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Additional information concerning John Murphy Sr of Bedford Co VA

Additional information has come to light from Louis Taylor and Orvill Paller, possibly concerning John Murphy Sr of Bedford Co VA. It is assumed in the following paragraphs that the John Murphy referred to is John Murphy Sr of Bedford Co, although there is a chance that this might not be true.

In the book Virginia Colonial Soldiers by Lloyd DeWitt Bocstruck, on page 136 concerning Miscellaneous Enlistments related to the French and Indian War, Jno. Murph(e)y of Bedford Co VA enlisted 29 June 1757.

In Virginia Military Records from the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, the William and Mary College Quarterly, and Tyler's Quarterly by Elizabeth Petty Bentley (1983) on page 369, lists the rolls of Capt Thomas Waggener's Company at Fort Holland on the South Branch in August 1757 as including Jno. Murphy of Bedford Co VA, age 24, fair, height 5' 3", from Ireland, with the trade of barber. Capt Waggener led the Virginia Militia in the French and Indian War.

John Murphy is still listed on the rolls of Capt Thomas Waggener in Nov 1757 (p 124) Dec 1757 (p. 117), Nov and Dec 1758 and Jan 1758 at Fort George (p. 124) and at Fort Hopewell on the South Branch on 1 Mar 1758.

It seems highly possible that this John Murphy from Capt Waggener's company was later John Murphy Sr of Bedford Co, and that he was born in Ireland about 1732.

There is another interesting correlation in this data. Shortly after the new year in 1756, in the French and Indian War, Col. George Washington of Virginia ordered Captain Thomas Waggener and his company to leave Fort Cumberland and proceed to the South Branch of the Potomac. He was ordered to construct two forts in the area about The Trough after consulting with local leaders on the best places to erect them. After completing the forts, he was ordered to station detachments in the most advantageous locations to protect the settlers on the upper South Branch. After arrival and consultation, Waggener began work on two forts, one located on Henry Van Meter's grant in the present Old Fields in Hardy Co and the other further upstream on Lunice Creek in Petersburg in Grant Co, both in what is now West Virginia. They were known as Waggener's upper and lower forts respectively. The lower fort acquired the name Fort Pleasant in 1757. The correlation (possibly not a coincidence) was that John Murphy helped to construct Fort Pleasant while in Captain Waggener's company, and later John Murphy Sr named one of his children Pleasant Murphy.

It is also possible, even probable, that John Murphy Sr of Bedford Co VA was arrested as a loyalist (Tory) during the Revolution. In the Bicentennial History of Franklin County page 49, it is reported that John Murphy Sr was fined 5000 pounds in Bedford Co VA court on 26 Sept 1780 as a loyalist. He was sentenced to a year in jail, to be carried out immediately. The court allowed him to associate with his wife and children as often as they think fit, and to walk out under a strong guard not more than 800 yards from the court once a day or oftener if it appears necessary for their health. It might be difficult to gain admittance to the DAR based upon descent from John Murphy Sr.


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