Margaretta van Hesse from “John Culpepper, Esquire”

Posted on June 27, 2015 by Lori Crane

In place of my usual Saturday Snippets, I’m writing about the people and places from the Culpepper Saga. The third book, “John Culpepper, Esquire,” will be released in July. If you missed books one or two, click HERE or HERE.

One of the more tragic figures of “John Culpepper, Esquire” is Margaretta van Hesse, also known as Lady Culpepper (photo). She was an heiress from Denmark who married Lord Thomas Culpepper second baron of Thoresway in 1659 at The Hague. Lord Thomas (photo) was the son of Lord John Culpepper, known in the story as JC, cousin of our hero.

Following the English Civil War, JC had taken his family to Denmark while he watched over the exiled prince, but when the prince was welcomed back into England in 1660 as King Charles II, the whole family moved back. Lord Thomas and his new bride took up residence at Leeds Castle. She was newly married, probably didn’t speak the language or understand the English customs, and Lord Thomas unceremoniously dropped her off at the castle and moved to London to live with his mistress Susannah Willis.

Fortunately for Margaretta, John’s nephew Alex was asked by JC to stay at the castle and help her get settled in. There is no proof of Margaretta and Alex having any sort of relationship, but there are a few strange coincidences that make me scratch my head.

Alex’s mom, Katherine, died in 1658.

Margaretta, somehow without a husband around, gave birth to a daughter in 1670. The baby was named Catherine (photo). Hmmm.

In 1671, Lord Thomas appointed Alex the Surveyor General of Virginia and tried to send him away. Records show Alex in Virginia for a short time, but he almost immediately came back to England.

In 1689, Lord Thomas became ill and died in his house in London. Margaretta didn’t even find out about it until well after his death. His mistress had him buried. He left a will in favor of the mistress, but Margaretta had the will suppressed, making sure Catherine got everything. Before Margaretta went to court, with Alex along to assist her, Alex, now 58-years-old, quickly and conveniently married Lord Thomas’s sister Judith, who moved into Leeds Castle with them. The woman was old and died a year later.

Alex died in 1694 and in his will, he left everything to Margaretta. He was buried at St. Margaret’s Church in Bromfield, Kent, near the castle.

Margaretta never re-married. She died in 1710 at Leeds Castle and was buried at St. Margaret’s.

A year after her inheritance, young Catherine married Lord Thomas Fairfax (photo) in 1690. Their children were: Thomas Fairfax, Henry Colpepper Fairfax, Katherine Fairfax, Margaret Fairfax, Frances Fairfax, Mary Fairfax, and Robert Fairfax. Family historians state that Catherine had all of her children baptized at St. Margaret’s and had built a family vault to bury her mother in. Nothing is ever mentioned about Alex’s connection or the fact that he is buried there also. Strangely enough, Catherine’s husband died the same year as her mother but was buried elsewhere.

Catherine died in 1719 at the age of 49. She was not buried with her husband. She was buried at St. Margaret’s with her mother and Alex.

The Culpepper Saga ends in the late 1670s, so we don’t learn about Catherine and Lord Fairfax, but in book two “John Culpepper the Merchant” their grandfathers were trying to kill each other during the civil war. I imagine their marriage was quite scandalous in both families, and I suspect there will be a juicy sequel about them coming this winter or early next spring. “The Culpepper-Fairfax Scandal” sounds like a good title.

52 Ancestors #26 Sir Alexander Culpepper

Posted on June 25, 2015 by Lori Crane

This challenge is set forth by No Story Too Small and this week’s theme is “Halfway.”

This was a difficult theme, and I looked through half-Indian ancestors, halfway to the furthest ancestor, taking up half my time in research ancestors, anyone with a name that included “half,” and every other angle one could think of. I eventually came up with Sir Alexander Culpepper of Greenway Court, Knight who made it halfway through the English Civil War. The war began in 1642 and ended in 1649. Alexander died at the battle of Bridgewater in August 1645. He was my 11th great uncle.

Alexander was the youngest son of John Culpepper of Wigsell and Elizabeth Sedley, born in 1570. His brothers included Sir Thomas of Hollingbourne and Johannes of Feckenham (my 11th great grandfather). He also had a few sisters. In 1603, he married Mary Scott St Leger, the widow of Anthony St Leger. She was quite a bit older than him and was probably already done birthing children by the time they married, so Alexander never had any children of his own. He did have a step-son who was nearly his age, and the man had a daughter named Katherine whom Alexander raised, actually naming her his daughter in his will. Technically, she was his step-granddaughter.

In his will, he also left his home of Leeds Castle (photo) to his nephew’s minor son (son of the above Katherine who married said nephew. Got that?). Anyway, he did this so if the royalists lost the war, the house wouldn’t be seized by the parliamentarians. Before he died, he changed his will to say if his nephew wasn’t alive to oversee the property, the son would not get the house. It would instead go to his cousin Lord John Culpepper the first baron of Thoresway. I don’t know why he did that. Lord John wasn’t even in the country. He was in Denmark and France guarding the queen and the royal children.

In July 1645, Alexander rode to Bridgewater to help fight against Oliver Cromwell and General Thomas Fairfax and was killed there. I wrote about the battle in my book, “John Culpepper the Merchant,” and made him out to be a war hero, but the truth is he was 75 years old at the time and it is reported that he died of illness at Bridgewater, not of battle. At least he made it halfway through the war.

52 Ancestors – #25 Ole Stennis House

Posted on June 18, 2015 by Lori Crane

This challenge is set forth by No Story Too Small and this week’s theme is “The Old Homestead.”

There is a house in Lauderdale County, Mississippi that I would give anything to own. It was built in 1857 by sixty-one-year-old Hays Rodgers Sr (photo). According to the 1860 census, it looks like he had the help of thirteen slaves. It was the first plank house built in the area. Hays was my fourth great grandfather.

He died of typhoid December 1863, so he didn’t enjoy the house for long, and his wife died the following March. The children were grown and gone, most of the boys lost to the Civil War, so the house sat empty until well after the close of the war. In 1869 it was sold at auction on the steps of the Meridian Courthouse to Major Adam T Stennis (hence the name Ole Stennis House). It remained in the Stennis family for one hundred years but was abandoned and covered in vines toward the end of their ownership.

In 1970, the Hover family bought it and restored it. Mr. Hover told me the only thing he really needed to replace was the rotted front porch. The rest of the house was in good shape. I stopped by there in 2012 and he showed me all around. I didn’t feel comfortable taking pictures of the inside, but I snapped some photos as we left.

If he ever sells that house, I would love to own it.

52 Ancestors #24 The Heirloom

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Lori Crane

This challenge is set forth by No Story Too Small and this week’s theme is “Heirloom.”

I wish I could say I have lots of old stuff, but alas, I have nearly nothing. I have my maternal grandfather’s old cigar box, and a silver makeup compact from my paternal great grandmother, but the most prize possession is now gone. For a while I had possession of my maternal grandmother’s sewing machine, but it was lost in a move years ago. She was an amazing seamstress and worked for the Burnley Shirt Factory in Meridian, Mississippi. I’m certain she’s in this Burnley employee picture taken in 1939, but it’s so small, I haven’t been able to find her. I don’t even know that I could even recognize her in a picture from 1939.

She died at the age of 59 in 1975 and is still greatly missed. This is her, holding me.

Ina Inez Burke Culpepper 1915-1975

52 Ancestors #23 Halloween weddings

Posted on June 4, 2015 by Lori Crane

This challenge is set forth by No Story Too Small

This weeks prompt is “Wedding.”

The one wedding date that sticks out to me is that of my 2nd great grandparents William Henry Blanks III and Martha Lettie “Mattie” Carpenter. According to the Lauderdale County, Mississippi Marriage Brides Book 1, page 430, they married October 31, 1867. He was 21 and she was 18. He had lost both of his parents before the age of thirteen, and she had lost her father in the Civil War when she was only fourteen, so I assume they had a deep connection because of that. I wonder if their parenting style was unemotionally cold or over-protective due to their own losses. There is no way they escaped losing their own parents at such young ages without carrying deep emotional scars.

The reason the date sticks out in my mind is because my trophy husband and I share the same date. After losing both my father and my great grandfather on October 31, we decided we needed some good family mojo on Halloween, so that’s the date we chose. I didn’t know until years later the date was shared. Everything I had seen on William and Mattie said their wedding date was November 1st, but when I finally saw the document, it was actually October 31. I also wonder if our picture will look as awful as their picture in another one hundred forty years. 🙂

52 Ancestors #22 Middle Temple

Posted on May 28, 2015 by Lori Crane

This challenge is set forth by No Story Too Small,

and this week’s challenge is “Commencement.”

Since “commencement” has to do with school or beginnings, I chose to write about my 10th great grandfather and his brother attending a law school in London, a place called Middle Temple. The photo is a drawing by Thomas Shepherd in 1830, but my guys attended there in 1621. The Honorable Society of Middle Temple is/was a prestigious law school in England, one of the five “Inns” where the rich kids attended. There are only four today, but they still boast the exclusivity of being the places where students are trained to become barristers or lawyers.

My grandfather, John Culpepper, was admitted ‘specially’ to Middle Temple on May 7, 1621 as “Mr. John Culpeper, second son of John Culpeper of Astwood, Worcestershire, Esquire.” His brother, Thomas, was admitted the same day as “Mr. Thomas Culpeper, son and heir apparent of John Culpeper of Astwood, Esquire.” John was fifteen. Thomas was nineteen.

Thomas graduated from the school and embarked on a professional career as a lawyer, but John did not pursue law, probably to the dismay of his lawyer father. John instead purchased a ship and became a merchant. His father did not help him with financing. It was his brother who stepped up to assist him. They named the ship the Thomas and John and John ran a successful merchant business between England and the Virginia Colony. There is some evidence he also sailed to Barbados.

The Inn at the time of their schooling consisted of a group of buildings like a campus, and most of the school is the same today. The center of inn life was Temple Hall (photo that looks like Hogwarts) which was used as a dining and meeting room. Today it is used for banquets and weddings. William Shakespears’s Twelfth Night reportedly had its first performance here in 1602.

There is also Fountain Court (photo), Temple Library, and Temple Church which was erected by the Knights Templar in the 13th century and still stands today.

Members of the gentry class, holding British properness and manners in high esteem must have risen to the occasion, learning the art of persuasion and rhetoric and arguing. One can only imagine the verbal sparring that took place at the time in this hall and around this fountain. Their words had so much more meaning than ours do today.

52 Ancestors #21 Sharpshooters and Soldiers

Posted on May 24, 2015 by Lori Crane

This challenge is set forth by No Story Too Small,

and this week’s challenge is “Military.”

I can’t only honor one of my ancestors. I need to honor all of them.

My grandfathers who served in the United States military

An * denotes he died in service.

Joel Bluett Culpepper – Confederate Army

William Thomas Fisher – Confederate Army

William Lafayette Brown Jr – Confederate Army

Rev. Joseph M Culpepper – Confederate Army *

Rice Benjamin Carpenter – Confederate Army *

George Washington Spencer – Confederate Army

James C Howington – Confederate Army

William Henry Blanks III – Confederate Army

Hays Rodgers – War of 1812

William Henry Blanks I – American Revolution

Joseph Culpepper Jr – American Revolution

Thomas Young – American Revolution

John B Rice – American Revolution

James Rodgers Sr – American Revolution

Captain Jacob Prickett – American Revolution

My uncles who served in the United States military

George M Graham – Confederate Army

Timothy Rodgers – Confederate Army *

Wilson Rodgers – Confederate Army *

Hays Rodgers Jr – Confederate Army

John W Rodgers – Confederate Army *

Howell Joel “Hobby” Wedgeworth – Confederate Army

Benjamin M Culpepper – Confederate Army

Hilliard Carpenter – Confederate Army *

James Monroe Chatham – Confederate Army *

Rev. James Lafayette Blanks – Confederate Army

Richard Lane Blanks – Confederate Army

John Henry Brown – Confederate Army

Absolom Rodgers – War of 1812

…and so very many more. Sleep well, soldiers. Your job is done.

It’s Monday! What are you reading? Cover Reveal!

Posted on May 18, 2015 by Lori Crane

It’s Monday! What are you reading?

I’ve been reading “John Culpepper the Merchant” by Lori Crane. LOL!

It’s my book, so I guess I’m cheating a little bit on posting it for this blog, but if I don’t make sure it’s error free before release, someone will lose their marbles, and we don’t want that to happen. So…I’ve been in final edit, proofread, flip-flop mode, wavering between thinking it’s-not-ready-for-release and it’s-the-best-book-ever. Truthfully, it’s probably somewhere in the middle, but as all my author friends know, that’s what we do. Flip-flopping is our most time-consuming hobby. 🙂

I’d also like to show off the new cover. Isn’t it so cool? My cover designer is amazing!

The book will be out in a few days and I’m tickled pink!

Blurb

For hundreds of years, the Culpepper family backed the monarchy, but when King Charles disbanded Parliament, married a Catholic princess, and appointed an archbishop who was a Catholic supporter, the royalist Culpeppers found themselves at odds with their friends and neighbors.

Years earlier, against his family’s wishes, John had purchased a merchant ship, sailed to Virginia, and spent most of his time there. While on American soil, he received word of the uprisings that followed the king’s actions.

When civil war began, John feared for the safety of his family in England. He was horrified when the king was captured, convicted of high treason, and beheaded. Would John’s family be next? The only way to rescue them would be with his ship, under the cloak of darkness. Would he succeed, or would they all be caught and tried as traitors?

John Culpepper the Merchant is the second book in the Culpepper saga and is the story of the progenitor of the modern-day American Culpeppers. He was the author’s tenth great-grandfather.

52 Ancestors #20 Horace Pappy Crane

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Lori Crane

This challenge is set forth by No Story Too Small,

and this week’s challenge is “Black Sheep.”

This topic made me laugh as the first person to come to mind was my great uncle Horace “Pappy” Crane. Uncle Horace was born 2 February 1905 to Amos Bolivar Crane and Mary Elizabeth “Minnie” White in Lauderdale County, Mississippi. He was the second of six children. In the following photograph, he is on the bottom far left. The boy on the far right is my grandfather Andrew Franklin Crane.

Uncle Horace’s claim to fame was driving car #58 in Nascar and surviving a roll-over crash at Daytona in 1960.

This funny black sheep story about him has been pieced together from various relatives and may be a little fuzzy as I have no documentation of the events.

Uncle Horace lived in a modest home in Mississippi and sold off the acres of his property to a builder. The sale did not include his own home, of course. The builder constructed beautiful, expensive homes on the land and eventually came to Uncle Horace to ask when he was going to rebuild. Uncle Horace didn’t realize it at the time, but he had apparently signed a paper stating he would tear down his shack and build a larger, more expensive home in its place. Well, he didn’t have the money to build a new home, so he figured he could make it happen through insurance money and he burnt his own home down.

The arrest happened when the arson investigators found the home was set ablaze with the same mixture of fuel he used to race with. Ooops.

Fortunately for him, he only received probation for the arson, but a while later, he got into a drunken fight in a bar and had a pistol on him – which was against his probation. He spent time behind bars for violating probation.

Uncle Horace was the family character everyone has stories about, and the above tale is just the tip of the iceberg. He was very loved. He died 6 February 1985 and is laid to rest at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Zero, Lauderdale County, Mississippi.

52 Ancestors #19 Martha Ellen Rodgers

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Lori Crane

This challenge is set forth by No Story Too Small,

and this week’s challenge is “There’s a Way” which I’ve translated into “travel.”

Years ago I came across a cousin born 4 April 1853. Her father and my 3rd great-grandma were siblings. She was the middle child of five born to James Rodgers and Martha Sanderford in Lauderdale County, Mississippi. When the Civil War began in ’62, her father was too old to serve, so he safely stayed home with her. Yet, things don’t always turn out for the best. The winter of ’62/63 saw a typhoid epidemic in the county and her parents died within days of each other. She was nine. Her name was Martha Ellen Rodgers, known simply as Ellen.

Due to all of her uncles fighting the war, she and her siblings moved in with her aunt Mary. Mary had four children of her own and her husband had just been killed in the war 31 December 1862. I can imagine how devastated the family was at that time, and probably hungry and scared.

When the war ended, Ellen was transferred to the custody of her only surviving uncle, Hays Rodgers, who packed up the family and moved to Alabama. The journey there would have been by ox-pulled wagons and would have taken a week. For someone who had never been more than a mile from her childhood home, this must have been quite an adventure. There was also another aunt living in Alabama at the time, Elizabeth, and at some point, Ellen moved in with her.

When I found Ellen had returned to Mississippi alone in 1875, I didn’t understand why, but soon found out that Aunt Elizabeth died that year at the young age of 36. I assume Ellen returned home to stay with her aunt Mary, as she was only 22 years old. The only way to travel from AL to MS at the time was by wagon train as most of the railroad lines were still under repair from their destruction by Sherman’s army. Traveling alone with a bunch of people in a wagon train must have been quite an experience.

The next record of Ellen is found ten years later in 1885. She appears in Texas and is married to Sam Houston Meek. How did she end up there? I found her two brothers had moved there at the end of the war with some other family members (apparently the children were separated), and she probably went out to visit them. One of her brothers was married to Sam’s sister, which explains how she met Sam. From my research, I found the travel from MS to TX would have involved three trains and about ten days. Imagine a young woman traveling alone on three different trains across the 1800s wild west.

Ellen and Sam were only married five years. She died in childbirth at the age of 37. She is buried at Pleasantville Cemetery in Nolanville, Bell County, Texas.

Her story is told in detail in my book An Orphan’s Heart.

Lori Crane

award-winning author. musician. cute shoes.

Tag Archives: genealogy

Margaretta van Hesse from “John Culpepper, Esquire”

52 Ancestors #26 Sir Alexander Culpepper

52 Ancestors – #25 Ole Stennis House

52 Ancestors #24 The Heirloom

52 Ancestors #23 Halloween weddings

52 Ancestors #22 Middle Temple

52 Ancestors #21 Sharpshooters and Soldiers

It’s Monday! What are you reading? Cover Reveal!

52 Ancestors #20 Horace Pappy Crane

52 Ancestors #19 Martha Ellen Rodgers