Re: John Murphy Died in Estill Co KY 1856
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In reply to:
John Murphy Died in Estill Co KY 1856
Sean Murphy 11/13/04
Hello Sean;
Here are some ideas as to where you might want to find more information on your Murphy line, although these are vague to say the least.
There is some stories told that one of the oldest Murphy lines in the U.S., especially those who lived in the Carolinas in the 1700's, had, for various reasons, changed their name to MURHPREE,MURHPREY, MERPHREE. This can cause a lot of grief of course for researchers to are trying to find descendants of these people.
I had a three greats grandmother whom my family always referred to her as "Sary Murhpy".However, her marriage record to Joshua Barnes in Wilkes Co., NC in 1819 shows it spelled as 'MERPHREY'. This part of Wilkes Co. is now Alexander Co. This no doubt had somewhat to do with the lack of spelling techniques at that time. However, there are other sources that indicate she did pronounce her maiden name with an 'r' in it, and there other families of that name that lived in North Carolina when she did.
Her husband Joshua (both their families had ties to what is now Taylorsville, NC in the very early 1800s) had relatives who also migrated to ESTILL CO., KENTUCKY. It is my understanding that there still are descendants of them still in that area, and you might try to see if there are some Murhpy's there, also___and check for the various spellings.
There also were several "Murphy's" as well as a JOHN MURHPY who lived, at least for a while, in Lawrence Co., Indiana, where my direct Barnes' also settled. These pioneers really moved around so much, which makes them as hard to catch as a 'greased pig'!!
pfg