Nancy (Petty) Murray in Oklahoma

 

Needs update: we know a little more now...

Nancy (Petty) Murray in Oklahoma

Winfield Scott Murray had died in 1877. Afterwards, Nancy had moved from Fannin County to Murray County, Georgia. Sometime early in the 20th century, before 1910, Nancy MURRAY and her grown offspring, Elias, Will, and Jane, move to Comanche County, Oklahoma, by way of Texas. We know that Elias and possibly Will were in Texas part of the time before settling in Oklahoma.

Will marries Ninnie SNIDER. Their descendants live in Comanche County, Oklahoma. Elias married Vera SMITH late in life. Vera never has any children. Jane MURRAY never marries. Nancy MURRAY of Fletcher, Oklahoma, dies there on the 18th of April, 1917. She is buried at Elgin, but later removed to Lawton, Comanche County, Oklahoma, because the cemetery at Elgin is neglected. In 1939, Elias orders tombstones for the graves of his father and two little sisters back in Georgia. The stones are erected by NEAL MONUMENT COMPANY of Blue Ridge, Georgia, with the help of Dallas WOODY (a relation of the PETTY family) and Willy Lee Pritchett, the grandson of W.S. MURRAY.

One other son who is never mentioned in census, at least by the name we know, is "Gains" MURRAY. Gains has a son named Jim, whose picture is found among Vera (SMITH) MURRAY's pictures. The caption says that he is the son of Gains, "Will's half brother." Will would be the younger William, Nancy's son, who moved to Oklahoma. This would make Gains the son of W.S. MURRAY and his first wife, Caroline. 

Winfield Scott MURRAY has been a difficult individual to research. It took many years of research to put together this skimpy biography, and we still know nothing about his parents. What we know of the children of his first marriage is vague--we only know what we have pieced together from census and from that one photo caption of Jim MURRAY. We do feel that Winfield Scott MURRAY may turn out to be related to the Buncombe County, North Carolina line of MURRAYs. However, we have no real documentation as yet--just circumstantial pointers.

Any and all information on Winfield Scott MURRAY, first wife, Caroline, or their children would be greatly appreciated.