Sorting Saturday: The Harlan, Roberts, and Murrell Families

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The Broad River, near Blacksburg, Cherokee Co., South Carolina, upriver from Union County, SC. Via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
The Broad River, near Blacksburg, Cherokee Co., South Carolina, upriver from Union County, SC. Via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Roberts Family, Murrell Family (Click for Family Tree)

In yesterday’s post, “Friday’s Faces from the Past: The Harlan Family,” we shared pictures of some members of the Harlan family from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century, but do not know how they are related. Today we wanted to mention another, older relationship of the Harlan, Roberts, and Murrell families. These three families were large ones, and they intermarried in various generations; they even migrated together.

Autosomal DNA testing has revealed matches for four members of our family to persons who have Roberts and Murrell matches. Some of these people have in their family tree a David R. Murrell who married Elizabeth Harlan.

According to our research, David was born in Union, the colony of South Carolina, on 25 October 1772. (Some researchers think he was born in Goochland, Virginia.) His parents were Drury Murrell (1743-1801) and Dorcas Rountree/Roundtree (1738-1780). There are DNA matches of our family with the Rountrees as well, lending credence to these family relationships.

Union County, South Carolina, via Wikimedia. The original uploader was Seth Ilys at English Wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2394712
Union County, South Carolina, via Wikimedia. The original uploader was Seth Ilys at English Wikipedia – Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2394712

Elizabeth Harlan was also born in Union, SC, to George “The Hatter” Harlan (1756-1813) and Anna Breed (1755-1815), on 10 August 1778.  George Harlan had been born in, and lived in, Chatham Co., North Carolina, but settled in Union County SC by about 1776 at age 20, where he married Anna and their children were born. (And yes, he made hats, and was a farmer too.)

David R. Murrell and Elizabeth Harlan married on 29 December 1801 in Union County, SC. They had their 11 children in Union, and can be found there in the 1820 US Federal Census. That census lists 2 white males under 10, 1 aged 10-15, 1 aged 16-25, and 1 male over 45, who was probably David. There were three girls under age 10, 2 aged 10-15, and one 26-44, probably Elizabeth. These numbers add up to 8 free white persons under the age of 16 in the household. The household also included 2 male slaves aged 26-44, and one female slave, 14-25, whose name was Jane. Four persons of the household were engaged in agriculture- likely David, his son John Jonas Murrell aged 16-25 (born 1802), and the two male slaves. Two persons were “engaged in manufactures”- that may have been Elizabeth and the female slave, as they may have produced butter, cheese, or textiles and then sold them in town.

The children of David and Elizabeth were: John Jonas Murrell (1802-1847), Nancy Murrell (1804-1888), George Washington Harlan Murrell (1806-1880), Lucinda Murrell (1808-?), Harriet E. Murrell (1810-1874), Densey Murrell (1812-?), Martha Murrell (1814-1873), Joseph Murrell (1816-1868), Drury Murrell (1818-?), Elizabeth Murrell (1819-1860), and David R. Murrell (1821-1822).

David died two years after the census, on 25 May 1822 in Union County; he was only 49. What a difficult time that would have been for Elizabeth, who at his death had nine minor children to raise and support.

Their young son David passed away later that year, on 30 December 1822, not yet two years old.  Elizabeth survived her husband by 26 years, and she did not remarry, since her headstone has her listed as a Murrell, and 70 years old at death.

Are you related to this family? We would be very interested in sharing information, as we would really like to find out more about Wiley Anderson Murrell, our known ancestor, and his ancestors.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. “The Harlan Family,” page 96, in North America Family Histories, 1500-2000, Ancestry.com.
  2. Find a Grave- Elizabeth Harlan Murrell- http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=41381573
  3. Find a Grave- David R. Murrell- http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=41381529
  4. This post has also been published on our “Murrell Family Genealogy: A One-Name Study” blog at http://www.murrellfamilygenealogy.net/2016/04/16/the-harlan-roberts-and-murrell-families

 

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