Sentimental Sunday: Murrell Family Bible, Part 2

*MURRELL Family Bible-Births [click to enlarge]*

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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