detectors have found evidence of Native Americans in the Culpeper region, and there are still descendants of the Manahoac people here in Virginia. This confederation of tribes stayed in the Piedmont where they hunted, fished, and created tight-knit communities near Culpeper. Before the age of European settlement, the Manahoacs had left the area to follow the herds of bison west over the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Famous People named Culpepper

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Early Culpeppers

These are the earliest records we have of the Culpepper family.