The discussion of the Culpeper Classes continues. The only county I know of that had Classes of this type is Culpeper Co., in Virginia. Whether it is the only county to save the working sheets (the lists of names), or whether it was the only county to use this method is unknown to me. Any amplification would be welcome.
I have a note on the result of selecting one man from each class. Four men were retained for the War. Forty-seven were entered for 18 months. Twenty-nine were drafted. Twelve refused to serve. Twelve absconded. Two were sick. Of the twelve who absconded, two came in and were sent to the Army. If this is taken as a measure for the support for the Revolution, almost 25% of the men refused or absconded. I take it that being "entered" meant the person enlisted after being selected. This would be opposed to the "drafted" category where the person was compelled to go.
Here are a few classes: In number 76 the names were Moses Broyles, Cornelius Carpenter, William Carpenter, Sr., Michael Carpenter, Sr., Michael Broyles, John Milbank, John Blankenbeker, Zacheriah Broyle, John Carpenter, Jr., Joseph Bledsoe, John Bledsoe, Joshua Wayland, Daniel Broyle. Except for the Bledsoe and Milbank names, all of the names are from the Germanna families in the Robinson River Valley. Even John Milbank married a Germanna woman, Mary Barlow. Within these thirteen names, John Blankenbeker was the draft, but Lewis Nunnimaker substituted for him. In one sense, Lewis was logical as he was the brother-in-law of John Blankenbaker, having married John's sister, Barbara. But it seems strange that Lewis, a married man would go in the place of John. Very often the substitute for the selected man is related. In some cases, the deal may have been strictly monetary. Men would go in the place of another for a fee. In case you have the impression that the Blankenbakers avoided the war, in class 71, Nicholas Blankenbeker was selected and he served.
Class number 34 is rich in Germanna names: Joseph Coones, Jr., John Fishback (son of Jacob), Jacob Fishback, Jr., James Blackwell, John Spillman, John Matthais, James Burdett, Frederick Coones, John Young, Jr., Frederick Fishback (son of Fred), John Coons, Peter Kamper, William Button, and Harmon Button. In the selection process, Frederick Coones was the draft, but Thomas Blackwell substituted for Fred Coones. In this case, I do not know if there was any relationship between the Coones and Blackwell. These names come from around Jeffersonton in the Little Neck district of Culpeper Co.
Class 70 contained John Hughes, Paul Leatherer, Joshua Leatherer, James Rush, Benjamin Hanes, Tobias Wilhoit, Jonathon Garriott, Michael Klugg, John Yowell (son of James), James Yowell (son of James), Michael Leatherer, James Yowell (son of David), John Yowell (son of David), Samuel Leatherer. No name is indicated as a selection, but John Hughes was a substitute. This perhaps may mean that rather than hold a draft, the members of the class agreed in advance to pay one person to serve for the class. In this case, he happened to be a member of the class though he did not have to be. Note that the information in the list contains some genealogical information, in this case, far more than most.
I would welcome comments on the subject of the Culpeper Classes.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.