George Henry Caperton Sr., son of Hugh and Jane Erskine Caperton, was born in Union (Monroe County), (West) Virginia on December 13, 1828. After graduating from Virginia Military Institute in 1851, Caperton reportedly studied medicine in Richmond, Virginia, then earned a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1853. On August 23, 1854, Caperton married Mary Eliza Henderson. Born January 15, 1836, she was the daughter of Walter and Eliza Royall Holcombe Henderson. By 1859, Caperton had established a medical practice near the Watering Branch, in the area of Lynchburg, Virginia. The 1860 census lists the Capertons living with their two young children in Campbell County, Virginia. On May 28, 1861, Caperton enlisted as a private in Company G, 2nd Virginia Cavalry; he was appointed regimental quartermaster sergeant on June 19. He was listed absent sick beginning in September, and received a medical discharge on March 12, 1862. On June 11, he was commissioned a lieutenant, assigned as aide-de-camp to General John Echols. In March, 1863, Caperton was appointed an assistant surgeon, serving at Montgomery White Sulphur Springs, Virginia, and as medicla director of the Department of Southwest Virginia. By March 19, 1865, according to muster rolls, Caperton was living at home in Union. Following the war, Caperton reportedly practiced medicine for a time in Baltimore. The 1870 federal census lists a George H. and Mary E. Caperton in Amherst, Virginia, with George described as a farmer. The Capertons remained in Amherst County as late as 1880; the census for that year records George as a physician. Two years later, the Capertons were living Fayette County, West Virginia, where they seem to have remained. George Henry Caperton died in the hospital at Cantonsville, Maryland, on January 13, 1895. Mary Elizbeth Henderson Caperton died on February 4, 1900. Both were buried in Green Hill Cemetery, Union, West Virginia.