52 Ancestors: Meet Henry Murray

Out of the clear blue sky someone responded to a inquiry I made in the Ancestry.com message boards in 2008. By the end of the conversation I had found a new cousin! He shared with me something priceless, a painting of my 4x great grandfather, Henry Murray. I dont have many old photos of family members in the past so this painting I will treasure.

Henry Murray, was born in April 1835 in Walterboro, Bowen District, Colleton County, SC. He was the mulatto son of Peter and Peggy Murray. Peter Murray was also a mulatto, the son of the slaveowner John Murray and his slave Tinah. Being a mulatto had its privileges. Henry was an overseer at one of the six plantations owned by Charles Heyward. Henry's mother Peggy was a cook at the Pleasant Hill Plantation. In 1861, Henry married Julia Ann Wallace b. 1840 in Green Pond, Heyward Township, Colleton Co., SC. Julia kept house and raised their 9 children and grandchildren in Heyward until 1919. Henry also had a 2nd family with Rebecca Gadsen b. 1863.

Henry was enrolled in the militia of Blake, Colleton in 1869. Henry was a farmer of his own land in Verdier, Colleton Co., SC from 1870 to 1910. Henry died in 1910. 

A special thanks to Clarence Murray III and Melissa Ford for these pictures. 

Click here for the link to the Charles Heyward Plantations of Colleton, SC. The Heyward family kept a detailed list of slaves and ages by the end of the Civil War.