Individual Details

Although the Comstock-Haggard book gives his name as John Murphy, I have found it only as Murphy/Murphey in all records.

From p.16 of Goodspeed: Transactions of the County Court. Murphy Brown, of Rocky Comfort; John Oliver and Abraham W. Testerman were elected first judges of the county with Burton McGhee, clerk; A. A. Hensley, sheriff, and Tillotson Pearson, treasurer. These formed the court at Rutledge in 1849. Oliver and Testerman opened court at Rutledge, Murphy Brown dissenting; but it is said Brown never attended at Rutledge.

1850 - Murphy Brown and family found in Census in Newton Co MO. 1860 they are in McDonald Co. William Brown with wife Elizabeth are also there - his parents. Brothers: Ezekiel, found living next door to Murphy in 1850. John S. age 18 living with William and Elizabeth in 1850 - in 1860 John Brown, age 29, living next door to William and has wife and child. Nephew: William Warren, age 13 living with William and Elizabeth in 1850; lives nearby in 1860, age 23 with wife and child. Birthplaces remain consistent for all.

Newton County section of Goodspeed gives as one of the first entries in Township 24, Range 30 - Murphy Brown, 1851. [They indeed may have moved - will need to check Newton Co deeds if they exist. Also see patents below]
R. P. Brown listed as a Taxpayer of 1861 by Goodspeed - assume this is Rebekah Poindexter Brown; this is the location of their land - T23, R29


From p.16 of Goodspeed: Transactions of the County Court. Murphy Brown, of Rocky Comfort; John Oliver and Abraham W. Testerman were elected first judges of the county with Burton McGhee, clerk; A. A. Hensley, sheriff, and Tillotson Pearson, treasurer. These formed the court at Rutledge in 1849. Oliver and Testerman opened court at Rutledge, Murphy Brown dissenting; but it is said Brown never attended at Rutledge.
History of McDonald County, Missouri, by Judge J. A. Sturges, 1897, states that Rutledge and Pineville were contenders for the county seat - it was finally located at Pineville in 1857.

Here is a description of the town of Rocky Comfort where the Browns settled, from History of McDonald County, Missouri, 1897.
Rocky Comfort
Rocky Comfort is a nice little town in the northeast corner of the county, and has a population of between 200 and 300 people. It can boast of as fine a set of citizens as can be found in the great Southwest. They have a handsome school house, good churches, and almost all branches of business are represented. It is located in the heart of a rich agricultural country which is settled by a thrifty class of people. The first part of the name was given from the ground being originally covered with rocks on the hillsides, while the beautiful valley with the spring of cold water suggested the name of Comfort. The euphony of the name can not be fully realized until one has seen the place and been an eye witness to its appropriateness. There were a few families at this place as early as 1850, and a few houses are still standing that were built before the war. The post office was established in 1865 or 1866. Before that time the people got their mail at Hazle Bottom in Barry county, where a post office was established about 1845.

The McDonald Co Courthouse was burned in 1865 but the following land records for Murphy Brown have been found:
Patent #MC5370_.058 July 1,1852 Newton Co MO
N1/2 SE qtr S23, T24, R30W and SW1/4 of SW qtr S24, T24, R30W 120 acres

Patent #MO5380_.460 Nov 1 1852 McDonald Co MO
E1/2 SW qtr and NW1/4 SW qtr of S8, T23, R29 117.53 acres - this patent (Certificate #11944) filed for record 27 Aug 1900, McDonald Co Courthouse.

Patent #MO5380_.461 Nov 1 1852 McDonald Co MO
W1/2 SE qtr and SE1/4 NW qtr S8, T23, R29 117.47 acres - this patent (Certificate #11945) filed for record 27 Aug 1900 at McDonald Co Courthouse.

Patent #MO5480_.137 Mar 10 1856 McDonald Co MO
SW1/4 SW qtr and SW1/4 NW qtr S8, T23, R29 78.28 acres - this patent (Certificate #17844) filed for record 17 Aug 1900 at McDonald Co Courthouse.

McDonald Co Deeds, p.306
Murphy and Rebeckah Brown sell to Thomas F. Ford for $500: S1/2 of SE qtr of S8, T23, R29 and the N1/2 of NE qtr of S19, T23, R29 160 acres Dated 28 Jan 1861; Filed for record 18 Dec 1868.


McDonald Co Probate Records
Order Book:
p.61 Friday Nov 9, 1866: Ordered by the Court that the Estates of Murphy Brown, Wm Hartman, James K. Appleby, George H. Lewis, Francis Lauderdale, J. Blevins be taken possession by the Public Administrator.
p.64 Estate of Murphy Brown, dec'd. D. P. Weems. Surviving partner of late firm Boone and Weems presents an account agains Said Estate in fourteen Dollars and Ninety two cents and Notice being serviced in open court by the Admr. of said Estate Said Summons allowed by that amt out of the fifth class of Assets.
p.85 Apr 24, 1869: Ordered by the Court that the following settlements of accounts be continued until the next term of this Court:
#8. Murphy Brown
p.86 Apr 27, 1869: Issued and delivered to Sheriff Whimpey, as follows:
#2. Brown, Murphy
p.178 Jul 12, 1869: 2nd Annual Settlement. Estate of Murphy Brown Deceased. Now at this day comes Daniel Harmon Administrator having in charge the estate of this deceased and submits his 2nd annual settlement. Was by the court examined signed and ordered to be entered.
p.252 Mon. Mar 14, 1870: Estate of Murphy Brown, Dec'd. Final Settlement. Now at this day comes J. C. Samson, Public Administrator having in charges the Estate of this deceased and submits his report for final Settlement as such showing to the Court that the estate has been fully administered and that sufficient money had been advanced by Rebekah Brown the widow of said deceased, to pay and satisfy all claims against said estate and also to pay the expenses of administration. The same is by the Court approved and ordered to be entered.

Paul Barker had checked the Courthouse on more than one occasion looking for related papers to Murphy's estate settlement. In Jun of 2002, a friend of his helping the Sheriff in Pineville to set up his office found a box of records in his storage room. It contained the following:
A List of heirs of Murphy Brown, deceased, was filed 15 Sep 1869, by J. C. Samson and included: Widow Rebekah P. Brown, and children John R. Brown, Lemuel G. Brown, Elisa J. Brown, all of McDonald Co. Child Sarah F. Davidson of Barry Co. Child Miranda J. Cumstock of Arkansas, and grandchild, Laura J. Brown of McDonald Co.
The account of David P. Weems of Weems & Bullard as presented to the Estate of Murphy Brown. The charges were made from 28 Feb through 18 Dec of 1861 and there was a balance due of $14.92 1/2. The bill along with interest was paid in full on 6 Jan 1870.
Final Settlement. Filed 14 Mar 1870 and Recorded 26 May, 1870, Book A, p.33, by H. Baker, Judge of Probate. Presented by J. C. Samson, Public Administrator in charge of the Estate of Murphy Brown, deceased.
The papers of the Weems account and the Final Settlement show evidence of being burned along one edge.
Additional papers not copied included an Annual Statement by Daniel Harmon dated 12 Jul 1869; Public notice by J. C. Samson, that his predecessor ceased to have legal force over estates on 17 Jul 1869; and a statement of real estate owned by the Estate which was all in Section 8, Township 23, Range 29, and included the South half of the NW Quarter, the South half of the SE Quarter, and all of the SW Quarter, or some 320 acres.

Mr. Brown and his son Ezekiel were "bush-whacked" while on the way to the blacksmith shop. His wife Rebekah and some of the older children went after their bodies with the wagon, took them to the cemetery and buried them in a common grave at Chitwood Cemetery near Rocky Comfort. None of their neighbors would help for fear of reprisals. It is told that after Robert Christian killed them, he told Rebekah that he was going to burn her out, but he would give her transportation documents for wherever she wanted to go. She told him, "to hell or Texas, it doesn't much matter". She did take the children to Texas, but unlike so many, she returned after the War. Her home was burned to the ground, but she rebuilt on the old foundation. It is likely two of the daughters died of disease in Texas as their graves are not in the family plot in Missouri.
Goodspeed lists Murphy Brown as killed in McDonald County by Federal Scouts during the Civil War. Murphy and Ezekiel were actually murdered by a neighbor, Robert Christian, who was a Union sympathizer and eventually a Lt. in their Army. There are several stories of Christian's cruel deeds towards his Confederate neighbors. Christian himself was killed when the Confederacy tried to retake Missouri under Gen. Sterling Price in 1864. Apparently this was not necessarily a battle killing; family stories are that the boys from McDonald Co had several scores to settle with Christian and they are said to have mutilated his body, keeping parts for souvenirs. A newspaper account [from a paper controlled by Union sympathizers] told of the "atrocity".



Here is the rest of the story concerning Robert Christian:

Christian was a neighbor, the 1860 census shows his family enumerated between William Warren, a grandson of Murphy Brown, and Leander B. Comstock who was a brother to Murphy Brown's son-in-law, Elijah "Tom" Comstock. Murphy's married sister Jane and his father and stepmother were also on the same page.
1860 Census. Richwoods Twp, McDonald Co MO, Hh 411
Robert H. Christian, age 30, Value of real estate $3200, personal property $600, b. TN
Caroline N., age 29, b. TN
Mary 9, Truslow 7, Wm 5, Martha 3, Jackson C., age 10 months
Joel Wright, 21, farm hand, b. TN

Several places online carry the following:

Robert H. Christian was (1) 1st Lieutenant of Company I, 76th Enrolled Missouri Miltia from December 17, 1862 to March 31, 1863; (2) 1st Lieutenant of Company C, 7th Provisional Enrolled Missouri Militia ("PEMM") from April 1, 1863, to September 18, 1863; (3) 1st Lieutenant of Company K, 7th PEMM from September 19, 1863 to July 28, 1864; and (4) 1st Lieutenant of Company K, 15th Missouri Cavalry from August 27, 1864 (muster date) to his death October 28, 1864.

In the 1850 census for McDonald County, Missouri, Christian was shown as 20 years old, born in Tennessee, a farmer with real property valued at $300 (page 96B). His wife Nancy C. was shown as age 19, born in TN. In March, 1856, he received a patent on 80 acres of land in section 12-T23N-R30W in McDonald County (BLM GLO Records website). The descriptive roll of the 15th MO Cavalry says he was born in Haywood County, TN; was 34 years old and a farmer in 1864; and was 5' 7" tall with blue eyes, gray hair and a fair complexion.

For reasons that will be obvious from the following accounts of his Civil War service, Christian was one of the most notorious figures of the war in Southwest Missouri:

Excerpt from a 1931 Interview of Thomas Sallee of Exeter, Missouri:
One of the most noted guerrillas in the country at that time was a fellow by the name of Christian who claimed to be a Union man or Home Guard. He had a number of followers. His gang killed Ace Chilcutt, Tom Dillworth, Dock Harris and Elias Price who were hiding in the hills west of where Exeter now is. The men were all shot in the right eye and the top of their heads blown off. Their brains were taken out and put in their hats which were set beside their bodies. Tom Sallee's father helped haul the men in and bury them. They were all buried in one large grave in the old Packwood cemetery.

The Christian gang burned many houses in that part of the country, claiming that the owners were Confederate sympathizers. Later on a man by the name of Moore, who was one of General Joe Shelby’s scouts and whose father Christian had killed, asked his commander for a few days’ furlough in order that he might kill Christian. The furlough was granted. He killed Christian near Newtonia, cut off his scalp and beard, tied it to his horse’s bridle and rode over the country showing the scalp to many people whose homes Christian had burned. Mr. Sallee’s wife, then a young girl named Nancy Hale, saw the scalp. Moore rode over the country and gave every widow whose house Christian had burned $10.00. This incident marked the ending of the Christian gang in Southwest Missouri.

Source of the above: Interview, February 15, 1931. Bill Landers found this in the McClure Family Book and was generous enough to pass it along. It probably appeared originally in a story by Eunice Arnaud in the Monett Times.
http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cappscreek/civilwar/bio/biochristian.html

Here is another story from the same webpage::

Excerpt from Interview of F. L. Moore in the Indian Pioneer Papers
My parents were Samuel and Poly Moore, nee Beeler, both born and raised and married in East Tennessee, near Knoxville.

I was the youngest of several children and was born February 7, 1854 on Indian Creek in Newton County, Missouri...

We left our Missouri home the last year of the War, after Price made his raid from Missouri to Texas, and our family moved to Texas and stayed till after the War.

Old Bob Christian, who lived near Newtonia, Missouri, was the head of a bunch that bushwacked in our part of the county. They robbed, stole, and killed; burned houses and tortured as well.

Old Bob, trying to force the women to tell where the men were, would pull off the finger nails of the women with bullet molds. He would go so far in his torture as to cut off their ears.

He and his bunch burned our house twice and would not let us save anything; he forced us to stand by and see our home and all our belongings burn; our beds, bedding and what we had to eat as well as the children's clothes, etc.

He hated my father, as we were rebels, and when Uncle Lewis Moore came or rather stopped to see his step-mother, Bob Christian thought Uncle Lewis was my father. Bob shot Uncle Lewis and then, hanging his body to a tree, shot it to pieces.

After that, on the way to our house this raiding party met my Sister Nan, who lived near, and Bob said to her, "I am the man that killed your G__d__ Daddy."

Reaching our house, they set fire to it. He struck my mother over the head with a fire chunk, and she carried to her grave a big scar of the burn.

Shortly after that, Father met Bob and told him, "I am going to kill you for killing Lewis." He shot and crippled him, disarming him. Bob begged him not to kill him, but was told that he was going to get some of the torture that he had been giving others. Father scalped him while he was still alive and hollering. Afterwards he took the scalp, washed it in the creek, rolled it up and put it in his pocket. General Price had offered a reward for the capture of Christian, but my father's hatred of Bob for the murder of Uncle Lewis was so intense that he killed him instead of taking him alive...

Sitting before the fire that evening with Mother sitting on his right, he pulled the rolled up scalp from his pocket and tossed the roll into her lap. She drew back and the scalp fell to the hearth and partially unrolled. In the light of the fire, she saw it, and she said, "That's Bob Christian's scalp." He made me dry it before the fire and when he left he had a square of the skin just above and in front of each ear fastened on each side of this bridle.

Bill, a son of Bob Christian, was born with only one ear. Shortly after this, my family went to Texas...

Samuel Moore, the slayer of Bob Christian, was alleged to have been a member of Quantrill's band and was himself killed by John Lacey and H. W. Goodykoontz in Newton County in 1867.

Variations on the story about the ears abound. It is said that Christian's wife gave birth to a child without an ear or ears following the War. That child wasn't the son William or Bill, who was born in 1855 - however there was a son probably born just before or immediately after the death of Robert Christian, named Robert H. for his father. The 1900 census shows the son to have been born in October of 1864 - his father died on the 28th of that month. One story from Newton County Saga does say that the youngest son, Robert Christian Jr. was born soon after his father's death and that he was born with one ear defective, about the size of a dime.

Our own family tradition about the death of Robert Christian is that a unit made up partly of bitter young men from the families in McDonald, Newton & Barry Counties of Missouri, who had been terrorized by Christian, came into Missouri with Gen. Joe Shelby & Sterling Price in their final push to retake Missouri. They did indeed hunt down Robert Christian and kill him, mutilating the body; several of them kept body parts as keepsakes. My ancestor, Tom Comstock, who married the daughter of Murphy Brown who Christian had murdered, claimed to have been a part of the affair. Certainly he had reason to hate Christian.

Robert Christian's story from the viewpoint of the Yankees, differed.
The Missouri Weekly Patriot, a Union sympathizing publication, ran this story on 24 Aug 1865.

On the 28th day of October, 1864, a memorable day for the citizens of Newtonia, Newton county, Mo. - occurred the last fight with Price's rebel raiders in this State. That Post was garrisoned by company K of the 15th Mo. Cav. Vols. commanded by Lieut. R. H. Christian. For more than two years the Lieutenant and his command had distinguished themselves by capturing rebels and killing bushwhackers not only in this county, but in Jasper & McDonald counties, often pursuing them into Arkansas. Many plans had been laid by the exacperated rebels to destroy this troublesome band of patriots, but all failed up to this fatal day.

Christian lived about one-fourth of a mile from the fort, (which had no cannon), and his wife had been confined on the 26th. On the morning of the 28th the Lieutenant was notified by his superior officer of the approach of the rebels in full force, and ordered to withdraw his command eastwardly as the enemy was approaching from the north. Accordingly, he withdrew his men early in the morning to the timber, about two miles from tow, where he could have observed the enemy's movements; but becoming restless, having had to leave his wife in town, as she was too ill to be removed, he and a few of his men returned to town, and there watched for the approach of the enemy. At about 8 o'clock A.M. the rebels appeared in sight about one mile distant, marching in three columns. The Lieutenant and his half dozen brave men stood as if fascinated, gazing on the swarming hosts, though often warned and entreated to go, by Mrs. Wolcott, a Union lady, near whose house they were standing. But they depended on their horses and apparently waited to get a shot. But the enemy had fleet horses also, and a gang of bushwhackers, who were well acquainted with the lieutenant, and knew he would be likely to expose himself, came on like an avalanche and swept all before them. Too late Christian attempted to escape - he was overtaken and killed. Not content with the death of the intrepid foe, these white savages scalped him and hacked of a portion of his head, skin and all, and returned to town and with exultation and horrid oaths exhibited these bloody trophies to the Union ladies they met.

Christian fell about two miles from town near the house of Mrs. Jane Sanderson, whose husband - a bushwhacker - had been killed. She saw his mutilated body, and came to town crying and said, as she described it: "I am called a rebel, but I cannot stand such sights as this." She informed some Union ladies where they body lay, and they, moved by her story, and by the taunts of the rebels, proceeded to enact their part, which for coolness and true heroism has not perhaps been surpassed during the war, and their names should be recorded and remembered with honor. They were Miss Mary McKee, school teach, Miss Amanda Rictcheny, sister of the Captain, Mrs. Wear, wife of Lt. Wear of Christian's company, Miss Nancy A. J. Pearson, Miss Priscilla Walker, and Miss Elizabeth Killion. These ladies, accompanied and assisted by Mrs. Sanderson, recruited into their service a small boy with a yoke of oxen and a wagon, and amid the roar of cannon and the crash of small arms - annoyed and insulted by the rebels going and coming - they proceeded to where the body of the unfortunate Lieutenant lay, and brought it inside to his own house, just as Gen. Sanborn arrived to reinforce Gen. Blunt, who was pressed hard by the rebels.

History of McDonald County, Missouri, states that the Christians settled in Richwood Township in the latter forties, early fifties. And makes this comment about the murder of Robert Christian, "On the Union side, Lieut. Christian was a terror to the evil doers. He was possessed of great bravery and his expeditions into this county were very much dreaded by his foes. He was afterwards killed and scalped by the Confederates."

Because so many Union graves were destroyed by the Confederates, the family of Robert Christian placed a heavy concrete slab over his grave. It is the only remaining Union grave at the Old Newtonia Cemetery.

Birth	11 Jul 1816	Kentucky
Marriage	29 Jun 1836	Saint Francois County, Missouri - REBEKAH POINDEXTER JONES
Death	19 Jun 1863	Rocky Comfort, McDonald County, Missouri

Spouse	REBEKAH POINDEXTER JONES (1822 - 1912)
Child	Richard Jones Brown (1837 - 1839)
Child	Elizabeth Bridget Brown (1839 - 1839)
Child	William Clayborn Brown (1840 - 1860)
Child	MIRANDA JANE BROWN (1842 - 1912)
Child	Ezekiel Wilson Brown (1843 - 1863)
Child	John Reed Brown (1845 - 1889)
Child	Nancy Emeline Brown (1847 - 1864)
Child	Mary Catherine Brown (1848 - 1864)
Child	Sarah Frances Brown (1850 - 1922)
Child	Joel Brown (1852 - 1852)
Child	Lemuel Green Brown (1855 - 1923)
Child	Monervia Magdalene Brown (1856 - 1857)
Child	Robert Thomas Brown (1858 - 1858)
Child	Rebekah Ann Brown (1860 - 1860)
Child	Eliza Isabel "Belle" Brown (1862 - 1934)

Father	WILLIAM BROWN (1794 - 1874)
Mother	BRIDGET "Biddie" MURPHY (1795 - 1822)
Sibling	Nancy Brown (1818 - 1840)
Sibling	Ezekiel W. "Zeke" Brown (1821 - 1879)