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| Portrait of Murrell done while he was in prison. |
In the early 1800s John Andrews Murrell was the South's most notorious thief and murderer.
Despite Murrell’s crimes
he was able to maintain a respectable home in New Orleans with a wife and
children. Some state his wife was actually a shady lady and just a business
partner.
It was Murrell’s vanity that
eventually brought him down. Virgil Stewart befriended him and played off
Murrell’s self-importance. He pumped Murrell for the location of his hideouts
etc. He then led the law to the outlaw in Tennessee.
In 1824, Murrell was captured. His
elderly father paid his bail. He fled to Alabama where he was recaptured
and returned to Tennessee for trial.
Stewart testified against
him. He described Murrell as a cold-blooded killer who robbed and then killed
his victims. In other instances, he stated Murrell killed people just to keep
them quiet.
He testified that Murrell’s
attitude was one of “all such fools should die as soon as possible.”
Murrell admitted to robbing
people but stated he was not a killer. People where he lived viewed him as a
sort of hero and believed him. They viewed Stewart with distaste and felt he
was just trying to make money from his association with Murrell.
Stewart did write a book,
entitled, The Great Western Land Pirate
using the name Augusta Q. Walton, which sensationalized the facts.
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| Stewart's book |
Despite the evidence Murrell
was not hanged instead he was convicted of stealing slaves. He was sentenced to prison hard labor.
Murrell entered the
penitentiary in 1834. His wife immediately divorced him. Life in prison was not
easy. During an attempt to escape, he broke his leg as he jumped from a brick
wall.
After this, he contracted
tuberculosis. In poor health, he was pardoned after serving ten years in 1844.
He was considered an old man at the age of 40. He was encouraged to move to the
mountains, an environment that would help his health.
He became a respected
blacksmith in Bledsoe County north of Pikeville, Tennessee. His work was greatly admired.
He now was a believer and attended church on a regular basis where his bass
singing voice was enjoyed by all.
But within the year his TB
worsened and he died in November of 1844. Near his death he confessed to most
of his crimes. He stated, “He had never killed anyone that didn’t need
killing.”
But his dealings with slaves
point out he was a ruthless killer. The slaves he and his men killed were
disemboweled and then rocks where put in their bellies so they would sink in the
swamps and rivers where their bodies were disposed of.
The locals buried him in an
unmarked grave. Soon after, however, a Nashville paper noted his death and
mentioned where he was buried.
Two doctors got it into their
heads they wanted to study him. They dug up his body and cut off his head. They
also took his thumb with the brand. Later, a young lady out picking berries
discovered his body, minus his head laid out across his coffin.
These two doctors fell out
and others who had a mind to make money took his head to Jasper where they
charged ten cents apiece for a peep at it. The once admired outlaw now was a
sideshow freak.
His head was eventually taken
to Nashville and then on to Philadelphia where it was reburied in
an unknown location.
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| Murrell's thumb |
Today, his thumb is located
at the Tennessee State Museum where it is taken out and put on display once a
year.
The rest of John Murrell’s
body was placed back in his grave at Smyrna Cemetery. After this the citizens
of Bledsoe County began to believe Murrell’s soul was uneasy.
Stories circulated that after
sundown a dark headless apparition was seen wandering aimlessly among the
tombstones. It was thought it was Murrell looking for his head.
By the 1950s and 60s locals
took up a collection—one dollar at a time—at the local drugstore. A simple
marker with Murrell’s name was placed over his grave.
This act appears to have
settled down this haunting.
Read more about this twisted
tale in Part l, Headless Outlaw of Tennessee.
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