Rippietoe - Ripito Lumbee American Indians

Elizabeth Oxendine is our keystone in our tracing back to the lumbees. We assume she is "just" Elizabeth Oxendine of the Oxendine Family.

However, there are also Bible records of a Mary Elizabeth Rippietoe that was born in 1846. She was 1/2 Cherokee. She died in 1917 in Rose Hill Chickasha OK. These records have Mary Elizabeth Rippletoe/Rippietoe marrying John Dudley Hunter. If Elizabeth Oxendine was hiding her Oxendine connection she might have pretended to be a Rippietoe instead ...? Why would she give the name Rippietoe for the Bible records? The Bible comes from Bea Hunter.

I decided to track down Rippietoes to see if this was even possible. First, the legal people spelled rippietoe in all sorts of ways - ripito, ripeto, rippeto, rippetoe, ripietoe, so you have to search for them all.

Ripitos of Jackson County, Tennessee
It appears that John Ripito was born around 1790, and his wife in 1794. They married probably 1815.

1820
The ONLY last name like "Rip..." in all of Tennessee in 1820 was John Ripito in Jackson County. Roll 123, Page 85. John Ripito is listed with 1 male 26-45, 3 females under age 10, and 1 female 16-26. So that would be John Ripito, his wife, and 3 daughters.

1830
Moving on to the 1830 Jackson County TN census, Roll 177, page 153. John Ripito has 2 males under age 5, 1 male 40-50. There's 1 female under age 5, 2 that are 5-10, and 2 that are 10-15. There's also one female 30-40. No slaves or anything else. So this appears to be John, his wife, 5 daughters and 2 sons. So he had another 2 daughters and 2 sons in the past 10 years.

We have new Ripitoes in the state now, on the far eastern side. There are 3 separate families that move into Cocke County Tennessee by 1830.

Henry Rippito - household 385, page 256. Henry is 20-30 and his wife is 20-30 as well. They have three girls aged 5-10, one girl under 5 and one boy under 5. So five children. Henry could be John's brother that moved into Tennessee - although Cocke County is on the far eastern side of Tennessee. You would think he came from Virginia, but there was no Henry Ripito in Virginia in 1820, nor in other nearby states.

James Rippito - Household 311, Page 253. James is 15-20. He's with a woman 15-20 and a female child under age 5.
"My James Rippetoe and his wife, Sarah, came to Arkansas shortly before 1850--Saline Co. They came from Cocke supposedly. Jerry" -- jersuflo*AT*swbell.net

William Ripeto - Household 371, Page 255. William is 20-30, with a woman that is also 20-30. It's just the two of them.

1840
In the 1840 Jackson county TN census, roll 524, page 267a, district 5 is Henry Rittetoe which could easily be a mis-understanding of Rippito. He's now got a big family. Males: one under 5, one 5-10, two 15-20, one 40-50. Females: one 5-10, one 10-15, two 15-20, one 40-50. So he now has 8 kids, up 3 from last census.

There are no other Ripito/etc. that I could find in Jackson County. Did I miss John's entry? Why did Henry move from Cocke County to Jackson County? He must have known John. Where did John go?

Intriguingly, the 1840 Cocke County TN census now has a new Ripito. on page 279. This is Elizabeth Ripito, apparently from Pennsylvania. There are 3 people in her household. There is a 50-60 year old white woman (Elizabeth, aged 60), a 15-20 year old white girl and a 55-100 year old free colored woman.

I haven't found John, James or William yet in 1840.

1850
Elizabeth Ripeto shows up now in Jefferson County, page 446. 13th district.
Elizabeth Ripeto - 70 F - born Penn
Jane - 35 F - born Tenn (idiot)
Penina Reans - 45 F - born VA
Nancy - 16 F - born Tenn
Obadiah - 14 M - ""

Jefferson County is just northwest of Cocke County, so at least that part makes sense. However, where did the family members spontaneously appear from? Did she take in kids from the other Ripitanians?

I went through Jackson County District 5 - no entry for any Ripies. None in District 6 either.

I found an online listing of the 1850 Cocke County Census and there were No Ripitos of any spelling in it. Very odd ...?

I did find a register of deeds from 1821-1826 from Bledsoe County TN -

244 Ripito John I Bledsoe
378 Ripito John I Bledsoe
199 Ripito William I Bledsoe

Both John and William show up in the above census entries.

Putnam County TN Death Certificate -
Certificate: #18797
Deceased: Manda Farris
Age: abt 57y
Birth Place: TN [probably 1877]
Death: 21 Aug 1934
Father: Lewis Odom
Father's Birth Place: TN
Mother: Mary Rippito [probably ~1857]
Mother's Birth Place: TN
Cemetery: West Cemetery

The ONLY last name like "Rip..." in all of Virginia in 1820 was Thomas B Rippetoe in Brooke County. Roll 132, page 32. He shows up all alone in column 4 (male, some age). Link to Virginia Rippetoe Information

The ONLY last name like "Rip..." in all of Kentucky in 1820 was Peter Ripettoe in Adair County. Roll 16, page 31. His census is:

2 - - - 1 - 3 1 - - - 1

None in North Carolina, none in South Carolina

Main Page for Oxendine Research

Cood Oxendine ~1750
David Oxendine ~1775
Wilson Oxendine ~1818
Elizabeth Oxendine ~1839

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