Bio under construction with new historical documents found. March 2023

==

WILLIAM's FAMILY WHEN HE WAS BORN

William Murphy, born February 1730 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, was the son of William Murphy (1695-1745) and Eleanor née Echols Murphy (1700-1760). -- We shall call them William Murphy the younger (1730-1799) & William Murphy the elder (1695-1745) here, rather than Jr & Sr because it creates genealogical reference problems later on the family line. This younger WM takes on the title "Rev William Murphy Sr" (1730-1799) & his son is likewise so entrenched as "Rev William Murphy Jr" (1759-1833) in historic documents including graves, that it is impractical to attempt relabeling three generations William Murphy I, II & III, even as it is so.

An Anglican as he raised his sons as well, his father William Murphy the elder (1695-1745) was born in the north of Ireland, of Clan Murphey originally from Scotland, and came to the British Colonies in America. -- He was part of the 1600 & 1700s wave of "double-immigrants" self-styled "Scots-Irish"/"Scotch-Irish" (a term not used back in Europe, unique to America) who were loyal to the crown, but sought more religious freedom than the Church of England or Church of Scotland allowed, even while technically carrying their Anglican faith with them across the Atlantic. -- William Murphy the elder (1695-1745) went to the Provence of Virginia (as it was called then) by at least the 1720s. As a resident of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, he was sued in 1732 by Robert Cave, according to the Spotsylvania Court Order Books 1732-1735. [DETAILS SOUGHT]
The following year, 1733, he owed William Banks for 745 lbs. of tobacco, according to the Spotsylvania County Order Books 1732-1735 again. [DETAILS SOUGHT]
William the elder died in 1745 in Lunenburg, Lunenburg County, Virginia.

The parents of William Murphy the elder (1685-1745), according to multiple consistent accounts, were:
John Murphy (1668-1708) &
Mary Elizabeth Garland (1675-1708)
Either of their parents, William the younger's paternal great-grandparents, are of yet unknown.

William the younger (1730-1799) here's mother, and wife of William the elder (1695-1745), was Eleanor Echols (1700-1760). She was born in King and Queen County, Virginia. The county lies on the Middle Peninsula of Virginia on the eastern edge of Richmond (to this day it is sparsely populated with no incorporated towns or villages having a lower population in 2010 than 1790). King and Queen County was established in 1691 from New Kent County, and named for King William III and Queen Mary II of England. Eleanor died in Halifax County, Virginia, in 1760 fifteen years after her first husband in the adjacent county Lunenburg, William Murphy (1695-1745), and nine years after her second brief marriage in Lunenburg County, Virginia 1745-1751 to a Gideon Smith (1700-1751). As Mrs Eleanor Smith, she was granted administrator at the 1751 probate in Lunenburg of Gideon Smith's Will.

Eleanor's parents, maternal grandparents to William Murphy the younger (1730-1799), by multiple consistent accounts were:
John Echols (1682-1712) &
Mary Cave (abt1687-?)
John Echols was born in England & died in Caroline County, Virginia, which is where he married his bride circa 1700.
Mary Cave appears to have been born & died in Caroline County, Virginia, but it's in King and Queen County that it's listed three children were born: Eleanor (1700-1760), Ann (1703-1749), & Richard Echols (1706-1778).

The same multiple consistent family accounts list Mary née Cave Echols' parents, maternal great-grandparents to William Murphy the younger (1730-1799) as:
John Cave (1637 England - 1717 Virginia)
& Elizabeth Travers (1688-?)
Elizabeth is said to have been born on 26-Jan-1688, Middlesex, Virginia.

It would appear likely then that the 1732 suit by Robert Cave against William Murphy the elder (1695-1745) was an issue between extended family.

William Murphy the elder (1695-1745) & Eleanor Echols (1700-1760) wed in Spotsylvania County, Virginia m.1728. Alongside son William b.1730, were born at least two other sons: Joseph b.1-Apr-1734 (not older than William as 1918 Sturgess book mistake thought) & Richard b.1729 or 1732 or 1736, difficult to know if he was older than William (as 1918 Sturgess book guessed) the middle brother or the youngest. William the younger here (who, again, becomes called "Rev William Murphy Sr" in family storytelling history) was a dissenter like his brothers, and left the Anglican Church to become a Baptist. William & Joseph are well documented actual Baptist ministers, who worked closely together in Virginia and North Carolina, with Joseph concentrating on North Carolina & William on Virginia, until William peeled off to spread their message in Tennessee then finally Missouri. Brother Richard eventually settled in Salisbury, Surry, North Carolina, according to 1800 census records the next farm to Joseph who stayed there as well. -- Surry County, North Carolina abuts Stokes County on its east side, and above both is the state of Virginia, the counties of Carroll & Patrick, and just east after Patrick of those along the state line is Pittsylvania & Halifax counties that play a big roll in the later life of William Murphy the younger (1730-1799). -- But as for William Murphy the younger's other brother beyond Joseph (1734-1816), whether or not Richard (1730s-aftr 1800) was a minister, too, as Sturgess 1918 groups him all Baptist ministers with his brothers is debatable. Richard is glaringly absent to have been a minister of the early church from the very detailed 1930 Paschal book that published for the first time the 1770s Edwards journals enumeration of the Baptist churches and associations of America, New Hampshire to Georgia {Books quoted & discussed below.}

REVISION, 1918 EARLY GENEALOGICAL SKETCH

New "1978 INTRODUCTION
"The History of the Reverend William Murphy and His Descendants", 1918, by
Alice Murphy Sturgess has undergone many corrections and additions since that book was first published sixty years ago. For instance the Reverend William Murphy was not born in Ireland but instead Spotsylvania county, Virginia. The Reverend was not married to Mary Fanquoy, as the book states but instead his first wife was Miss Martha Hodges and his second wife was Sarah Barton.

"Many errors can be found in Mrs. Sturgess' book and there are several related families continuing to make corrections and additions to her work. Mrs. Mary Byrum Crouch probably has the largest collection of material on the Murphy family to be found today.
Regardlese of Mrs. Sturgess' errors she made a great contribution to the preservation of written and oral family tradition and provided a platform to build a better genealogical structure upon.

"The following pages, with the exception of an addition to Chapter four remain un-changed from the 1918 edition. In fact this book is a zerox copy of the original Sturgess book housed in the Missouri Historical Society library, St. Louis, Mo. For an interesting companion to this book, see Volume two of the Rogers Family Historical Collection, 1978."

Image of that original page is on William's wife Martha's FaG memorial page.

Not many people realized there were proofed corrected reprints of the original 1918 book, even in the Library of Congress, Washington DC. Unfortunately, many 1918 errors got reinforced when used on a hand-typed 1955 Texas Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution club application form that was subsequently scanned and put online in the 21st century. Once on the web, it convincingly (wrongly) spread like wildfire. For instance, as mentioned above, the wrong birthplace for this (1730-1799) William Murphy, even though the family had been saying "Spotsylvsnia County, Virginia" for nearly 200 years, until Alice Murphy Sturgess accidentally tagged the wrong generation as immigrant in her book. As well, the stranger woman "Mary Fanquoy" as his wife ended up being weirdly (wrongly) blended with the actual woman "Martha Hodges" who married William Murphy in 1750, all over the internet almost 275 years later, his first wife is too often called a mishmash: "Mary Martha Fanquoy Hodges," or some variation. Again, she was Miss Martha Hodges who married William Murphy. (And named their first son only John Murphy, no middle name for him or any of the eleven children of William Murphy (1730-1799). No Fanquoys in there at all. But this is getting ahead of the story of Rev William Murphy Sr below.)

==

Brother Joseph Murphy (1734-1816)
Find-a-Grave page:
MEMORIAL ID 112789634

==

MURPHEY / MURPHY NAME:

The first land patent record in Colonial Virginia for William in 1756 indeed spells his surname as MURPHEY, the extra letter 'e' typically being the Scottish clan version. -- Scots-Irish, aka Scotch-Irish, were first wave 1600-1700s Protestant [ADD VARIOUS] immigrants to the British Colonies in North America who tended to be initially loyal to the English Crown but were looking for increased religious freedoms in the Colonies; more than an hundred years before the mass Catholic exodus from Ireland during potato famines, anti-Catholic and political oppressions, objecting to the British Crown. -- Only two years after that first land patent record found, William was mentioned in 1758 for his land being adjacent to a new land grant to another man, William was listed as MURPHY / MURPHEY, hedging both spellings. After a decade, the Scottish 'e' slipped away altogether, and he was recorded in the Irish traditional spelling as "William MURPHY." His surname was simplified, perhaps without knowledge or consent, as happened constantly in early America all the way through Ellis Island. No regard for roots. -- The original Gaelic form of the name Murphey is 
O Murchadha or Mac Murchadha, which are both derived from the word "murchadh," meaning "sea warrior," and may have originated with the Vikings. William did have a habit of locating his family by a major river: Banister in Virginia, Holston in Tennessee, Mississippi tributary St Francois River in Missouri, which also happen to be natural crossroads & gathering spots for both pioneers & religion in those days, a Baptist preacher literally in his element of the river.



==



1756, 1758, 1767
VIRGINIA RESIDENCE RECORDS:

VIRGINIA LAND RECORDS:


Virginia Land Patent Book 33, 
8-Jun-1756 to 7-Aug-1761, pages 366-575. Abstracted by Dennis Hudgins. (Images attached.)



(1)

"WILLIAM MURPHEY, 400a, Lunenburgh Co on both sides of Banister Riv. 10 Mar 1756, p. 693. 40 shill." page 97



(2)

"THOMAS SMITH, 400 acs. Halifax Co. on both sides of Banester (sic) Riv., at the Mouth of Allens Cr., adj. William Murphy / Murphey & Fearies; 2 Jun 1758, p. 446. 40 Shill." page 244



Being adjacent to Thomas Smith's new 400 acre claim, the acres patented to William Murphey / Murphy two years prior for the cost of 40 Shillings on both sides of the Banister River, are the same 400 acres once listed as within Lunenburg(h) County, then become Halifax County. Same ground place. Different paper address. 

A Virginia record might say Brunswick County, or Lunenburg County, or Halifax County, or Pittsylvania County and all be recording the same geographic location. Colonial Virginia was rapidly evolving when William had his own nuclear family there 1750s-1780s. -- Being "called" to serve in the "New Light" movement of the developing Baptist Church, Rev William Murphy Sr did not simply preach a single congregation and farm a single grant those decades. He was instrumental in planting new mission churches, so is best described as a farmer and a preacher.

When he was still a young 25-26yo man, William's paper trail geographic location was in LUNENBURG COUNTY *1756*. That county was established in 1746, from BRUNSWICK County, itself created in 1720 from parts of Prince George (est.1703), Surry (est.1652) and Isle of Wight (roots back to Jamestown's origins of 1607) counties. (You see the pattern of expansion inland from the seaboard & then re-assembling / creating counties.) By *1758* William's same spot on the Banister River is then called inside HALIFAX COUNTY, as established by English colonists from Lunenburg County. Finally, Willam Murphy's place along the Banister River was listed within PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, formed in *1767* with territory annexed from Halifax County. It's named for William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768, and who opposed some harsh colonial policies of the period.



{Further discussion on the location of the Banister River is beneath the list of his children, as relates to prior misconceptions on their birth place. See the map image attached to the page of his first wife Martha née Hodges Murphy (1724-1761).}

(3)

"TITHABLES OF PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, 1767" page 326 (Image attached.)


Pittsylvania County was created the year of the tithables list, cut from Halifax County, Virginia. The tithables table says WILLIAM MURPHY (1730-1799) owned 113 acres of land and was required to tithe the production of 1 acre to The British Crown, sent back to England. -- He had his land in Virginia roughly 11yrs at that point, 1756-1767, and staid a bit more than 15yrs longer, till about 1784. So it seems less likely that William sold or lost the excess 287 acres of the original 400 acres, if Pittsylvania only taxed him on 113 acres. This may provide another hint to us on where exactly he was along the Banister River. It only flows through Pittsylvania and Halifax directly in its east side. Thomas Smith's 1758 claim (mentioned above) is "adjacent to William Murphy /Murphey's", is on either bank of the Banister River, too, but Smith's also says his starts "at the mouth of Allen's Creek," a smaller tributary to the Banister, that creek's location being by the town of Hermosa, Pittsylvania County, Virginia. But it's right by the border with Halifax County. It would seem, being adjacent to Mr Smith, that William Murphy's balance of 287 acres remained in Halifax County as of 1767: so the total 400 acres owned by William Murphy ended up straddling two counties. 

Also telling us of the 1767 Tithables of Pittsylvania record, we can see William Murphy's new neighbors the Bartons, which includes the young woman who becomes his second wife c.1767 after the death of his first. -- Sarah's father Joshua Barton may have been born Josiah Barton b.1718 Oxford in Chester County in Pennsylvania to Isaac Barton of Killaloe County Clare & Sarah Vesey of County Limerick, who received Society of Friends permission to transfer membership & immigrate from Ireland to Philadelphia in Pennsylvania in 1714, but when Isaac died and Sarah wished to marry outside the Quaker faith she was ousted for "Worlding" so went with her small children and new husband Jones to settle in Frederick County, Maryland, where Sarah was born (1748) 250 miles northeast of Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Sometime shortly after the death of Sarah's mother Isaac's wife Jean/Jane née duBart Barton (1760) and his subsequent remarriage, the family came down and the father Isaac and two eldest boys took a land grant in Pittsylvania County by the 1767 Tithables table. The Barton Family likely used the "Great Philadelphia Wagon Road" designed to encourage migration from the urban (like Philadelphia) to the far interior of Maryland on down through the Piedmont / eastern side of the mountains of Virginia and in to North Carolina. That would have delivered the Bartons from Frederick County, Maryland to Pittsylvania County, Virginia just before the border with North Carolina directly. (At that time, the White settlers were not legally supposed to go any further inland than the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge. They could go South.) So, William Murphy met his 2nd wife the neighbor, and William Murphy's daughter from his first marriage also met her future Barton husband the neighbor this way. 


See the Tithables (Image Attached) for: 



BARTON, JOSHUA (1718-1779) owned 103 acres of land & tithed 1. He is the father of two sons listed below him & their younger sister SARAH (1748-1817) who would marry William Murphy after the death of his first wife Martha Hodges.



BARTON, DAVID (1744-1815) eldest son tithed 1 acre. 



BARTON, ISAAC (1746-1831) second son tithed 1 acre, and in 1772 would marry the eldest daughter of William Murphy, KEZIAH MURPHY (1754-1845) by his deceased first wife, Martha Hodges (1724-1761)



{BARTON, ELIZABETH (1751-1830) younger sister to David, Isaac, & Sarah Barton, would also marry a relative to the Murphys, Martha Hodges Murphy's cousin AMBROSE HODGES (1750-1798) in 1770.}



==

1760s BAPTISM &
1768 ORDINATION

William's fellow Baptist minister & younger brother Joseph Murphy b.1774 Spotsylvsnia County, Virginia, actually lead the elder brother:

From
"HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS BY GEORGE WASHINGTON PASCHAL, VOLUME I 1663_1805". RALEIGH, THE GENERAL BOARD, NORTH CAROLINA BAPTIST STATE CONVENTION, 1990 (An inadvertent Virginia church included.)

The 1930 book includes direct transcriptions from the 1770s notebooks of Morgan Edwards whilst in North Carolina recording. Morgan Edwards was a native of Wales who came to Philadelphia in 1761 to be pastor of their Baptist church. In 1770 he began gathering a history of the Baptists of America, traveling through the provinces (colonies) from New Hampshire to Georgia. He spent several months in North Carolina.

"MORGAN EDWARDS'S NOTEBOOK • NORTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS

"The churches in the Association are:
Sandy creek - Shubal Stearns.
New river - Ezekiel Hunter.
Southwest - Charles Markland.
Haw river - Elnathan Davis.
Little river - John Bollin (not ordained)
Grassy creek - James Reed*
Shallow Fords - Joseph Murphy, Dan. Marshall.
Lockwood's folly - Mr. Guess (not ordained)
Trent - James McDonald.*

"Page 12
This association held at Sandy Creek the 2d Saturday in October 1769, resolved "That if any took up arms against the civil authority he be excommunicated."

"Page 13
SHALLOW FORDS - (SEPARATE) So called from the fords of the Atkin river, in the county of Surry 30 miles NW from Newburn, and - miles from Philadelphia. Two branches, one near, the other at Mulberry fields, another in the forks of the Atkin, near the Moravian settlement. Began with a few from Little, the remains of the Jersey Settlement church. The minister Joseph Murphy, born in Spotsylvania Ap 5, 1734. Bred a churchman - baptized by Shubal Stearns at Deep river in 1757, ordained 1760. Children-Sarah, Ferribe, Eleanor, Susanna, Elizabeth. The mother's name is Haly."

"Page 14
HOLSTON STAUNTON, VIRGINIA A branch near, another near the the head of the Roannoak one at Staunton river.
Begun about 1762. The minister William Murphy. Baptized at Deep river by Shubal Stearns. Ordained at Staunton in 1768. He married Sarah Barton: his first was one of the Hodges. He has children by both: John, Keziah, William, Joseph, Tabitha."

* This Staunton River is not in the town of Staunton that is surrounded by Augusta County, further north in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. The Staunton River combines with the Roanoke River (misspelled in the old book) for a spell, wherein it is called the Staunton, and runs along the top border of Halifax and Pittsylvania counties. See a labeled map on William's first wife Martha Hodges Murphy's page, where it says Roanoke & Banister rivers. The Murphy's property on the banks of the Banister River runs in to the Staunton River. -- Then the Holston River is slightly more west again, as Virginia heads through the Blue Ridge in to modern day Tennessee, the pioneers were intentionally crossing over the mountains that had been the edge of permissible settlement. There was no state of Tennessee until 1796. Before that, the eastern area of modern Tennessee was, at first part of Virginia Colony but by the time of Wm Murphy's goings was actually western North Carolina (thus the inclusion in the Baptists of North Carolina, that point of borders changing was missed on the editor of those diaries.) Even though there was no "state of" Tennessee until 1796, church historians consider the 1786 founding of the (Baptist) Holston River Association, of which Cherokee Church (f.1783) fell under that umbrella, to be the oldest Baptist Association in Tennessee, even though it technically pre-dates the state by a decade. (That's still the oldest.) -- see the historical marker #1A-59 "CHEROKEE CHURCH: HOLSTON BAPTIST ASSOCIATION" image attached that explicitly mentions William Murphy as clerk of the church, a founding & prominent position.

Book Footnotes:
"Mr. Edwards was not consistent in his spelling. James McDonald here appears above as James McDaniel, which is the correct form. Charles Markland, whose name appears here in correct spelling, is called Charles Marklin above. A star seems to indicate an evangelist, or itinerant preacher.
By inadvertence Mr. Edwards introduces a Virginia church here. Another, Black Water, will be found below. Probably, however, both in 1772 were in the Sandy Creek Association."

pp.229-230

Roannoak = Roanoke

==

SIMULTANEOUS
REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER /
BAPTIST MINISTER /
FATHER FARMER

What was once thought of as "going off to war" separately from normal life, actually happened simultaneously back then. It seems especially for the pioneers living not along the port cities or even coastal major cities with a great deal of British involvement, the families living on the far side of the interior of the age, fringe of the Piedmont Region entering the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains, that they were not as often involved in the Revolutionary War as some colonists. There is an overlap of William Murphy and his circles starting Baptist churches, running them, farming, having children, and occasionally the men of fighting age being away for short periods of time, soldiering. The US Revolutionary War (Fight for Independence) (1775-1783) was much less distinct than when the Civil War raged amongst everyone seemingly everywhere a century later (1861-1865).

Rev William Murphy Sr (1730-1799) was a non-commissioned officer, a Sargent for the Army of Virginia, 13th Regiment, under Colonel William Russell. As a Virginia representative to the Continental Congress, Russell aided in the drafting of the Declaration of Independence.

His son Rev William Murphy Jr (1759- ) was a Private in the Army of Virginia.

Military records do not distinguish which generation you are viewing, it takes observation of rank, timing and location.

Well after William Murphy Sr & William Murphy Jr's deaths, the references made to the Farmington, Missouri founding family of Murphy, erroneously say William Sr here defended the Crown of England in the Revolutionary War, when in fact he was a Rebel not a Tory.

See image attached of his
SERVICE & PAYROLL MANIFEST

13th Virginia Regiment
Colonel William Russell

[INSERT DETAIL INFO]

==

Knox County, TENNESSEE

==

1798 SPANISH LAND GRANT
LOUISIANA-MISSOURI TERRITORY

==

NOV-1799 DEATH
BARREN COUNTY, KENTUCKY

==

THE FAMILY HE MADE.
WIVES & CHILDREN OF
REV WILLIAM MURPHY SR.

A Baptist minister and farmer, Rev William Murphy Sr's first child was born in Culpeper County, Virginia in 1752, and then three more full siblings of eleven total children were born between 1754 and 1761 in Halifax County, Virginia along the middle of the Virginia-North Carolina border as set out by British Colonist William Byrd (1728). In 1767, a new Pittsylvania County was carved from the existing large Halifax County. It was named for William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768, and who opposed some harsh colonial policies of the period.

Maud Clement's 'History of Pittsylvania County' notes the following: "Its economy was tobacco-dominated and reliant on a growing slave labor force. It was a county without towns or a commercial center. Plantation villages on the major river thoroughfares were the only centers of trade, until the emergence of Danville (late 1790s)." Nestled in the fertile Virginia Piedmont region, it was Virginia's largest market for brightleaf tobacco.

So when the next seven of eleven children of Rev William Murphy Sr were born between 1768 and 1782, the births came at the same farmstead on the Banister River he'd owned since 1756, just called by a different address on paper as Pittsylvania County, Virginia.



William Murphy was married twice. Once until her death, and the second time until his death. 



#1 WIFE Martha Hodges
b.1724 Spotsylvsnia Co, VA
d. 1761 Halifax Co, VA

She was born in the same county he was. The Hodges were from England.
She was only 36-37 when she died in or around childbirth with last baby in March 1761, Joseph.



(4) CHILDREN WITH MARTHA
were born in CULPEPER & HALIFAX counties, Virginia: 



1.) Rev John Murphy Sr
(1752-1818)

m.1774 Rachel Cooke
{dad William's dad may have been called John or William Murphy, 1752-1818's grandfather}



2.) Keziah née Murphy Barton
(1754-1845)

m.1772 Isaac Barton
{Keziah married the brother of her young stepmother}



3.) Rev William Murphy Jr
(1759-1833)

m.1782 Rachel Henderson
{dad William's dad or grandad likely was William Murphy, 1759-1833's grand or great-grandfather, the elder is likely the "William Murphy" the immigrant to Colonial Virginia from Ireland that is often confused in old genealogical research with 1730-1799 William Murphy, of "double-immigrant" family originally from Scotland, come to be known as "Scots-Irish" or "Scotch-Irish" in America, not labeled as such in Europe}



4.) Joseph Murphy
(1761-1834)

m.1797 Sarah McDaniel
{dad William had a brother called Joseph Murphy}



#2 WIFE Sarah Barton
b. 1748 Frederick Co, MD
d. 1817 Murphy's Settlement, Ste Genevieve, MO
(Today called: Farmington, St Francois Co, MO)

{Sarah was 18 years her husband's junior,
18-19 when they wed, 51-52 when he died, and she continued on to age 68 when she died. (William happened to have also been 68-69 when he died earlier.}


(7) CHILDREN WITH SARAH
were born in newly created PITTSYLVANIA County out of Halifax County, Virginia: 



1.) Tabitha née Murphy Gentry
(1768- abt1788)

(sometimes called Tobitha)

m.abt 1784 Jesse Gentry



2.) Rev David Murphy Sr
(1770-1843)

1m.1791 Rachel Bacon?/Jones?

2m.1827 Mrs. Rachel Whittenburgh
{Maiden name unknown}



3.) Sarah née Murphy Evans
(1771- bfr 1817)

m.1792 Walter "George" Evans



4.) Dubart Murphy
(1773-1836)

m.1801 or 1803 Sarah Bacon
(possible Bacon cousin to Dubart's brother David's first wife, but a decade apart in age, not sisters, diff parents)
{"Dubart" is for his mum Sarah's late mum, Jean/Jane née duBart Barton}



5.) Richard Murphy, Esq.
(1776-1823)

m.? (may not have married)
{dad William had a brother called Richard Murphy}



6.) Rev Isaac Murphy
(1777-1821)

m.17?? Nancy Todd 



7.) Jesse Murphy
(1782-1824)

m.18?? Patsy (?)
{Patricia? Patience? Temperance? & Maiden?}



Middle names were not used at all by this generation of family. None of the 11 children have middle names. {Do not be fooled by the *wrong* information about "Fanquoy" being the eldest son John's (b.1752) middle name, or a middle/prior married name of first wife/John's mother ("Martha née Hodges Murphy" (b.1724), she was only ever married to Rev William Murphy Sr). "Fanquoy" is *not* a family name *at all*, it is a mistake made long ago that took off on the internet mistake boards. See details on Martha's page & son John's page. Scholarly research done & root of the error documents, noted there.

==

1775-1783 the American Revolution happened while those last three children were born. {A greater discussion is further below regarding how the Revolutionary War was referenced by small town historians later on in Farmington, Missouri.}

For this Timeline, see Image Attached:

"American Revolution Rolls:

Soldier: William Murphy 

Military Date: Feb-1778

Military Place: Virginia 

State or Army Served: Virginia 

(Which was a BRITISH COLONY)

Regiment: 13th Regiment
Rank: Corporal



==

At the close of the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), Rev William Murphy Sr moved his family to near Knoxville in Knox County, Tennessee on the Holston River. They remained there about a decade+. Some of his children had become adults in Virginia and married, coming along with the larger family group to Tennessee. Some of his children then came of age in Tennessee and married there.

[INSERT CHURCHES / PLACES THIS PERIOD]

==

History of Campbell County, Tennessee
"IRISH WILLIAM MURPHY FIRST BAPTIST MINISTER TO PREACH WORD IN CAMPBELL COUNTY - IN 1797"
By Dallas Bogan
This article was published in the LaFollette Press.

"According to history William Murphy, a Baptist preacher, was born in Ireland and after the death of his first wife, came to America with his five children and settled in Virginia. He married secondly, Sarah Barton in 1768. Murphy and his five sons served in the Revolutionary War. Two of his brothers, Joseph and Richard Murphy, were also Baptist preachers."

{ERRORS in Above Paragraph: (1) This is a common error of early genealogical researchers, this William Murphy was born in Virginia 1730, the "born in Ireland" reference belongs to his ancestor, also William Murphy, at least two generations prior. (2) This Rev William Murphy Sr (1730 VA - 1799 KY) also married both times in Virginia & all 11 children were born in Virginia, before going to Eastern Tennessee. Not a marriage and five kids in Ireland first. Also, only four kids with first wife. (3) His 2nd marriage was 1767 not '68 to Miss Sarah Barton. (4) Only 3 not 5 of his sons were old enough & fought in the American Revolution: John b.1752, William Jr b.1759, & Joseph b.1861. (The other 5 sons who were too young for Rev War 1775-1783 combat were: David b.1770, Dubart b.1773, Richard b.1776, Isaac b.1777, & Jesse b.1782) Confusion comes from old promotional materials for Farmington, St Francois Co, Missouri, which was founded by Rev William Murphy Sr & sons, based on 1798 Spanish Crown Land Grants before it was part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 by America from France, as Murphy's Settlement, Ste Genevieve Co, Louisiana-Missouri Territory. In that locally published anniversary story celebrating the land donated by the Murphys to create a town, the extra Murphy men referenced as Revolutionary War soldiers were near relatives, but not more sons to William Murphy (1730-1799), likely they were uncles to the boys, brothers of William Sr. Tory vs Rebel labels also confused by generations in the promo newspaper article made brochure. See son Joseph Murphy b.1761 for more details.}

"William Murphy, as history records, was the first Baptist preacher to preach the Word of God in what is now Campbell County. He held, in the summer or fall of 1797, several Baptist meetings at the congregational house spring by the creek below the present Glade Springs meeting house. The following year William Murphy traveled to the Spanish possession west of the Mississippi River and held extraordinary services under the protection of armed guards. These guards were assigned to protect the congregation from the maltreatment of the Spanish Catholic king."

==

"In 1795 a quartet of Rev William Murphy Sr (1730-1709), sons Rev William Murphy Jr (1759-1833) and Joseph Murphy (1761-1834) and by then grown son Rev David Murphy Sr (1770-1843), and a friend, Silas George, traveled to Missouri, which did not come under the American flag until the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and become a state until 18 years later. Led by an Indian (sic) guide, the Murphys and George reached the present site of Farmington, St Francois County, Missouri. Spain then owning Missouri, granted 640 acres of land to whomever cleared it. The Murphys claimed their clearing, by Royal Decree in 1798, which became known as Murphy's Settlement. The father was given the area around Carter's Spring. {See the 5th Principal Meridian plots recognized by the Supreme Court of the United States, images on Sarah née Barton Murphy's page, belonging to SBM, Joseph Murphy, David Murphy & William Murphy, Jr.} Going back to Tennessee to retrieve his wife and any other children, young or wanting to join them, to all settle permanently on that land in Missouri, Rev. Murphy fell ill and died 19-Nov-1799 at the house of his eldest son John Murphy (1752-1818) in Barren County, Kentucky. From waiting back in Knox County, Tennessee for her husband who would never return, Sarah née Barton Murphy then "resolved to settle on the claim made in eastern Missouri to her deceased husband, Rev. William Murphy. To reach the pioneer community, she set out in a keel boat down the Holston River, accompanied by a crew of her three sons, Isaac, Jesse, and Dubart, her only (surviving) daughter, Sarah (née Murphy Evans), a grandson named William Evans, aged eight, a hired hand, a(n enslaved) woman and a(n enslaved) boy. They floated to the Tennessee River, and out into the Ohio to its mouth, and thence up the Mississippi with ropes and poles, to Ste. Genevieve, covering a distance of 1,000 miles or more. The country was then infested with Indians (sic), and much of the journey was made at night, while they hid in the underbrush during the day. From Ste. Genevieve they traveled over land twenty-eight miles west to their destination, which they reached on the 18th day of June, 1802... Sarah Barton Murphy became the leader in the community her husband and sons established. She is credited with organizing the first Protestant Sunday school west of the Mississippi River and donated an acre of the town for the site of a church built of logs. It was open to all Christians."


- edited for clarity & syntax 2/2023 by Sis; Published by THE LEAD BELT NEWS, Flat River, St. Francois Co. MO, Fri. March 27, 1936.

==

BURIAL

Regarding Rev William Murphy Sr's internment in the old burying ground of Mount Tabor Baptist Church Cemetery within days after his 19-Nov-1799 death, that is no longer in use and now on private land.

From: "History of KY Baptists" by J.H. Spencer, pg. 384: "Mt. Tabor church is located on Beaver Creek, some two miles west of Glasgow in Barren county. It was gathered by Alexander Davidson and was constituted of seven members, by the assistance of the famous old pioneer William Hickman and Carter Tarrant, November 5, 1798. Alexander Davidson was chosen pastor."

The historic plaque on the current 1969-renovated brick church building on the spot (707 Dripping Springs Rd, Glasgow, KY 42141) where the congregation relocated in 1890, tells of the old original spot along Beaver Creek (adjacency to natural moving waterway being requirement to the early full-immersion baptism church, aka."dunking") they occupied 1798-1890 where they also made a graveyard:

"MOUNT TABOR BAPTIST CHURCH
Organized Nov. 5, 1798, by Alexander Davidson, Wm Hickman, and Carter Tartant, Mt Tabor is the oldest active Missionary Baptist church between the Green & Barren rivers, the oldest church in Barren County, and the mother church of several other churches.
Green River Association was organized at
Mt Tabor in 1800, and Liberty Missionary Association in 1840. Jacob Locke, the 4th preacher, served some 40 years until his death in 1845 and baptized 700.
The church was located 1 mile south on Beaver Creek until 1890 when Wm Jackman donated the land on which it now stands."

Rev William Murphy Sr was likely a guest at the new mission while visiting his son John in 1799 there. John himself a Baptist minister, residing there in Barren County at that time with his wife and children, was almost certainly part of the founding of Mount Tabor Baptist Church there. He was the son and nephew of Baptist ministers whose life work was spreading their faith with establishing missions.

[MOUNT TABOR BAPTIST CHURCH, EARLY HISTORY CHURCH RECORDS BOOK PASSAGES COMING]

==

MARRIAGE RECORDS:

Name: William Murphy

Gender: Male

Birth Place: VA

Birth Year: 1730

Spouse Name: Martha Hodges

Spouse Gender: Female

Spouse Birth Place: VA

Spouse Birth Year: 1724
Marriage Year:
Marriage Place: VA

Number Pages: 1



Name: William Murphy

Gender: Male

Birth Place: VA
Birth Year: 1730

Spouse Name: Sarah Barton

Gender: Female

Birth Place: MD

Marriage Year: 1767

Marriage State: VA

Number Pages: 1

==

POSTMORTEM
ANNIVERSARY MENTIONS
(& CORRECTIONS):


Notes on the errors of the next passage are below it. The passage was long published about Farmington, St Francois County, Missouri, (containing some of the same descriptions as above originally in a newspaper, but then it was tweaked for a centenary celebration, so those directly repeated bits are trimmed out for clarity now):



"The story of Farmington's beginnings is often told chronicle. No tribute to the city on its 100th birthday can leave out the first chapters. • Farmington's founding family was divided by the Revolutionary War. Two of the sons of the Rev. William Murphy of Virginia, Joseph and David, fought for Britain. A third son, William, joined the rebels. • After the war ended, establishing the United States as a nation, the Baptist preacher and his three sons settled near Knoxville, Tenn. • In 1795, the quartet and a friend, Silas George, traveled to Missouri... ...became known as Murphy's Settlement. ...The father was given the area around Carter's Spring. • Rev. Murphy died on trip to his new city in Missouri. • Joseph took possession of land one and one-half miles from the center of the present city on what was called the Potosi Road. William's home became a farm two miles south of downtown Farmington. Land to the north near a spring known as Waide's Spring passed into David's hand. • Rev. Murphy died on a return trip to Virginia in 1799. Numerous direct descendents live in Farmington today. • His widow, Mrs. Sarah Barton Murphy, became the leader in the community her husband and sons established. She is credited with organizing the first Protestant Sunday school west of the Mississippi River and donated an acre of the town for the site of a church built of logs. It was open to all Christians. • The community's first store was opened in 1823 by John Peers. In 1887, a bank opened its doors with A. Parkhurst as president and M.P. Cayce as cashier. The Southern Missouri Argus was first published in 1860 by Nicol, Crowell and Shuck. • In the early days, a sturdy fort was also added. It stood at the southern edge of the village near William Murphy's original claim for protection against Indian raids. After the Indian threat ended in 1824, the blockhouse was torn down. Its nails, made by a local blacksmith, were exhibited at a World's Fair. • The name Farmington, according to research by Ms. Gertrude Zimmer, replaced Murphy's Settlement. The permanent name, Ms. Zimmer wrote, recognized the richest farming land in the region. The name is also found in 25 other states."

- From https://sites.rootsweb.com/~mostfran/towns/farmington_founding.htm



NOTES on ERRORS of the above passage:


The American Revolution (1775-1783) descended upon the Rev William Murphy Family in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. The children's father, Rev William Murphy Sr (1730-1799) was Loyal to the Crown on the side of the occupying British in the American Colonies; three other direct Murphy relations were indeed also engaged in the conflict, but not as the passage above claimed. Son by first late wife Martha Hodges, Rev William Murphy (1759-1833) Jr, indeed fought on the side of American Independence, a Rebel. But that earlier passage claims his full-brother, the youngest of Martha's kids, Joseph Murphy (1761-1834) was on the side of the Tories like their dad, but Joseph's own headstone and military records show he fought for American Independence with the Virginia Militia, alongside his elder full-brother William. (It was an *Uncle* Joseph Murphy who was on the side of the English. The two different men have been confused.) Likewise, their younger half-brother David Murphy is sometimes noted as one of the brothers fighting for the British, but Rev William Murphy Sr (1730-1799) only had one son called David Murphy (1770-1843) [Rev David Murphy Sr] by his second young wife Sarah née Barton Murphy, and that little boy David was far too young to be a fighting Loyalist or Rebel in the war 1775-1783. So that reference must also be to an uncle, misplaced generationally. The eldest brother by the late mom Martha Hodges, Rev John Murphy Sr (1752-1818) was already living in Eastern Tennessee with his wife Rachel Cook(e) and the first few of his small children by the war, and did fight, but the passage (see his memorial page) does not indicate for which side. Recently discovered military records show he, too, fought for Independence.

Not surprisingly, it looks like the older generation stayed Loyal to the Crown, while the younger generation of men were Rebellious seekers of Independence as a new country.

And when Rev William Murphy Sr died at the home of his eldest Rev John Murphy Sr in Kentucky as William was returning to *Tennessee* to retrieve his younger family members for Missouri, it was not to *Virginia* whence they came *before* Tennessee.

Those are all the errors busted in the retro anniversary publication. But it's mostly full of great correct historic details!