Individual Details
William N. Murrill
(26 Feb 1824 - 15 Dec 1864)
The story (family legend) that has been passed down about William is that he was killed by bushwackers during the Civil War. When the bushwackers took him away, his wife was pregnant and he was allowed to chop some firewood for her before leaving, afterwhich he said his goodbyes and was never heard from again. However, another family researcher, Barb Meyers, whose husband is a descendant of Alabama Murrill told me a slightly different story which indicates that William was conscripted into service with the confederate army and ended up in a prison in St. Louis (see e-mail messages from Barb Meyers).
Confederate General Sterling Price's Missouri expedition began in September of 1864 with the attack of Fort Davidson in Reynolds County. This is probably about when William was conscripted into service (assuming that's what happened). A month later, the Confederates were on the run (after the Battle of Westport) and a confederate conscript from Reynolds County named William Merrill was taken captive near there just 3 days after that battle. Assuming this is the same person, he apparently was sent first to Gratiot Street Prison in St. Louis (because according to Barb's version of the story, he sent one last letter home from there).
It was assumed that he died there, but he was apparently transferred to Alton Prison, because the William Merrill who was captured at West Port died at Alton Prison in December of 1864. The Alton Prison records say he died of "Typh Mal Fever", which the web site interpreted as "Typhoid Malaria", which doesn't make a lot of sense since the two are distinct diseases with different symptoms (of course, from what I've read the prison doctor was pretty much incompetent anyway, so maybe he didn't know the difference). Given the terrible conditions of prison life, William could have had any number of diseases, including typhus and typhoid fever (or even both at the same time!).
William was buried in the Confederate Cemetery in Alton, Illinois, where today an impressive monument displays his name along with many other names of those who died in the prison.
The Alton Prison records spell his name "William M. Merrill", and therefore this is how his name appears on the monument. I did eventually find a land patent record that spells his name "William N. Murrill" (he purchased 120 acres in Reynolds County in 1859). Since I haven't seen anything with his actual signature, though, I'm not sure how he spelled his name. The different middle initial initially made me question whether it was the same person, but I haven't found information on any other person from Reynolds County with the same name.
Since the last child of William and Elvira was born in November of 1864, the part of the family story about the mother being pregnant at the time of William's departure fits. Although the family legend doesn't mention the letter from prison, I'm hoping that Barb actually has a copy of this letter (she apparently had access to a family bible from which she got much of her information). Anyway, if the "bushwackers" were just going to kill him in cold blood, it doesn't make a lot of sense that they gave him a chance to chop wood first (assuming that part of the story is true).
I have seen the surname spelled several ways, including Murrill, Murrell, and Murl. William Ernest Merrill (in "Captain Benjamin Merrill and the Merrill Family of North Carolina") says "There are numerous ways of spelling the family name. Oftentimes in the same document it is written in several forms, e.g., in one Court Record we find Merrill, Merel, Meril, and Merrell. In another record Marrell and Morrell are used. When the French family De Merle went to England it was necessary for them to use an English spelling, so they changed their name to Merrill. In most of the documents, writings et cetera this--Merrill--spelling is used." The same source also mentions a branch of the family (in Madison County, NC) that uses the "Murrell" spelling. The Helvey Cemetery records (where William's wife is buried in Reynolds County, Missouri) also use the "Murrell" spelling.
I got an e-mail from another researcher (Barb Myers) that shows the birthdate of William N. Murrill as 26 Feb 1814. I found another database on the internet (that of Gregg Branum) that said William N. was born in 1827 and in Tennessee rather than North Carolina. I was later informed that the 1814 date came from a family bible passed down from Elvira Whitecotton, which would seem like a pretty reliable source. However, the Reynolds County Biographical Sketches book says he was born "about 1823 in TN", and I'm assuming this comes from census data since the author also says that he is "listed in Reynolds County in the 1850 census as family #248". This is a big age difference, so I'm guessing that the family bible was just difficult to read and that the real birthdate was "26 Feb 1824". Later I spoke to another researcher who also had assumed 1824, and he said that Barb had told him that she wasn't sure if it was 1814 or 1824. Fortunately, I have been able to settle the dob question and discover William's father in the Reynolds County census records.
I found our William on the 1850 and the 1860 Reynolds County census. On the 1850 census he is the head of household 248, and the head of household 247 is Joseph Murrel. I think that this is most likely William's father. Also, the 1850 census says he was 26 and the 1860 census says he was 34. They don't exactly agree, but would seem to confirm the 26 Feb 1824 birthdate. Also, it is evident that the family moved to Missouri from Tennessee around 1845. So, even though they were both born in Tennesee, William and Elvira apparently didn' t marry until after they were in Missouri. Also on the 1850 census, the Aaron Cotton family is living just a few households away (number 252). Interestingly, both Aaron Cotton and Joseph Murrel were from Virginia, moved to Tennessee, and then later moved to Missouri. So, the two families may have been acquainted for some time.
The marriage date and birth places for William and Elvira come from the database of Gregg Branum and agree with the Reynolds County Biographical Sketches book.
I have not yet established how or if William N. fits into the larger Merrill family that is descended from Richard Merrill (b. 1642) and Sarrah Wells (b. 1649) from England. It appears that Daniel Merrell (g-g-grandson of Richard, b. 1755 in North Carolina) had a son named Zaza (I found him on www.familysearch.com and www.ancestry.com on the internet) who moved to Mill Creek, Missouri (in Phelps County) and had a son named William who was born about 1829. (One of my early theories was that this might be our William.) Some of Zaza's children are buried in a cemetery in Phelps County (Mill Creek Cemetery). I also discovered record of a federal land patent for 80 acres in Phelps County puchased by Zaza C Merrell on July 1, 1841.
The Phelps County family seems to consistently use the Merrell spelling (in the cemetery records), whereas the ones in Reynolds and Washington Counties seem to prefer the Murrel/Murell/Murill variations. The one exception seems to be the Alton Prison records (which use the Merrill spelling).
I found Merrill and Merrell families in other counties in Missouri as well.
I also found a William Merrell, son of Eli Merrell of Marion County. According to a letter written by Eli (found in Wiliam Ernest Merrill's book), two of his brother Levi's daughters were living with or near William in 1842 (shortly before Eli moved to Dallas, Texas). Amanda was apparently one of those daughters. I found an LDS IGI record of Eli's niece Amanda getting married in Lewis, Missouri (which probably refers to Lewis County, just north of Marion County). Then I found a William Merrell who also got married in Lewis, Missouri (sp: Martha, m. Jan 1841). William, Martha, and family show up on the 1850 census of Lewis County (found in the USGenWeb archives on the internet):
30 265 266 MERRILL Wm 37 M Farmer 1,000 NC
31 265 266 MERRILL Martha 37 F KY
32 265 266 MERRILL Ambrosia 9 F MO X
33 265 266 MERRILL Lindsey W 7 M MO X
34 265 266 MERRILL Eli J 5 M MO X
35 265 266 MERRILL Wm T 5 M MO X
36 265 266 MERRILL Martha 3 F MO
37 265 266 MERRILL Phebe 1 F MO
I ruled out this William as our William even before I found our William's father in the Reynolds County census. Given that the first child of William and Elvira was born in 1849 (and I also now know that our William appears on the 1850 census of Reynolds County), our William cannot be the one from Lewis and Marion Counties.
I found an administrative bond that is mentioned in the usgenweb archives for washington county:
MURRILL, ELIAS, into Admr, Milton Baker O 1 Feb 18470 Sec. George T.
Westover & George WO HigginbothamO (Bond A:--)
The similarity of the name to that of Eli Merrell is interesting, but I see no obvious link. According to William Ernest Merrill, Eli (and Eli Jr.) moved straight from Marion County to Dallas, Texas (in 1842). Also, according to the LDS IGI, Elias was married in Washington County to Jan PERKINS on 12 Sep 1833 whereas the Merrill book lists Eli's first wife as Nancy McCrary Merrill and second wife as Mary A. McKay.
The 1830 Washington County census (also found on the internet) shows a Briggs Murrell, Hardy Murrell, and Sam'l Murrell in Union Township (which is still part of Washington County).
- In Hardy's household, there is a 50-60 year old male, a 50-60 year old female, a 20-30 year old male, a 10-15 year old female, and a 0-5 year old male.
- In Brigg's household there is a 20-30 year old male, a 15-20 year old female, and a 0-5 year old female.
- In Samuel's household there is a 40-50 year old male, a 40-50 year old female, 2 15-20 year old males, a 15-20 year old female, 3 10-15 year old females, 3 5-10 year old females, and one 0-5 year old female.
I did find a Hardy Merrill in the LDS IGI who was born in 1774. His parents are listed as Henry Merrill and Rebecca Moulton. The LDS Ancestral File has many more generations back from there. There's also a Hardy Murrell listed in the IGI as being born about 1763. His parents were Barnaby Murrell and Amy Goodson.
I found Briggs Merrell (mentioned above) on the 1850 Washington County census, and there's yet another William Murrell (12 years old) living with him (and yes, the names are spelled differently on the census even though they're in the same household).
I don't know how Merrill/Merrell/Murrell families in these other Missouri counties are related.
Confederate General Sterling Price's Missouri expedition began in September of 1864 with the attack of Fort Davidson in Reynolds County. This is probably about when William was conscripted into service (assuming that's what happened). A month later, the Confederates were on the run (after the Battle of Westport) and a confederate conscript from Reynolds County named William Merrill was taken captive near there just 3 days after that battle. Assuming this is the same person, he apparently was sent first to Gratiot Street Prison in St. Louis (because according to Barb's version of the story, he sent one last letter home from there).
It was assumed that he died there, but he was apparently transferred to Alton Prison, because the William Merrill who was captured at West Port died at Alton Prison in December of 1864. The Alton Prison records say he died of "Typh Mal Fever", which the web site interpreted as "Typhoid Malaria", which doesn't make a lot of sense since the two are distinct diseases with different symptoms (of course, from what I've read the prison doctor was pretty much incompetent anyway, so maybe he didn't know the difference). Given the terrible conditions of prison life, William could have had any number of diseases, including typhus and typhoid fever (or even both at the same time!).
William was buried in the Confederate Cemetery in Alton, Illinois, where today an impressive monument displays his name along with many other names of those who died in the prison.
The Alton Prison records spell his name "William M. Merrill", and therefore this is how his name appears on the monument. I did eventually find a land patent record that spells his name "William N. Murrill" (he purchased 120 acres in Reynolds County in 1859). Since I haven't seen anything with his actual signature, though, I'm not sure how he spelled his name. The different middle initial initially made me question whether it was the same person, but I haven't found information on any other person from Reynolds County with the same name.
Since the last child of William and Elvira was born in November of 1864, the part of the family story about the mother being pregnant at the time of William's departure fits. Although the family legend doesn't mention the letter from prison, I'm hoping that Barb actually has a copy of this letter (she apparently had access to a family bible from which she got much of her information). Anyway, if the "bushwackers" were just going to kill him in cold blood, it doesn't make a lot of sense that they gave him a chance to chop wood first (assuming that part of the story is true).
I have seen the surname spelled several ways, including Murrill, Murrell, and Murl. William Ernest Merrill (in "Captain Benjamin Merrill and the Merrill Family of North Carolina") says "There are numerous ways of spelling the family name. Oftentimes in the same document it is written in several forms, e.g., in one Court Record we find Merrill, Merel, Meril, and Merrell. In another record Marrell and Morrell are used. When the French family De Merle went to England it was necessary for them to use an English spelling, so they changed their name to Merrill. In most of the documents, writings et cetera this--Merrill--spelling is used." The same source also mentions a branch of the family (in Madison County, NC) that uses the "Murrell" spelling. The Helvey Cemetery records (where William's wife is buried in Reynolds County, Missouri) also use the "Murrell" spelling.
I got an e-mail from another researcher (Barb Myers) that shows the birthdate of William N. Murrill as 26 Feb 1814. I found another database on the internet (that of Gregg Branum) that said William N. was born in 1827 and in Tennessee rather than North Carolina. I was later informed that the 1814 date came from a family bible passed down from Elvira Whitecotton, which would seem like a pretty reliable source. However, the Reynolds County Biographical Sketches book says he was born "about 1823 in TN", and I'm assuming this comes from census data since the author also says that he is "listed in Reynolds County in the 1850 census as family #248". This is a big age difference, so I'm guessing that the family bible was just difficult to read and that the real birthdate was "26 Feb 1824". Later I spoke to another researcher who also had assumed 1824, and he said that Barb had told him that she wasn't sure if it was 1814 or 1824. Fortunately, I have been able to settle the dob question and discover William's father in the Reynolds County census records.
I found our William on the 1850 and the 1860 Reynolds County census. On the 1850 census he is the head of household 248, and the head of household 247 is Joseph Murrel. I think that this is most likely William's father. Also, the 1850 census says he was 26 and the 1860 census says he was 34. They don't exactly agree, but would seem to confirm the 26 Feb 1824 birthdate. Also, it is evident that the family moved to Missouri from Tennessee around 1845. So, even though they were both born in Tennesee, William and Elvira apparently didn' t marry until after they were in Missouri. Also on the 1850 census, the Aaron Cotton family is living just a few households away (number 252). Interestingly, both Aaron Cotton and Joseph Murrel were from Virginia, moved to Tennessee, and then later moved to Missouri. So, the two families may have been acquainted for some time.
The marriage date and birth places for William and Elvira come from the database of Gregg Branum and agree with the Reynolds County Biographical Sketches book.
I have not yet established how or if William N. fits into the larger Merrill family that is descended from Richard Merrill (b. 1642) and Sarrah Wells (b. 1649) from England. It appears that Daniel Merrell (g-g-grandson of Richard, b. 1755 in North Carolina) had a son named Zaza (I found him on www.familysearch.com and www.ancestry.com on the internet) who moved to Mill Creek, Missouri (in Phelps County) and had a son named William who was born about 1829. (One of my early theories was that this might be our William.) Some of Zaza's children are buried in a cemetery in Phelps County (Mill Creek Cemetery). I also discovered record of a federal land patent for 80 acres in Phelps County puchased by Zaza C Merrell on July 1, 1841.
The Phelps County family seems to consistently use the Merrell spelling (in the cemetery records), whereas the ones in Reynolds and Washington Counties seem to prefer the Murrel/Murell/Murill variations. The one exception seems to be the Alton Prison records (which use the Merrill spelling).
I found Merrill and Merrell families in other counties in Missouri as well.
I also found a William Merrell, son of Eli Merrell of Marion County. According to a letter written by Eli (found in Wiliam Ernest Merrill's book), two of his brother Levi's daughters were living with or near William in 1842 (shortly before Eli moved to Dallas, Texas). Amanda was apparently one of those daughters. I found an LDS IGI record of Eli's niece Amanda getting married in Lewis, Missouri (which probably refers to Lewis County, just north of Marion County). Then I found a William Merrell who also got married in Lewis, Missouri (sp: Martha, m. Jan 1841). William, Martha, and family show up on the 1850 census of Lewis County (found in the USGenWeb archives on the internet):
30 265 266 MERRILL Wm 37 M Farmer 1,000 NC
31 265 266 MERRILL Martha 37 F KY
32 265 266 MERRILL Ambrosia 9 F MO X
33 265 266 MERRILL Lindsey W 7 M MO X
34 265 266 MERRILL Eli J 5 M MO X
35 265 266 MERRILL Wm T 5 M MO X
36 265 266 MERRILL Martha 3 F MO
37 265 266 MERRILL Phebe 1 F MO
I ruled out this William as our William even before I found our William's father in the Reynolds County census. Given that the first child of William and Elvira was born in 1849 (and I also now know that our William appears on the 1850 census of Reynolds County), our William cannot be the one from Lewis and Marion Counties.
I found an administrative bond that is mentioned in the usgenweb archives for washington county:
MURRILL, ELIAS, into Admr, Milton Baker O 1 Feb 18470 Sec. George T.
Westover & George WO HigginbothamO (Bond A:--)
The similarity of the name to that of Eli Merrell is interesting, but I see no obvious link. According to William Ernest Merrill, Eli (and Eli Jr.) moved straight from Marion County to Dallas, Texas (in 1842). Also, according to the LDS IGI, Elias was married in Washington County to Jan PERKINS on 12 Sep 1833 whereas the Merrill book lists Eli's first wife as Nancy McCrary Merrill and second wife as Mary A. McKay.
The 1830 Washington County census (also found on the internet) shows a Briggs Murrell, Hardy Murrell, and Sam'l Murrell in Union Township (which is still part of Washington County).
- In Hardy's household, there is a 50-60 year old male, a 50-60 year old female, a 20-30 year old male, a 10-15 year old female, and a 0-5 year old male.
- In Brigg's household there is a 20-30 year old male, a 15-20 year old female, and a 0-5 year old female.
- In Samuel's household there is a 40-50 year old male, a 40-50 year old female, 2 15-20 year old males, a 15-20 year old female, 3 10-15 year old females, 3 5-10 year old females, and one 0-5 year old female.
I did find a Hardy Merrill in the LDS IGI who was born in 1774. His parents are listed as Henry Merrill and Rebecca Moulton. The LDS Ancestral File has many more generations back from there. There's also a Hardy Murrell listed in the IGI as being born about 1763. His parents were Barnaby Murrell and Amy Goodson.
I found Briggs Merrell (mentioned above) on the 1850 Washington County census, and there's yet another William Murrell (12 years old) living with him (and yes, the names are spelled differently on the census even though they're in the same household).
I don't know how Merrill/Merrell/Murrell families in these other Missouri counties are related.
Events
| Birth | 26 Feb 1824 | Tennessee, USA | |||
| Marriage | 7 Oct 1847 | Missouri, USA - Elvira Whitecotton | |||
| Census | 1850 | Reynolds, Missouri, USA | |||
| Census | 1860 | Reynolds, Missouri, USA | |||
| Military | From Sep 1864 to 15 Dec 1864 | Confederate Conscript - Reynolds, Missouri, USA | |||
| Death | 15 Dec 1864 | Typh Mal Fever - Alton Prison, Alton, Illinois, USA | |||
| Reference No | 2154 |
Families
| Spouse | Elvira Whitecotton (1827 - ) |
| Child | Joel S. Murrill (1849 - 1849) |
| Child | Mary Jane Murrell (1850 - ) |
| Child | Nancy A. Murrill (1851 - 1874) |
| Child | Rhoda Florence Murrill (1854 - 1936) |
| Child | Joseph F. Murrill (1855 - 1874) |
| Child | Isaac Murrill (1857 - 1874) |
| Child | Louiza Elvira Murrill (1859 - 1861) |
| Child | William Neely Murrill (1862 - 1955) |
| Child | Alabama Murrill (1864 - 1949) |
| Father | Joseph Murrel (1790 - ) |
| Mother | Rhoda (1799 - ) |
| Sibling | Mary Ann Murrel (1831 - ) |
| Sibling | Joseph Murrel (1834 - ) |
| Sibling | Mariola Murrel (1838 - ) |
| Sibling | Elizabeth Murrel (1842 - ) |
| Sibling | Minerva Kingker (1842 - ) |
| Sibling | James H. Murrel (1845 - ) |