Murphy

My Murphy Connection

My mother was the daughter of Frank Marvin Murphy, who was known all his life by his middle name.  Marvin was the son of George Wishart Murphy, whose father was John Ballantine Murphy.  John Ballantine Murphy was the son of John Murphy and Anne Ballantine of Ayrfield.

The Murphy Line

We owe the arrival of our Murphy ancestors to John Ballantine. John Ballantine and his wife, Anne, arrived in Westmoreland County some time in the mid-1700s and bought 466 acres of land from Daniel Tebbs in 1769. He christened his new estate Ayrfield. He is said to have come from Ayr, Scotland, and is thought to have arrived in Colonies via Alexandria and Dumfries, Virginia on the way to Kinsale in Westmoreland County. Mr. Ballantine was an early merchant in the area, and may have had a brother named James who was his partner.  John Ballantine had at least two daughters, Anne and Elizabeth.  There have been various references in the family to a Jane Ballantine, so it is possible there was another sister.  Elizabeth married Mr. Robert Fergusson of Mulberry Grove in Charles County, Maryland.  Anne married John Murphy.

John Murphy was mentioned in the diary of Phillip Vickers Fithian as a fiery young Scots merchant from Northumberland County, just to the south of Westmoreland.  Mr. Murphy was apparently successful in his wooing of Anne Ballantine, and they were married 8 November, 1787 at Ayrfield.  The county records show that Mr. Ballantine gave his consent.  After that reference, we have only one more mention of John Ballantine.  In May 1788 he again gave consent for a daughter to marry, this time to Mr. Robert Fergusson who married Elizabeth Ballantine.  When next we see the Ballantine name in the marriage records, it is December 1792 when the widow, Anne Ballantine, married John Turberville.  Apparently, John Ballantine had expired sometime between 1788 and 1792.  Family lore suggests that he is buried at Ayrfield in the family cemetery, although no marker has been found for his grave.

The union of John Murphy and Anne Ballantine produced at least five children:

John Ballantine Murphy (b. 1790, d. 1867)
Robert Murphy (b. 1793, d. 1847)
Anne Ballantine Murphy (b. 1795, d. 1820)
Elizabeth Ferguson Murphy
Sarah H. Murphy

There was probably one other daughter, Jean Crosby Murphy, as she is listed as a neice of Robert Fergusson in his will.  Curiously, Sarah H. Murphy is not listed in the will as a neice.  However, Westmoreland County marriage records show that the marriage of Sarah H. Murphy to Fleet Cox on 28 June, 1822 was conducted with the consent of John Murphy, her father, so I think we are safe to include her as his daughter.

From this brood of Murphys spring two large trees full of descendants beneath John Ballantine Murphy and Dr. Robert Murphy.  John Ballantine Murphy was bequeathed Ayrfield by his mother, and gave issue to the branch from which I descend.  Dr. Robert Murphy went on to build Spring Grove, a fine estate in Mount Holly, about five miles northwest as the crow flies from Ayrfield, and he sired the second great branch.  I’ll focus on my own branch here and will add other pages later for the others.

More to come…