James McMurray

  General Notes:

McMurray was the administrator of his father John McMurray's estate and James Dale had owed that estate £60 from business conducted back in 1721. Dale was ordered by the court to make good on his £60 to McMurray with due haste. (SoJ-1725/27:154)

James McMurray's birth year of 1678/79 comes from a deposition given in the Jun 1731 Somerset Court: "The same day came James Mackmore agoe fifty two or thereby sworn saith that about twenty years agoe what Cap.t James Dashiel Cap.t Nicholas Evans M.r W.m Johns he was Chosen to Devide and Share the Necke Called Nutters Neck between Christopher and Mathew Nutters the said Christopher and Mathew brought him to this place to the Best of his Rmembrance being a branch Near the mash side not far from Mathew Nutters dwelling house and told him that here was a bounder of Childes and that there Land Extended and went no furder up Quanticoe Creek and further saith not." (SoJ-1730/33:087)

On Sep 2 1734 James McMurray gave the rights of his "negro boy called Harrey" to his "son" John Jones and his wife Margaret (McMurray) Jones for use during their lifetime and then to their daughter Anne at their decease. (SoLR-AZ:169)

James Mackmorie's will was written Dec 12 1738 and was proven in Somerset Co., MD on Feb 7 1738/9 with the following provisions:
-To grandson James Mackmorie, my dwelling plantation with 250a including orchards and other conveniences
-To grandson James Mackmorie Jones, remainder of my land 150a and each grandson to be heir to one another in case one does not have male issue and if they sell, it should be to one another. The 150a shall be laid out near Thomas Winder's
-To my daughter Mary, the land I bought of Charles Mister
-To all else, real and personal, to loving wife for her natural life or widowhood then to be equally divided among my children and my grandson James Mackmorie, the married hath already received
-My still to go to two grandchildren James Mackmorie and James Mackmorie Jones
-My wife to be executrix with John Jones of Quantico to assist her, Ja Makmorie
Wirnesses: Day Scott, Stephen Banks (SoW-EB9:213)

The community around Pirate's Wharf (Wicomico Co., MD) in the early 18^th century was like many such places on the lower shore, an agrarian economy with tobacco grown as a cash crop and used to trade around the world for household goods - both necessity and luxury items. It was also the primary currency in the area for the first half of the 18^th century. James McMurray had a tremendous advantage living at the Pirate's Wharf location where he maintained high ground, but with immediate access to the Wicomico River, a "super highway" of sorts to get his crops (esp. tobacco) to market and import household items from England to distribute to the surrounding community. He is referred to as both a "planter" and a "gentleman" in the old records reflecting his reputation as a gentleman plantation owner.

To help aid in understanding the communities of old Somerset, we can glean information from surviving tax lists for the county. For Somerset, these survive for the years 1723 to 1759 and, in them, heads of households, males in the household that had attained the age of 15 and healthy slaves are listed. In 1723, James McMurray is listed in Wicomico Hundred with his son, John, as a dependent in the same household and two slaves Rose and Batt. By 1727, son John has moved to his own household, separate from James McMurray, however, they are located next to each other suggesting a second home may have been built on the McMurray property by that time. In 1728, James McMurray is listed with slaves Batt, Rose and Pompey but John is not present suggesting he moved or passed away before 1728 (John McMurray is not present in any of the lists after 1727). By 1730, James McMurray has added a fourth slave named Timmer (Tamer). In 1731, he adds a half-share in a fifth slave named Abner. By 1735, Tamer is gone but Abner is replaced as a full share along with Batt, Rose and Pompey. In 1738, Abner, Pompey and Rose are still with McMurray but Batt is absent. This study will address the subject of slavery and the integral African American influence on the Pirate's Wharf Park area later.

In 1739, James McMurray had died and his wife Anne had taken over as head of the household as listed in the tax records with the same three slaves as in 1738. Notably, there were no males in the household that had reached the age of 15. By 1746, this is still the case but Tamer had been absent from the household for several years and a slave Risper (also Risbanner) was added. In 1749, James McMurray (the grandson) shows as a dependent in the household of John Nutter (his guardian and likely a relative). That same year, Esther McMurray becomes head of the original James/Anne McMurray household possibly indicating that Anne had died c1748. Esther McMurray was the spinster aunt of James McMurray, the grandson. In 1750, James McMurray (grandson) gains his own head of household status next to the households of John Nutter and Esther McMurray. In 1751, he is listed with slave Abner; in 1752 and 1753, he is listed with slaves Abner and Jean; and in 1754, with slaves Abner, Tight and Jeane.

For an idea of what James McMurray Sr.'s plantation was like, he wrote his will written in December 1738, just before he died. In it, he left his 400 acre plantation to his two grandsons; James McMurray and James McMurray Jones. The former was likely the son of John McMurray and he received an allotment of 250 acres described as "my dwelling plantation…with orchards and other conveniences thereunto belonging…" The orchards are important here as many plantations had orchards during the 18^th century that produced apples and other fruits for eating fresh and storing for winter sustenance. They also provided ingredients for distilled spirits especially hard apple cider and other derived drinks like brandy. In fact, James McMurray specifically mentions his prized "still" to be bequeathed to the same two grandson who received his land.

The latter grandson was the son of Captain John Jones "of Quantico" (c1698-1757) and Margaret (McMurray) Jones (c1700-1776), and he received the balance of 150 acres described as the residue of said tracts of land…" Also, in the will, McMurray states that the two grandsons be "heirs to one another…in the said lands in case they should not have male issue…" and, "…if ever they are obliged to sell… (it should be) to one another." Here we see that McMurray wants to protect the entire portion of the land to either go to both or one of the grandsons for life.

The parcel originally slated for James McMurray, the grandson, was the southwest portion of the entire 400 acres with James McMurray Jones' portion being to the northeast. However, from the records, it appears that James McMurray Jones (c1725-c1789) did not keep his portion as grandson James McMurray (c1729-1755) ends up with the entire 400 acres. But where was the "dwelling house" the elder James left his grandson in 1739 - can we better determine the location of the plantation house of James McMurray's estate?

Typically, such information is not available in the old records but we get lucky in this case. There is an interesting deed recorded in Somerset County in April 1764 where Matthew and Mary Cannon sold land to George Dashiell Sr. There are two parcels included therein that the Cannon's dealt to Dashiell for only five shillings; 200 acres of "Whittys Later Invention" and 23½ of a tract called "Debtford" lying adjacent to the northeast of the McMurray plantation. This was the land John Winder had owned back in 1698 that he left his son John Winder but, by 1764, Matthew Cannon owned it. The reason why this transaction is important to this study, even when it is not part of the modern Pirate's Wharf land, is that it states that the beginning point of both these parcels is located at "…the mouth of a gut about a Quarter of a Mile from ^above Mac Murrays house…"

The gut referenced here is the small creek on the northeast boundary of the Pirate's Wharf property ("Deep Branch" from the 1716 Winder will) and this is a rare example in the early records where we can almost exactly determine where the McMurray house stood in the early-to-mid 18^th century. If we run a measurement ¼ of a mile southwest from the mouth of that creek, we see that McMurray's house was located adjacent to, but a bit west of, the George Price cemetery on the Pirate's Wharf property today. In fact, it is likely that the cemetery was active very early and includes the earthly remains of the elder James McMurray who was buried in January or February 1739. See Figure 4 for a depiction of the land surrounding the McMurray plantation, the probable location of the house and the location of the cemetery.

This researcher visited the site in January (2019) where the house was expected to be according to the records and found some evidence of bricks and oyster shells on the surface of the ground in the cornfield there. A farmer had cut a small gully/ditch through the field to drain away some pooling water which has exposed some of the sediment from the drain off. In that sediment was found several old pieces of colonial pottery and a single blue Indian trading bead. One piece was a fragment of a Buckley-type earthenware jar that was heavily imported from England in the time from 1720-1770. Another was a tiny piece of blue tin-glazed earthenware also probably English in origin dating from late 17^th to middle 18^th centuries. The blue glass bead was a typical unit of trade between the English and natives at the time, primarily for furs. In the context of this site, it probably dates to the very early part of when we expect the house to have been built in the late 1600s. Wicomico County could contract to conduct a small archaeological dig to more exactly locate where the McMurray house stood and to recover any cultural artifacts that might exist there below the plow zone.

Finally, in this same time period, we find the same George Dashiell Sr., who purchased the land in 1764 and provided us with an excellent clue as to the location of the McMurray house, also had surveyed for himself a vacant piece of land. His survey, called "Georges Meadow" was laid out in late 1763 for 40 acres and includes the far southern portion of the modern Pirate's Wharf tract. 90% of the tract lies within the Pirate's Wharf property and about half of it is marsh. The survey mentions some interesting improvements on it when laid out in 1763; "77 old apple trees, 13 small apple trees, 100 pannels of old fence 10 logs high , 3 acres of cultivated land." This is probably some of the "orchards and other conveniences" James McMurray mentioned in his 1738 will and where he grew the ingredients for his distilling operation on the property. Figure 5 shows the location of "Georges Meadow" within Pirate's Wharf and an insert of an excerpt of the original survey record that shows the improvements thereon.

When George Dashiell died in 1768, he left this land to his granddaughter Peggy Nicholson "daughter of Joseph Nicholson" as well as the land "Matthew Cannon deeded to me." The latter being the land he had purchased in 1764 mentioned previously. He also stated in his will that Peggy Nicholson will get the "Georges Meadow" tract unless Nancy (Anne) and Rebecca McMurray pay the charges due on it. If, however, they did pay such charges, then the McMurray sisters would receive that land. The reason for this last statement was that, while Dashiell had the land surveyed for him, there was still a charge due to the Lord Proprietor before he could take ownership via a land patent. In the records we find that a patent was not issued for the "Georges Meadow" till 1782 and, by then, it is owned by the families of Anne/Rebecca McMurray who had married Price Russell and Arthur Denwood, respectively. Peggy Nicholson, married John Porter c1778, and the Porters became owners of the tract Dashiell had purchased from the Cannons in 1764.

James married Ann Jones, daughter of William Jones and Margaret Betts, about 1697 in Somerset Co., MD. (Ann Jones was born on 30 Apr 1675 in Somerset Co., MD and died about 1748 in Somerset Co., MD.)