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I'm trying to find proof of a conjecture -- that my ancestor, Frances
Pryor (Smith) Murrell, b. ca. 1715 in Virginia, was the daughter of
Richard Smith and Agnes Cocke. Trying to approach this from the Smith
side seems impossible because of the number of Smith families in early
Virginia, so I'm hoping that trying to figure out the Cocke side of the
family will be more helpful.
Agnes (Cocke) Smith's will was probated in Lunenburg Co. VA in 1774, and
all of her beneficiaries are her children and grandchildren. She lists
as a beneficiary a "Geoffrey Murrell," however -- no explanation of
relationship. Frances (Smith) Murrell had a son named Jeffrey, and it
would make sense that this "Geoffrey Murrell" was also Agnes'
grandchild. Was Frances Pryor (Smith) Murrell a child of Agnes'?
Richard Smith died in 1760, and doesn't list a Frances Murrell among his
children in his will -- so it's possible that Frances was already dead
by that time. Most of the Murrell sites list Frances' death date as
1765 but I don't know that that comes from a documented source. If
Frances really is Richard & Agnes (Cocke) Smith's child, she must have
been dead by 1760.
Does anyone know of any support for this hypothesis? I'll also accept
evidence to the contrary, although more reluctantly. ;-) Seriously,
I'm trying to find proof one way or the other, and any help would be
much appreciated.
I'm very happy to exchange information. I have other pieces of evidence
of connections between the Murrell and Cocke families, if anyone's
interested.
cheers,
Gordon Bonnet
Trumansburg NY