Daniel Murphree’s will, written on 10 November 1769 and proved in August 1771, names eight sons and five daughters. Most of the family left Chatham County, North Carolina after the Revolution and were in Pendleton District, South Carolina by 1790.
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James Murphree (c1741 – 1831) Either he or William was probably the eldest son. He was not tithable in 1757, thus was born in 1741 or later.1 He must have been born not long after 1741, however, because he witnessed the deed by William Blye to Daniel Murphree on 25 August 1762.2 He was apparently still under 21 on 1 January 1762, for he was surely one of the tithables to his father that year. James and four of his brothers are listed in a 1772 militia list in Chatham County. By 1769 he was maintaining his own household, as his father’s will left him “the plantation where on he now lives” which was the 180 acres his father had purchased in 1765 from James Kirksey. On 1 October 1779, James Murphree and his wife “Mille” sold that same parcel to Arthur Jones.3 Milly’s maiden name is unknown, but they must have married some years earlier in order to have sons over 16 by 1790. It’s not clear where James lived after selling his land, but he witnessed a deed in Chatham County in 1784.4
In the 1790 census (taken in 1791) he was enumerated with most of the family in the first census of Pendleton District, South Carolina.5 His first recorded purchase of land there is 250 acres deeded to him by William Murphree in 1795.6 His first wife was apparently still alive for the 1800 census, but must have died shortly thereafter. His widow, Rutha (Rutha Davis the widow of John Hudgins), applied for a Revolutionary pension based on her first husband’s service, stating she and James “Murphy” had married in December 1803 and that James died in 1831.7 Interestingly, she applied for the pension based on the service of her first husband rather than of her second.
The Secona Baptist church records show James and Ruth as members through 1817 when James Murphree’s recantation was rejected and Ruth Murphree was censured for leaving her husband. The 1800 census shows three males in the household (10-16, 16-26, and 26-46), suggesting two of the 1790 household’s males were elsewhere or dead, and three daughters, suggesting that one had married or died. In 1810, only one son aged 26-45 remained at home, though there is no sign in Pendleton of the other sons. The censuses make it clear that all of his children were born before the 1790 census. Of the eight apparent children, I can identify only four. Neither of the two known sons appears in the 1810 census as head of household, though one of them must have been elsewhere. An 1821 power of attorney (see below) names sons Elijah (deceased) and Uriah, and sons-in-law John Stephens and Jeremiah Field.
- Elijah Murphree (? – 1821) He appears in the 1820 census of Feliciana Parish, Louisiana as head of a household of two males 16-26 and one male 26-45. In late 1821, James Murphree of Pendleton District stated that he “understood that my son Elijah Murphree late of Feliciana Parish the town of Jackson in the State of Louisiana had lately died intestate And afterwards on the 25th day of September 1821, I did make a Power of Attorney to my son Uriah Murphree and John Stephens to collect and receive of any persons all the estates which I was entitled to as heir at law of my son Elijah Murphree deceased and my son Uriah Murphree did go to the said town of Jackson and did take into his possession all or a part of the Estates of the said Elijah Murphree...”8 Elijah was unmarried, for that is the only way his father could have been his heir under the succession law of the time.
- Uriah Murphree ( ? – 1821?) The above record continues: “it is now a considerable time since I have heard from my said son Uriah and fearing that my said son Uriah may be also dead I have employed my two sons-in-law Jeremiah Field and John Stephens to go to the town of Jackson in the said State of Louisiana to see what is done and if my said son Uriah has collected the Estates of my said son Elijah…”
- Mary Murphree (c1786? – ?) She was identified in the above document as the wife of John Stephens. John Stephens was enumerated adjacent to James Murphree in the 1810 census, he and his wife both 16-26. In 1820, the only John Stephens of Pendleton is 26-45 and the sole member of his household. They had perhaps migrated elsewhere. Stephens researchers think he is the same John Stephens in the 1850 census of Cherokee County, Georgia whose wife Mary is age 64.
- Ann Murphree (3 April 1779 – 9 September 1857) The above document identifies a daughter as the wife of Jeremiah Field, whom she evidently married sometime before 1810. A Jeremiah Field had appeared in the 1800 Pendleton census, he and his wife both 26-45, with one son under 10. Field researchers believe this was an earlier wife. In 1810 he and his wife were still both 26-45, with five children. This wife must have been Ann, for no daughters remained in her father’s household. In 1820 he was over 45, with a wife still aged 26-45 and seven children. In 1830 his wife was aged 50-60. He was still in Pickens on 2 September 1839 when he sold the plantation where he then lived.9 In 1845 and again in1848 he sold land in Pendleton as a resident of Cherokee County, Georgia.10 The 1850 Cherokee census enumerates Jeremiah Field (82) and wife Annie (70), both born in North Carolina. In 1857 his remaining land was sold for heirs Elijah M. Field, Elias E. Field, W. T. Field, John D. Field, B. W. Field, James M. Field, Joseph Dollison and Malinda A., and the heirs of Joseph A. Field, deceased.11 All of these were identified as being “out of state” except “heirs of Joseph Field deceased, Amos L. Sutherland & wife Mary C. B. Ga., W. T. Field and J. M. Field in Pickens.”
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William Murphree (c1742 – c1834) Either he or James was probably the eldest son, and by similar arguments were born no earlier than 1741. On the basis of James Murphree’s earlier appearance in the records, and his being named first in his father’s will, I’ve listed William as the second son. He was one of the five brothers on the 1772 militia list, but is not mentioned in any other records prior to his father’s will.12 The will left the home plantation to Sarah Murphree, with reversion to William Murphree. On 20 March 1780 Sarah Murphree and William Murphree sold this land to Nicholas Quesenberry.13 No wife released dower, suggesting that William Murphree was either unmarried in 1780 or a widower. Four land grants were made in 1782 and 1783 in Washington County (now Tennessee) to a William Murphy, but this seems likely to have been a different William Murphy since we can identify one in the area and since our William remained in Chatham County.14 He was still in Chatham County on 10 September 1783 when he witnessed a deed by his brother Levi, and purchased land from his brother John.15 He sold this land in early 1787 as a resident of Chatham County.16 Still a resident of Chatham, he bought land in January 1788 but sold it a month later.17
He then apparently moved to South Carolina. There are numerous grants and other land transactions for William Murphree in Pendleton, beginning as early as 16 July 1784.18 [It is not clear to me which are attributable to this William Murphree and which to his adult son (or nephews) of the same name.] It must surely be him who is in the 1790 Pendleton census with four males over 16, one male under 16, and one female; and in the 1800 census with the families of one or more children in the household. However, the first transaction by a William Murphree “Sr.” is a land sale in 1801.19 On 6 March 1804 William Murphree Jr., who had moved to Tennessee, appointed William Murphree Sr. his attorney to collect a legacy on behalf of his wife Sarah Linn Murphree from the estate of Robert Linn.20 William Murphree Sr.’s wife was therefore the Hannah Murphree who released dower in a 1802 sale.21 He apparently moved to Rhea County, Tennessee by 1808. Descendants report that both William and Hannah appear in the records of the Luminary Church there, with Hannah identified as his widow in 1834. The children are somewhat speculative, but appear to include sons named William Murphree, John Murphree, and Jesse Murphree.
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Daniel Murphree (c1747? – c1780?) Presumably, his older brothers were the two tithables to Daniel Murphree in 1762, thus Daniel Jr. must have been born after 1 January 1746. His first appearance in the records is as a witness to his father’s purchase from Underwood in 1768 (which did not require that he be of age). He inherited the land on which he was then living from his father, which was the land purchased of Luke Bynum, as Daniel and his wife Mary sold that same 175 acres on 15 May 1775 to John Hatley.22 Daniel does not appear in any subsequent North Carolina records and according to family legend, reported in several publications, he died in the Revolutionary War.23 It is likely that he did serve in the Revolution, though whether he actually died in that service is unknown. The North Carolina Revolutionary records tell us that a Daniel Murphree appears on two voucher lists for pay owed for service before 1782.24 However, that seems likely to have been the Daniel Murphree of Anson County who applied for a pension based on his NC service.25
Daniel Murphree Jr. appears to have served in Georgia rather than North Carolina. John Bynum, a neighbor in Chatham County, declared in his Revolutionary pension application that he enlisted in Wilkes County, Georgia on 2 April 1777, apparently as one of the many North Carolinians answering Georgia’s call for soldiers, and was discharged three years later on 27 March 1780. The names of both Daniel Murphree and John Bynum appear among the estate records of Richard Austin, a Revolutionary Captain of Wilkes County.26 Richard Austin, according to another soldier’s pension application, was a Wilkes County company commander who was shot by one of his own men and died in 1779 or 1780.
Neither Daniel Murphree nor his wife Mary appears in Pendleton District records, but two presumed sons do. If his widow went to Pendleton, she evidently remarried to support her young children. Indeed, no Mary Murphree appears as head of household in 1790. According to the same descendant, the widow Mary married William Marchbanks. She was evidently married to Marchbanks after 1790, as he appears in the 1790 Pendleton County census as head of a household of six males and four females, all of whom must have been his own children according to a Marchbanks family history.27 (Thus this may have been a third marriage for her, and she may have been married to someone else in 1790.)The source quoted above gives the Murphree children as Celia Murphree, Daniel Murphree, and Aaron Murphree, all of whom later appear in Blount County, Alabama. William Marchbanks died about 1812, and Mary is thought to have accompanied her brother Solomon to Blount County, Alabama. She is thought to have been the same Mary Marchbanks who was a charter member of the Mt. Moriah Baptist Church in 1820.
There is reason to doubt the notion proposed by some that his wife Mary was a Bullard. His presumed son Aaron Murphree married Sarah Bullard, daughter of Thomas Bullard. It is possible this confused early family compilers. There do not appear to have been Bullard families in Chatham County.
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John Murphree (c1749 – 6 March 1828) John Murphree was on the Chatham County militia list for 1772. He and Levi inherited their father’s land purchased of Dempsey Rawls, and jointly sold it on 9 February 1788, with John’s wife Rebecca releasing dower.28 He apparently replaced the land with a grant recorded 31 March 1780 adjacent to his brother Levi.29 A second land grant was recorded the following month.30 He apparently moved to what would become Tennessee, where he recorded a grant in 1781.31 He sold part of his land in Chatham County on 10 September 1783 as a resident of Washington County, North Carolina (later Tennessee).32 Solomon Murphree obtained a grant in 1784 (then in Washington County but later in Sullivan County) adjoining John Murphree, and on 9 August 1787, John Murphry was granted 100 acres in Sullivan County “including the place where Solomon Murphrey formerly lived.”33 Whether he ever joined the rest of the family in South Carolina is not clear. However, a John Murphree appeared in the 1790 census of Pendleton heading a household of eight, enumerated on the same page as David, Moses, and James Murphree. Curiously, there seems to be no land transaction for him until a purchase on 22 October 1795, which he sold on 23 December 1798.34 He does not appear as a head of household in 1800 and there seems to be no subsequent mention of this particular John Murphree in Pendleton District. Presuming that was the son of Daniel Murphree Sr., he evidently returned to Tennessee. The Bible of his nephew, Elijah Murphree, gives the death date of “Uncle John” as 6 March 1828 and of “Aunt Rebecca” as 17 June 1836. Since Elijah himself lived in Bedford County, Tennessee it is likely that John and Rebecca Murphree were located nearby. If so, he may have been the John Murphy who later appears in the records of Bedford County, Tennessee. His children are presumed to include Stephen Murphree, Nimrod Murphree, and Isaiah Murphree who appear in Bedford records as early as 1812. Further research would probably clarify this family.
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Levi Murphree (c1753 – 29 January 1798) He was on the militia list of Chatham County in 1772, indicating that he was at least 16 at the time. He and his brother John inherited their father’s tract purchased of Dempsey Rawls, and on 9 February 1788 Levi and his brother John sold that land to Archibald Cain.35 Levi apparently moved onto nearby land which was granted to him in 178036, but sold it three years later on 10 September 1783 as a resident of Sullivan County (later part of Tennessee).37 He recorded two grants in Sullivan County on 10 November 1784, one on a claim entered as early as February 1780.38 Neither was a Revolutionary War grant.39 No record of military service has been found among North Carolina records. He is absent from North Carolina records after the 1783 sale and perhaps lived on his Tennessee land for a few years. But he was in Pendleton District by 4 September 1787 when he recorded a plat for land granted on 1 October 1787.40 He bought land near his brothers the following year.41 On 15 November 1790, as a resident of Pendleton District, he sold most of his Tennessee grant.42 His wife’s name was Mary when he sold part of his Pendleton grant in 1793, though her maiden name is unknown.43 Levi was in the 1790 (actually 1791) census of Pendleton, with three males under 16 and three females. Levi was still alive on 8 January 1798, when he bought land44 but dead by 22 October 1798 when an estate sale was held.45 Elijah (apparently his eldest son) and Mary Murphree were administrators of the estate. The widow Mary had moved to Bedford County, Tennessee by 1815.46 Elijah Murphree kept a family Bible, which was passed to one of his daughters, which gives Levi’s date of death as 29 January 1798.47 His children were: Elijah Murphree, Levi Murphree, Daniel Murphree, Caleb Murphree, Elisha Murphree, Frances Murphree, Elizabeth Murphree, and possibly other daughters.
- Solomon Murphree (c1757 -1854) See separate page.
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Moses Murphree (c1760? – 1846) Other than his father’s will, he is only mentioned once in North Carolina records. He and his brother Solomon both enlisted in the same company of the North Continental Line on 5 August 1779 and served until October 1779.48 Moses was in Pendleton District by 9 August 1787 when a plat was filed for him, resulting in a grant of 7 April 1788.49 He appears in the 1790 census (taken in 1791) for Pendleton and in each census thereafter through 1840, by which time the area was Pickens County. His birth year is estimated mainly from these census records. He was still under 45 in 1800, thus born after 1755, but was 60-70 in 1830 and 80-90 in 1840. Moses remained in the same area all his life, accumulating a great deal of land. His will in Pickens County is dated 20 May 1843 and proved on 8 May 1846.50 The will distributed land to three sons: William, Joseph, and Isaac. Only one daughter was named in the will, Annedine [Amedine?], the wife of Herron Patterson, but the will distributed the residual estate “among my seven daughters.” His wife, who was apparently the female 50-60 in 1830 and 60-70 in his 1840 household, had evidently predeceased him. She is thought by some researchers to have been Lucinda Brown, but I’m not aware of the evidence. She may possibly have been the “Mrs. Elizabeth Murphy” who died 31 May 1840 “in the 78th year of her age” according to the Greenville Mountaineer.51 [51]Although the will named only three sons, the 1800 censuses suggests there was a fourth son who may have predeceased his father. Six of the seven daughters are unidentified in the will. Estate or other records, which I have not seen, apparently identify some of them. Pending that evidence, only the one daughter is listed below.
- Joseph Murphree (1780s – 1840s) He was evidently the older male in his father’s household from 1800 through 1840, the censuses suggesting he was born sometime in the 1780s. (Making him the single male under 16 in his father’s 1791 household.) The will leaves Moses Murphree’s home place to Joseph for his life, then to son William Murphree, and appoints William as his guardian “to care for him as long as he may live.” His brother William Murphree’s will, dated 31 July 1846, instructs his wife and executors to “provide for, take care of and support my brother Joseph Murphree during his life which I was to do agreeable to my father’s will.” There is no later sign of Joseph, who perhaps died between his brother’s will and the 1850 census.
- Isaac Murphree (c1795 – 1860s) He apparently married after 1810, for in 1820 he had two males and a female under 10 in his household. Isaac seems older than his brother William, since his age in 1820 was 26-45, while his brother William was 18-26. In 1830 and 1840 he and William were enumerated consecutively. The censuses suggest Isaac had at least four sons and three daughters before 1840. The sons may have included three males in the 1850 census who were not sons of his brother: Caleb Murphree (33), David Murphree (30), and Isaac Murphree (20). Isaac was age 55 in 1850 and 62 in 1860. In 1850 he is head of a Pickens County household of himself, Lucinda A. (18), Adaline (16), William R. (12), and John M. (8). His wife’s name is unknown. In 1860, Permethia (35) and several children are in his household – whether this was a wife and stepchildren or the widow of a son is unclear.
- William Murphree (c1798? – 1846) Censuses suggest he was the youngest son and born after 1791. He was married to a woman named Mary, apparently Mary Baker. He seems to have married after 1810, for in 1820 he had two males under 10 and a wife aged 16-26 in his household. In 1830 and 1840 he was enumerated consecutive to his brother Isaac (they seem to have “traded” one male between the two households from one census to the other.) His will was dated 31 July 1846 and proved 10 August 1846.52 The will names his wife Mary, appoints his son James M. Murphree an executor, and divides his estate between his wife and “nine children” who are not named. His estate records identify one deceased child, Sarah Stewart, and only seven living children: James M. Murphy, Moses Murphy, John S. Murphy, Elizabeth Murphy, Benjamin R. Murphy, Jobes Murphy, and Rebecca Murphy [Mary Rebecca]. The last five were minors in 1849, and the children appear to be listed in birth order. The 1820-40 censuses suggest that the ninth child implied by the will was a son who apparently died prior to the estate records. His widow Mary is head of a Pickens County household in 1850, two households from Isaac Murphree, with the four youngest children still at home: Elizabeth A. (18), Benjamin R. (17), Jobes M. (16), and Mary R. (12). John S. Murphy (26) is listed nearby with wife Lonezia(?) and two children. A Moses Murphree (25) with wife Louisa and two children is enumerated elsewhere in the county. The widow remained in the area and is buried in the Baker family cemetery.
- Ammedine Murphree (c1815 – 1860s) She was called the wife of Herron Patterson in her father’s will, which left them land in North Carolina. She and her husband both joined the Mountain Springs Baptist Church in 1838. In the 1850 census of Macon County, North Carolina she is enumerated as “Amadine”, aged 35, with children Julian (16), West (8) and Moses (6). In 1860 Jackson County, the family is identified only with initials, the wife being “A.”, age 58 (sic). By the 1870 census of Transylvania County, Annedine was apparently dead and Herron Patterson listed with only a female Julia A. (31) in the household. Julia A. had also been in the 1870 household, and may have been misidentified as a male in 1850 (that is, the male “Julian” may have been a female “Julia Ann.”)
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David Murphree (c1765? – 18 February 1838) His birth year is a guess, the only real clue to his age being the 1830 census, in which he is 60-70 and his wife 50-60. Descendants who erected a modern gravestone estimated his birth as 1760. He was called “my younger son” in his father’s will, which left him £30 and a reversion interest in the land devised to his brothers. He does not otherwise appear in North Carolina records, and does not appear again until the Pendleton 1790 (actually taken in 1791) census, enumerated three names from Moses Murphree and within a few names of John and James Murphree. It appears that David had not yet married at this time, so the household must have been a double one, as it consisted of two males over 16 and three females. His land is mentioned several times in subsequent years, though there is neither a record of its purchase or its sale. The first record of him in Pendleton other than the census is his witness to a 20 April 1794 deed from John Glenn to John Bynum for land on 12 Mile River bounded by the land of David “Murphie” and witnessed by David Murphree.53 By February 1800 he was a justice in Pendleton, and served in that capacity through at least November 1806, according to deed registrations. The only record of either a land purchase or sale is a purchase and sale on 4 October 1806, when he bought 200 acres from William Murphree and sold it the same day to Aaron Murphree.54 This may have been the land he had lived on while in Pendleton, finally titled to him so that he could sell it. His last record in Pendleton is his witness to a deed, along with his wife Jemima, on 25 March 1807.
By early 1808 he was appointed to a jury in newly-formed Rhea County, Tennessee where he was also appointed a commissioner to locate the county seat.55 He was a justice there, performing several marriages between early 1812 and 1820. He remained in Rhea County until at least 2 December 1816 when he sold a bond for land.56 He evidently joined his brother Solomon in the move to Alabama, for he appears as a justice in Blount County, Alabama in 1818. He represented Blount County in the state legislature in 1828, 1829, 1830, and 1834.57 He appears in records of Blount, Walker, and Jefferson counties through 1834, but moved to Yalobusha County, Mississippi about 1835. According to a descendant’s Bible, he died there on 18 February 1838.
A modern gravestone in the Airmount Cemetery marks the grave of David and his wife, and calls him a Revolutionary soldier. An SAR chapter named for him claims that he served in the South Carolina militia, though the evidence is unknown to me. If true, that implies he was the first of the family to arrive in South Carolina, since the rest of the family remained in North Carolina until the war ended. If he did move to South Carolina before the end of the war I was unable to find a record of it. It also implies a birth closer to 1760 than 1765, since he would otherwise have been under age when the war ended in the Carolinas. His wife was Jemima Cornelius, whom he apparently married in Pendleton about 1795 judging from the birth dates of the children. She was aged 78 in 1850 and 88 in 1860.The 1790 census shows him as head of a household of two males over 16 and three females, the identity of whom is unknown since his eldest known child was apparently not born until 1796. In 1800 he had only male children in the household, two under 10 and one 10-16 (the latter not in the 1790 household). The 1810 Tennessee and 1820 Alabama censuses are lost, and in the 1830 census of Walker County, Alabama only one son and three females remained at home with two others located nearby.58 I was unable to find a probate record for him. His children, presumably all by Jemima, are listed in a letter written by a great-granddaughter in 1951, with details provided by descendants. They are repeated here, but were not researched by me: Martin Murphree (11 Feb 1796 – 29 Apr 1871), Ransom Murphree ( 8 Dec 1798 – 25 Oct 1855), Anderson Murphree (? – ?), Roland Jenkins Murphree (c1803 – c1855), Matilda Murphree (10 Jul 1806/7 – 6 Aug 1896), Bethania Murphree (c1808 -?), Solomon Murphree (29 Jul 1810 – 16 Nov 1864), Samuel Merritt Murphree (Oct 1812 -c1884/5), Editha Murphree, (9 Feb 1815 – 14 Jul 1859), Martha (Patsy) Murphree (c1816- c1845/6)
- Elizabeth Murphree (c1750 – ?) She was “Elizabeth Barns” in her father’s will. She had evidently recently married Solomon Barnes, the son of Brinsley and Elizabeth Barnes, who is thought by Barnes researchers to have been born about 1752. She probably married in Orange County, as the Barnes family was never in the vicinity of Bertie. They had moved to Wilkes County, North Carolina by 1772 when Solomon Barnes appears on a tax list, and later in the 1790 and 1800 censuses.59 Solomon Barnes’ undated will, proved in February 1807 in Wilkes County, names wife Elizabeth; sons Peter, Reuben, Charles, Solomon, and John; daughters Ruth, Sarah, Lydia Isbell (wife of William Tompkins Isbell), Rachel Brown (deceased), and Mary Carley (wife of Larkin Cearley).60 Whether the widow was the same Elizabeth is unclear; she is shown as aged 16-26 in the 1800 census. Unless this is an error, Barnes may have remarried. Supporting this theory is an apparent gap of over ten years between what appears to be two sets of children.
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Sarah Murphree (c1750? – ?) She was married by 1769 when she was “Sarah Blyth” in her father’s will, evidently the wife of William Blyth, who appears several times in Chatham County records. In October 1768 he bought 175 acres of the Luke Bynum grant, part of which Daniel Murphree had bought three years earlier.61 He appears on the 1772 militia muster of Elisha Cain’s company, and as a witness to several deeds, notably the 1778 deed by John and Levy Murphree.62 He sold his land on 12 August 1779 to Archibald Cain.63 He was in Greenville County, South Carolina by 1787, when he recorded two grants.64 A county history states that “William Blythe and his wife emigrated to South Carolina from North Carolina, where they had lived for a few years after coming down from their original home in Virginia.” 65 Although this raises a question or two, it was apparently the same man as in Chatham County, for he named a son Daniel M(urphree?) Blythe. Further, in 1797 both Solomon Murphree and William Blythe were buyers at the estate sale of Samuel Wills. A Blythe family history reached the same conclusion, that he was the man earlier in Chatham County.66William Blythe does not appear to be related to the “William Blye” who appears in Bertie County records in association with Daniel Murphree. That William Blye was the son of William Blye Sr. who died leaving a will in Bertie dated 29 November 1748 and proven at May Court 1749, naming his wife Elizabeth, sons William and Thomas, and daughters Sarah and Elizabeth. (Another son James Blye, was named in the will of his presumed grandfather John Champion who identified him as the son of Elizabeth Blye.) According to the referenced family history, no father for William Blythe has been identified.
William Blythe appears in the census of 1790 through 1830 in Greenville County, his wife aged over 45 in 1800-1820 and 70-80 in 1830. Sarah died before her husband, for his will names his wife as “Barbary.” William Blythe’s will in Greensville County, dated 12 February 1832 and proved 29 May 1837, names his wife Barbary, sons John, William, Daniel, Jonathan, Thomas, David, and Absalom, and daughters Elizabeth, Polly, Sally, and Easter (Esther?).67 How many of these children Sarah Murphree may have borne is unknown. Three of the sons still alive in 1850 give their birthplaces as North Carolina and ages as follows: Absalom (71), Daniel M. (70), and David (65). A Jonathan Blythe in Rabun County, Georgia in 1850 who gives his age as 78 but his birthplace as South Carolina, may have been another son.
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Milley Murphree (c1760 -?) She is thought to have married Lewis Wimberly. A Lewis Wimberly recorded a land grant in Chatham County in 1780 and was enumerated there in the 1790 census (with two males under 16 and three females). It isn’t clear whether or not it was the same person who was “of Pendleton” in January 1793 when he purchased land in Pendleton District, South Carolina. The 1800 Pendleton census shows Lewis Wimberly’s wife aged 26-45.68 He and his wife “Polly” sold land in Pendleton in two transactions in 1802 and left the area, apparently for Tennessee where Lewis Wimberly died in 1817 in Smith County with Polly Wimberly enumerated as head of household in 1820. This Lewis Wimberly’s will names his wife “Polly.”
Milly Murphree is believed to have married a different Lewis Wimberly who died in Jones County, Georgia leaving a will dated 29 April 1830 and proved on 5 March 1832 that named wife Milly and children Lewis D. Wimberly, John P. Wimberly, Elizabeth Childers, Sally Mims, and Mary Brantley among others.69
- Editha (“Edey”) Murphree (c1762 – ?) She is thought to have married Reuben Reed. Reuben Reed was evidently in Pendleton District by 1791 when he surveyed a tract of land.70
- Mary Murphree (c1765 – aft1850) She is thought to have remained single, and to be the Mary Murphree, age 85, in her brother Solomon Murphree’s household in 1850.
- The effective date for determining age of tithables was 1 January 1762. Thus James was born after 1 January 1741, for he was not tithable in 1757. He was born before 1 January 1746, because he was surely one of the two tithables in 1762. [↩]
- Bertie County Deed Book K, p199. [↩]
- Chatham County Deed Book B, p401. [↩]
- Chatham County Deed Book C, p482. [↩]
- Household was 3 males over 16, 2 males over 16, and 5 females. [↩]
- Anderson County Deed Book C-D, p228, abstracted in Pendleton District, S.C., Deeds 1790 to 1806, Betty Willie, p117. [↩]
- Revolutionary Pension file R7515. [↩]
- Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, Deed Book B, p569. [↩]
- Pickens County Deed book D1, p190. [↩]
- Pickens County Deed Book F1, p 152 and p549. [↩]
- South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 20, p37. Pickens County estate records for Jeremiah Field. Many of these identified by initials, the full names are in Pickens deeds disposing of the land. [↩]
- There was a William “Murfey” listed as a chain charier (at least 14) in Orange County in 1756. [↩]
- Chatham County Deed Book B, p393. [↩]
- A Baptist preacher named William Murphy was transferred from a church in Rowan County to one in Washington County where he served as minister in 1783 and is surely the same person who was granted land there. William, son of Daniel, remained in Chatham County. [↩]
- Chatham County Deed Book C, p142. [↩]
- Chatham County Deed Book D, p254. [↩]
- Chatham County Deed Book D, p413 and p449. [↩]
- South Carolina Land Plats, Volume A-B, p38. [↩]
- Anderson County Deed Book G, p52. [↩]
- Anderson County Deed Book H, p61. [↩]
- Anderson County Deed Book G, p445. [↩]
- Chatham County Deed Book B, p79. [↩]
- Daniel Murphree Son of Daniel Murphree and Sarah Dempsey, by Bruce Jordan, as abstracted by Mary Taylor. The legend that he died in the Revolution is separately reported in several publications, including Volume II (1958) of The Bynum Family. [↩]
- N.C. Revolutionary Army Records, Vol. X, p75 and Vol. II, p4, contain record of pay due to “Daniel Murfree”, private, and Daniel Murphree, private. [↩]
- See separate paper on Murphrees in the Revolution. [↩]
- Wilkes County, Georgia, Book of Mixed Records, Wills, Administrations and Deeds 1777-1778, p45 abstracted in The Early Records of Georgia, Vol. 1, p34. The abstract reads as follows: “Folio 45–Richard Austin, Austin’s children, Daniel Murphree, John Bynum, Joshua Bradley, Esqr., Evan Ragland, Jacob McClendon, Richard Hamlen, Thomas Stewart, Isaac McClendon, John Heard, Jr., William Chilipses (Childres?), Benj. Moslay. 1778, George Heard, Thomas Johnson, Philip Nowland, George Duglas, Thomas Coleman, Richard Ryan, James Hogg Henry Ware, Daniel Wootone, Sarah Edwards, Chas. Bedingfield. 1779, Jacob McClendon. [↩]
- Manuscripts by Boling Feltz Marchbanks (1839-1922), in “Marchbanks Family History Collection” at LDS Library. He scripted the writings of his grandfather Josiah, the eldest son of William Marchbanks and his first wife Molly Smith. This states that William Marchbanks had fourteen children (listed with birth years) which suggests that all the members of his 1791 household were his own children. The manuscript also says that he married three times, all to women named or nicknamed “Molly”. [↩]
- Chatham County Deed Book B, p142. [↩]
- NC Grant #443, NC Archives Grant Index. [↩]
- Chatham County Deed Book C, p87. [↩]
- See North Carolina Land Grants in Tennessee. [↩]
- Chatham County Deed Book C, p142. [↩]
- Grant #421, Sullivan County Deed Book 1, p 476. [↩]
- Anderson County Deed Book C-D, p185 (purchase) and Deed Book G, p221 (sale). [↩]
- Chatham County Deed Book B, p142. [↩]
- Chatham County Deed Book C, p75. [↩]
- Chatham County Deed Book D, p139. [↩]
- North Carolina Land Grants in Tennessee, Goldene Fillers Burger, p44 and p47. [↩]
- Revolutionary grants in Tennessee by North Carolina were open only to regular army troops who had served at least two years. Both the grants to Levi Murphree were purchases rather than grants for service. [↩]
- South Carolina Land Grants, Vol. 20, p179 (plat) and Vol. 20, p553 (grant). Also see Vol. 18, p545. [↩]
- Anderson County Deed Book A, p100. [↩]
- Sullivan County, North Carolina Deed Book 1, p442. [↩]
- Anderson County Deed Book C-D, p390. [↩]
- Anderson County Will Book C, p159. [↩]
- Anderson County Will Book C, p158. [↩]
- Anderson County Deed Book M, p499. [↩]
- Synopsis provided by Mrs. Mary Taylor in 1979. [↩]
- The State Records of North Carolina, Walter Clark, ed., Vol. 16, p1118. See separate paper for a proof that this was the same Moses Murphree. [↩]
- South Carolina Land Grants, Volume 20, p329. Plat filed in Book 22, p154. [↩]
- Pickens County Will Book 1, p112. Papers in Box 24, file 284. [↩]
- South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 4, p20. Issue of 4 June 1841. I note that the only Murphy in the 1840 Greenville District census was Samuel M. Murphy, who had no female in the household older than 20-30. The only female nearby in a Murphy/Murphree household was the one in Moses Murphree’s household aged 60-70. [↩]
- Filed in Box 15, item 192. [↩]
- Anderson County Deed Book C-D, p346. [↩]
- Anderson County Deed Book H, p391 and Book H?, p416. [↩]
- Goodspeed’s History of Tennessee. See also Acts of Tennessee [↩]
- Rhea County Deed Book E, p112. [↩]
- Alabama: Her History, Resources…(etc.), W. Brewer (1872), p143. [↩]
- 1830 census, Walker County p263: David Murphree 000100001-01110001. [↩]
- 1790 census: 4 males over 16, 2 males under 16, 6 females. 1800 census: 3 males under 10, 1 male over 45, one female 16-26. [↩]
- Wilkes County Will Book 2, pp193. [↩]
- Weeks, p54. [↩]
- Chatham County Deed Book B, p142. [↩]
- Chatham County Deed Book B, p364. [↩]
- SC Grants Vol. 22, p23 and p403. [↩]
- History of Greenville County, South Carolina, James McDowell Richardson, p292. [↩]
- Blythe, Vol.1, Pat Hicks Brigance [↩]
- Greenville County Will Book B, p243. [↩]
- 1800 census Pendleton, p11: Lewis Wimberly 20301-31110-6. [↩]
- Jones County Will Book A. [↩]
- Pickens County Deed Book B1, p47 refers to a tract surveyed for Reuben Reed on 18 November 1791 and granted on 2 July 1792. [↩]