Who Was Sarah Murry?

Who was Sarah Murry?

Pvt. Charles Murry

June 1, 1813

A couple years ago I posted a blog about the death of Charles Murry, a soldier who died at Fort Amanda in 1813. At the time I knew very little about the man but subsequent research has shed some new light on At the moment we don't know how old Murry was, if he was married or single and most importantly, if he has any living relatives. All the legal documents related to the estate of Charles Murry were signed by Sarah Murry and the challenge is to identify her relationship to Charles Murry.

Fort Amanda

Click on the link below and turn up your sound. Video is courtesy of Johnny Appleseed Metropolitan Park District and available on their website or YouTube

Drone's View of Fort Amanda Park

The Beginning

We first learned of Charles Murry from a journal kept by William Schillinger, an Ensign in Captain Daniel Hosbrook's company stationed at Fort Amanda in 1813. Shillinger had been home on leave when Murry died. When he arrived back at the fort on June 6th he wrote the following in his journal.

Schillinger's Journal Entry Regarding Murry's Death

Sunday the 6th of June 1813
Showery this morning but Broke away about 10 A.M. found myself quite Lonesome on account of the Companys being gone, Note Charles Murrey a Private in our Company Died on the 1st Day of June, & was buried with the Honors of War at this post, (Amanda)

Note that Schillinger spells the name "Murrey" instead of Murry. There are several misspellings of names throughout Schillinger's journal.

A Stroke of Luck

A few years ago I was using old county plat maps to determine the route Schillinger took to and from Ft. Amanda. On Sunday, May 23,1813, Schillinger wrote in his journal that on his way home on furlough, he stopped and had breakfast and fed his horse at "Mr. Asbys."

Sunday Morning the 23rd
Clear & Pleasant Started early Past through Shaker Town 12 miles from Mr. Tibbles between 7 & 8 A.M. arrived at uncle James Norris at ¼ past 8 A.M. got my breakfast & fed my horse. Left there at 10 A.M, 2 P.M. stoped at Mr. Asbys fed my Horse & got Dinner. 

Now the challenge was to find out where "Mr. Asby" lived in 1813. As I was looking at an 1856 Warren County Plat Map, the first thing I discovered was that Schillilnger, once again, had misspelled a name. The man he was referring to wasn't "Mr. Asby" but rather it was "Mr. Espy." See map below.

I then opened the plat map for Warren County for 1876 (below) and WOW!!!! There it was. Someone by the name of A. Murry was living on the same trail Schillinger used in 1813 and the same property owned by Espy 20 years earlier. Could this Murry be related to the Charles Murry I was looking for?

1876 Warren County Plat Book

Going on the hunch that perhaps Murry wasn't from Clermont or Hamilton Counties after all but that it was possible he lived in Warren County in 1813. Armed with that information I went to the Warren County courthouse in Lebanon to see what they might have on file.

A Treasure

As my wife and I were lookin through different files, my wife said, "Dave, look at this." Much to my amazement, it was a list of the things Capt. Hosbrook had given a woman named Sarah Murry the items Charles Murry had in his possession when he died. He probably gave them to her on his way home in August 1813 when his term of enlistment had expired.

Charles Murry's Possessions at the Time of His Death

Murry's Worldly Possessions

Comparing the initials "S M" at the bottom of the page to the letters "S" and "M" in the paper document above indicates that Sarah Murry could both read and write. The list of items includes;

A list of the property of
Charles Murry deceased is as follows

Cash by the paymaster $15.00
Do by Captain Hosbrook $3.00
To one due bill on Isaac Whiteman $10.00
Cash left in my hands $6.00

This is to certify that this is all the property within my knowledge in the county of Warren. This 10th of February, 1814. Sarah MurryI understand there is a little property elsewhere which I will look for. There is no debt come to my knowledge as yet.

                                         S.M.

Note; "Do" was another way of writing "ditto." In other words, in addition to the $15 dollars Charles had on hand from the paymaster, he also had $3 from Captain Hosbrook. The "due bill" means Murry owed $10 to Isaac Whiteman, another private in his company.

The $6

On the list of possessions, Sarah Murry wrote that she had $6 in her hands. Being "left in her hands" leads me to think that Charles may have left the money in her hands before he left for military duty.

If Charles had left his wife $6 for household expenses while he was gone why was there any need to even mention it? My other thought is that if Charles Murry left $6 with his mother for safekeeping while he was gone it might explain why she still had it. All this implies that Sarah was holding the $6 for him until he returned.  

Why I Believe Sarah Murry was Charles Murry's Mother 

Probably not his wife because: 
Notice on the property list above, Sarah Murry wrote that other than the things Hosbrook gave her. she wasn't aware of any other possessions Charles ownedin Warren County. She even specifically underlined the word "knowledge" as if to accentuate the fact that he may have other property but she wasn't aware of any. She then went to say that she she had no knowledge of whether or not he had other debts. One would think that if Sarah was his wife, she would have known if he owned property or had debts.

Probably his mother because:Using the same argument above, it seems plausible and even reasonable that a mother might not know if her son had other properties or debts elsewhere. Case in point, admittedly I don't know if my sons own property other than their homes and I don't know what debts they may have, (however, I'm willing to bet their wives did). 

Additional Proof?

On October 13, 1813, Letters of Administration was granted to Sarah Murry to administer the estate of Charles Murry.

 October 21st 1813. Letters of administration granted to Sarah Murry to administer on the estate of Charles Murry deceased who is to give bond in $100 with John Murry and Percy Kitchel her bail

Thomas Espy
David Espy
John Parkhill

Bond taken and letters granted

Other Areas With Possible Clues

Having hit a brick wall in terms of finding any more information about Charles or Sarah Murry I decided to look for information on the individuals who signed the Letters of Administration; John Murry, the Espy's, John Parkhill and Percy Kitchel hoping some clues might turn up there. They certainly did.

Lets begin with John Murry. It would seem that if John Murry was the father of Charles, he would have been administrator of the will, plus judging from the age of John in the 1820 census if he was related to Charles it was probably a brother.

Clue 1: Percy Kitchel was Daniel Hosbrook's Uncle. Percy Kitchel, another signer, had a sister named Lydia Kitchel. Lydia married John Hosbrook and they had a son named,(you guessed it) Daniel Hosbrook, the same man who gave the belongings to Sarah Murry.

Clue 2: Percy Kitchel also had a sister named Mary Kitchel. Mary married a man named Bates. They had a daughter named Eunice Bates who married Daniel Hosbrook

Clue 3: One of Percy Kitchel's sisters was Daniel Hosbrook's mother, and another sister was Daniel Hosbrook's mother-in-law.

Clue 4: Daniel Hosbrook's home in 1813 was less than 9 miles from the Murry farm in Twenty Mile Stand.

Clue 5: Schillinger and the Espys probably knew each other and may even have been friends. Thomas and David Espy (in red), were brothers. David operated the tavern or inn near Twenty Mile Stand where Schillinger stopped to eat and feed his horse on his way home in May 1813. All indications are his bother Thomas was a famer or businessman.

Clue 6: Kitchel and Schillinger not only had common interests, they may have even been business associates. may also have been friends or business associates. Percy Kitchel, operated a mill on the Little Miami River in Hamilton County, in the same general area as several mills operated by Schilliner's father-in-law James Norris.

 So In a Nutshell, What Do We Know

1. Everyone who agreed to help with the administration of Charles Murry's estate were apparently either relatives or neighbors.

2. With the exception of John Murry the other signers were either in their late 30s or early 40's.

3. Based on my earlier arguments, that Sarah was was Charles mother, she quite possibly was friends or neighbors with the signers. If so, she may have been of the same age or even older late 30s' or 40s, making her old enough to have a son in the military.

Conclusion

Everything I've presented in this blog is strictly speculation based on the evidence I have at present.  From that evidence, I conclude that Private Charles Murry of the 1st Regiment of Ohio Militia who died at Fort Amanda on June 1,1813 and whose home was near Twenty Mile Stand in Warren County, Ohio was a young bachelor between the ages of 18 and 20. Until we can prove otherwise, this is my best guess.

Note to Sarah Murry

Madam, it is my greatest hope that you take no offense to what I've written here. It was done to show you the same respect we pay the soldier buried inside the fenced enclosure at Fort Amanda.
If you are indeed the mother of Charles Murry, rest assured, the place where your son passed is no longer the dark and dangerous wilderness he once knew but is now a place of beauty where hundreds and possibly thousands of people visit him each year. So as long as his gravestone stands and his story told, I can assure you madam, your son will always be remembered.
R.I.P.