Tennessee in history
Early in the 1800s, parents in the South forewarned their kids that if they didn’t follow the rules, John Murrell would eat them.
Previously regarded as the most dangerous criminal in the South, John A. Murrell. He grew up in Columbus, Tennessee, where his mother, Zilpah Murrell, ran a bar. Some stories claim she was a brothel owner.
Murrell’s mother had a bigger impact on him than his father, who was an itinerant preacher who urged him to be honest. Zilpah fostered in him a loathing for anybody she deemed to be of the quality class, especially the pious, and trained him to steal from an early age.
John had mastered theft by the time he was 12 years old. He was a legendary thief by the age of 16, terrorising travellers on the Natchez Trace and other Williamson County roads and trails.
Murrell frequently trapped his victims by assuming the persona of a gentleman. His first run-in with the authorities came when he was apprehended for robbing a widow of a beautiful horse.
In court, the letters H.T., which stood for “Horse Thief,” were inscribed on his thumb. He was subsequently given a whipping without showing any apparent discomfort. He spent a year behind bars.
He became much more despicable after this. He deteriorated further.
Murrell was a skilled con artist. His physical attributes aided in this deceit. He had exquisite bony features, was tall, and moved gracefully. His auburn hair attracted a number of lovely women. Murrell had a thing for women.
He was well-spoken and regularly granted entry to the most exclusive residences without being asked.
He had steely blue eyes, though, and was fearless. He was a murderer as well.
He frequently pretended to be the preacher his father was. His men were outside stealing the congregations’ horses as he preached fire and brimstone in several churches.
He ran a successful business stealing slaves for a while. With the promise of freedom, he would entice them away, only to murder them later. He would first resell them, then steal them back, but once he saw they would be identified, he would murder them.
One story claims that he subjected 100 slaves to this.
He victimised victims across the whole South, from Louisiana to Arkansas.
The most renowned thief and killer in the South in the early 1800s was John Andrews Murrell.
Murrell managed to keep up a respectable house in New Orleans with his wife and kids despite his misdeeds. Some argue that his wife was only a business associate who was dishonest.
Ultimately, Murrell was brought low by his conceit. Murrell became friends with Virgil Stewart, who ridiculed Murrell’s arrogance. He probed Murrell for information about his hiding places, etc. Then, in Tennessee, he led the law to the criminal.
The year 1824 saw Murrell’s capture. His ailing father had posted bail. He escaped to Alabama, but was apprehended there and brought back to Tennessee for a trial.
Stewart offered evidence against him. He characterised Murrell as a ruthless killer who looted his victims before killing them. He said that Murrell killed individuals in other cases only to keep them silent.
According to his testimony, Murrell believed that “all such fools should die as quickly as feasible.”
Although Murrell acknowledged robbing individuals, he said he wasn’t a murderer. He was believed by and seen as somewhat of a hero by the locals. They didn’t like Stewart and thought he was just attempting to cash in on his relationship with Murrell.
Under the pen name Augusta Q. Walton, Stewart did pen a book called The Great Western Land Pirate that sensationalised the facts.
Murrell was not hung despite the evidence; instead, he was found guilty of stealing slaves. He received a harsh jail term.
In 1834, Murrell checked himself into the prison. His wife filed for divorce right away. Prison life was not simple. He leaped off a brick wall to try to get away, but he fractured his leg.
He then had TB as a result. He served ten years until being released in 1844 due to ill health. He was 40 years old and already an elderly guy. He was urged to go to the highlands, where he would find a healthier atmosphere.
In Bledsoe County, Tennessee, to the north of Pikeville, he rose to prominence as a blacksmith. His creations were highly regarded. He was now a believer and frequently went to church, where everyone enjoyed hearing his bass singing voice.
However, his TB got worse within the year, and he passed away in November 1844. He made most of his confessions toward the end of his life. “He had never murdered somebody who didn’t need to be killed,” he claimed.
However, his interactions with slaves reveal that he was a brutal murderer. The slaves he and his men murdered were disembowelled and then had boulders placed in their bellies so that when their bodies were dumped in the rivers and swamps, they would sink.
He was interred by the villagers in an unmarked cemetery. But soon after, a Nashville newspaper reported on his passing and identified the location of his grave.
Two medical professionals decided they wanted to investigate him. They removed his head and dug up his body. They carried his brand along as well. Later, while collecting berries, a young woman found his body lying over his casket without his head.
These two physicians had a falling out, so other people looking to earn money carried his head to Jasper and paid each person 10 cents to take a peek at it. The once-revered bandit was now a freak in a carnival.
In the end, his head was transported to Philadelphia, reburied, and then transported to Nashville.
His thumb is currently on exhibit at the Tennessee State Museum, where it is removed and displayed once a year.
John Murrell’s remaining body parts were reburied in his grave at Smyrna Cemetery. The people of Bledsoe County started to think Murrell’s soul was unsettled after that.
A black, headless phantom was allegedly observed walking aimlessly amid the gravestones after dusk, according to rumours. It was assumed that Murrell was searching for his head.
By the 1950s and 1960s, residents started contributing $1 increments to a collection at the neighbourhood pharmacy. Over Murrell’s grave was a simple headstone with his name.
This action seems to have put an end to the haunting.
