Sarah Culpepper

In a biographical sketch of Francis Gillespie Culpepper which appeared in the Lavaca Co., TX Shiner Gazette on 2 Feb 1898, it was stated that the grandmother of Francis G. Culpepper and therefore the mother of John Culpepper [1772-1855] and the wife of the elder John Culpepper "was a sister to General Oglethorpe." Lewis Peek Culpepper, another grandson, read this article and in a 19 Mar 1898 letter to B. F. Burke, wrote that with the exception of the year of birth of his brother, "it was a tolerable correct historical account." Nothing has been found to support the Oglethorpe connection except that John Culpepper [1772-1855] had a daughter, Sarah O., and two grandsons with a middle name of Oglethorpe. William L. Carlisle wrote 29 Aug 1978: In all our research we have been unable to find any clue which might lead us to the conclusion that any member of his family, except himself [General James Edward Oglethorpe], ever came to America. Within six months of his death, two nephews in France, most likely a son of Eleanor [a sister] and a son of Fanny [a sister], indicated their intention to file a claim for any property he may still have had in Georgia. It occurs to us, as it must surely to you, that if any relatives were known to be living in the Colony, particularly a sister, the nephews would not have presumed to assume the role of "heirs." There is no record of the French kin coming to America at the time....

     In the 29 Aug 1978 letter, William L. Carlisle included the following from James Edward Oglethorpe - Imperial Idealist by Amos Aschbach Ettinger which was published at Oxford by the Clarendon Press in 1936: Theophilus Oglethorpe of West Riding, Yorkshire, and Eleanor (Ellen) Wall were married in 1680. To this union nine children were born as follows: Lewis b Feb. 1681 d 8 Sept. 8, 1704 The Hague Theophilus, Jr. b 1682 d 1737 In France Anne Henrietta b 1683 d Sept. 5, 1756 at her home, Strand-on-the-Green, England. She was created Countess of Oglethorpe in 1722 and afterward made her home with her brother James for a period. We find no record of her ever having married. Eleanor b 1684 We do not know the date of her death. In 1707 she was married to Eugene-Marie de Bethisy, Marquis de Mezieres. She probably died in France. James b June 1, 1689 bur June 15, 1690 Louisa Mary (Molly) and Sutton (twins) b Sept. 1693. Sutton lived seven weeks. In 1733 Molly married Marquis de Bensonpiere. The Marquis died within a year and the Marquise closed her career in a minor post in the court of Spain. We did not find the date of her death. Frances Charlotte (Fanny) b Feb. 1696. In December 1719 she married Jean Francois de Bellegarde, Marquis de Marches of Peidmont. She must have also died in France on an unknown date. James Edward b Dec. 22, 1696 d 1785 in England. The founder of the Colony of Georgia. He came to America first in January 1734 and stayed until late in the year 1743. He made two prolonged trips back to England in the interim in connection with the administration and military affairs of the Colony but when he sailed from Charles Town for London in 1743, he never saw his beloved Georgia again. On Sept. 15, 1744, in King Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey, he was married to Elizabeth Wright the only daughter of Sir Nathan Wright, Baronet. There were no children. 

The problem with the idea that the elder John Culpepper married one of the descendents of General Oglethorpe is that the sisters are a generation too early for such a marriage and the husbands of General Oglethorpe's sisters are known. An Oglethorpe researcher, Kenneth H. Thomas, Jr., wrote (16 Jun 1985) that neither General Oglethorpe "nor his brothers, left any children at all, male or female. There are many descendants of his sisters, though, but all remained in Europe (at least during the 1700s) and married noble Catholic families."
Perhaps the wife of the elder John Culpepper was an Oglethorpe or a descendant of an Oglethorpe, but not a sister of the General. The Oglethorpe name is rare in the United States, it was not represented at all in the 1790 census of the United States. However, there were Oglethorpes living in Camden District, SC in the 1760's and 1770's. Hannah, Thomas, and John Newman Oglethorpe all witnessed a deed for land on the south side of the Wateree River in 1765 (SC Deeds Book E-3, p. 192). John Newman Oglethorpe is mentioned in Robert W. Ramsey's Carolina Cradle as being a resident of Camden, SC, during 1765-1768.
For search purposes, the name Sarah Oglethorpe has been tentatively suggested as the name of the wife of the elder John Culpepper since John and Nancy (Gillespie) Culpepper named other children for presumed relatives, e.g., Francis Gillespie Culpepper and Daniel Peek Culpepper, and so possibly their daughter, Sarah O. Culpepper, was named for her grandmother.