[14 Nov 2019- Post updated to reflect date of 1904 being the consensus for this family photo, vs. 1900 as per Edith Roberts oral history.]

Twelve years after their 1892 family portrait (see Treasure Chest Thursday: The John Roberts and Elizabeth Ann Murrell Family in 1892), the John S. Roberts family had another family portrait taken, this time at another ‘homeplace,’ but in Prairie City, Jasper County, Iowa.

Years ago I used the techniques discussed in the previous post to identify the persons in this photograph. I started with the known persons and then incorporated knowledge from other photos, censuses, etc. The date of the photo was said to be 1900, but that needed to be revised as Edith Roberts had been born in 1899, and appeared to be older than one year. Also, one of the babies was born in 1904, which definitely sets the date later.

Here is the identification:
From left-

Mary Jane Roberts’ family: Mary Jane (Mollie J) standing holding her daughter Bernice Blount; son Samuel Harvey with hat and tie standing next to his father, Samuel H. Blount. Seated on ground in front are, from left, Florence, Helen J, and Harold M. Blount. Oldest son Harry R. is standing next to his father in a dark suit.

George A. Roberts’ family: Standing next to Harry R. Blount is Ella V. Daniels Roberts and in the (short) white dress is daughter Ethel Gay Roberts. Seated at her feet is Edith Mae Roberts. Their father George A. Roberts stands next to Ethel, with son George A. Roberts, standing next to him.

Jason Lee Roberts’ family: Oca Roberts, in a long white dress, stands next to George Roberts Jr. Her brother Guy L. Roberts stands in front of her and their father, Jason Lee Roberts. His wife Julia French Roberts stands next to him holding their baby Ralph Roberts. Sitting on the ground in front of them are, from left, Wiley Roberts, Willard Roberts, and Charley Roberts in white. The very short woman in front of Julia French is Orpha B. Roberts.

Elizabeth Ann Murrell and her husband John Roberts stand next to Julia French.

William Edward (W.E., or Ed) Roberts’ family: W.E. Roberts stands next to his father, John Roberts. His son Orville stands beside him, with the woman on the right probably Orville’s mother, Mary M. Main Roberts; his sister Edna is not seen in the picture. Seated on the ground in front of them are Maude & Clara, with Maude possibly having the lighter hair as seen in the 1892 photo.

In the last few years, we found an advertising page,

“Courtesy of
ROBERTS BROTHERS
Groceries, Bottled Gas Ranges,
Plumbing, Heating
Pumps & Windmills”

It contained the above picture and two others, with most of the people identified plus information about John and Elizabeth Roberts’ lives. Sadly, the women and children were not all identified in the above picture, but it did verify that we had the families correct:

Left to right- Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Blount and family, Mr. and Mrs. George Roberts and family, Mr. and Mrs. Jason Roberts and family, Mr. and Mrs. John Roberts, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Roberts and family. This picture was taken of Mr. and Mrs. John Roberts, their children and grandchildren at their home in Prairie City in 1900 (now the Vande Kieft home). The fifth boy sitting down from the left is the Mayor of Prairie City.

The moral of the story is:

1) Use ALL your resources in a collaborative way.

2) Revisit your families- new information comes online and available every day.

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Family photograph, and page from a magazine or flyer.

2) Updated 12/2/16 with corrected identification of Oca and Orpha Roberts.

3) Some sources (like the Roberts family advertisement) state the picture was taken in 1900, some state 1904. I tend to agree with the 1900 date, as Edith Roberts was born 10 October 1899, so would have been 1-1/2 or 2 when this image was taken. That seems more consistent with her size, as if the photo was from 1904, she would have been 5 years old.

01/11/2017 UPDATE: However, if the baby being held by Julia French Roberts is their son Ralph Roberts, the date of the photo would be 1904, since he was born 11 July 1903. The baby could instead be one who died very young, as there is an almost 3 year gap between Ralph and his older brother Charley. We will have to leave this mystery to the Jason Lee Roberts and Julia (French) Roberts descendants to sort out.

 

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Ephemera tucked into the Murrell Family Bible:

 

As this is dated 17 Dec 1893, it must have been from the second owner of the bible, as Wiley A. Murrell and Mary M Honts Murrell had both passed away by this time. Their daughter, Elizabeth Ann Murrell Roberts was a church-goer, so it may be her handwriting. (Sorry, just can’t do a totally “Wordless Wednesday” but I’m trying.)

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Murrell Family Bible, possibly c1835.

2) Post updated 3/1/2021 to clarify relationship of George Anthony Roberts. He was born 1861 and was the third of five children of Elizabeth Ann Murrell Roberts (1835-1917) and John Roberts (1832-1922).

 

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The final page of entries in the Murrell Family Bible documents the deaths of Wiley Anderson “W.A.” Murrell and his wife, Mary M. Honts Murrell, who are both buried in Mound Prairie Township, Jasper County, Iowa. That hill in the midst of very gently rolling farmland has the most wonderful breeze sometimes, and a breath-taking view of the farms all around, including the farm that was owned by their daughter and son-in-law, Elizabeth Ann Murrell and John Roberts. What a delightful place to be ‘quietly resting,’ especially for a couple who were farmers their whole life.

The entries in the Bible record are in a number of hands, which would be expected if the bible records were maintained by Mary M. Honts Murrell, since she could not document her own death. Mary may have written all the birth and marriage records, as well as the record for the death of their young daughter Mary Catharine, since they are all with the same ink and hand. The 1850 US Federal Census notes that Wiley could neither read nor write, but there is no mark in that column for Mary. So that is contemporary evidence she could read and write, and we can then surmise with some confidence that Mary wrote the first entries. Her handwriting is just beautiful!

Daughter Mary Catharine probably died in 1846 in Botetourt, Virginia, since the family is listed there in the 1850 census, and did not migrate to Illinois until 1853. How hard that must have been to leave the grave of one’s child, knowing that they likely would never return to Virginia!

A previous post mused about the date of the Bible and original entries, since so many look like they may have been written at the same time yet they cover a wide span of years. The bible may have been purchased in Virginia after Mary and Wiley married in 1834 in Botetourt County, Virginia, since all their children were born there. The handwriting makes that somewhat unlikely, unless they had not been very religious and then converted, purchasing the Bible after the births of some of the children. Another possibility is that the original family bible with entries written at the time of the events was lost or destroyed during the difficult trek by covered wagon over the Appalachian Mountains, through the Illinois prairies to Roseville, Warren County, in northern Illinois in 1853. A third possibility is that the original bible may have been lost or destroyed on their second migration, from Illinois to Iowa in 1868. With either loss event, a new bible would then have been purchased and some earlier events entered at the same time to tell the story of the Murrell family, explaining some of the writing differences.

Mary could have written the death entry for her husband Wiley “W.A.” since she survived him, but the writing does not have the same characteristics of her earlier script- the capital “A”s and “W”s are very different. Such styles do not usually change with age, even if the size of the writing and its smoothness do change. This entry could have been her daughter Elizabeth’s handwriting, as it may have been too painful for Mary to enter the information for Wiley- they were just one month short of celebrating their 51st wedding anniversary when he died. Since Mary’s death entry is in what looks to be the same hand, we again have some evidence that Elizabeth may have inherited the family bible.

It appears that the entry for John Murrell was added much later than his death, since he is listed after Mary’s 1887 death entry, even though he died in 1880. The entries for the Murrell’s daughter Ann Elisy Murrell Brown and her husband Aaron Brown in 1892 and 1894, respectively, must also have been made by someone else after Mary’s death in 1887. The handwriting is the same for both Ann and Aaron, but does not looks the same as what we are thinking may be Elizabeth’s hand; that person will likely remain a mystery.

Ann Elisy and her husband, Aaron Brown, who is the only in-law included in this record, both died in Jasper County, Iowa, and are buried in the Mound Prairie Pioneer Cemetery along with Wiley and Mary. (The cemetery is also known as Greenlief Cemetery.)

Son John died in Pettis County, Missouri, but has been included in the family record. Sons William Anderson Murrell, who stayed in Illinois and died in 1922, and son James Edward Murrell, who passed away in Missouri in 1926, however, are not included in this record of family deaths. This may have happened because the Bible had already been passed to Elizabeth Ann Murrell Roberts at her mother’s death in 1887, and then Elizabeth died in 1917 after being bedridden for many years. The Bible was apparently no longer being used after her death, so the surviving brothers were not added after their deaths in the 1920s.

 

Transcription:

Deaths

Mary Catharine

Daughter of Wile

And Mary H. [or Mag]

Murrell Departed

this Life in the

Year of our Lord and

Savior November

the 6 1846

Age 7 yrs 1

Month And 12

Days

 

Anne E Murrell

Brown

Died May 2^nd 92

Aaron Brown

Died Mar 19^th 94

 

[next column]

 

W A Murrell

Departed this

Life in the year

of our Lord & Savior

March 28^th 85.

 

M. M. Murrell       [Mary Magdalene Honts Murrell]

Departed this Life

in the year of our

Lord & Savior

July 13^th 87.

 

 

John Murrell

Died March 23

1880 

 

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Murrell Family Bible, possibly c1835.

2) 1850 US Federal Census for District 8, Botetourt, Virginia, “Wiley A Marrill” as head of household. Source Citation: Year: 1850; Census Place: District 8, Botetourt, Virginia; Roll: M432_936; Page: 156B; Image: 551. Accessed 2-8-14 on Ancestry.com.

3) Anne E. Murrell Brown is sometimes called Ann Elisy, Elisy,  Eliza, and Anneliza. She married Aaron Brown 15 Sep 1869 and they had five children. Her parents migrated to Jasper Co., Iowa in 1868, and Ann and Aaron followed sometime between 1870-1880. Her headstone in Greenlief Cemetery/Mound Prairie, lists her as “Annelliza.”

4) This post has been updated on 3/1/2021 with new information.

 

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 There are several mysteries that have to do with this Murrell Family Bible, but one of them has been solved- that is the details about Mary M. Hontz and her family. (More on that in a future post.) We still do not know when this bible was printed or purchased (see Sentimental Sunday- Murrell Family Bible, Part 2). Even more vexing is the origin of Wiley Anderson “W.A.” Murrell and his parents- there are many various thoughts among researchers but no proof (yet).

Here is a transcription of this entry:

Wile Murrell

Was Married to

Mary M Huntz

in the year of

Our Lord March

the 10.     1834

 

Their first child married in 1857, but it is curious that none of these marriage events have been added to the bible.

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Murrell Family Bible, possibly c1845.

 

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Edith Roberts (see Murrell Family Bible, Part 1) would not have known her great-grandparents Wiley Anderson Murrell and Mary Magdalen Hons Murrell as they died about 15 years before she was born. They were likely the first owners of this bible, as their marriage and the births, etc. of their children are recorded in it.

The Murrell Family Bible does not have a title page or publication date- the first pages are unfortunately missing. The bible has been searched page by page to find a clue as to publication date but nothing has been found.

Many, but not all, of the entries were written in the same hand. The births, at least the first four or five, look as if they were all written at the same time- maybe after all the children were born, after 1845? The marriage record and the first recorded death appear as if the same pen and ink were used as is on the births page. This makes one wonder if the bible was purchased around November 1846, when their daughter Mary Catharine died at the young age of 7 years. Had an earlier bible been lost or destroyed? Or maybe they could not afford one or were not particularly religious, and/ or decided to join a church around this time- we cannot know. But we do start to see the possible stories of this family as we analyze just these three pages of Bible records. One can almost feel the grief of a mother, setting the family’s history into their Holy Book, to pass to subsequent generations.

The ephemera within the bible, which will also be posted, gave clues that it was owned more recently by the Roberts family in the 1930s, and we know it was passed to Edith Roberts Luck in later years.

Transcription of the above Bible page:

Births

Wiley A. Murrell

was Born in the

year of our Lord

Feb the 3 day 1805

 

 

Mary Honts was

Born in the year

of our Lord Sep 9^th

1806

 

 

Elizabeth Ann Murrell

Daughter of Wilee Murrell

was Born in the year of our Lord Feb the [1? Or 4?]

1835

 

 

John Henry Murrell

was Born in the

year of our Lord

July the 2 Day 1837

 

 

Mary Catherine

Murrell was Born

in the year of our

Lord Sep the 18

1839

 

 

William Anderson

Murrell was Born

In the year of our

Lord May the 25

1841

 

 

[next column]

 

 

James Edward

Murrell was Born

in the year of our

Lord Nove the 15

1842

 

 

Ann Elisy Murrell

was Born in the

year of our Lord

December the 21

1845

 

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Wiley A. Murrell- born in Virginia; parents John (?) Murrell and ?; mother or grandparent possibly ___ Anderson since Anderson is used as his and son’s middle name?

2) Mary Honts- Parents were Henry Honts and Catherine Coffman; name Mary Magdalene Huntz/Hunts/Honce/Hance.

3) Elizabeth Murrell- Note: Feb 1 is date in other documents; middle name was Ann. Elizabeth Ann m. John Roberts in Roseville, Illinois, 08 Mar 1857 and d. 02 Feb 1917 in Prairie City, Jasper, Iowa.

4) John Henry Murrell- b. Botetourt Co., VA; m. Lydia Raburn by 21 Dec 1862 and d. 23 or 25 Mar 1880.

5) Mary Catherine Murrell- died young- see deaths

6) William Anderson Murrell- “of Roseville, IL” per obit of his sister Eliz. in 1917. Married Cordelia Talley 1 Oct 1867 in Warren Co., IL, and d. 1 Aug 1922 in Roseville, Warren, IL.

7) James Edward Murrell-  m. Mary E. Robinson 17 Nov 1867; “of Leavenworth, KS” per sister Eliz’s obit in 1917.

8) Ann Elisy Murrell- m. Aaron Brown; she d. 02 May 1892.

9) Murrell Family Bible, possibly c1835- later?

10) Revised slightly to reflect new information 3/1/2121. 

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