Last updated: September 19, 2025
Person
Pap Dandridge
Courtesy of Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, Handley Regional Library
Quick Facts
Significance:
Formerly Enslaved Shenandoah Valley Resident
Place of Birth:
Unknown
Date of Birth:
Unknown
Place of Death:
Unknown
Date of Death:
Unknown
Place of Burial:
Unknown
Cemetery Name:
Unknown
Pap Dandridge was an enslaved African American man in the Shenandoah Valley before the Civil War. He chose to stay in the Valley after emancipation for the rest of his life.
The date of his photograph is uncertain. The Stewart Bell Jr. Archives at Handley Regional Library in Winchester, Virginia estimates it was taken between 1880-1910. The archives describe him as Pap Dandridge, aka "Uncle Stephen". His full identity remains unrecorded. The 1860 census lists an enslaved population of 24,779 in the Shenandoah Valley, which was 20.4% of the total population.
Contact Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park if you have any more information about this person.