So Don, Would your final spelling be McMurray then? <<All of my ancestor's brother's, either deliberately or inadvertently, allowed their McMurray name to become McMurry. I don't know why this occurred but it began to happen in the early 1800's while my ancestor and his brothers were in Kentucky (they arrived there from Va., one in 1782 and the other four McMurray men in 1789).>> I have been in touch with you before and I am still asking the same questions....Did these brothers have a brother named Samuel who they left behind by himself in Scott Co. VA and were their parents Samuel and Elizabeth? My Samuel was born in 1785 in Sullivan Co TN and married Jane Ramey in 1808. He died November 6 1858 and his death records showed his parents. I understand that this part of TN was once NC. Scott CO VA didn't come to be until about 1813...but my Samuel raised all of his children there. Still hoping to make some connedctions. Hope to find where Samuels parents came from and where his siblings went. Thanks, Lisa Stephenson In a message dated 7/12/01 11:46:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time, don@norrishouse.com writes: > Hi, I can speak to the name question having studied the origin of the > Murray, MacMurray, McMurray and McMurry names. Our sept of the Murray > family originally was MacMurray. Over time, the enumerators were > responsible for modifying the name with, perhaps, a little help from some of > our family members. The first big change for the MacMurrays came in County > Down, Ulster where most of our large MacMurray families had settled when > they left Scotland in 1606. In Ulster the enumerators exclusively used > M'Murray, a shorthand version of MacMurray, to spell the name in the muster > rolls, first in County Down in 1638 and again in 1648 for all of Ulster. > This shorthand eventually resulted in the elimination of the "a" in the > "Mac" portion of our name and it became "Mc." Some will argue that the king > forced the name change to break up the clans but I think it was just lazy > enumerators. Now, even in those early days there were already some M'Murry > (i.e., MacMurry) men listed in the muster rolls. So you can argue that the > name McMurry was just another sept of the Murray family but I doubt that > this would be allowed by the parent family. > > The final change from McMurray to McMurry, at least for my family, occurred > in America. All of my ancestor's brother's, either deliberately or > inadvertently, allowed their McMurray name to become McMurry. I don't know > why this occurred but it began to happen in the early 1800's while my > ancestor and his brothers were in Kentucky (they arrived there from Va., one > in 1782 and the other four McMurray men in 1789). > > My ancestor and all of his descendants were the only members of our large > family that maintained and defended (to the death <G>) the spelling of our > McMurray name. One of our cousins deliberately changed his name back to > MacMurray. > > Regards, Don > >

Yes, my ancestors and their descendants, from the 1600's until now, kept the McMurray spelling. In Ulster, I would be surprised if they even knew that their name was listed in the Down muster roll as M'Murray. As for your Samuel McMurry in Scott Co., Va., it's likely that he is a relative but I don't know how he is connected. It's important to keep in mind that Washington Co., Va. and Scott Co., Va. were passed through by all the men moving back and forth from Va. to N.C., Tenn. and Ky. It just happens that my McMurray relatives made this trek several times and would lay-over in Washington Co., Va. (right next to Scott Co.) on their trips into the back country. Thomas McMurray, my ancestor's brother was there in 1782 as was his brother, John McMurray. They apparently were visiting an aunt how had married and settled in Washington Co. Thomas was the first of the five brothers to settle in Ky., at Crab Orchard in Lincoln Co. Now, I do know of a Samuel McMurry who married Margaret McMurry (yes, same surname) in 1764. This marriage took place in Granville Co., N.C. and the bondsman was James McMurry. James is, I believe, the son of our patriarch, and the same James McMurray who in 1755 was a witness in a lawsuit "Rev. Robert McMurty vs. Wm. Murry (McMurry?) et al" in Augusta Co., Va. I have no idea where Samuel and Margaret went after their marriage so have no idea if he or his sons went in time to Scott Co., Va. but it's certainly worth looking into. Regards, Don -----Original Message----- From: FP4SALE@aol.com [mailto:FP4SALE@aol.com] Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2001 1:47 PM To: MCMURRY-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [McMurry] fw: a Barren Co, KY marriage So Don, Would your final spelling be McMurray then? <<All of my ancestor's brother's, either deliberately or inadvertently, allowed their McMurray name to become McMurry. I don't know why this occurred but it began to happen in the early 1800's while my ancestor and his brothers were in Kentucky (they arrived there from Va., one in 1782 and the other four McMurray men in 1789).>> I have been in touch with you before and I am still asking the same questions....Did these brothers have a brother named Samuel who they left behind by himself in Scott Co. VA and were their parents Samuel and Elizabeth? My Samuel was born in 1785 in Sullivan Co TN and married Jane Ramey in 1808. He died November 6 1858 and his death records showed his parents. I understand that this part of TN was once NC. Scott CO VA didn't come to be until about 1813...but my Samuel raised all of his children there. Still hoping to make some connedctions. Hope to find where Samuels parents came from and where his siblings went. Thanks, Lisa Stephenson In a message dated 7/12/01 11:46:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time, don@norrishouse.com writes: > Hi, I can speak to the name question having studied the origin of the > Murray, MacMurray, McMurray and McMurry names. Our sept of the Murray > family originally was MacMurray. Over time, the enumerators were > responsible for modifying the name with, perhaps, a little help from some of > our family members. The first big change for the MacMurrays came in County > Down, Ulster where most of our large MacMurray families had settled when > they left Scotland in 1606. In Ulster the enumerators exclusively used > M'Murray, a shorthand version of MacMurray, to spell the name in the muster > rolls, first in County Down in 1638 and again in 1648 for all of Ulster. > This shorthand eventually resulted in the elimination of the "a" in the > "Mac" portion of our name and it became "Mc." Some will argue that the king > forced the name change to break up the clans but I think it was just lazy > enumerators. Now, even in those early days there were already some M'Murry > (i.e., MacMurry) men listed in the muster rolls. So you can argue that the > name McMurry was just another sept of the Murray family but I doubt that > this would be allowed by the parent family. > > The final change from McMurray to McMurry, at least for my family, occurred > in America. All of my ancestor's brother's, either deliberately or > inadvertently, allowed their McMurray name to become McMurry. I don't know > why this occurred but it began to happen in the early 1800's while my > ancestor and his brothers were in Kentucky (they arrived there from Va., one > in 1782 and the other four McMurray men in 1789). > > My ancestor and all of his descendants were the only members of our large > family that maintained and defended (to the death <G>) the spelling of our > McMurray name. One of our cousins deliberately changed his name back to > MacMurray. > > Regards, Don > > ______________________________