Robert C. Culpepper

Robert Campbell Culpepper, Sr.
Jackson Parish Clerk of Court
In office 1900–1908
Louisiana State Senator for Jackson and Ouachita parishes
In office 1908–1912
Preceded by	W. F. Millsaps
Succeeded by	T. L. Hood
Judge of the 9th Louisiana Judicial District Court in Alexandria
In office 1924–1942
Personal details
Born	May 31, 1873 Jackson Parish, Louisiana, USA
Died	March 2, 1950 (aged 76) Alexandria Rapides Parish, Louisiana, USA
Resting place	Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville, Louisiana
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	(1) Margaret Diane Wyatt (married 1899-1911, her death) (2) Margarete Albright Culpepper (married 1915-1949, her death)
Children	Lillian Postell Culpepper Drouett Robert Wyatt Culpepper William A. Culpepper Robert C. Culpepper, Jr.
Parents	Robert Mallory and Caroline Virginia Hawthorn Culpepper
Residence	Jonesboro, Louisiana Alexandria, Louisiana
Alma mater	Louisiana Normal Institute Self-study of law
Occupation	Educator; Banker; Lawyer, Judge
Religion	Baptist Church

Robert Campbell Culpepper, Sr. (May 31, 1873 – March 2, 1950), was a lawyer and a Democratic politician from his native U.S. state of Louisiana.

Biography

Born in Jackson Parish in North Louisiana, Culpepper was one of eight children, four male and four female, of Robert Mallory Culpepper (1837-1902) and the former Margaret Virginia Hawthorn (1843-1891), who were originally from Georgia and Arkansas, respectively. Robert M. Culpepper came to Louisiana at the age of fourteen and fought in the Confederate Army in the American Civil War. He attained the rank of quartermaster sergeant and was wounded and on another occasion captured in the fighting.^[1]

Robert C. Culpepper was educated at Louisiana Normal Institute in Natchitoches, since named Northwestern State University, from which he graduated in 1896. He taught school until 1900, when he was elected as the Jackson Parish clerk of court, based in the parish seat of government of Jonesboro.^[1] From 1908 to 1912, during the administration of Governor Jared Y. Sanders, Sr., he was a state senator for Jackson and neighboring Ouachita parishes, which includes Monroe.^[2] While in the state Senate, he was simultaneously the cashier of Jackson Parish Bank from 1909 to 1912.^[1]

Culpepper studied law privately and was admitted to practice in 1912. He relocated to Alexandria in Rapides Parish in Central Louisiana, where he engaged first in real estate law, principally successions and land titles. In 1924, he was elected as a judge on the 9th Judicial District Court,^[1] a body on which his middle son, William A. Culpepper, subsequently served for a single six-year term. Robert Culpepper left the court in 1942 at the age of sixty-five.^[3]

Culpepper was first married to the former Margaret Diane Wyatt (1876-1911) of Jackson Parish, by whom he had two children, Lillian Postell Culpepper (1901-1974), who married Emile Drouett, a sugar cane planter from Meeker in south Rapides Parish, and Robert Wyatt Culpepper (1907-1976). In 1915, in DeRidder in Beauregard Parish, he married the former Margarete Helen Albright (1888-1949), a native of Durham, North Carolina. From this second marriage, he had in addition to later Judge William Culpepper a third son, Robert, Jr., a physician.^[1]

Culpepper was a Baptist and a member of the Masonic lodge and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is interred at Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville, Louisiana.^[1]

References

1. "Hon. Robert Campbell Culpepper". culpepperconnections.com. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
2. "Membership in the Louisiana Senate, 1880 -Present for Jackson and Ouachita parishes" (PDF). senate.la.gov. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
3. "Judge William Albright Culpepper". The Alexandria Town Talk. October 7, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2015.