Those Places Thursday: Botetourt County, Virginia

Botetourt County, Virginia- Mountain View

 

Murrell Family (Click for Family Tree)

Botetourt County, Virginia, is the earliest residence that we know of for Wiley Anderson Murrell. He was married there in April of 1834, to Mary Magdalene Honce, also from the area. It can help give us a feel for the context of their lives to know a bit about an area where a family lived.

The eastern edge of Botetourt County follows the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the Appalachian Mountains run along the western. The beautiful James River cuts across the county, between the two mountain ranges.

For the Murrell family, it must have been a difficult change to move from the Virginia mountains and valleys to the flat prairie of first Illinois, and later Iowa. The lure of the rich soils of the western lands must have had a stronger pull than that of the mountains.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. 1895 Botetourt map- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botetourt_County,_Virginia#/media/File:Botetourt_County_Virginia_1895.jpg
2. Landscape images by Dread Pirate Jeff on FLICKR, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/), only modified size. Thanks, DPJ, for sharing your beautiful images!Mountain image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/justageek/2159754578/in/photolist-4hRiMU-5BqQoC-NSjt-9gkSZr-8Efc8r-6w6gBe-62czZq-ybhxL8-8BheHw-8BhfhE-8k8EV7-cKEjVN-cQD5vb-xdzSvY-pQkEr-4dKp7n-k41k33-xT6Dtn-5joS5b-4hRjbq-8k5tck-g6xtN-pdfVZc-y9H8jq-8k8DuE-8BhfQL-5RExrR-nLHNFo-6w5fyR-8EiaPA-7XoE4A-eifXaC-6ESqom-69BVsT-cQD5Pf-dkn4Ji-eZHjpU-4dKpcn-9VDrK4-dtPxL4-em6JCH-ExRBr5-bE28u9-79t1gk-ybhfw8-pv8Pf6-51zUnK-7Xkt2t-8QtPxN-y8hPa7
   Valley image:
   https://www.flickr.com/photos/justageek/2159766380/in/photolist-4hRnio-8Bhf9d-8LV8cU-8AWGDE-7pQ3q5-4dKp9t-rMDBSE-6w9prw-eifWQQ-8Ei7Zb-8Bhfvm-8k8DML-7XAssC-8k5t6Z-69BVtX-q7HHB3-7XxSER-5A9PrR-xSZSrs-cQD3YJ-7Xx8Qi-xdzHSW-8QquCB-dCpfZf-8QA18e-7pLeGk-69BVrg-qQYhBi-xSYKjq-4hRngd-7XoBDb-cQD4js-6w9iqL-fLFzhS-6w9frL-4rQrjQ-4hRmrq-8k8FCG-xSYQCb-8QqGsB-4hMdtM-8Beaig-5WPp5F-dcB5ch-errBNd-6ENgCe-8Be88M-8k5snX-8Be8hp-5WTFoo
3. This post was also put up on our new blog, MurrellFamilyGenealogy.net. This blog was begun as a one-name study in hope that we might eventually find the parents of Wiley Anderson Murrell.

 

Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images. Click to enlarge images.

We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.

 

Original content copyright 2013-2016 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.

 

Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.

 

Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright of our blog material.