Person:Thomas McMurray (26)

Thomas McMurray's land (Borden Tract SE, 250 acres, 1751) as shown on the map meticulously drawn by J.R. Hildebrand, cartographer. This map is copyrighted©, used by permission of John Hildebrand, son of J.R. Hildebrand, April, 2009.

Acquisition of Land from Chalkley's:

Page 179.--27th February, 1750-1751. Same (From Benjamin Borden) to Thomas McMurray, 250 acres, cor. John Patton in Borden's great tract; Geo. Stevenson's and James Greenlee's lines.

Disposition of Land from Chalkley's:

Page 85.--21st May, 1755. Thomas McMurray to Rev. John Brown, 250 acres conveyed to Thomas by Borden, 27th February, 1750; corner John Patton in Borden's tract; corner George Stevenson in James Greenlee's line. Teste: George Stinson. Delivered: Thos. Bowyer, December, 1756.

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Records of Thomas McMurray in Augusta County, VA

From Chalkley's:

Vol. 1 - List of Delinquents - 1755 - List of Robert Breckinridge, Sheriff: Thos. McMurray.

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Information on Thomas Murray

From Rootsweb.com posts:

From: "Don McMurray" <don@@norrishouse.com> Subject: RE: Re: [McMurry] McMurry family book Date: Sat, 4 May 2002 12:15:05 -0400 In-Reply-To: <198D55C0.4675DFE1.09D1E3D6@@aol.com>

Hi Ben, my name is not Don Norris, it's Don McMurray, a proud Ulster Scot. And the move by Thomas McMurray to N.C. took place in 1758. Incidentally, Thomas is the brother of William McMurray, not his son. These men are two of the five sons that William the Elder brought to America from Ulster. I may have told you about the existence of the older William but for the benefit of others here is how it happened.

For many years, the early McMurray/McMurry researchers had the following record: 19 Mar 1753, William McMurry petitions the Court for "exemption from levy on account of age" per Original Petitions & Papers filed in the County Court of Augusta Co., Va. (Chalkley, "Chronicles of Scotch-Irish Settlements in Virginia," Vol. 1, 430 & 441).

Now, the above record can't be ignored as it seemed to be by earlier researchers. They maneuvered around it or ignored it and assumed that William McMurry (in Bone's McMurry Family), father of my ancestor James, was the man described in family history as the man who "brot his five sones over the briney deepe to America." The problem with this assumption is it is impossible for this William to have been old in 1753 and still serve in Morgan's Riflemen in the Revolutionary War. Not to mention the fact that James and his brothers and sisters were all born in America.

William's petition "on account of age" is silent on the question of the reason for the petition, because of "youth" or "old age" (obvious at the time, right?). However, on the same day, 19 Mar 1753, a William McClain filed a similar petition "that he has grown very aged and to be relieved from County levy." So I was convinced of the existence of an older William McMurray.

Finally, after a lot of review of new stuff and going back over the records already reviewed, I found the proof I needed and here it is: 22 Nov 1753, the Court grants "William McMurray's" ("McCurry's"*) March petition and states that he is "to be levy free on account of great age and infirmity" per Augusta County Court Order Book No. IV, page 68. (Kegley, "Kegley's Virginia Frontier. 103; *Chalkley, Ibid., 70).

So there we have it, William the Elder was alive and kicking (barely) in 1753. And his son, William was one of the five sons that William the Elder brought to America from Ulster.

Now Ben, it's your turn. I was surprised from your message below to learn that you have connected Margaret McMurray & Samuel McMurray, who married in Granville Co., to Thomas McMurray of Bedford Co., Va., son of William the Elder. How and where did you find this great bit of information? And how did you determine that Margaret was his cousin? Will you share the records with us?

Hope things are going well for you.

Regards, Don

From: "Don McMurray" <don@@norrishouse.com> Subject: RE: [McMurry] McMurry family book Date: Sat, 4 May 2002 10:03:31 -0400 In-Reply-To: <144.df2f61f.2a0431a4@@aol.com>

Thomas McMurray, son of William the Elder, left Va. in 1758 and went to Anson Co., N.C. (the area is now a part of York Co., S.C.). He and a group of Ulster Scots from the Shenandoah Valley of Va. followed their minister, The Rev. Alexander Craighead, to safer climes after the defeat of Gen. Braddock in the French and Indian War. Thomas's farm, unfortunately, was right next to the Great Indian Warpath in the Shenandoah Valley (now Rt. 11). Not a good choice of land under the circumstances. Most of the rest of the family were a little east of Thomas up on the Cowpasture and they survived the onslaught of Indian raids. This Thomas eventually settled in Mecklenburg Co., N.C. I believe he is the ancestor of many of the McMurray families in the N.C. area.

A note of caution, a second McMurray, possibly a relative, left Ulster and came to York Co., S.C. via Charleston. He tends to confuse the researchers working in that region.

TTYL, Don

From Ancestry.com post:

CRAIGHEAD, MCMURRAY posted by Don McMurray on Tuesday, August 18, 1998

Rev. Thomas CRAIGHEAD, a Presbyterian minister and his son, Rev. Alexander Craighead came to the upper Cowpasture River in Augusta Co., Va. in 1749 from Lancaster Co., Pa. The son formed Windy Cove Presbyterian Church near what is now Milboro Springs, Va. Rev. Alexander CRAIGHEAD was also a minister at the Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church near what is now Fairfield, Va. My uncle four time removed, Thomas McMurray, was a member of the Timber Ridge congregation. In 1755 Thomas sold his 250 acres of land in Augusta Co. that he purchased from Bordon in 1750, to the Rev. John Brown. By 1762 Thomas MCMURRAY went with Rev. Alexander Craighead and most of his congregation to Anson Co., N.C. (now York Co., S.C.) Would like to share information with anyone researching Craighead or McMurray.

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Category: Early Settlers of Old Augusta