According to Bardsley, "Mayo is an ancient English family: Mayhew, Mayow, Mayo, Mayhow, Mayho.-Bapt. 'the son of Matthew,' from O.F. Mayheu. It was impossible to keep the surname from corrupted forms. There is probably no connexion with co. Mayo, Ireland, in any single instance." ... But in all fairness, it should be pointed out that Woulfe (in Irish Names and Surnames) lists "Mayhew, Mayhow" and also "Mayo" as old Irish names. So the name Mayo is either English or Irish, or both. ... Edward Mayo, Esquire, settled by 1684 in Perquimans County, North Carolina." Edward Mayo could have had a wife named Sarah, but that is undetermined at the writing of the magazine in 1971. He certainly had a daughter named Sarah. (North Carolina Genealogy - Spring-Summer 1971, pp. 2617-2618).

It seems that there are some significant indications regarding John "The Rebel" and Barbados in William Smith, Jr.'s Master's thesis (NCSU, 1990) Culpeper's Rebellion: New Data and Old Problems: He indicates that John "The Rebel" Culpeper had "arrived in South Carolina about 16 February 1670/71 in the ship Carolina from Barbadoes." (p. 14) - source being mentioned on page 94 of the thesis: "John West to Lord Ashley, 2 March 1670/71 in Collections of the South Carolina Historical Society, Vol. 5, The The Shaftesbury Papers, (Charleston: South Carolina Historical Society, 1897), 266-267 (hereafter cited as Shaftesbury Papers); Stephen Bull to Lord Ashley 2 March 1670, 71 in Shaftesbury Papers, 273. Note that despite being First Vice President of the South Carolina Historical Society in 1696-7, Gen. Edward McCrady cited the Calendar of State Papers Colonial (Sainsbury) London, 1899 as his source for stating that Culpeper arrived in the John and Thomas, a ship which had arrived on 8 February 1670/71. The time difference is such that it matters little which ship was used. Edward McCrady, The History of South Carolina Under the Proprietary Government 1670-1719 (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1901), 143; the ship Carolina was owned by the Lords Proprietors and made its first voyage from Downes to the colony via Barbadoes and Bermuda in 1669 with a load of colonists, see K.H.D. Haley, The First Earl of Shaftesbury (Oxford: Claredon Press, 1968), 248." And on page 17: "There is the John Culpeper who immigrated from Barbados to the Charles Town area of what is now South Carolina, and whose name was later the same one used in conjunction with the disturbances in Albemarle County in 1677." I also have to remember that the conclusion that most American Culpepers are descended from Henry is Y-DNA. I am descended from Sarah Culpeper Pritchard, daughter of John "The Rebel." And with him having sailed from Barbados, that would point to English ancestry. The specifics are still in question (see also John Culpeper of Barbados as well as the article by Warren Culpepper "John Culpepers of Barbados"), but John "The Rebel" won't show up in Y-DNA since he did not have any sons.

Notes from Smith's thesis (mentioned above): He "arrived in South Carolina about 16 February 1670/71 in the ship Carolina from Barbadoes" (p. 14, citing the following on p. 94: John West to Lord Ashley, 2 March 1670/71 in Collections of the South Carolina Historical Society, Vol. 5, The Shaftesbury Papers, (Charleston: South Carolina Historical Society, 1897), 266-267 (hereafter cited as Shaftesbury Papers); Stephen Bull to Lord Ashley 2 March 1670, 71 in Shaftesbury Papers, 273. Note that despite being First Vice President of the South Carolina Historical Society in 1696-7, Gen. Edward McCrady cited the Calendar of State Papers Colonial (Sainsbury) London, 1899 as his source for stating that Culpeper arrived in the John and Thomas, a ship which had arrived on 8 February 1670/71. The time difference is such that it matters little which ship was used. Edward McCrady, The History of South Carolina Under the Proprietary Government 1670-1719 (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1901), 143; the ship Carolina was owned by the Lords Proprietors and made its first voyage from Downes to the colony via Barbadoes and Bermuda in 1669 with a load of colonists, see K.H.D. Haley, The First Earl of Shaftesbury (Oxford: Claredon Press, 1968), 248).

More about Culpeper's Rebellion can be read in Old Virginia and Her Neighbors, Volume II by John Fiske, pp. 282-285 [PDF pages 312-315].

Sarah was the daughter of Edward Mayo, a Justice and long-time Clerk of the Court and a prominent member of the Society of Friends (Quaker) in Pasquotank County, North Carolina (Maggs-Mayo-Henley Families from Hale). Sarah first married John Culpeper, second John Larkin and third Matthew Pritchard according to data published in Hathaway's magazines. However, the note to the left suggests a different line of husbands where John Culpeper is her second husband. "The document appears in full in Hathaway, and is entitled: "The Petition of Matthew Pritchard and wife Sarah to the Court of Chancery. (Original in Court House at Edenton, N.C.)." The first part of the petition reads as follows: "To the honoble high Cort of Chancery The Bill of Complaint of Matthew Pritchard and Sarah his wife Administratrix of Patrick Henley deceased and also Extrix of John Culpeper deceased Complaynants agt Capt John Hunt, Deft In humble manner yor Dayly Orator humbly shew to your Honors that some time before the Decease of the sd Culpeper yor orator Sarah's former husband One James Larkin of New England came to and agreed with him for the use of s Store house and accomodations for Such person as he should Send to look after the management and Sale of what Goods should be Sent...." It is obvious that the statement in the foregoing--"Sarah's former husband"--refers to Culpeper, and NOT to James Larkin, as Hathaway interpreted it. Sarah married as a Mayo to Culpeper, and the petition plainly states that after the death of Culpeper the said Sarah then married Henley; and as Sarah Henley she married in 1699 to Matthew Pritchard. So the Mayo-Larkins marriage may be discounted since it never took place" (North Carolina Genealogy - Spring-Summer 1971, pp. 2619-2620).

A Bird/Byrd or a Culpeper/Culpepper?

In correspondence with Lori Crane, author of Culpepper's Rebellion, she indicates while not having thoroughly researched the daughter Sarah, she writes at the end of the book:

Valentine Bird died at the end of the Carolina rebellion in 1679. Johnny returned to Albemarle upon being acquitted and married Valentine Bird's widow, Margaret. The Birds had a daughter named Sarah, who was a minor at the time of Valentine's death. There is some evidence that Johnny had a biological daughter named Sarah Culpepper, but I believe this girl was Valentine Bird's daughter, as it was custom at the time for minors to take the stepfather's surname. Johnny and Margaret moved to a plantation in Pasquotank Precinct, where they lived a quiet life with Johnny being a merchant/planter. Margaret died in 1687 and Johnny married a woman named Sarah Mayo in 1688. Johnny died sometime before February 1694, when records show Sarah Mayo remarried. The records state that Johnny had two or more children, listed only as "the orphans of John Culpeper.

However, Sarah, daughter of John "The Rebel" and Sarah (Mayo) Culpeper, was reportedly born in 1689, the year after John "The Rebel" and Sarah Mayo married. The Master Profile for Sarah Pritchard (Culpepper), which has a curator who has researched, indicates the birth year as 1689, but is open to suggestions. Upon further research, the 1689 birth date of Sarah (Culpeper) Pritchard is in question per some sources to be mentioned. John Culpeper was married to Margaret Bird before he married Sarah Mayo. He married Margaret, widow of Valentine Bird, ca. 1679-1680 as supported by Upheaval in Albemarle: The Story of Culpeper's Rebellion: Appendix (archived version) and according to NCpedia article "Bird, Valentine". The latter of those sources refers to the following: "North Carolina State Archives (Raleigh), for Albemarle Book of Warrants and Surveys (1681-1706), Council Minutes, Wills, Inventories (1677-1701), and Bond of Margaret Culpeper as Guardian for Sarah Bird (2 Feb. 1686)." So, does this conclude that Sarah (Culpeper) Pritchard was born 2 Feb. 1686 and was in fact a daughter of Valentine Bird? In contrast with this theory is the "24 of Julie, 1696" Will of Patrick Henley, copied from the Records of Administrations in Record of Will office, Book A, Page 258, Philadelphia, Pa. (Trouble viewing? Local copy). I give and bequeath unto my stepdaughter, Sarah Culpepper, fiftie pounds to be paid to her when she come os age in this counties commodities, beside what is due her by her father's will." Recall that Patrick Henley had married Sarah Mayo Culpepper, widow of John Culpepper "The Rebel." So, this indicates Sarah was the daugther of Sarah Mayo and John Culpeper. Yet, if the birth date of the daughter Sarah was 1686 and the marriage between John Culpepper and Sarah Mayo was 1688 with John was previously married ca. 1680 to Margaret Bird (widow of Valentine Bird) who died ca. 1687 (Source for Margaret Bird marriage/death dates: Culpeper, John by Mattie Erma E. Parker), then it brings up the uncertainty once again. More research is needed to draw a conclusion.

In addition: Deborah W. Byrd (a Mayo, Byrd and Sutton descendant) indicates that Sarah Mayo was not the widow of Byrd. Rather, "Margaret Gilcrest was the widow Byrd who married Culpepper and died after about three years of marriage and Sarah Mayo was Culpepper's second wife." She further indicated that the erroneous Mayo-Byrd connection came from some early Mayo researchers who didn't check the Secretary of North Carolina records to find the records of Valentine's estate and that Margaret was the administratrix. Of further note, Ms. Byrd shared the following: "Culpepper did marry the Widow of Valentine Byrd/Bird her name was Margaret Gilchrist per their marriage bans in Barbados and the Estate Records in North Carolina. Margaret did not last long as Culpepper's wife. She died leaving Culpepper in charge of her children of whom her daughter Sarah was one. It is assumed that Sarah may have taken Culpepper's name. Culpepper then married Sarah Mayo and he died shortly thereafter. She then went to Philadelphia. The question from the Bird/Byrd side that begs an answer is 'Were there other children than Sarah? Was there a Valentine and a John?' For when Sarah arrives in Philadelphia, a John Bird and a Valentine Bird appear among the numerous Quaker Byrd/Bird families who are in the community. These families are from New Jersey. Are they related to the North Carolina Valentine Byrd by way of Barbados?" These are questions to which we many never know the answers.

And Lisa Hillerman, amateur researcher and 6th great granddaughter of Sarah (Culpeper) Pritchard, corresponded with me and offered these insights that seem to put the Bird theory to rest: "I'm a little confused by the question of her being Valentine Bird's daughter if her birth date may be 1686, as suggested, since he died in or about 1679. Would that make her the daughter of John and Margaret then? If she is Bird's daughter, she would have had to be born 1680 or before. There are records for a marriage of Valentine Bird and a Mrs Margaret Gilcrist in 1669 and a baptism of Sarah Bird, daughter of Valentine Bird dated 1670 in Barbados. Seems like there [were] a lot of connections between John Culpeper and Barbados??? Also, if Sarah was born in 1670 why would Henley write in his will, when she comes of age, she'd be 26??" Valentine Bird's death date would rule out he was the father of Sarah (Culpeper) Pritchard. It's easy to conclude there were two Sarahs: one born 1670 who was a daughter of Valentine Bird, and one born ca. 1689, who was a daughter of John Culpeper. I (James "Jamie" Johnson) have reached out (January and May 2019) to author Lori Crane for her thoughts, but as of the lastest research of this page (), I haven't heard back.