| RESEARCH NOTES: |
DAR records of Ima Mew
> Quote from a letter dated June 1, 1770, to John
> Murphey, Jr. from hissister,
> Gale Murphrey, at Bear Garden, Dobbs County, NC:
> "Dearest Brother: I hope
> this note finds you and yours in good health and
> spirits. All here arefine.
> Papa (John Murphrey, Sr.) is quite busy. He has
> given Robin (Robert Hill,
> Jr.) and sister Martha (Martha Murphrey) the
> Hurricaines Plantation, and he
> and Robin are building a new house there. They have
> enlarge the Hunting Lodge
> at the Quarters there by putting on a second floor
> and little short rooms to
> each side. It is lovely house and sister is excited
> beyond relief, to get a
> new house of her own. Brother Hill has sent into
> Virginia for new
> furnishings, for he says the makers there have it
> all over ours here. Mother
> has already sent over her gardner, Cato, with some
> clippings to get the
> grounds in order. The Box Garden there will be
> larger and more modern than
> ours, but I think it will never surpass the beauty
> of Mama's (Elizabeth
> "Betsy" Harrison Murphrey) garden. (Martha Sugg
> Dixon Papers 1827-1904 in
> possession of Wm L. Murphy, Jr. of Raleigh, NC) "The
> main walk ended in a
> large evergreen maze that was delight to us all,
> both young and old."
>
> FUNERAL OF CAPTAIN MURPHREY: Captain John Murphrey
> was killed across
> Contentnea from his home plantation when he was
> thrown from his shay.
> According to his manservant, a covey of birds
> spooked the horse, and he lost
> control. When the shay turned over, he was thrown
> clear, but the Captain was
> thrown against a fence post and cracked his skull.
> Grandma Nancy (Nancy Hill
> Sugg) who was a young girl, at the time, remembered
> going to the funeral,
> which she said, was an elegant affair. The Priest
> went before the coffin
> carried by six slaves who held it on white napkins.
> A pall was held over the
> coffin by four of his gentlemen friends, and his
> wife and family, came next
> followed by friends and other relatives. It was
> indeed a high style funeral.
> Everyone had gathered that morning for tea and cakes
> and to sit with the
> corpse and after the service and burial, all went
> back to the house for a
> large dinner and great bouts of drinking, in what
> Grandma called theVirginia
> style." (MSD)
> "The Murphrey Line" by Eleanor Casey 1993, Goldsboro
> Public Library.
> "John Murphrey was a large plantation owner. He was
> a Captain of Militia, a
> merchant, a magistrate, and a surveyor. He and
> Elizabeth, with daughterGale,
> attended the opening of Government House (later
> called Tryon Palace ) atNew
> Bern. Elizabeth danced and chatted with Governor
> Tryon with whom sheshared
> many mutual acquaintances from her stay at
> Williamsburg, Virginia ."
> All of John's sons served in the Revolution .
Submitted by Karen Mason
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