Genealogy Trip to North Carolina

I took advantage of going with Patrick on a business trip to the Raleigh/Durham area and have been doing some research on my family tree.

I have things traced back to the American Revolution so far. On my grandfather's side, I know that Benjamin Banks was a Revolutionary War soldier. He was married to Patty Murfree. They were both from Hertford County, North Carolina. Benjamin Banks was born in 1760 and died in 1852. Patty Murfree was born before 1756. I'm not sure exactly when, though.

I'm trying to find more information about Patty Murfree's family in the hopes that I can find more Revolutionary Soldiers in my ancestry.

Yesterday, I went to the State of North Carolina's Archives and found some great information on William Hardy Murfree and Hardy Murfree (more details on them to come in a later post)... I am relatively certain that they are related to my Patty Murfree, but I am not sure how they're related just yet. Both men were active leaders in the establishment of the state of North Carolina.

This morning, I made a trip to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to look in the archives in the Southern Historical Collection. They have a collection of Murfree Family Papers. These included diaries, news clippings, deeds, records of indentures, bills, receipts and a few pictures. Would you believe that there was a signed picture of Robert E. Lee? Here is a picture:



There were very interesting letters and receipts in the collection. I may go back on Monday or Tuesday to make some copies. Everything is on microfilm.

I didn't have as much luck as I'd hoped I might in finding proof that Patty Murfree was related to these Murfrees....

Tomorrow I'm planning on going back to Raleigh to do a little more digging in the archives and genealogy departments. Maybe there I can dig back a bit.

I'll keep you posted!