The Nancy Todd-Hannah Todd-James McMurtry Marriage Tradition
and the
Letters of Dr. William McMurtry (b1802) of
May 2003
A tradition in the McMurtry family states that James
McMurtry who came from
Let use look first at the documentary evidence, then the family traditions in the Lusk-Hays family that indicate that Hannah Todd was the wife of James McMurtry, then the letters of Dr. William McMurtry and notes in the Emilie Todd Helm Papers relative to Nancy Todd being the wife of James McMurtry.
Documentary Evidence
Hannah was the wife of James McMurtry and the mother of all but the two eldest children. This implies a previous marriage of James.
The documentary support for this is that Hannah is given as the first name of the widow of James McMurtry in his 1772 probate record and Hannah in a 1775 bill of sale to her son Samuel mentions her “other children … James, Elizabeth, Allice, Mary and Ann”. She does not mention the two eldest children of James McMurtry, namely, Joseph and William, presumably because they are not her other children and because they are children of a former wife. This is all the documentary evidence. No mention of a Nancy McMurtry or other name of the first wife has been found in the public records.
Hays-Lusk Family Traditions
The Hays-Lusk traditions indicate that Hannah, James McMurtry’s last wife, as a Todd.
By way of background, we know from the bill of sale above
that James McMurtry and Hannah his wife had a daughter Elizabeth. From the letters of William McMurtry, a
great-grandson of James McMurtry and from other sources, we know that Elizabeth
McMurtry married Hugh Lusk, came to
I have two notes found in the Emilie Todd Helm Papers that suggest that Elizabeth (McMurtry) Lusk was the daughter of Hannah Todd.
One note says that W. H. Hays said his mother’s mother was a McMurtry and that her mother was a Todd. The other note is as follows:
“Hannah Todd m _____ McMurtry
A son
John McMurtry m to Mary Hutton and he was killed in Harmer’s Defeat in 1790. His wife mar Col. Lewis Rose
a Nancy McMurtry
mar Lusk
Her dau Elizabeth Lusk
Mar ___ Hays, father of Joseph Hays.
Mother of Mrs. Lusk was Hannah Todd”
Putting aside for the moment the errors in this second note, the two notes have a similar family chain: a female Todd marrying a McMurtry, having a dau McMurtry who marries a Hays and has children Joseph Hays and W. H. Hays. The two errors are that (1) Hannah Todd mentioned in the first line of the second note was not the mother of John McMurtry and (2) it was Elizabeth McMurtry that married a Lusk, not a Nancy McMurtry.
Making allowance for these errors, we could construct a chain along with other family traditions: James and Hannah Todd being the parents of Elizabeth McMurtry who married Hugh Lusk. Elizabeth and Hugh Lusk being the parents of Mary, Elizabeth and Nancy Lusk. Elizabeth Lusk marrying Mr. Hays and having children Joseph and W.H. Hays.
Documentary sources can also help us to infer the date of Hannah’s marriage to James McMurtry. We know that her son James McMurtry died in 1777 and had his estate settled in court; hence, he must have been born in or prior to August 1756. So, Hannah’s marriage would have had to have been in or prior to 1755.
This would also fit nicely with the Hannah Todd, daughter of William Todd, who was born in 1731/2 and hence would be 23 in 1755.
The only argument against this Hannah being Hannah Todd
daughter of William was that William Todd’s
Nevertheless, the family tradition was corroborated by two Hays family members and it would be reasonable to assume that it is probable that Hannah Todd was the wife of James McMurtry.
We do not yet know who wrote this note or what the sources were. But one source may have been Myra McMurtry’s letter to Mrs. Helm probably in 1872, stating that Hannah Todd was the mother of John McMurtry’s wife, not John McMurtry. The author of the note seems to have scrambled this into Hannah Todd being the mother of John McMurtry.
McMurtry-Todd Traditions
The two sources indicating Nancy Todd was the mother of
William and Joseph McMurtry who came to
One is a note in the Emilie Todd Helm papers of unknown authorship and the other are the letters of Dr. William McMurtry (1802-1892), the great-grandson of James McMurtry.
Note in Emilie Todd Helm Papers
“David Todd had a sister Nancy Todd married to Joseph McMurtry and a sister Elizabeth Todd married Sam’l McMurtry of North Carolina.
Nancy Todds’ children
Children Elizabeth McMurtry mar Lusk
Joseph McMurtry
William McMurtry
Elizabeth Todds’ children
John McMurtry
whose son was Dr Joseph McMurtry of
Dr. William McMurtry’s Letters
Dr. William McMurtry (1802-1892) was the son of John McMurtry and Catherine Rose and the grandson of Joseph McMurtry and Rosannah Campbell and the great-grandson of James McMurtry. Since his mother was Catherine Rose, daughter of Lewis Rose who married Capt. John McMurtry’s widow in 1794, he also learned much about the family of Capt John whose origins were in Rockbridge County, VA.
He has been considered the principal source of the statement Nancy Todd was the wife of James McMurtry and the mother of Joseph and William McMurtry. In evaluating his statements, it becomes apparent that he has been in correspondence with other family historians and has been influenced by them. In view of the pattern of similar errors introduced into the family history, it is difficult to fully accept his statements.
The key sentences of Dr. William McMurtry’s 1887 letter is:
“Joseph was the eldest son of James McMurtry and Nancy Todd of Rock Bridge Co., Va. (Nancy Todd was great grand aunt of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln.)
Is there any evidence that this exchange influenced what he reports? Yes, there is. Dr. McMurtry’s rendition of the early history of the family is almost identical to the history related in an 1895 letter from Dr. S.S. Todd to John McMurtry of Marshall, Indiana:
Dr. Todd’s letter:
“Your great-grandfather Capt John McMurtry of Shakertown was son of Samuel and Joseph your gr-gr-grandfather was father of Samuel. He (Joseph Sen.) was a Scotchman, but came to America from Wales. He was a manufacturer of Morocco leather in Philadelphia and died there. His children as far as I have been able to learn were John, James, Samuel, father of Capt John of Shakertown, Joseph and Sarah, who married James Young. … Samuel, Capt John McM’s father moved to North Carolina, but I believe he afterwards moved back to Rockbridge Co., VA and died there. “
Dr. McMurtry’s letter:
“James McMurtry of Va. was the son of Joseph McMurtry, who immigrated from Wales, Great Britton to Philadelphia 1734. He was of Scotch ancestry. Samuel, another son of Joseph of Philadelphia immigrated to North Carolina and from thence into Tennessee. He was the father of Capt John McMurtry of KY. Joseph McMurtry established in Philadelphia the manufacture of Morocco in which business he continued thru life. He had other sons and daughters, whose families and descendents yet remain in Philadelphia and in the adjacent states.”
Both these letters have virtually the identical view of the early history. Dr. McMurtry adds the 1734 date and has Samuel moving from North Carolina to Tennessee whereas Dr. Todd mentions no 1734 date and has Samuel returning to Virginia after his North Carolina sojourn. However, these differences are small compared to the basic assertions that Samuel McMurtry was a brother of James McMurtry, that Capt John was the son of Samuel McMurtry, that the family origin was Welsh, and that the manufacture of Morocco leather was the occupation of the family progenitor.
The difficulty here is that we know that parts of this tradition are inaccurate. Samuel McMurtry of Augusta County, VA was not the brother of James McMurtry of Bedford Co., VA and we know that Samuel was the brother of Capt. John, not his father. Since the assertion of brotherhood and fatherhood were inaccurate, these assertions could not have been family traditions passed down through generations. They must have been an error introduced into correspondence and circulated amongst these different family historians.
We can not say whether Dr. Todd provide this information to Dr. William McMurtry or whether Dr. McMurtry provided this information to Dr. Todd or whether a third party provided it to both of them. But it is apparent these two stories have a common source.
I suspect that this common source was a third party, possibly an agent hired by Dr. Todd, who inspected the Augusta and Bedford County records and made partial abstracts of the data. These data would have shown five McMurtrys as adults in the 1750s, marrying, buying land and perhaps a court appearance or militia service. The records were: (1) Sarah McMurtry’s marriage contract of 1751, (2) John and Samuel McMurtry’s land purchase in 1759, (3) Joseph McMurtry’s marriage in 1759, and (4) some reference to James McMurtry, either the 1755 court record, “James McMurdie witness from Bedford” and/or the reference in Henings Statutes that James McMurtry served in the militia of Bedford in 1758 . These records could have easily been interpreted to imply that these five (Samuel, John, Joseph, James and Sarah) were siblings. This would explain the incorrect assertion of Dr. Todd that they were siblings and would explain the incorrect assertion of Dr. McMurtry that James and Samuel were brothers.
In sum, it appears that Dr. McMurtry was influenced by two sources: (1) one which made the incorrect conclusion that Samuel and James McMurtry were brothers based on an incorrect synthesis of the family relationships using public records of Augusta County and (2) another source which explicitly linked David Todd, ancestor of Mary Todd Lincoln, with a supposed sister who was supposed to be the ancestor of Joseph McMurtry, Dr. William McMurtry’s grandfather. Given all the errors in both these sources, the notion that Nancy Todd was the first wife of James McMurtry seems only a possibility and needs to be substantiated by good quality family tradition or by documentary sources.
The reasons to accept Dr. McMurtry’s assertion about Nancy Todd as his great-grandmother:
However, for the reasons stated above, it appears more likely that Dr. McMurtry accepted traditions passed to him.
In addition to the arguments put forward above, we note:
One of the interesting possibilities that would explain this family tradition is a tradition that Dr. Todd introduced. He claimed, according to Myra McMurtry, that William Todd of Augusta County, VA had three daughters that married 1750-1760 – one to a McMurtry, one to a McQuiddy and one to a McKee. There is a possibility that this tradition was a confusion of a family structure in which a Todd (Lydia Todd) had three daughters – one married James McMurtry 1795, one married Wm McQuiddy and one remained a McKee. This tradition seems to have been transposed back a generation and this tradition forced onto the facts. Wm McQuiddy’s father David McQuiddy married Mary Gaines in 1752, but McQuiddy historians knowing the three daughters tradition, decided that Mary Gaines must have been born a Todd and a widow by a Mr. Gaines. They report that Mary Gaines was Mary Todd, daughter of William Todd. Perhaps the same projecting back in time happened with Nancy Todd, i.e. assuming her to be the daughter of William Todd that married a McMurtry.
At this point, this is all speculation. All that can clearly be said is that there is reason to doubt the traditions of Dr. William McMurtry relative to the siblings and parenthood of James McMurtry and that we have no documentary evidence to support or deny his assertion about Nancy Todd. Perhaps further research will uncover the evidence needed.
Letters of Dr. William McMurtry (1802-1892)
(Ed note: Below is a partial abstract of this letter showing the breadth of his knowledge of his grandfather’s family, the families of his grandfather’s brothers and sisters who came to Kentucky, and what he understood to be the connection with the Capt John McMurtry family. In 1887, he had not yet engaged in the 1890 correspondence with Lyman Draper of Wisconsin (abstracted also in this essay) and had not learned of the birth date of his grandfather, nor the first name of his grandmother. However, it is clear is this letter that he had corresponded with the Todd family historians in that he has the incorrect tradition of Samuel McMurtry being the father of Capt John McMurtry and the brother of James McMurtry. He does not seem to be aware of the Bedford County residence of his ancestors, but assumes they were from Rockbridge as was the family of Capt John McMurtry
“Dr. Wm. McMurtry, the original (sp?) of this photograph was the 2nd. son of John McMurtry and Catharine Rose, his wife and was born in Garrard Co., Ky. Aug 15, 1802.”
Catherine Rose was the third child of Capt Lewis Rose and was born in Mercer County, Ky, Oct. 22, 1780. Capt Lewis Rose….
Capt Lewis Rose married the widow of Capt John McMurtry 1792. They had one son David, b 1794, a very promising youth but died in his 19th year.
John McMurtry was the 3rd. son of Joseph McMurtry of Lexington, Ky. and Miss Campbell, his wife, and was born in Rock Bridge Co.,Va., 1767 and died in Harrodsburg, Ky. in 1812 of bilious fever.
Joseph’s other children were-
Samuel, who settled in Ohio
James married Miss Bryant and settled in Harrison Co.,Ky.
William married Miss Hogan and settled in Fayette Co., Ky
David married and settled in Scott Co.,Ky
Levi married and settled in Sabine Co., Mo.
Nancy married John Irwin and settled in Fayette Co. Ky.
Joseph was the eldest son of James McMurtry and Nancy Todd of Rock Bridge Co., VA (Nancy Todd was great grand aunt of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln). Their other children were-
William who married and settled in Greene Co., Ky 1778, He was the father of Joseph McMurtry of Elizabethtown, Ky
Stephen, who married his cousin, Polly Lusk of Hardin Co. and
Price McMurtry of Mo. And also the great grandfather of Joseph Haycraft, Esq. Of Owensboro Ky.
The daughters of James McMurtry who migrated to Ky. were Elizabeth, who married Hugh Lusk of Hardin Co, Ky. She was the grandmother of Hon James W. Hayes of Elizabethtown, Ky. and R.H. Hayes of Louisville, Ky. Alzira who married a Creighton of Scott Co., Ky and another (name not known) married a Man named Hargrove. Joseph McMurtry immigrated to Lexington, Ky 1778 with his family and died there near the close of the 18th century.
James McMurtry of Va. was the son of Joseph McMurtry, who immigrated from Wales, Great Britton to Philadelphia 1734. He was of Scotch ancestry. Samuel, another son of Joseph of Philadelphia immigrated to North Carolina and from thence to Tennessee. He was the father of Capt John McMurtry of Ky. Joseph McMurtry established in Philadelphia the manufacture of Morocco in which business he continued thru life. He had other sons and daughters, whose families and descendents yet remain in Philadelphia and in the adjacent states.
In Wales, our name was written McMurtrie, which was changed by Samuel and John when they left Philadelphia for the south to McMurtry. The Wales form is still retained as I believe by the Philadelphia branch.
…
Signed – Dr. Wm. McMurtry Dec 3, 1887
It may be well for me right here to inform you that I am a grandson of Capt Lewis Rose and a step grandson of the widow of Capt John McMurtry who after the death of her husband became the wife of my grandfather and I was born Aug 15th 1802 consequently an now in my 88th year of my age.
In reply to your request permit me to say that Capt John McMurtry was born in North Carolina in the year AD 1746 and was the son of Samuel McMurtry and the grandson of Joseph McMurtry who immigrated from Wales, Great Britain to Philadelphia in the year AD 1733, where he and a portion of his descendants continued to reside during their natural lives.
Capt John, upon his arrival in the state of manhood wandered into Rockbridge Co, VA where his uncle James McMurtry resided and there met Miss Mary Hutton with whom he contracted and consummated a marriage AD 1772. In AD 1777 he in company with two of his cousins, namely Joseph my grandfather and his brother William and their families immigrated to KY. Joseph settling on a farm two miles NW of Lexington, Capt John constructed a fortification upon the sight now occupied by the Town of the Shakers in Mercer County which was then known as McMurtrys Station. Upon which tract of land he continued to reside and farm during his life. William settled in Green County Ky pursued the life of a farmer and raised sons and daughters.
Capt John McMurtry was eminently patriotic and ready to serve his country upon every call for its defenses. He organized a military company of home guard in his district of which he was elected the Captain and in the command of which he was continued until his death. He was likewise a devout Christian a member and active worker in the Cane Run Presbyterian church of which he preformed the duties of Elder from its organization until the time of his death. He was slain upon the battlefield of Harmar's defeat AD1790.
At the time of his death, his family consisted of his widow and eight children namely James Alexander, John William Samuel, Joseph, Sally and Polly. One of James sons became Lieutenant Governor of Illinois prior to 1852.
Joseph was a prominent physician of Paris, KY 1832 and died there of cholera in that year. Capt John McMurtry was the prisoner whose life was spared as the …. related by Judge Robinson in Collins History of KY at page 289 vol 2 and also the devoted husband returning from captivity to his confiding wife. And Capt Lewis Rose the unsuccessful but eventually successful wooer in 1792. Two years after Capt. McMurtry was known to have been slain on the battlefield of Harmers defeat 1790. The above narrative contains all that I know of the life and actions of Capt John McMurtry either written or traditional except what may be found in Collins History of KY at pages 552 vol 2. Wm. McMurtry
Your .. the .. inst, as also of the 15th, at hand, as likewise the Vol of early history .. of your State, for which please accept my very hearty thanks. I possess no knowledge whatever of the county in North Carolina where Saml McMurtry, the father of Capt John resided and where Capt John was born.
Of the actions … of Gen George Rogers Clark, I know nothing except what you may find recorded by Collins in his History of Kentucky. He was a brother of Mrs. Colonel Richard Co Anderson of Revolutionary memory and the uncle of brig Gen Robert Anderson of Fort Sumter notoriety, see Collin His Ky.
I know but two Suttons…
Blue Licks…
This incidents following the Blue Licks battle and defeat of which you sent me an extract, is literally true, as related to their families and others after their return home from their imprisonment. Capt. John McMurtry related (as my memory serves me, told to me by my mother) that the night after the battle, he found himself and several others of whose names he knew not, prisoners of war. That the Indians painted them all black as the signal of torture and death… These five prisoners were stripped and placed in a line on a log- Capt McMurtry being at one extremity of the .. row. The cruel captors beginning at the other end commenced the slaughter by one of the braves advancing in front and raising the captor to his feet and his arms to right angles with his body while another with a long knife, advanced in the rear and finished the execution by plunging the knife to the hilt in the heart, one by one: but when they came to the only survivor, though they raised him up, also drew the bloody knife to strike under the uplifted arm, they paused and after a long pow-wow spared his life- why he never knew. The next day he was placed under the same guard with Capt Rose and Jesse Yocum.
Yocum was the individual person who ran the gauntlet with McM and rose and performed the daring and amusing feat- substantially true as your extract related it, told by Capt. Rose to his family and others and recorded in Collins History of KY. I could relate to you the interesting narrative of their captivity, their miraculous, escape from being burned at the stake, after having been bound to the state and the fagots collected for the purpose- the gauntlets that they were forced to run in the villages through which they passed for the amusement of their women and children, until they arrived at Detroit, when they were delivered into the hands of the British, if you wished me to do so. I could also inform you of the campaign service they performed after the Blue Licks affair should you wish.
The reason for my not doing so in my former letter was that the entire narrative in my possession was communicated to Collins previously to the publication of his History of 1878. The foregoing completes I believe all that is required in answer to your two last communications.
Should you require my reply to any subject matter of interest or concern to you, you have only to command me and my response will follow with the greatest pleasure. May He ever bless you with perfect health and length of years that you may compete your laudable ambitious desires for the benefit to posterity. Yours most truly Wm McMurtry
The incident following the Blue Lick battle and defeat of which you sent me an extract from Collins Ky ii, 662,663 is literally true as related to their families and others after their return home from their imprisonment. Capt john McMurtry related (as my memory serves me, told to me by my mother) that after the battle he knew himself and several others of whose names he knew not, prisoners of war; that the Indians painted them all black as the signal of torture (and other of death LCD) and death to all. These five prisoners were stripped and placed in a line of a log, Capt McMurtry being at one extremity of the devoled (?) row. The cruel captors beginning at the other end, commenced the slaughter by one of the brave advancing in front and raising the captive to his feet and his arms to right angles to his body while another with a long knife advanced in the rear and finished the execution by plunging the knife to its hilt in the heart, one by one; but when they came to the only survivor, though they raised him up also, and drew the bloody knife to strike under the uplifted arm – they paused; and after a long pow-wow spared his life: why, he never knew. The next day he was placed under the same guard as Capt Rose and Jesse Yocum.
Yocum was the individual person who ran the gauntlet with McMurtry and Rose and performed the daring and amazing feat substantially true (Collins 11, 662) as your extract relates it, told by Capt Rose to his family and others and recorded in Collins’ History of Kentucky.
I could relate to you the interesting narrative of their captivity, their miraculous escape from being bound at the stake, after having been bound to the stake and the fagots collected for the purpose, the gauntlets that they were forced to run in the villages through which they passed for the amusement of their women and children until they arrived at Detroit, where they were delivered into the hands of the British, if you wish me to do so.
I could also inform you of the campaign service they performed after the Blue Lick affair should you wish.
The reason for my not doing so in my former letter was that the entire narrative in my possession was communicated to Collins previously to the publication of his History in 1878.
The foregoing completes all I believe that is required in answer to your two last communications. Will respond with the greatest pleasure to any other subject matter of interest or concern to you.
Dear Sir,
Your kind favor of 2inst at hand, in relation to the narrative of the captivity of McMurtry, Rose and Yocum which you spoke allow me to make the following remarks:
The published narrative of said captivity found in Collins History of KY vol 2, page 66 embrace in substance all in relation thereto except that I have heretofore communicated that I am able to furnish. In verification, however, of the truth of Collins narrative I can say that I knew of my grandfather Capt Rose spending a few days with Gen R.B. McAfee at his country residence three miles NW of Harrodsburg KY where and at which time he dictated the Biographical Sketch of his life which was furnished with an obituary by McAfee and published in the Harrodsburg Central Watchtower, Feb 28, 1829. From which Collins extracted and together from tradition furnished by Rev. Aaron A. Hogue a grandson of Capt McMurtry 1871 particulars in the life of Capt McMurtry which together make p the narrative of Collins the truth of which my be relied upon.
Jesse Yocum was a farmer and resided all his life near Mayville Washington County, where he was living with numerous family in the early part of the present century. His age I know not but believe it to have been ten years younger than either Rose or McMurtry. I feel quite sure that John Locum of whom you mentioned was a descendant of his Post office in Maysville, Washington Co., KY.
I have no knowledge of Bradshaw of whom you made inquiry…
William McMurtry
You kind reply of the 19th inst to my communication of late date at hand. Nothing at this time afford me more pleasure than the opportunity furnished by your interrogatories, or reviving the reminiscences years gone by. A task of love.
Rev. A.A. Hogue is not living and the copy of the Central Watchtower, which he possessed, was furnished to Collins. I have no copy of said obituary I will however refer you to parties at Harrodsburg, KY who will as I believe supply you with it and other historical information of that section if requested by mail. Mention my references…
They cautiously but quickly descended the gradual but exposed slope of the second and main bank of the creek to the west of the Trail taken by the main body of the routed with the hopes of avoiding the foe. When arriving on the top of the bank, an open ford with trees of large size only here and there toward one of which they directed there course with quickened pace, running near to each other when the crack of a rifle rang through the forest and McBride fell to rise no more. Rose increased his speed, keeping the large tree steadfast in view arriving at which and throwing himself behind the same cast a backward glance the same Indian half bent over his victim in the act of taking his scalp. Quick as thought his trusty rifle was brought to a rest by sided of the tree with knee resting on the ground and unerring aim the trigger was sprung. The stalwart save warrior fell dead across his victim. Not waiting to reload, Rose renewed his retreat with redoubled celerity to the distance of a mile or more when suddenly he was brought to a halt by four swarthy warriors who obstructed his path and demanded his gun or his life, when he handed up his gun. They blew in the muzzle and finding it empty they returned it to him and marched him back the way he came,. Observing J McBride and the dead Indian some distance to the side of the course they were travel ling, they turned aside to examine the bodies which created in Rose no little alarm fearing that they should reasonably conclude by finding his gun empty that he was the slayer of the Indian and dispatch him upon the spot. Not so, for although they turned them over and examined the wound, they deemed not to suspect him in the. And went on. That night they placed him under the guard with McMurtry and Yocum. Of the 7 prisoners taken 4 were killed by the Indians in a most barbarous manner as I have related to you.. and the other 3 Lewis rose, John McMurtry and Jesse Yocum were packed to the extent of their strength with the spoils of the day.. With their captors they were hurried next day across the Ohio river at the mouth of Eagle Creek 7 miles below Limestone creek *(Maysville) thence passed Upper and lower Sandusky and foot of the Miami Rapids (afterwards fort Meigs) unto Detroit where they arrived on Sept 4 and were delivered in the hands of the British. The above is a quotation from Collins His of KY with which you are doubtless familiar as likewise the remainder of the narration on same pages. I can add nothing thereto of my own knowledge from tradition. I am not in possession of the names of any of the Indian villages through which the captors with their captives passes, nor the name of any chief connected therewith.
I am not a little surprised at learning that the children of Capt McMurtry should ever have entertained notion of feeling for Capt Rose (their step-father)_other than that of kindness and affection of a parental nature, a lot of which he exhibited towards them and their father in an unmistakable and eminent degree from their first acquaintance to the day of his death. No Sir, Capt Rose was a representative specimen of the honest German, honest, truthful, faithful to these promises, steadfast in friendship. A devout Christian.
In contradiction to such false charges, I will relate in as few words as possible the true condition of the two men and their families during the 8 years from 1782 to 1791. The time of Harmers defeat. It is not denied the McMurtry and Rose marched home at the same time from their captivity of one year and 9 days on the 28th day of August 1783. Rose’ wife was now living mark you and my mother was born during the year 1782 and her father lived to bear a daughter and a son after her birth. I am not in possession of the record of my Grandmother Rose’s death but I can put it earlier than 1787. Therefore, my grandfather rose was not a widower earlier than that date. It is nowhere asserted that McMurtry was again in captivity after the blue Licks affair. You see at once the fallacy of the charge that rose was not quire pleased with McMurtry’s return from Captivity. Rose was in the expedition with Benj Logan against the Shawnees on the Miami in 1786 and again after the death of Capt McMurtry and previous to his marriage with his widow he was on the campaign in 1791 with Gen Chas Scott against the towns of the Wea Indians on the Wabash in which 32 warrior were slain and 58 prisoners taken.
Capt Rose’s marriage with McMurtry ‘s widow was in 1792. His age then was 43 and hers perhaps 40. He had 6 children and she 7 and they had one son born to them in 1793. Now I do not doubt from what Dr. Wm S. McMurtry told upon that the McMurtry children after their father’s death was not altogether ..with Rose for encouraging their father to go on Harmer’s Campaign and much more displeased when they learned of his purpose of marriage to their mother, children scarcely ever are willing for their widowed parent to remarry.
Rose and McMurtry were eminently patriotic and it was natural for them to believe that is was the duty of one or both of them to go on Harmers campaign and consulted with each other upon the subject. Thus, Rose would say, my wife is dead I have 3 motherless children under 8 years old and you, McMurtry have a mother to take care of yours and 3 sons nearly grown. Therefore you can be better spared from home than I. We presume that McMurtry saw the point and went and never returned. This offending hath this extent and nothing more.
Dr. W.S. McMurtry’s father was one of the eldest boys, left on the old homestead where rose married their mother and took her to live at his home, leaving them to work the old place on their own account alone. It is not the marriage therefore that those boys should have been rather hostile to Rose whom they may have charged with being rather pleased than otherwise at their fathers non-return.
In relations to the consanguinity of my branch of the McMurtry family, I have only this to say, that my great grandmother Nancy nee Todd wife of my (ed: he wrote great great grandfather but crossed out one of the greats) great grandfather James McMurtry of RockBridge County, Virginia was an aunt of col John Levi and Robert Todd pioneers of KY.
My grandfather Joseph McMurtry married a Miss Campbell of VA and immigrated from Rock Bridge Co, VA to Lexington KY with his family in the AD 1777 when my father was 9 years old (ed. Lyman Draper has a note that Lexington was not settled ..1779).
I believe the forgoing concludes all that I have to say in answer to your
interrogatories which I have endeavored to do to the best of my knowledge and belief.
(not abstracted yet)
I never heard of such name as “McMuttry” in KY and suppose the person referred to was my grandfather Joseph McMurtry of Lexington KY a pioneer of 1776 or 7. He was a son of James McMurtry and Nancy Todd (aunt of Col John and General Robert and Levi Todd of early Ky pioneer memory). First cousin of Capt John McMurtry and was born in Rock Bridge Co, Va about the year 1737. married a Miss Campbell of VA and immigrated from thence to Lexington KY with his wife and several children AD 1777. Purchased a farm within the immediate suburbs where he continued to reside during his life, following the vocation of a farmer. His life was prolonged to near his three score and ten years, but more definitely this deponent sayeth not.
In notes accompanying this letter, Draper has noted Capt Jos McMurtry serviced in Clark’s Shawnee Campaign of 1780 and other notes. Also, he reported a Letter of 1791: “Extract of letter from Capt Joseph McMurtry dated Fort Scott, 12 April 1791, “The Indians daily make (sign?) abt our garrison; five of my rangers yesterday fell in with seven .. six .. this post on the Ohio. A skirmish ensued in which our people kept their ground capturing 4 horses and come colts stolen from Loudons(?) station on Drennons Lick water, and took seven blankets ..kettles and .. wounding two of the savages badly.”
You asked me in your previous letter if I could tell you of a Capt Joseph McMurtry. I told you that there was only three pioneers McMurtry of Ky Capt John, Joseph and his brother William. The latter two were never on any campaign or engaged in any personal encounter with the Indians but the former was in many and was at last slayn on the field of Harmers defeat 1890. I entertain no doubt whatever but he was the McMurtry instead of Joseph which was the result of a mistake in his Christian name of Joseph instead of John. I do remember to have heard that he on some conflict was slightly wounded in a finger but if in the body it was equally slight. My grandfather was Joseph of Lexington Ky whose mother was Nancy Todd, aunt of Coln John Robert and Levi. I know nothing of the other names of which you make inquiry
I will open a correspondence with a cousin now of Lexington KY who will furnish me with the dates of birth and death of our grandfather and any other facts relating to him of interest. I am also in search of traditional knowledge in relation to Mrs. Sharp’s captivity all of which I will commence as soon as obtained.
There was an early settler of Mercer co by the name of Wood who died before I arrived to the age of observation. I only know that he lived near the Shaker village a wealthy farmer his wife dying. He married a widow Gordon. Two of his stepsons John became a lawyer and the other a Physician whom I knew when a boy. He also had a son by his second wife, Jefferson who read law in Harrodsburg in1820 while I was reading medicine.
I am now to furnish you an extract from a letter written by James McMurtry, the second son of Capt Joseph McMurtry to his nephew John McMurtry of Lexington KY now decd. Sent me by the gr grandson E.P. McMurtry dated: “Cynthiana, Harrison Co, KY May 18,1847 to Mr. John McMurtry
“Dear Nephew,
There must be a very great difference in the appearance of Lexington at this time and the time when I first saw it. In January 1786, I went with father and some others out to a buffalo hunting and we went or passed through Lexington and I do not recollect of any building other than common cabins. Now behold the difference that few years can make.
Your grandfather Joseph McMurtry moved to Ky with his family, the fall or autumn of 1781 and settled in a station called McMurtrys station on the south side of the Ky river, a little above Shaker Ferry. It was quite troublesome times with the Indians for 2 or 3 years.
The Indians in them times would wish no better sport than to come in the steal the white peoples horses, kill scattering.., attack stations and sometime kill and take all that was in them etc. About the first of the month April 1786 your grandfather McMurtry moved and settled on his land on cane run about three miles from Lexington the same that he lived on when he died. Joseph McMurtry departed this life on the 21st of Dec 1800 in the 49th year of his age. Your grandmother Rosanna McMurtry nee Campbell departed this life on third of June 1791 in the 39th year of her age. Affectionately, James McMurtry”
My correspondent, E.P.McMurtry informs me that his mother is a descendant of the family of Clarks of which Gen Geo Rogers Clark belongs and if you will write to ..Bodley of Louisville Ky he can give almost any information you may want concerning Gen Geo Rogers Clark.
I have written to a member of the old Sharp family on salt River near the town of Salvisa, Mercer co for items concerning the capture by the Indians of a Mrs. Sharp but have as yet recd no reply.
The hope of getting the desired information of the time of the death of Mrs. Sharp as was promised by Dr. W.S. McMurtry but as yet, he has failed to respond.
The post office address of E.P.McMurtry is Lexington, KY. His mother’s maiden name was Clark.
To myself I have the most abundant reason to rejoice in the most thankful and acknowledgements in prayer and supplication to the Omnipotent for my happy enjoyment of perfect health reasonable prosperity and domestic felicity to the very verge of life. May our Heavenly Father bless and preserve you and yours in my prayers while I remain ever yours William McMurtry.
Notes on correspondence:
Dr. William Sharp McMurtry of Los Gatos wrote to Draper in Jan 1890 but seems to have had little information.
William McMurtry of Oakland wrote several letters to Draper between Feb 1890 and July 1891 and Draper seems to have responded immediately with more questions after each letter received by him.
A curious turn of events resulted in him knowing more about the Capt John McMurtry side of the family that his Joseph McMurtry side of the family. This was because his father John McMurtry died when William was a young boy, but his mother was a daughter of Capt Lewis Rose who had married Mary Todd Hutton McMurtry after John McMurtry’s death. Hence, William was probably very close to all the Rose and McMurtry cousins on that side of the family.
He was born in 1802 and didn’t go to California until 1849; so he would have known the Hogues and Sharps and McMurtrys and Roses.
(I insert here a letter of Dr. William Sharp McMurtry and a note on another letter of Dr. William S. McMurtry sent to me by Dr. David McMurtry.)
In fact, my recollection of the traditions that you inquire about is so indefinite that I doubt if I could give you anything valuable. But I will be greatly pleased to have you call upon me before you leave this state when I can tell you what I know, better than I can write. Of late years I now almost quit writing to my most intimate friends as it is quite a task even to write an ordinary letter. From your allusion to Capt John McMurtry’s captivity also that of my grandmother Sharp family I think it probably that you have all of the facts that I could give you.
This is the worst winter since ‘49 when I came to this coast. You say you once lived in Miss. I located in Benton Yazoo Co, the spring of 1848 and practiced medicine there till the beginning of the Mexican war when I went into the army and joined the Texan rangers under Jack Hays. after the war was over I came to this state with the usual experience of the early gold diggers. I am now old and dilapidated I will soon be ferried over the river.
These notes suggest to me that Dr. Draper had been influenced in his thinking by correspondence with Dr. Todd or some other Todd historian.
I would also note that Dr. Draper must have had other correspondence from Dr. William S. McMurtry discussing feelings of the children towards Lewis Rose because Dr. William McMurtry defends Lewis Rose against an attack that he alludes to in one of his letters.