[I never sent a Note numbered 1808. So I will number this one as 1808 and it will have a later date than 1809 through 1912 below.]
Some discussion recently centered on the Culpeper Classes and whether this constituted proof of anything. I don't believe that it proves much, especially military service. Of the 106 men who were chosen for service, this is what became of them:
4 Retained for the War
47 Entered for 18 months
29 Drafted
12 Refused
12 Absconded
2 Sick
In other words, more than 22% of the men appear not to have served. Thus, if a man who was chosen, merely finding his name on the Culpeper Classes list is not proof that he actually served. (If you were presenting a lineage chart and said that X appears to be father of Y with a probability of 80%, you probably would not be accepted.)
Does it mean anything if your name appears in the list without being one those chosen? It seems to be that every male of the age range sixteen to fifty, who was in reasonably good health, appeared in the list. This was the basis of the militia before the Revolution. There was no standing army and the alternative was that every able-bodied man was expected to be ready if a need arose. When the draft of the men shown in the Culpeper Classes was made, the militia lists were used as the list of eligible men. That is to say it was a draft list.
Take an analogy. During World War II, Amish men were entered on the draft lists. If they were called up, they pleaded that they were pacifists and were exempted from military duty. Would their descendants be entitled to membership in the Daughters of World War II?
I have published what is the best reference source for the Culpeper Classes. It has the best accuracy of any published list, including the Library of Virginia, and it is the easiest to use. It is a useful tool to have because it does show geographical associations. If you read the name of a man whom you know lived in the Little Fork, the chances are very high that the other members of that class also lived in the Little Fork.
(22 Nov 03)
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