Roberts Family, Murrell Family (Click for Family Tree)

The year 1880 found Ann Elisy Murrell and her husband Aaron Brown, along with their children, in Mound Prairie Township, Jasper County, Iowa. In addition to being on the population schedule (the regular census list), the family was included on the 1880 Agriculture Schedule (AKA ‘Non-Population Schedule’) that listed the details of their farm. They were included in this census just before Wiley Anderson Murrell, Eliza’s father, and her sister’s husband, John Roberts.

In 1880 Aaron Brown owned the land he was farming (probably had a mortgage on it though), however Wiley and John were renting their land. (They were farming on shares- they worked someone else’s land but provided a portion of their crops to the owner in lieu of paying a cash rent.)

An ‘amanuensis’ is one who copies manuscripts, or, in this case, we are using it to mean one who puts into a narrative what is basically a chart (the Ag census)- sort of writing it out to make a bit more sense.

Aaron and Eliza owned 100 acres, a farm slightly smaller than John Roberts’ rented land of 120 acres, and much smaller than Wiley Murrell’s 240 acres of leased land. (But they owned those 100 acres!) The value of Aaron and Eliza’s farm, including land, fences, and buildings, was $1800, and they had $200 worth of implements and machinery to work it. The family had spent $20 on building and repairing the farm during 1879.

The estimated value of all farm production, either sold, consumed by the family, or still on hand, for the previous year was $1300.

The farm had 3 acres of grasslands that were mown to produce 4 tons of hay. This hay would be important fuel for the ‘engines’ of the day- horses and mules. The family owned 5 horses (not all would be the larger work horses) and 2 mules/asses. They did not have any working oxen.

The family had 4 “milch” cows on hand on 1 June 1880. The census lists 3 other “Neat Cattle”- probably beef cows for the family, and maybe including a bull for increasing the herd. Three calves were ‘dropped’ (born) during 1879, and 2 of their cattle were sold living; 1 died, stayed, or was stolen and not recovered. The total value of their livestock was $600.

The ‘milch’ cows were important for making butter as well as the milk that would have been used for drinking and cooking. During 1879, 325 pounds of butter were made on the farm, most likely by Eliza and her daughters. (Only 2 of the 9 farms on that census page had higher butter production.)

The family did not own any sheep, but did have 23 swine (pigs) and 40 poultry birds, with the value of eggs produced in 1879 listed as $160. The pigs were often women’s work, and the poultry would have definitely been taken care of by the women and children- it was a busy life for all on the farm.

Aaron and Eliza’s livestock was worth $600 in total.

The family did not grow barley or buckwheat, but did plant 60 acres in Indian corn, the multi-colored corn that we now see as decorations in fall. This corn is usually preserved by drying (or making hominy in the south). The family farm produced 3,000 bushels of this corn, and 500 bushels of oats on the 20 acres planted; both were probably fed to animals. Four acres planted in rye produced 60 bushels, and 20 acres of wheat yielded 200 bushels. At least some of the wheat would have been milled into flour for the family’s use, if not all. To finish off the family’s needs for baking, 3 acres were planted in sorghum, yielding 500 gallons when pressed of a nutritious and somewhat sweet syrup that would have been used sometimes instead of sugar. They likely sold much of that or traded for other goods at the local general store.

The Ag Schedule also lists 2 acres planted in Irish potatoes (white), yielding 150 bushels to bake, mash, put in good midwestern potato salad, etc.

The Ag Schedule also tells us what they did not grow on the farm: hops, tobacco, sweet potatoes, pulse (beans like soybeans), flax and hemp (both used for fibers and ropes), no broom corn, nor maple sugar/molasses. They also did not have any orchards, grapes/vinyards, nor a ‘market garden’ where they grew produce to sell. (They most assuredly had their own family vegetable garden, however.) They also did not have beehives for honey or wax, and did not sell any forest products.

Obviously, life on a farm was a very full day of work in the field, barn, chicken coop, pigsty, and home.

American farm life may seem easier today with big combines and computerized planting, but a farmer’s life is still a tough one. We need to respect and appreciate our farmers and their families throughout all our history, as they built and fed America, and still do today. Having a secure food supply, by it being produced right here in America, is so important to our county’s safety and security.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. 1880 US Federal Census Non-Population Schedule for Mound Prairie Township, Jasper County, Iowa for Aaron Brown, page 9, Line 5. Available on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.
   

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Original content copyright 2013-2017 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Roberts Family, Murrell Family (Click for Family Tree)

Ann Elisy Murrell, sometimes called Eliza or Anneliza, was the youngest child of Wiley Anderson Murrell (1806-1885) and Mary Magdalene Honts (1806-1887). Like her older siblings, she was born in Botetourt County, Virginia, with her ‘natal day’ (an old-timey way of saying ‘birthday’) being 21 December 1845.

Eliza was just five years old on 4 October 1850 when the census taker was to stopped by their home in District 8, Botetourt County, Virginia to count the inhabitants. He listed her father,Wiley A. Murrell, first, as the head of household, then her mother. Next came the children in order of birth with their sex and ages. The ditto marks on the census extract above indicate Virginia was the birthplace for all the family members. Wiley was listed as a farmer, but no value of real estate was given, so he may have been renting their farm. The mark to the far right indicates that Wiley could not read nor write.

In 1853 the family moved to Warren County, Illinois. So we find Eliza with her parents and brothers William and James in the 1860 census there. All three children had been in attendance at school and her father, Wiley, was listed with $718 in personal estate value- still no real estate, so he was likely renting the land there too.

The quest for land they could own possibly drove Wiley and Mary to migrate further west, to Iowa, in 1868. Eliza’s sister Elizabeth Ann Murrell had married John Roberts, and they all migrated together. We don’t know if Eliza went with them or not, but it appears she may have chosen to stay, or else she took the train back to Roseville. She married on 15 September 1869 in Warren County, Illinois. Her husband, Aaron Brown (1846-1894), had been born in Indiana, but his family moved to Fulton County, Illinois, and then Warren County, where the couple probably met.

Eliza was 24, Aaron 23, when the next census taker found them in Greenbush, Warren County, Illinois, on 3 June 1870. Aaron was noted as a farmer, but with no real estate value listed; his ‘personal estate’ was listed as being worth $300. So Aaron may have been renting the land too. Eliza had gone from being a farmer’s daughter to a farmer’s wife. She had also just become a mother the week before- their son James Brown was enumerated as being “7/365” days old.

Interestingly, Eliza was listed as being born in Kentucky on the 1870 census, although most other records note her birth as Virginia, plus she was found in the 1850 census there. We do know there are errors in the census, and they can be caused by a number of situations, such as the enumerator not speaking directly to the person they are listing, errors in copying, ‘misremembering,’ etc.

James was apparently used to migration since his family had moved a number of times, and Eliza may have missed her parents, especially once she became a parent herself. Perhaps the Murrell and Roberts families had sent back glowing reports of the fertility of the soil, and the cheap land to be had in the west? For whatever reason, James and Eliza decided to move to Iowa. Their move came sometime after the birth of their daughter Mary R. Brown in 1872 and son William A. Brown (possibly named William Anderson after his uncle and grandfather?), born about 1875. They were in Iowa by about 1878, when their son George L. Brown was born in Jasper County, Iowa. Their last child, Edith M. Brown, was born in 1885, in Jasper County as well.

Edith was born just before the 1885 Iowa State Census was taken, as there was no age recorded for her but she was listed. Her mother was listed as “Ann Eliza,” and Aaron, Mary R., William A., and George L. Brown were also listed. They were farming property listed as Twp. 79, Range 20, Section 25, NW ¼ NW ¼.

More to come about the Murrell-Brown family.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. We do need to check land records in the various counties to determine if the Murrells actually owned land in Virginia or Illinois.
2. Census records as described which can be found on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org.

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Original content copyright 2013-2017 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Roberts Family, Murrell Family (Click for Family Tree)

The week of February 20, 2017, we posted about the brother of our Elizabeth Ann (Murrell) Roberts, William Anderson Murrell, and his wife Cordelia Talley. Following are some images of their descendants, but how we got those images is very interesting. An Ancestry.com member found them at a flea market in California, and since we have public trees on Ancestry, she was able to send a message to a cousin. Of course the cousin wanted them, so the kind finder sent them on. What great info on the back, too. What a wonderful RAOGK! (Random Act of Genealogical Kindness)

We are hoping that closer family members will find this post so that they can enlighten us with more information on these people.

Ivan Murrell (1899-1982) was the son of Elizabeth’s nephew George Overton Murrell (1872-1951) and Nora B. Cunningham (1875-1958).

William and Cordelia’s daughter Permelia Jane Murrell (1870-1950) married John Calvin Manuel (1865-1950) on 5 June 1889 in Warren County, Illinois. Here are the recently found photos related to that family:

Apparently Thomas would have been Permelia’s brother-in-law? (Please leave us a note if we have this wrong.) The Eva noted is Eva Angeline (Manuel) Mitchell (1906-1990), daughter of John C. and Permelia Jane (Murrell) Manuel.

Ethel Manuel was the second child of Permelia Jane and John Calvin Manuel.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. Family photos kindly provided by a cousin, and a wonderful person who found them in a flea market in California.

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Original content copyright 2013-2017 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Roberts Family, Murrell Family (Click for Family Tree)

James Edward Murrell filed for a Civil War Pension on 14 July 1890. He was granted the pension he had earned as a Union soldier, on account of his invalid status.

Health issues were a problem for James in later years, and it would help to get his pension papers to learn more about his service and any injuries that may have caused him to have ill health in later years. (Copies of pensions are expensive and time-consuming to get from the National Archives.) In 1912 his pension payment was $12 (per month), then $15 in 1915, $19 in 1916, $27 in 1921, $32 in 1925, and then it was raised to $50, and finally $72, although no dates are noted for the last two rates.

James did move into the National Military Home for veterans that was in Leavenworth, Kansas. His first stay there was from 3 December 1912 to 22 April 1915, when he was admitted with a left arm injury and cardiac hypertrophy. He was in and out of the home for the rest of his life.

His second marriage, to Dillie E. Fox in 1924, probably helped James get the care he needed but more of it at his own home, rather than the soldier’s home.

James died in Finley Township, Webster County, Missouri, at 5:00 pm on 24 May 1926. He was 83 years, 6 months, and 9 days old. His wife Dillie was the informant for the death certificate, and stated that he was a farmer, born in Virginia, but she did not know the names or birthplaces of his parents.

James was buried with his first wife, Mary E. Robinson, in Liberty Cemetery (now called Calhoun Cemetery) near where they were living in Seymour, Missouri.

A military stone was requested in 1939, but the stone on Find A Grave does not appear to be a military stone, although the government paperwork states that the stone was shipped.

Since we have just recently found that James married a second time, we have not fully researched his second wife, Dillie E. Fox. We do not know when she died or where she was buried, and have not found her listed as Dillie Murrell on Find A Grave in Missouri She was just 56 when he died, so may have remarried.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. Sources as listed with images.

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Original content copyright 2013-2017 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Murrell Family, Roberts Family (Click for Family Tree)

James Edward Murrell received his final pay and discharge in Illinois after serving in the Union Army of the Civil War. We do not know if he returned to the family farm in Warren County, Illinois, right after the war, or if he moved back to Missouri (where he had worked in 1860).

We do know, however, that he married Mary E. Robinson about two years after his discharge, on 17 November 1867 in Pettis County, Missouri. (Wonder if he had met Mary when he and his brother William Anderson Murrell were working in Missouri before the war?) The marriage record states that they were married at the home of the bride’s father, and all were “of Pettis County,” Missouri.  So James had moved back to Missouri sometime after the war, and set down roots.

The parents of James migrated to Iowa in 1868, and some of their children went with them. Maybe, since some of their other children had moved far away from Warren County, Illinois, Wiley Anderson Murrell and his wife Mary Magdalen (Honts) Murrell had an easier decision as to whether or not they would migrate west. (See previous posts for details on this migration.)

We don’t know Mary E. Robinson’s history before the marriage, nor the names of her parents, so this is some additional research to add to the list.

James and Mary had 6 children born in Missouri: William Murrell b. 1869, James R. Murrell (1871-1951), Ida J. Murrell (1873-1917), Luther George Murrell (1877-1929), baby 1879-?, and Clifton Clemons Murrell b. 1882.

The family was in Elk Fork Township, Pettis, MO at the 1870 census. James was listed with Mary and 2-year-old son William. He was noted as a farmer with $200 in personal estate- no real estate value was listed. This suggests that he did not own land, so taking a look at his neighbors was the next research, as he may have been farming for them or a family member. Sure enough, on the census page prior, is his brother John Murrell with wife Lydia Rayburn and their two children. (John and Lydia had moved to Pettis sometime between their marriage in Warren Co., Illinois in 1862 and the 1870 census.) John was enumerated as a farmer with $1740 in real estate value, and $500 in personal estate value. Between entries for John and James a Benjamin Robertson and his wife and son were listed, and Benjamin was a farmer born in Missouri— he could be Mary’s older brother if the names were confused (Robinson/Robertson). Benjamin had $1950 in real estate and $300 in personal estate. Both Benjamin and John were 5-10 years older, so could have been the big brothers, helping their younger sister and brother (respectively) get started in farming. None of these farmers are found in The History of Pettis County, Missouri, including an authentic history of Sedalia, other towns and townships, together with … biographical sketches… by I. MacDonald Demuth, 1882, unfortunately, so it is hard to know more about their life and relationships.

James and Mary Murrell were still in Pettis County at the 1880 census, and in Calhoun, Henry, MO by 1900. Mary died 20 February 1905, and in 1910 James was living with his son James & family at age 68. Son James was listed as a farmer in Bowling Green Township, Pettis County, and they are noted as being on the Ag Schedule; they probably were living on the farm, maybe even the family farm?

In 1912 at age 70 James was in a US National Home for Disabled Soldiers in Delaware, Leavenworth, KS and is noted there multiple times through 1922.

Life changed for James E. Murrell on 22 March 1924. He married Dillie E. Fox on that date in Clayton, St. Louis, Missouri. That is on the other side of the state from Kansas- wonder how this marriage came about? And how did we learn about this marriage?

The above picture was kindly provided by cousins (thank you!) but it did not seem to be taken before 1905, when Mary E. (Robinson) Murrell died. Additionally, Mary was only about four years younger than James, and the unnamed woman in this picture appears quite a bit younger. Finding the death certificate of James helped solve this mystery- the informant was “Dillie E. Murrell” of Seymour, Missouri. So this image is likely of James with his second wife. A search brought up a Missouri marriage record for the pair:

James and Dillie were to have two years together as husband and wife.

The rest of their story will be in a future post.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. James Edward Murrell, Find A Grave Memorial #60556601
   https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=60556601
2. Mary E. (Robinson) Murrell, Find A Grave Memorial #60556678
   https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=60556678
3. Re: Find A Grave Memorials- please note that this author wrote the biographies on the memorials, so we are not plagiarizing in this post.
4. “The History of Pettis County, Missouri, including an authentic history of Sedalia, other towns and townships, together with … biographical sketches…” by I. MacDonald Demuth, 1882.

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Original content copyright 2013-2017 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.