MURRELL Family Bible- Marriages [click to enlarge] 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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Copyright 2014-2021 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
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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 9th
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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Copyright 2014-2021 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
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Edith Roberts McMurray Luck loved talking about her family history. She would climb the steep steps to the hot attic- the door is seen just to the left in this photo- with its old smell and intriguing items from the past. The house was a small 1920s bungalow, with beautiful Arts & Crafts wide woodwork and a cozy breakfast nook with a bird feeder tray on the other side of the window, so that she could eat with her feathered friends.
Her family’s Murrell Bible was stored in a big trunk, along with many pictures, newspapers, and other family treasures in the attic that weathered hot Iowa summers and very cold Iowa winters. The house did not have air conditioning until around the 1970s, but the attic was never conditioned space. It is a wonder that the bible, pictures, etc., survived those temperature and humidity extremes. Thankfully the paper used in those days had a much higher rag content than pulp wood, so they may have survived for that reason. (An attic is definitely not the way to store today’s more fragile paper items!)
As Edith opened the trunk, she would become a young girl again, off within her memories, talking about her days growing up on the farm and the family she loved so much. She had a wonderful childhood, rich with the mundane things of life, but all were cherished, every day. She was the baby of the family with an older sister, Ethel Gay Roberts Robison, and older brother, George Anthony Roberts, Jr. Edith was the apple of her daddy’s eye, even though he was very strict with the two older children, and her mama spoiled her too. She so enjoyed telling a little bit about each of her family members and ancestors, and we are so grateful that she shared and preserved so much of that life.
“You come from strong pioneer stock- you can do anything you set your mind to.” These were words oft repeated to her descendants, and she lived by them herself.
Edith actually knew her Grandmother, Elizabeth Ann Murrell, who married John Roberts (she knew him too). She may have known two of Elizabeth’s brothers, William Anderson “W.A.” Murrell and James Edward Murrell, but probably only if they had come to Iowa to visit. She never spoke of visiting her grandparents’ earlier family home in Roseville, Warren Co., Illinois. William and James had both stayed in Illinois with their own families when W.A. and Mary migrated to Jasper County, Iowa with Elizabeth and John around 1868; James and his wife later moved on to Missouri. Elizabeth’s other siblings had passed away before Edith was born in 1899, as had her great-grandparents Wiley Anderson “W.A.” Murrell and Mary Magdalene Honts Murrell. Elizabeth probably inherited the Murrell Family Bible, and then it passed to her son George Anthony Roberts, who was Edith’s father. the Bible is now in the possession of Edith’s grandchildren.
Next: The Murrell Family Bible Record Pages and ephemera
Notes, Sources, and References:
1) Murrell Family Bible, possibly c1835?
2) Updated 1 March 2021 with additional information.
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Copyright 2014-2021 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post, 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.
W. A. Murrell and Mary M. Honts- New Headstone in Mound Prairie Cemetery, Jasper Co., Iowa. Posted with permission of photographer.
One of my wonderfully dedicated Murrell cousins brought my attention to a post on GenForum (http://genforum.genealogy.com/philips/messages/649.html) for a Murrell family bible that contains family history from 1758-1869. This cousin is so good about following up clues and revisiting information, and she has made great leaps in our knowledge of what had been one of my brick walls for years. We are still looking for the parents of Wiley Anderson Murrell, however, and this family bible may contain clues.
Sadly the message was posted on November 30, 2007, and the email addresses no longer work. (IIRC, I had also tried the emails years ago.) A good genealogy samaritan had posted a note about a post he read on a website called “Treasures Lost and Found” by “Rmay424727@aol.com.” Rmay was also a good genealogy samaritan when he purchased this bible in a second-hand store in El Paso, Texas, and then tried to find descendants who should own it.
The post stated that the bible listed that an Elizabeth Phillips had married a Murrell in 1799. Two funeral notices were on the inside cover, for Mr. George Simmons, with the date being 11-3-1866, and another for Capt. W. E. Murrell, 11-24-1869.
I had corresponded with a R. May many years ago, but he was elderly then so may already be hanging out with his ancestors. I have posted a reply- should have done that years ago- and reposted on the Virginia, Illinois, and Iowa lists. I love that GenForum has a box to check so you can be notified if anyone replies to your posts.
I also stated in my reply that I would be posting the Murrell Bible I have copies of, sometime this week. I’ll have to tear myself away from RootsTech webinars if I procrastinate too long, so look for those posts in the next couple of days.
Looks like we have a few new clues to research, with the 3 new names and some dates. Too bad we don’t know where Elizabeth Phillips married Mr. Murrell, but it will be fun to search for that information.
It would be nice to know who placed the new headstone for W. A. and Mary M. Honts Murrell, too- it surely isn’t 125+ years old. Not sure how to go about that since the cemetery is not really ‘run’ by any group that I know of, but maybe the local genealogy society will have some information.
By the way, RootsTech is a great conference with live-streamed, FREE events/lectures starting at 8:30am (Mountain time) on Thursday, Feb. 6th. The conference has been excellent in years past and looks promising again this year. You can even download all of the syllabi for the conference (https://rootstech.org/about/syllabus-materials/)- thank you, RootsTech! See roots tech.org for more info.
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Copyright 2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post, 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.
Wiley A Murrell and Mary Honce Marriage Bond, 09 Apr 1834. [Click for larger image. See footnotes for transcription.]Sometimes we family historians have to just realize that the information we seek may no longer be available, or maybe was never available. That is tough to accept for most of us, so we beat our heads up against the proverbial brick wall. We rejoice in any minute clue, and try to look at the negative data in a positive way. We keep hoping to learn just one more tidbit about our elusive ancestor…
Wiley Anderson Murrell (Murrill, Merrell, etc.) is one of my most frustrating brick walls. He was born 03 Feb 1806 in Virginia, a time when record keeping and record survival was not optimum for genealogists. We have been unable to determine his parent’s names, where his parents were from, siblings, or exactly where he was born in Virginia.
Some of the only Virginia documentation that has been found concerns the marriage of Wiley. There was a marriage bond with Catharine Honce, promising a marriage between Wiley and her daughter, Mary Magdalen Honce; the bond was signed on 09 Aril 1834. Mary’s mother signed the bond- unusual for the time- because Mary’s father, Henry Hons/Johns (1773-1864) had moved to Tennessee with his (to be) second wife, Elizabeth Firestone, their child, and some of Mary’s siblings. The family had been unstable- Henry demanded that his daughter Mary go with him as well as all the other siblings, but Mary refused and hid from him when he came to get the other children. (Henry Hons/Honce/Johns is another long story for future posts.)
The Murrell Family Bible states that Wiley and Mary were married “March the 10 1834.” This date corresponds with Dodd’s Early Marriages: Virginia to 1850, which also states that Jacob Carper, a Methodist Episcopal minister, presided, and that Mary was the “d of Catharine who also gives surety.”
Wiley A. Murrell is found in the 1840 US Federal Census in Botetourt, Virginia, with ages and gender of others in the household indicating probably Wiley, Mary, and 3 children (2 girls and a boy); Wiley was a farmer. The Murrell Family Bible records that one of these children, Mary Catherine Murrell, born 18 Sep 1839, “departed this life in the yr of our Lord & Savior November the 6 1846 age 7 years 1 month & 12 days.”
In 1850, Wiley A. “Marrell” was again listed in Botetourt Co., Virginia, in the Western District (District 8) as a farmer and living with his wife Mary and their children: Elizabeth, age 15, John H[enry], 13, William [Anderson], 9, James E., 8, and Ann E[lisy], age 5. There was no value listed for real estate owned, so he may have been renting the land, and it was noted that he was over age 20 but “cannot read & write.” In 1850 there were also many Murrills listed in the nearby Bedford Co., VA census, but no clues of how they might be related to Wiley.
The family moved to Greenbush, Illinois per their son William A.’s obituary in 1856, or 1853 to Roseville, Swan Twp., Warren Co., per family oral history and the obituary of daughter Elizabeth Ann (Murrell) Roberts. The family remained in Warren Co. during the 1860 census- Elizabeth Ann was married by then, but William, James, and Eliza were going to school, and Wiley continued to farm.
Prairie City, Jasper Co., Iowa, August 20, 1907. Street scene during Old Settler’s Day. RPPC.
In 1868, per obituaries, the family, including Elizabeth Ann and her husband John Roberts, migrated to Jasper County, Iowa, in covered wagons per their great-granddaughter Edith Roberts who heard the stories often as a child. The family has not been found in an 1870 census- not in Iowa, as expected, nor Illinois; even Virginia censuses have been checked with no success.
The family is next found in the 1880 US Federal Census in Jasper Co., Iowa, indexed as “Murren.” Wiley was still farming that year, at age 74, and living with just his wife. In March, 1885, the two were found together in the Iowa State Census in Mound Prairie Township, Jasper Co., Iowa, listed after their daughter Elizabeth and her husband John Roberts. (No land description is given and they have a separate dwelling, so they may have been living on the Roberts’ farm.)
Headstone of Wiley Anderson Murrell and his wife Mary Magdalene Honce. Mound Prairie Cemetery, Jasper Co., Iowa
Wiley A. Murrell died that same month as the census, on 27 Mar 1885 in Prairie City, Jasper, Iowa. His wife Mary died two years later, on 13 Jul 1887 in Mound Prairie Twp, Jasper, Iowa. Both are buried in the Greenleif/Mound Prairie Cemetery near the family’s farm.
We are very lucky to know so much about the family once Wiley A. Murrell and Mary Magdalen Honce were married. The brick wall part is Wiley’s ancestry- who were his parents, where did they live, and where in Virginia was Wiley born? Some researchers think that John Murrell (1785-?) and Hannah Mitchell were his parents. This is the theory I am leaning toward, especially since Wiley and Mary’s first son had the name of John (after his paternal grandfather possibly?) and the middle name of his maternal grandfather (Henry Honce.) Other researchers suggest William L. Murrell (b. 1769 VA, d. 1850-1860 in Cocke Co., Tennessee) and Elizabeth or Nancy Lax (1760- ) were Wiley’s parents. We would welcome conclusive proof of either, or other leads and sources.
Notes, Sources, and References:
1) Murrell Family Bible, hand copied circa 1966 at a relative’s home in Iowa, though whose home is unknown. Some researchers and the newer headstone for Wiley state his birth date was 02 Feb 1806; the Bible states it was 03 Feb 1805. Date of Bible is unknown. (Sorry, it was the time before much documentation, and hey, I was just a kid!)
2) Marriage bond transcription:
“Know all men by these presents, that we, Wiley A. Murrell [and] Catherine Honce are held and firmly bound unto Littleton W. Tazewell- Governor of Virginia, in the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars, current money, and for the payment of which, well and truly to be made, to the said Governor and his successors in office, we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors and administrators, jointly and severally, firmly by these presents. Sealed with our seals, and dated the 9th day of April 1834.
“The condition of the above obligation is such, that whereas, there is a marriage shortly to be had and solemnized, betweeen the above bound Wiley A. Murrell and mary Magdalen Honce daughter of the above bound Catherine Honce of the county of Botetourt. If therefore, there be no lawful cause or impediment to obstruct said marriage, then the above obligation to be void, else to remain in full force and virtue.”
It was signed by Wiley A. Murrell, his mark, and Catharine Honce, her mark, with F [Woltz?] as the witness.
3) Marriage Bond date is listed as marriage date on Ancestry.com and per Early American Marriages: Virginia to 1850.
Original data: Dodd, Jordan R., et al.. Early American Marriages: Virginia to 1850. Bountiful, UT, USA: Precision Indexing Publishers.
4) 1840 US Federal census: Source Citation: Year: 1840; Census Place: , Botetourt, Virginia; Roll: 552; Page: 294; Image: 601; Family History Library Film: 0029684. Accessed last on Ancestry.com 12/08/2013.
5) 1850 US Federal census: Source Citation: Year: 1850; Census Place: District 8, Botetourt, Virginia; Roll: M432_936; Page: 156B; Image: 551.
6) William A. Murrel- Obituary: “G. A. R. Veteran at Roseville, is Buried Today.” Galesburg [Illinois] Evening Mail, page 10, August 3, 1922. William was just 15 when they moved to Illinois. On 01 Aug 1862 he answered the call to arms and joined Co. H, 83rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. He participated in active fighting during his 3 years with the company and was mustered out 26 Jun 1865. He married Cordelia Talley of Roseville, IL, on 01 Oct 1867 and they had 2 daughters and 2 sons. William died 01 Aug 1922.
7) Obituary of Elizabeth Ann (Murrell) Roberts: “Mrs. Roberts Called Home,” Prairie City News, February 7, 1917. Page number unknown as my copy is a clipping acquired many years ago from family.
8) 1880 US Federal Census: Source Citation: Year: 1880; Census Place: Mound Prairie, Jasper, Iowa; Roll: 346; Family History Film: 1254346; Page: 150A; Enumeration District: 096; Image: 0524. Accessed 12/08/2013.
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