John Murrell (bandit)
Encyclopedia
John A. Murrell (1806?-1844), a near-legendary bandit operating in the United States
along the Mississippi River
in the mid-nineteenth century. Convicted for his crimes in the Circuit Court
of Madison County, Tennessee, Murrell was incarcerated in the Tennessee State Penitentiary, modeled after the Auburn penal system
, from 1834 to 1844.
and raised in Williamson County, Tennessee
. Murrell was the son of Jeffrey Murrell and Zilpha Andrews and the third born of eight children. When incarcerated
, his mother, wife and two children lived in the vicinity of Denmark, Tennessee. While in the penitentiary
, Murrell learned the blacksmith
's trade
, lived in Pikeville, Tennessee
, and died there of "pulmonary consumption" (probably tuberculosis
). In a deathbed confession, Murrell admitted to being guilty of most the crimes charged against him except murder, to which he claimed to be "guiltless."
Stewart wrote this so-called "confession of John Murrell" under the pseudonym of "Augustus Q. Walton, Esq.," for whom he invented a fictitious background and profession. Some historians assert that Stewart's pamphlet was largely fictional, and that Murrell (and his brothers) were at best inept thieves, having bankrupted their father over the years for bail money.
However, many of the claims made in the pamphlet were believed at the time in some parts of the South, and led to the "Murrell Excitement". During this time, there was increased tension between the races and between locals and outsiders. On July 4, 1835, there were disturbances in the red-light districts of Nashville, Memphis and Natchez and twenty slaves and ten white men where hanged after confessing to complicity in this plot. On July 6, in Vicksburg
, an angry mob decided to expel all professional gamblers from the town, based on a rumor that the gamblers were part of this plot. The gamblers resisted, and as a result, 5 gamblers were hanged by the mob.
in his novel Tom Sawyer
has Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
seeing "Injun Joe" finding "Murel's" treasure and then after "Injun Joe"'s death by starvation, Sawyer and Finn find the treasure again.
The Tennessee Historical Society has a traveling exhibit which features, among many other items, a preserved thumb which supposedly belonged to Murrell.
He was fictionalized by Jorge Luis Borges
in The Cruel Redeemer Lazarus Morell, written between 1933 and 1934 and published in A Universal History of Iniquity in 1935. It is speculation that Borges adapted the last name from Twain; and as Twain did not have a first name for the bandit, Borges used Lazarus, many believe as an allusion to the Bible character of the same first name who was raised from the dead by Jesus, symbolizing a second life (which, in a purely ironic way, Borges' Lazarus Morrell provided for the slaves he freed).
He was fictionalized in Episode 5 of Riverboat on U.S. television network NBC
, and the episode was first broadcast on October 11, 1959. In the show, he was a riverboat captain who planned to hijack another riverboat
piloted by "Dan Simpson," and planned to do so by planting an alluring agent (played by Debra Paget
) as a dancing girl on his vessel.
He was fictionalized in Episode 20, Season 2 of The Adventures of Jim Bowie
(1958) titled Pirate on Horseback. In the episode, Jim Bowie pretends to be a criminal in order to gain Murrell's trust, played by Donald Randolph
. Murrell is presented as the leader of "The Brotherhood," planning to overthrow the U.S. Government, and receives his guidance from Heaven.
He was fictionalized as a featured character both in Robert Lewis Taylor's The Travels of Jamie McPheeters and on the 1963 television showed based on it, where he was portrayed by James Westerfield
.
Sow the Seeds of Hemp, a 1976 novel by Gary Jennings
, is a fictionalized account of the pursuit of John Murrell by Virgil Stewart, told from Stewart's point of view.
American novelist John Wray
's second novel, entitled "Canaan's Tongue" (2005), uses Murrell and his bandits for an allegorical look at the United States, belief, and power.
His escapades have also inspired numerous rumors about the location of his treasure. One claim is that it is buried in the Devil's Punch Bowl. Coin collectors say it is on Honey Island in Louisiana. (See external link below for details.)
To top it off, his ghost reportedly appears from time to time on the Natchez Trace
. Once again, the Devil's Punch Bowl is said to be the site of the haunting of members of his gang.
Walt Disney's Davy Crockett
has Crockett and Mike Fink
fighting off an attack by a Murrell-type outlaw, who is referred to as Samuel Mason
, and joined by the Harpe Brothers
in Davy Crockett and the River Pirates
, 1956.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
along the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
in the mid-nineteenth century. Convicted for his crimes in the Circuit Court
Circuit court
Circuit court is the name of court systems in several common law jurisdictions.-History:King Henry II instituted the custom of having judges ride around the countryside each year to hear appeals, rather than forcing everyone to bring their appeals to London...
of Madison County, Tennessee, Murrell was incarcerated in the Tennessee State Penitentiary, modeled after the Auburn penal system
Auburn system
The Auburn system is a penal method of the 19th century in which persons worked during the day in groups and were kept in solitary confinement at night, with enforced silence at all times...
, from 1834 to 1844.
Early life
According to prison records, John Andrews Murrell was born in Lunenburg County, VirginiaLunenburg County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 13,146 people, 4,998 households, and 3,383 families residing in the county. The population density was 30 people per square mile . There were 5,736 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile...
and raised in Williamson County, Tennessee
Williamson County, Tennessee
Williamson County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010 US Census, the population was 183,182. The County's seat is Franklin, and it is part of the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is named after Hugh Williamson, a...
. Murrell was the son of Jeffrey Murrell and Zilpha Andrews and the third born of eight children. When incarcerated
Incarceration
Incarceration is the detention of a person in prison, typically as punishment for a crime .People are most commonly incarcerated upon suspicion or conviction of committing a crime, and different jurisdictions have differing laws governing the function of incarceration within a larger system of...
, his mother, wife and two children lived in the vicinity of Denmark, Tennessee. While in the penitentiary
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
, Murrell learned the blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
's trade
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
, lived in Pikeville, Tennessee
Pikeville, Tennessee
Pikeville is a city in Bledsoe County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,781 at the 2000 census. It is also the county seat of Bledsoe County.-Geography:...
, and died there of "pulmonary consumption" (probably tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
). In a deathbed confession, Murrell admitted to being guilty of most the crimes charged against him except murder, to which he claimed to be "guiltless."
Accepted claims
Accepted facts about his life include these:- He stole horses, and at least once was caught with a freed slave living on his property. Murrell was also, known to kidnap slaves and sell them back to other slave owners. He was sentenced to ten years in a TennesseeTennesseeTennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
prison for slave-stealing. Murrell would be considered a conductor on the Reverse Underground RailroadReverse Underground RailroadThe Reverse Underground Railroad is the term used for the historical practice of kidnapping free Black Americans from free states and transporting them into the American South for sale as slaves...
. - Murrell was one of three brothers who were known to be petty thieves. Their father was a MethodistMethodismMethodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
circuit preacher. - After Murrell died nine months after leaving prison, parts of him were dug up and stolen. His skullHuman skullThe human skull is a bony structure, skeleton, that is in the human head and which supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 22 bones...
is still missing, but one of his thumbs is in the possession of the Tennessee State Museum.
The Murrell Excitement
A young man named Virgil Stewart, in 1835, wrote an account of a Murrell sponsored slave rebellion plot sponsored by highwaymen and Northern Abolitionists. The account was thought to be fictitious. The account was published as a pamphlet called "A History of the Detection, Conviction, Life And Designs of John A. Murel, The Great Western Land Pirate; Together With his System of Villany and Plan of Exciting a Negro Rebellion, and a Catalogue of the Names of Four Hundred and Forty Five of His Mystic Clan Fellows and Followers and Their Efforts for the Destruction of Mr. Virgil A. Stewart, The Young Man Who Detected Him, To Which is Added Biographical Sketch of Mr. Virgil A. Stewart."Stewart wrote this so-called "confession of John Murrell" under the pseudonym of "Augustus Q. Walton, Esq.," for whom he invented a fictitious background and profession. Some historians assert that Stewart's pamphlet was largely fictional, and that Murrell (and his brothers) were at best inept thieves, having bankrupted their father over the years for bail money.
However, many of the claims made in the pamphlet were believed at the time in some parts of the South, and led to the "Murrell Excitement". During this time, there was increased tension between the races and between locals and outsiders. On July 4, 1835, there were disturbances in the red-light districts of Nashville, Memphis and Natchez and twenty slaves and ten white men where hanged after confessing to complicity in this plot. On July 6, in Vicksburg
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the only city in Warren County. It is located northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and due west of Jackson, the state capital. In 1900, 14,834 people lived in Vicksburg; in 1910, 20,814; in 1920,...
, an angry mob decided to expel all professional gamblers from the town, based on a rumor that the gamblers were part of this plot. The gamblers resisted, and as a result, 5 gamblers were hanged by the mob.
Disputed claims
The following claims were originally derived from Stewart's "History of the Detection, Conviction, Life, and Designs of John A. Murel...." (see above):- He was known as a 'land-pirate,' using the Mississippi RiverMississippi RiverThe Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
as a base for his operations. He used a network of anywhere from 300 (Stewart estimate) to 1,000 (as quoted in Mark TwainMark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
's Life on the MississippiLife on the MississippiLife on the Mississippi is a memoir by Mark Twain, of his days as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River before the American Civil War, and also a travel book, recounting his trip along the Mississippi many years after the War....
) to 2,500 (as some newspaper reports claimed) fellow bandits collectively known as the Mystic Clan to pull off his escapades. Many of these were members of cultural/ethnic groups such as the MelungeonMelungeonMelungeon is a term traditionally applied to one of a number of "tri-racial isolate" groups of the Southeastern United States, mainly in the Cumberland Gap area of central Appalachia, which includes portions of East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and East Kentucky. Tri-racial describes populations...
s and the RedboneRedbone (ethnicity)Redbone is a term historically used in much of the southern United States, particularly in Louisiana, to refer to a Métis or Mestee ethnic group of mixed racial heritage.-Definition:...
s. He was also known as a bushwhackerBushwhackerBushwhacking was a form of guerrilla warfare common during the American Revolutionary War, American Civil War and other conflicts in which there are large areas of contested land and few Governmental Resources to control these tracts...
along the Natchez TraceNatchez TraceThe Natchez Trace, also known as the "Old Natchez Trace", is a historical path that extends roughly from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee, linking the Cumberland, Tennessee and Mississippi rivers...
.
- To cover up his misdeeds, he played the persona of a traveling preacher. Twain's work and others say he would preach to a congregation while his gang stole the horses outside. However, the accounts are unanimous that Murrell's horse was always left behind.
- Just before he was apprehended, he was about to spearhead a slave revolt in New OrleansNew Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
in an attempt to take over the city and install himself as a sort of potentate of Louisiana.
- The disputed details about Murrell are more numerous and controversial than the known facts. Even today, his place of birth is in question: Some sources claim Williamson County, TennesseeWilliamson County, TennesseeWilliamson County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010 US Census, the population was 183,182. The County's seat is Franklin, and it is part of the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is named after Hugh Williamson, a...
, others say Jackson, TennesseeJackson, TennesseeJackson is a city in Madison County, Tennessee, United States. The total population was 65,211 at the 2010 census. Jackson is the primary city of the Jackson, Tennessee metropolitan area, which is included in the Jackson-Humboldt, Tennessee Combined Statistical Area...
. In any case, it is clear that he grew up in Williamson County, Tennessee, just south of Franklin.
- Even more in debate is the location of his hideout and operations base. Once again, Jackson or Madison County are bandied about, but other places include Natchez, MississippiNatchez, MississippiNatchez is the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. With a total population of 18,464 , it is the largest community and the only incorporated municipality within Adams County...
in an odd depression on a bluff called Devil's Punch Bowl, Tunica County, MississippiTunica County, MississippiAs of the census of 2000, there were 9,227 people, 3,258 households, and 2,192 families residing in the county. The population density was 20 people per square mile . There were 3,705 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile...
, the Neutral Ground in Louisiana, and even the tiny Island 37, part of Tipton County, TennesseeTipton County, TennesseeTipton County is a county located on the western end of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2000, the population was 51,271. Its county seat is Covington. Tipton County is part of the Memphis, TN–MS–AR Metropolitan Statistical Area, centered on Shelby County, which borders Tipton on...
. One record, a genealogical note,http://gagen.i-found-it.net/halliburtonmemoirs.html even places him as far east as GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
; in fact Atlanta historian Franklin GarrettFranklin GarrettFranklin Miller Garrett was the only official historian of Atlanta. His massive Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of its People and Events remains the best reference for the city's history.-Biography:...
makes it clear there was a lawless district in that town named for him, "Murrell's RowMurrell's RowMurrell's Row was a red-light district of Atlanta "starting at the juncture of Line, Decatur and Peachtree streets" Murrell's Row was a red-light district of Atlanta "starting at the juncture of Line, Decatur and Peachtree streets" Murrell's Row was a red-light district of Atlanta "starting at the...
" in the 1840s. Because Murrell has come to symbolize Natchez TraceNatchez TraceThe Natchez Trace, also known as the "Old Natchez Trace", is a historical path that extends roughly from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee, linking the Cumberland, Tennessee and Mississippi rivers...
lawlessness in the antebellum period, it's understandable that his "hideouts" (whether there were any hideouts or not) have been said to have been located at most of the well-known areas of particular lawlessness along the Natchez Trace.
- Some say he began to plot his takeover of New Orleans in 1841, although he was in the sixth year of a ten year sentence in the prison at Nashville at the time, and Stewart had already published his account of Murrell's plot in 1835. Others say he was in operation from 1835 to 1857; he was in prison for ten of those years, and died of tuberculosis in 1845 shortly after leaving prison and taking up a quiet life as a ChristianChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
and blacksmithBlacksmithA blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
.
- A river feature in Chicot County, ArkansasChicot County, ArkansasChicot County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of 2010, the population is 11,800. The county seat is Lake Village. Chicot County is Arkansas's tenth county, formed on October 25, 1823, and named after Point Chicot on the Mississippi River.Landmarks around the county include...
called Whiskey Chute is named for his raid on a whiskey-carrying steamboat that was sunk after it was pillaged. It was named such in 1855. However, he is also claimed to have been born in 1791. We know from Record Group 25, "Prison Records for the Main Prison at Nashville, Tennessee, 1831-1922," that Murrell was born in 1806, most likely in Williamson County, Tennessee.
In popular culture
Mark TwainMark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
in his novel Tom Sawyer
Tom Sawyer
Thomas "Tom" Sawyer is the title character of the Mark Twain novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . He appears in three other novels by Twain: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , Tom Sawyer Abroad , and Tom Sawyer, Detective .Sawyer also appears in at least three unfinished Twain works, Huck and Tom...
has Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
Huckleberry Finn
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a classic Mark Twain novel.Huckleberry Finn may also refer to:*Huckleberry Finn , a fictional character in the Adventures of Tom Sawyer...
seeing "Injun Joe" finding "Murel's" treasure and then after "Injun Joe"'s death by starvation, Sawyer and Finn find the treasure again.
The Tennessee Historical Society has a traveling exhibit which features, among many other items, a preserved thumb which supposedly belonged to Murrell.
He was fictionalized by Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
in The Cruel Redeemer Lazarus Morell, written between 1933 and 1934 and published in A Universal History of Iniquity in 1935. It is speculation that Borges adapted the last name from Twain; and as Twain did not have a first name for the bandit, Borges used Lazarus, many believe as an allusion to the Bible character of the same first name who was raised from the dead by Jesus, symbolizing a second life (which, in a purely ironic way, Borges' Lazarus Morrell provided for the slaves he freed).
He was fictionalized in Episode 5 of Riverboat on U.S. television network NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, and the episode was first broadcast on October 11, 1959. In the show, he was a riverboat captain who planned to hijack another riverboat
Riverboat
A riverboat is a ship built boat designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury units constructed for entertainment enterprises, such...
piloted by "Dan Simpson," and planned to do so by planting an alluring agent (played by Debra Paget
Debra Paget
Debra Paget is an American actress and entertainer who rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s in a variety of feature films including Cecil B. DeMille's epic The Ten Commandments and Love Me Tender, the film début of Elvis Presley.-Early life and career:Paget was born in Denver, Colorado...
) as a dancing girl on his vessel.
He was fictionalized in Episode 20, Season 2 of The Adventures of Jim Bowie
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
In September of 1956 a TV series named "The Adventures of Jim Bowie" was aired on ABC. The show was only on the air for two years from 1956 to 1958. The series' music was unique in that is was primarily vocal, provided by Ken Darby and The King's Men .-Synopsis:The series stars Scott Forbes as the...
(1958) titled Pirate on Horseback. In the episode, Jim Bowie pretends to be a criminal in order to gain Murrell's trust, played by Donald Randolph
Donald Randolph
Donald Randolph was a film, television, and radio actor. The actor, who appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz , acted in dozens of radio dramas, television programs, and over thirty films....
. Murrell is presented as the leader of "The Brotherhood," planning to overthrow the U.S. Government, and receives his guidance from Heaven.
He was fictionalized as a featured character both in Robert Lewis Taylor's The Travels of Jamie McPheeters and on the 1963 television showed based on it, where he was portrayed by James Westerfield
James Westerfield
James A. Westerfield was an American actor.Born in Nashville, Tennessee, he starred in more than 50 films during his lifetime...
.
Sow the Seeds of Hemp, a 1976 novel by Gary Jennings
Gary Jennings
Gary Jennings was an American author who wrote children's and adult novels. In 1980, after the successful novel Aztec, he specialized in writing adult historical fiction novels.-Biography:...
, is a fictionalized account of the pursuit of John Murrell by Virgil Stewart, told from Stewart's point of view.
American novelist John Wray
John Wray
John Wray may refer to:*Sir John Wray, 2nd Baronet, English politician* John Wray , appeared in films such as All Quiet on the Western Front and The Cat and the Canary...
's second novel, entitled "Canaan's Tongue" (2005), uses Murrell and his bandits for an allegorical look at the United States, belief, and power.
His escapades have also inspired numerous rumors about the location of his treasure. One claim is that it is buried in the Devil's Punch Bowl. Coin collectors say it is on Honey Island in Louisiana. (See external link below for details.)
To top it off, his ghost reportedly appears from time to time on the Natchez Trace
Natchez Trace
The Natchez Trace, also known as the "Old Natchez Trace", is a historical path that extends roughly from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee, linking the Cumberland, Tennessee and Mississippi rivers...
. Once again, the Devil's Punch Bowl is said to be the site of the haunting of members of his gang.
Walt Disney's Davy Crockett
Davy Crockett
David "Davy" Crockett was a celebrated 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S...
has Crockett and Mike Fink
Mike Fink
Mike Fink called "king of the keelboaters", was a semi-legendary brawler and boatman who exemplified the tough and hard-drinking men who ran keelboats up and down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers....
fighting off an attack by a Murrell-type outlaw, who is referred to as Samuel Mason
Samuel Mason
Samuel Mason or Meason was a Revolutionary War militia captain on the frontier, who following the war, became the leader of a gang of river pirates and highwaymen on the lower Ohio River and the Mississippi River in the late 18th and early 19th centuries...
, and joined by the Harpe Brothers
Harpe Brothers
Micajah "Big" Harpe and Wiley "Little" Harpe , pronounced and , were murderers, highwaymen, and river pirates, who operated in Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, and Mississippi in the late 18th century...
in Davy Crockett and the River Pirates
Davy Crockett and the River Pirates
Davy Crockett and the River Pirates is a 1956 live-action Walt Disney adventure film starring Fess Parker as Davy Crockett. It was shot in Cave-In-Rock, Illinois...
, 1956.