Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/48

CULPEPER, John, surveyor-general and po- litical leader in the Carolinas, b. in England. He was a refugee from the southern or Clarendon colony, and in 1678 headed an insurrection in the northern or Albemarle colony in favor of popular liberty. The grievances that led to the uprising were the interference of the executive in elections, and the imposition of excessive taxes on com- merce. Under his lead the people deposed the president and deputies of the proprietaries, seized the public funds, appointed new magistrates and judges, called a parliament, and tooli all the func- tions of government into their own hands. After the new government was organized, Culpeper was sent to England to negotiate a compromise. He was there indicted for high treason, but was ac,- quitted, on the ground that there existed no regu- lar govei'nment in Albemarle at the time of the rebellion. He returned to Carolina, and in 1680 laid out Charles Town (Charleston).

CULPEPER, or COLEPEPER, Thomas, Lord, colonial governor of Virginia, b. in England ; d. there in 1719. He was one of the royal favor- ites to whom, in 1673, King Cliarles II. granted for the period of thirty-one years the entire ter- ritory of Vir- ginia, depriving the royal colo- nists of the very titles of their lands. Culpep- er, in 1675, pur- chased of the Earl of Arling- ton, his co-gran- tee, the hitter's rights between the Rappahan- nock and Poto- mac rivers. He was appointed one of the com- missioners for plantations in

July, 1675, and

proclaimed governor of Virginia for life. He came to the colony in 1680. Under his administration was passed an act of indemnity for offences committed dur- ing the rebellion under Grov. Berkeley ; also an act to enable the governor to grant naturaliza- tion, and one to prevent the frequent meeting of slaves. Returning to England in 1683, in vio- lation of his orders, he was arrested immediately on his arrival ; and, as he had corruptly received presents from the assembly, a jury of Middlesex found that he had forfeited his commission. He was shrewd and capable, but enriched himself by bribery and extortion. His estates, consisting of lands on the Isle of Wight, manors in Kent, and the tract of the Northern Neck in Virginia, con- taining 5,700,000 acres, descended through his daughter, Catherine, who married Baron Fairfax, to her son, Lord Fairfax, patron of Washington.

CULTZHAYOTL (cooltz-ay-yot'-l), Aztec poet, b. in 1370 ; d. in 1421. He was the son of the Tlaxcaltec prince Xentiple. His first work was a long poem entitled " Zempaxochitl." The Count of Regla, as descendant and heir of Hernan Cortes, has preserved the original, a translation of which was made by Peredo, who calls Cultzhayotl the Aztec Virgil. His second work, " Huitzilopoxtli," is considered superior to the first. Clavijero, a profound scholar, finds in it many features resem- bling those of Dante's ' Divine Comedy." Cultz- hayotl was the first that gave a vigorous character and form to tragedy in Mexico, and had the war- dances replaced by dialogues and tableaux. The Aztec king and nobility attended the performance of his tragedy, "Mihua" ; but the noblemen thought the play was a satire on religion, and caused the poet to be imprisoned and subsequently buried alive, to the neck, in a field near Chapultepec, According to Netzahualeoyotl, a lady of the court saved him, leaving in place of the victim a Toltec prisoner. He wandered about until the priests of the Mitla temple offered him protection. While in retirement he wrote a powerful satire, called " Cuitlacochitl," against the Moctezuma dynasty and the corrupt nobility. Fearing that the Mitla priests might assassinate him, he took refuge in Cholula, where the people made his arrival the oc- casion for a magnificent display. But he soon had to leave Cholula also, and hid for the rest of his life in the Cacahuaniiljia cave, a description of which is found in his poem, " Caeahuamitl."

CULWER, Daniel, pioneer, b. in Maryland in 1793; d. in California in 1857. He was the first American that went to upper California, and the first that built a house in San Francisco (on the same ground now occupied by the Palace Hotel). He was also the founder of the town of Santa Bar- bara. At the beginning of the Mexican war, in 1847, Culwer went to New Orleans, organized a company at his own expense, and joined the expe- dition under Gen. Scott. When the American navy had bombarded Vera Cruz, Culwer advanced to- ward Jalapa and defeated a guerilla band ; but, having gone farther into the country, he was cap- tured by the Mexican chief Father Jaranta, who was about to have him hanged at Plan de Barran- cas when Sergeant Lincoln, of the volunteer force, saved him. He specially distinguished himself at the battle of Cerro Gordo, when he almost effected the capture of Gen. Santa Anna, and did take his richly caparisoned horse. He was dangerously wounded at the capture of the city of Mexico, re- turned to the United States, and again settled in California, where he resided for the rest of his life, and accumulated a fortune, a large part of which was bequeathed to charity.

CULYER, John Yapp, civil engineer, b. in New York city, 18 May, 1839. He studied survey- ing and architecture, after which he spent three years in general engineering. Subsequently he be- came assistant engineer in Central park, New York, and during the civil war was assistant secretary of the U. S. sanitary commission. He also served for a time on the defences south of the Potomac, in 1865 he returned to Central park, remaining there for a year, when he was appointed assistant engi- neer in charge of the Brooklyn parks, and from 1872 till 1886 was chief engineer and superinten- dent. He has acted in the capacity of associate engineer to the Albany parks, to the parks and the riverside improvement in Chicago, and to the state capitol grounds in Nashville. He was a member of the first rapid transit commission in Brooklyn, and later engineer of the sixth rapid transit com- mission, besides being connected with a great va- riety of general railroad work and public improve- ment. Col. Culyer has invented implements for improved road construction and for the trans- planting of large trees. He is a member of the American society of civil engineers. For more than twenty years he has been a contributor to sci- entific, literary, and art journals, and he has also edited educational and sanitary journals.