John Lupo first appears in Montgomery County records, tax lists and jury lists, around 1804. Along with him is a William Lupo who is probably his father. John is listed as head of a household on the 1820 and 1830 census. Comparing the 1820 to the 1830 census, it appears John is listed as being between 26-45 in 1820 and between 50 and 60 in 1830. This suggests he was born between 1775 and 1780, probably in Virginia or North Carolina. The best evidence suggests he was the son of William Lupo of Johnston County, North Carolina, who shows up in records there between 1784 and 1794. On two of the land grants William received in 1793 and 1794, John Lupo is listed as a chain bearer and on the NC state census of 1784-87 and the US Census of 1790, William has two males in his household in the right age range to have been John.
Neighbors of the Lupos in North Carolina included Abner Sauls and his son David, and Edward Penny and people with these surnames appear in Montgomery County around the same time as John Lupo. The William Lupo who appears in Montgomery County records disappears around 1804, and it appears that John names a son William who is between 10 and 16 in 1820 and therefore probably not the William in earlier Montgomery County records. In Johnston County, in addition to having a neighbor named David Sauls, William Lupo also had dealings with David Bell, who appears as witness to several of William’s deeds, and posts a considerable bond to insure William’s appearance in a court case around 1787. This suggests a possible family connection, and David Bell may have been William’s brother- or father-in-law.
Since John names his oldest son David it suggests that one of the Johnston County Davids was somehow related. In 1812, Patience “Loppae” appears as witness to will of Sarah Carroll and in 1850 and 1860, Patience can be found in the household of William Lynch in Wake County, NC. She, too, appears to have been born between 1775 and 1780. If Patience is William’s daughter, then he may have named a son and daughter after his grandparents, John and Patience Lupo from Isle of Wight County, VA. Jesse Penny and family can also be found on the 1850 census and his wife Sally is listed as being 62-years-old. If this is Sally Lupo, who Jesse married in Johnston County, then she would have been around sixteen at the time of Abner Sauls estate sale, so it could have been her and not her mother who purchased items.
In February of 1827, John “Luper” purchased from Abner Sanford Lot 84 in the 14th District of Houston County, which consisted of 202 1/2 acres which had been drawn by Sterling Muncrief in the 1821 Land Lottery. John and family apparently moved to Houston County around the time of this purchase, as all subsequent records on the family can be found there. This same lot was purchased several years later by William Lupo from John’s estate and even later by Giles Lupo from William’s estate which suggests the family occupied the land for nearly 20 years. In 1850, the family of Samuel Windham, Giles’ brother-in-law was listed nearby which suggests they also occupied part of the land. Tax records show John owned other parcels of equal size in Fayette and Houston Counties.
William Lupo has not been found on the census in Houston County, so it is possible he lived with his father or in-laws prior to his death. He died around 1840 and records on his estate show it was not nearly as extensive as John’s had been which suggests he had not acquired enough belongings to outfit his own household, though he did own property in his name according to tax records. William “Luper” has been found on some of the muster lists in the Seminole Wars, in the late 1830s, which may explain his early demise. It is possible he lived on his father’s property and used his own land to farm or as an investment. In the 1830s and 1840s the fourteenth district was in the lower part of Houston County, which today borders Dooly County and it is likely that members of the family who later show up in Dooly were affected by one of the border changes between the two counties.
Determining who John’s sons and daughters were presents challenges because John appeared on the census when only heads of household were named and did not leave a will. He may have died suddenly of illness or injury, or simply failed to write one. He appears to have died during the latter half of 1834 as records pertaining to his estate begin showing up in Houston County records early in 1835. William Lupo was appointed guardian for Giles and Julia Ann Lupo, who are identified as John’s minor children and William, David, Susannah, Elizabeth and Judy Lupo are mentioned as purchasers at one or the other of the estate sales following John’s death. There’s also a Mrs. Lupo and Mrs. Windham.
According to Houston County marriage records Mary Lupo married Samuel Windham in 1835 and their family is living near that of Giles Lupo on the 1850 census of Houston County, suggesting Mary is another of John’s daughters and from their comparative ages on the 1850 census, Mary and Giles may have been fraternal twins. David Lupo was certainly married by this time, as he has a wife and children listed with him on the 1830 census, so the Mrs. Lupo could be his wife Nancy, or William’s wife, or John’s widow. Also, any of the named Lupo women in the records could have been William’s wife or otherwise related to the family.
Records from various sources also yield interesting clues about the family. In 1833, John made a deed of gift consisting of “3 cows and calves and 3 yearlings & their increase” to his grandchildren Jameson, Juda and Frederick Watson, identified as minors. In 1831, a bill was brought before the Georgia State Senate “to alter and change the names of Jas. Lupo and Jameson Lupo, to that of James Watson and Jameson Watson and to legitimize the same”. Frequently this was done when children born out of wedlock were claimed by their natural fathers, but unfortunately, no information has been found among existing Houston County records to further explain what went on. That John identified Jameson, Frederick and Juda Watson as his grandchildren suggests their mother married the Watson who fathered James and Jameson, but no record has been found to identify which of John’s daughters this might have been.
Jameson (spelled Jimmerson) and Frederick Watson can be found on the census in Irwin County in 1850 and 1860. From their ages on the census, it can be deduced that Jameson was born around 1825 and Frederick around 1829. It is possible that their parents married between Jameson’s birth and Fredericks and that their mother died a few years later and that it was her death which prompted the gift from John. No one named Watson turns up among the records of John’s estate.
Recent information has come to light to help identify John Lupo’s widow. She appears to have been Judy or Judith Carter. In the will of Rebecca Carter of Laurens County, GA, Rebecca leaves half her estate to be divided between the children of Joseph and Giles Carter and Judy Lupo as well as Mary Mason’s children. Giles and David Lupo each receive money from this estate as do Samuel Windham, Hiram Goynes and William Goynes. Solomon Watson also receives money from this estate, presumably as the husband of the unknown Lupo daughter who was the mother of James, Jameson, Frederick and Juda Watson. On the jury lists from Montgomery County, GA from around 1804, Robert and Giles Carter appear in the Upper Big Ohoopee district alongside John Lupo. (Information was supplied in personal correspondence from Carter family researcher, Holly Hampton.)
The Lupos and Related Families 