Hardy Murfree (1752 - 1809)

Born 5 Jun 1752 in Murfree's Landing, Hertford, North Carolina

Descendants

Died 6 Apr 1809 at age 56 in Williamson, Tennessee, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: David Campbell [send private message]

Biography

Lieutenant Colonel Hardy Murfree served with 2nd North Carolina Regiment, Continental Army during the American Revolution.

Hardy Murfree is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A083221.

Hardy Murfree is an NSSAR Patriot Ancestor.
NSSAR Ancestor #: P-254273
Rank: Lt. Col

Revolutionary War Colonel and namesake of both Murfreesboro, North Carolina and Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Hardy Murfree was born on 5 Jun 1752 in Murfree's Landing (later Murfreesboro), Hertford County, North Carolina to parents William Murfree and Mary Moore.^[1]

Hardy Murfree enlisted in the 2nd Regt. North Carolina Cont. Troops and was commissioned Captain on 1 Sep 1775, a Major on 1 Feb 1777 and Lt. Col. 1778-82^[2] He was appointed by the Provincial Congress at Hillsborough, Captain 2nd regiment, North Carolina Continental Line 1773. Promoted Major 1777. Lieutenant Colonel 1778. Transferred to First Regiment 1782, when Wayne's Light Infantry Corps of picked men was organized in 1779 he was transferred to that corps. Commanding a battalion. He took part in a number of engagements including the battles of the Brandywine, Germantown, Mammouth, and specially distinguished himself at the storming of Stony Point, where he commanded the detachment that attacked the Fort from the front. He was one of the ten field officers selected by General Washington for the duty of storming Stony Point. He was an original member of the North Carolina Society of Cincinnati.^[3][4]

He married Sally Brickell and they had four children:

1. William Hardy Murfree (1781-1827)
2. Matthias Brickell Murfree (1788-1853)
3. Sally Hardy Murfree (later Maney) (1793-1857)
4. Lavenia Bemberg Murfree (1795-1881)

Sally died on 19 Mar 1802. Hardy Murfree passed away 6 Apr 1809 in Williamson County, Tennessee.

On April 25, 1910, the Colonel Hardy Murfree Chapter was organized at Murfreesboro, Rutherford County, Tennessee. The Chapter was named in honor of Colonel Hardy Murfree, an officer of distinction in the Revolutionary War, conspicuous for his gallantry at the battle of Germantown and Monmouth. he especially distinguished himself at the storming of Stony Point in 1779, where he commanded a battalion of picked men, leading the center in the attack on the fort.

MURFREE, Hardy, soldier, was born in Hertford county, N.C., June 5, 1752; son of William and Mary (Moore) Murfree. His father was a delegate from Hertford county to the convention at Hillsboro, Aug. 21, 1775, and to the congress at Halifax, Nov. 12, 1776, which framed the constitution of the state of North Carolina in force, 1776-1835. He was appointed captain in the 2d North Carolina regiment, Continental line, Col. Robert Howe, Sept. 1, 1775, and served throughout the Revolution, during the early part of the war in the army of General Washington. He was promoted major, Feb. 1, 1777, commanded a North Carolina battalion of picked men at the capture of Stony Point, N.Y., in July, 1779, his "good conduct and intrepidity" being mentioned in General Wayne's letter to President of Congress John Jay, Aug. 10, 1778, and was sent with his command to the South in 1780, to reinforce General Lincoln. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel, and in 1782 was transferred to the 1st North Carolina regiment, Continental line. He retired to his plantation on the Meherrin river near Murfreesboro, N.C., after the war and in 1807 removed to Tennessee and settled on Murfree's fork of West Harpeth river in Williamson county, which land was granted to him for military services during the Revolution. The towns of Murfreesboro, N.C., and Murfreesboro, Tenn. were named in his honor. He was married, Feb. 17, 1780, to Sally, daughter of Matthias Brickell (by his first marriage) of Hertford county, N.C., who was a lieutenant-colonel of North Carolina militia during the Revolution and a member of the provincial congresses at Hillsboro, Aug. 21, 1775, and Halifax, April 4, 1776. Colonel Murfree died in Williamson county, Tenn., April 6, 1809. On the following July 9 a public funeral with Masonic rites, military honors and a memorial oration, was held at his grave in the garden of his late residence in the presence of a great concourse of people. The Nashville Clarion of July 21, 1809, says: "The surrounding hills were covered with vast numbers of people and the awful silence which pervaded such an immense crowd evinced the feelings of the spectators for the memory and virtues of the deceased."^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ First-hand information as remembered by David Campbell, Friday, February 28, 2014.
2. ↑ Wheeler's Sketches of North Carolina, Vol. ii p. 208.
3. ↑ "Roster of soldiers from North Carolina in the American Revolution" published by the North Carolina daughters of the American Revolution, 1932.
4. ↑ Membership Roster and Soldiers The Tennessee Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution 1894-1960, compiled by Edyth Rucker Whitley-Registrar, Tennessee Society, Volume 1, Part 2.
5. ↑ The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans: Volume IIV. M. Murfree, Mary Noailles

• Hardy Murfree on Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
• Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 17 April 2021), memorial page for LTC Hardy Murfree (5 Jun 1752–6 Apr 1809), Find A Grave: Memorial #5063541, citing Murfree Cemetery, Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee, USA ; Maintained by Mary Adkisson (contributor 15584136) .
• Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed 17 Aug 2021), "Record of Hardy Murfree", Ancestor # A083221.