William Murray / Morrow

How I label things here: Proven means a record I have seen supports it. DNA-supported means shared matches point to it but I have no record that names the relationship. Hypothesis is my best working idea and is not settled. Ruled out means I tested it and it failed.

The story so far

William Murray, who also appears in records as William Morrow, was born in 1796 in Washington County, Pennsylvania, and died on October 14, 1853, in Jay County, Indiana. His 1814 military enlistment records establish his birth year and birthplace, and he and his wife Ellener later appear in a War of 1812 pension. He is my mother's third great-grandfather, and his parents are the question I have not been able to answer.

The spelling of the name is part of the puzzle. Murray and Morrow are not a transcription error in this family. The two forms are a documented pattern, and they make it easy to attach the wrong records to the right man or the right records to the wrong one. A researcher who searches only one spelling will miss half of the paper trail.

What is established

• Proven: William was born in 1796 in Washington County, Pennsylvania, from his 1814 enlistment records, and died October 14, 1853, in Jay County, Indiana.
• Proven by DNA and records together: His wife was Eleanor Piper, daughter of William Piper and Sarah Thompson. They married in February 1818. I confirmed Eleanor's parentage by isolating pure Piper descendants from the combined Murray/Piper matches.
• Children of William and Eleanor: James, Rachel, Sarah Elizabeth, Eliza Jane, Charles H., Benjamin P., and William Lewis Murray.
• Documented sons: James Murray, Benjamin Piper Murray, and Charles Henry Murray each have Civil War pension files, and I hold copies.

My line from William

William's son James Murray married three times. His first wife was Lovina, and their children were Isaac, Elizabeth (who died young), and Emily or Emma. His second wife was Harriet Spencer, and their son Ora William Murray married Isalata Lettie Riffle. His third wife was Ellen Axtell, and they had no children. Their children include James Ellsworth Murray Sr. (1902 to 1980), and the line continues down to my mother. Lettie's own father is a separate brick wall, covered on its own page.

Why James's first marriage matters

James Murray's first marriage to Lovina is central to this research. Her descendants carry William's Murray or Morrow DNA without the Spencer line that my own branch also carries, so they are the cleanest way to separate "pure" Murray/Morrow matches from matches that come through Harriet Spencer. Because Eleanor Piper was William's wife, this first-marriage line is also one place where Piper DNA is carried alongside Murray/Morrow, which helps me tell the two apart. I treat matches through Lovina's children as a key test group for every hypothesis below.

The Piper line: William's wife's family

Eleanor Piper's family matters as much as William's own, because her line is better documented and it ties this family to the Revolutionary War and to the opening of Ohio.

• Eleanor Piper was the daughter of William Piper and Sarah Thompson. She married William Murray or Morrow in February 1818.
• William Piper, her father, purchased land in 1801 in the Northwest Territory, in what was then Jefferson County. That land later fell within Columbiana County, which was formed in 1803 from parts of Jefferson and Washington Counties. A researcher who looks only in Columbiana County records will miss the earliest transactions, which sit in the parent county. See my Columbiana County guide and Jefferson County guide, and the article on the parent county trap.
• Lt. Col. James Piper was William Piper's father. In my research, he was captured after the Battle of Long Island in 1776. George Washington was working on an exchange to trade for him when he died of fever, aboard a British prison ship, in January 1777.

If those facts hold, Eleanor Piper's grandfather died as a prisoner of war during the first winter of the Revolution, and her father crossed into the Northwest Territory within about 25 years of his death. I am still gathering the records that document each step, and I will add them here as I confirm them. Records worth checking include Pennsylvania Archives muster and militia rolls, Revolutionary War service and prisoner-of-war records, the Jefferson County land entries for 1801, and DAR lineage records.

The family tree, in order

1. Lt. Col. James Piper (died January 1777)
2. William Piper, who purchased land in 1801, and Sarah Thompson
3. Eleanor Piper, who married William Murray or Morrow in February 1818
4. James Murray (first wife Lovina, second wife Harriet Spencer, third wife Ellen Axtell with no children)
5. Ora William Murray, who married Isalata Lettie Riffle
6. James Ellsworth Murray Sr. (1902 to 1980)

Generations continue to my mother's family. I leave out living people.

The working hypothesis

Hypothesis, not proof: William was related to the Matthew Morrow (1761 to 1842) family of Washington County, Pennsylvania. The exact relationship is not known. He could be a nephew, a cousin, or another relative. The support is DNA. Matches trace to David W. Morrow (1809 to 1892), a son of Matthew Morrow and Elizabeth Weir. Shared-match analysis has confirmed a Washington County Morrow network.

I built a triangulation map from more than 13 independent family lines that converge on William as their common ancestor. That is strong evidence that the descendants are real relatives of one man. It shows he belongs to this family. It does not by itself name his father.

What I have ruled out

• Son of Matthew Morrow. The Weir family history documents Matthew's 13 children, and William is not among them.
• Son of Thomas Murray or Morrow. Thomas was not William's father.
• John Morrow (1796 to 1812). He died before William's 1814 enlistment, so he cannot be the same man.
• George Morrow of County Cavan. The timelines contradict each other.
• The William Morrow of Jefferson County, Ohio. A different man. He is one of several men with this name, which is why a name match alone proves nothing.

Records examined

I have searched the available records for William, including the 1790 Dauphin County census household of Thomas Murray, Washington County, Pennsylvania biographical and historical records, the Weir family history, William's 1814 enlistment records, and Ohio probate records for a Samuel Morrow. Nothing in them has settled his parentage. The main obstacle is that more than one William Morrow was living in this region and era, so a record that names a William Morrow cannot be attached to my William without something that ties it to him, such as an age, a spouse, a neighbor, or a place.

What I do next

1. Go back through the Washington County, Pennsylvania records with the goal of separating the different William Morrows from one another, using age, spouse, neighbors, and location. Look at relatives and neighbors under both spellings, not just William. See my Washington County, Pennsylvania guide.
2. Work out how William was related to the Matthew Morrow family, whether as nephew, cousin, or another relative, by tracing the Morrow households around him.
3. Keep sorting DNA matches into named groups before analysis, and test how the Matthew Morrow descendants' DNA matches William's descendants, to narrow down the relationship.
4. Gather a record that names each of the seven children as William and Eleanor's, and cite it on this page.

What this teaches about brick walls

Two habits have mattered most. First, organize your matches into discrete, named groups before you interpret anything, because mixing two lines produces false answers. Second, write down what you have ruled out and why, so you do not re-test the same dead end a year later.