Jeffrey George Murrell (1813)

Born 1813 in Dickson County, Tennessee, USA

Ancestors

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Biography

"Murrell Gang" member.

"Encyclopedia of Arkansas: 'John Andrews Murrell (1806–1844) - Among legendary characters associated with nineteenth-century Arkansas, John Andrews Murrell occupies a prominent place. Counterfeiting and thieving along the Mississippi River, Murrell was only a petty outlaw in a time and place with little law enforcement. However, he became a greater figure in legend following his death... born in Lunenburg County, Virginia, in 1806. His father, Jeffrey Gilliam Murrell, was a respected farmer who, with his wife, Zilpha Murrell, raised eight children. Shortly after John was born, the Murrells and other relations moved to Williamson County, Tennessee. However, Murrell’s father fell on hard times, and his sons, who were wild and errant, began to have trouble with the law. At the age of sixteen, Murrell, along with brothers William Murell and Jeffrey Gilliam Murell Jr., were charged with “riot” (disturbing the peace).'"^[1]

"Ancestry: Rootsweb (G Bonnet); 'Bonnet, Ayo, Bloomgarden, Yoast, and related families (Source: Southwest Louisiana Records, by Father Donald J. Hebert; Hebert Publications: Rayne, LA, 1974 - 1990): [Brother] John Andrews Murrell was a famous highwayman and bandit along the Natchez Trace. Historians differ as to which crimes Murrell was guilty of -- some believe he was a notorious murderer, others no more than a petty thief. However, several (unverified) family stories may be of interest. The story goes that Murrell, and three of his brothers (William, Jeffrey, and James) got their start in crime early, and under the tutelage of none other than their mother, Zilpha (Andrews) Murrell. She was the owner of a roadside inn, and trained her sons to sneak into patrons' rooms at night, loot their bags, and leave silently, and all of this was going on under the nose of her upright husband, Rev. Jeffrey Murrell, who was a Methodist minister... court records of Williamson County, Tennessee, do contain records of a charge that John's brother, Jeffrey Murrell, and Jeffrey's wife Mary "Polly" Staggs, were found guilty of keeping a brothel.'"^[2][3]

"Ancestry: Rootsweb (TN Weakle); 'Bushwackers, Gangs and Nightrider Stories Weakley County, Tennessee': 'John A. Murrell - Notorious Outlaw', compiled by Joe Stout from various sources: From a typewritten paper kept with the Meridian Church books... Tradition says that John Murrell, the notorious horse thief 'preacher' and his band of thieving gangsters, paid old Meridian a visit in the early history of the Church... John A. Murrell was born in Middle Tennessee in 1804. His dad was a Methodist preacher, and he was gone a lot. John did not seem to respect his father, but rather his mother, who taught him and the other children to steal. She would hide from his father what they had stolen... Mark Twain wrote this about John Murrell. "When he traveled, his usual disguise was that of an itinerant preacher; and it is said that his discourses were very 'soul-moving'--interesting the hearers so much that they forgot to look after their horses, which were John A. Murrell was born in Middle Tennessee in 1804. His dad was a Methodist preacher, and he was gone a lot. John did not seem to respect his father, but rather his mother, who taught him and the other children to steal. She would hide from his father what they had stolen. Murrell's name first appeared in the court records of Williamson County in 1823 when he was fined fifty dollars for "riot," at which time three Murrells, one of which was the infamous John A., were bound in a sum of $200 to keep peace... Later on, after moving to Jackson, Tennessee [John] formed a group of outlaws that he called the "clan." Denman Yocum, Esq, was a famous outlaw out west on the Chisholm trail. Squire Yocum was born in Kentucky around 1796. As a fourteen-year-old, he cut his criminal eyeteeth with his father and brothers in the infamous John A. Murrell gang who robbed travelers along the Natchez Trace in western Mississippi.'" ^[4]

"'Life on the Mississippi, by Mark Twain; Harper, 1883, p. 243: 'There is a tradition that Island 37 was one of the principal abiding-places of the once celebrated 'Murel's Gang. This was a colossal combination of robbers, horse-theives, negro-stealers, and counterfeiters, engaged in business along the river some fifty or sixty years ago.'" [sic] ^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ [1]
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