Individual Details

According to Crespo, John married Frances "Fanny" Stanton who was born 7 Jul 1798 in Pendleton District. They would have married about 1818, given age of son William in 1850.

I believe the following deeds to be probably be those of this John Murphy, although there was an earlier John present in Pendleton District. The earlier records refer to John's wife as Sarah, not Frances or Fanny, but no wife is mentioned in these first two abstracts:
6 Oct 1818 Nedom Briant to John Murphrey for $300, 100 acres on Big Beaverdam Crk, on William Dunkins line to include the plantation where Briant lives. Roger Murphey & John Briant witnessed & Roger Murphey made oath 9 Dec 1820. The deed was not recorded until 9 Sep 1825
16 Dec 1826 John Murphey sold to Francis King for $100, 100 acres on waters of Big Creek, branch of Big Beaverdam. Benjamin Spearman & ___ Salmon were witnesses. Benjamin Spearman made oath in Jan of 1830 and the deed was record 1 Feb 1830 in DB S, p.544
These are certainly this John Murphy's
18 Jul 1831 Isaiah Simpson sold John Murphey 155 acres on the Saluda where Simpson was living. One of the bounds was conditional line between Jesse & John Tucker. John Townes & William W. Townes witnessed; John proved on 18 Nov 1831 and recorded 3 Mar 1833.
16 Feb 1849 John Murphy sold to William W. Welborn [son-in-law, husband of Letty] for $175, 35 acres, part of his land on the Saluda River. Mentions mouth of Wm Welborn's Spring branch. Wit: John D. King, Charles B. Murphy [a son of John]. King made oath on 1 Mar 1849 and deed recorded 22 Dec 1853 in DB B-2/p.2. [John D. King later viewed the lands for division among the heirs of John Murphy. There was a total of 414 acres at that time; perhaps John also had a state grant.]

1820 Census, Pendleton SC, p.195 [online]
John Murphy 1m -10 [William]; 1m 16-26 [John]
1f 16-26 [Frances]

1830 Census, Anderson SC, p.158 [online]
John Murphy 1m -5 [Charles]; 1m 5-10 [?]; 1m 10-15 [William]; 1m 30-40 [John]
2f -5 [Katharine & Letty]; 1f 5-10 [Nancy]; 1f 30-40 [Frances]
[There was perhaps a son who did not live to adulthood.]

1840 Census, Anderson SC
John Murphy: 2m under 5 (Franklin & Thomas), 1m 5-10 (Matthew), 1m 10-15 (Charles), 1m 15-20 (???), 1m 20-30 (William), 1m 40-50 (John)
2f age 10-15 (Katharine & Letty), 1f 15-20 (Nancy), 1f 40-50 (Frances)
5 slaves

Apparently John remained in Anderson Co for several years after the others moved to Georgia. At some time between 1843 and 1850, he joined his parents in Cass Co.

1850 Census, Cass Co GA, p.186b, Household 1224, next to parents.:
John Murphy, age 53, b. "Kenn" [ the abbreviation actually looks like "Kenn" even when compared to "Penn" later or "Tenn" in other places - John was likely born in SC]
All the rest of household born in South Carolina: Frances age 52, William age 30, Katherine age 26, Charles age 22, Mathew age 18, Louis age 16, Franklin age 14, Jefferson age 9, Christian age 7, Male.
[Nancy married John Elrod who along with William was said to be administrator of John's estate. There was also a daughter Letty who had died before her father died in 1858.]

John Murphy was in the Agricultural Schedule for Cass County, taken on 11 Oct 1850. He had 125 acres of improved farm land, 195 acres unimproved, for a cash value of $3000. He had $150 worth of farm implements. John had 4 horses, 2 mules, 4 milk cows and 3 other head of cattle, 10 sheep, and 40 pigs. Value of his livestock - $417. He had harvested 45 bushels of wheat, 2000 bushels of corn, 100 bushels of oats, 4 bales of cotton and 50 bushels of sweet potatoes. He had made 100 lbs of butter. He estimated the value of animals slaughtered at $100.


Katherine Murphy is said to have married Floyd Reddick who bought the homeplace after John died. This is the home of Roger & Nancy Murphy. The property left by the Reddicks to Jeff Floyd [no relationship given]. There is some confusion about the home of Roger & Nancy that was remaining as late as 1954 - it isn't clear at all whether this is the home in DeKalb Co circa 1823 or the home in Cass Co nearer 1840. I believe it must be the one in Cass Co given John's residence there in 1850.

John Murphy died intestate in Cass Co GA sometime prior to May of 1858. There is an estate file in Anderson Co, SC, because he still owned property there at the time of his death. It is Estate File #1792. [Likely other records could be found in Cass Co.] In May of 1858, Charles B. Murphy brought suit against Frances Murphy, the widow, and other heirs to bring about the sale of John Murphy's land in South Carolina. Heirs other than the widow Frances and Charles were: William S. Murphy, John M. Elrod & wife Nancy, Redding Floyd & wife Catherine, the minor sons of Letty Welborn - John & William Welborn, Matthias Murphy, Thomas L. Murphy, J. B. F. Murphy, J. J. Murphy, and C. M. Murphy, the last three said to be minors. [Actually only the last two, Jefferson & Christian were minors, and they selected James M. Veach & William S. Murphy, respectively, as their guardians.]
John Murphy's 414 acres were located on the Saluda River, bounding John D. King, Thomas Oldham and others. Commissioners to view the land and recommend it for sale were Ezekiel Murphy [brother of the deceased], John D. King & Norman S. Clardy. They recommended the land be sold in two tracts, which it was. The first tract of 181 acres with the house was sold to Silas Pace at $700; the 2nd tract of 273 acres was bought by William Welborn for $665. The sale was in November of 1858.
The various out of state heirs appointed attorneys to receive their money. William S. Murphy for himself and as guardian of Christian and James Veach as guardian of Jefferson appointed William Wesley Welborn their attorney. Charles B. Murphy was living in Anderson Co Texas by December of 1859 when he appointed Ezekiel Murphy his attorney - R. K. Murphy, his cousin Robert King Murphy was one of the witnesses to the document granting power of attorney in Anderson Co TX. Redding Floyd, Thomas S. Murphy & J. B. F. Murphy also appointed Ezekiel Murphy as their attorney, as did the widow Frances. Frances Murphy did not appoint Ezekiel to receive her money until July of 1861.

Birth	Abt 1797	Pendleton District, South Carolina
Marriage	Abt 1818	Frances "Fanny" Stanton
Death	1858	Cass County, Georgia

Spouse	Frances "Fanny" Stanton (1798 - )
Child	William S. MURPHY (1820 - 1870)
Child	[Son] MURPHY ( - )
Child	Nancy MURPHY (1823 - 1893)
Child	Katharine "Katie" MURPHY (1825 - 1902)
Child	Charles B. MURPHY (1828 - )
Child	Letty MURPHY (1830 - 1858)
Child	Matthias\Matthew MURPHY (1832 - )
Child	Thomas Louis MURPHY (1834 - )
Child	Jay Butler Franklin Murphy (1838 - 1903)
Child	Jefferson J. MURPHY (1842 - 1911)
Child	Christian Madison MURPHY (1843 - )

Father	ROGER MURPHY (1767 - 1854)
Mother	Nancy Wilson (1771 - 1854)
Sibling	William Ezekiel MURPHY (1791 - 1867)
Sibling	BRIDGET "Biddie" MURPHY (1795 - 1822)
Sibling	Charles MURPHY (1799 - 1861)
Sibling	Mary MURPHY (1801 - )
Sibling	Moses MURPHY (1802 - 1870)
Sibling	Lucinda MURPHY (1804 - )
Sibling	Elizabeth J. "Betty" MURPHY (1806 - 1860)