John Musgrove: Grandson of Cuthbert

Our Georgia Musgrove family shares a surname with the 'Pocahontas of the South'; Mary Musgrove. Her husband, John Musgrove, was the first to welcome James Oglethorpe to what would become the new colony of Georgia.

Mary Musgrove was a Creek Indian. John Musgrove, Jr.'s mother was Cherokee. His father was a South Carolina Indian trader and mediator to the colonists. John and Mary married in 1715 as part of peace negotiations. All their offspring died in childhood.

St Cuthbert's Church
Edenhall, England

Our ancestor, John Musgrove, Jr.,* (see relationship notes at the bottom of page), was born in Maryland around the same year the Georgia Musgroves married. His grandfather, Cuthbert Musgrave, was born in 1644 and came to the Baltimore Colony from Edenhall, England. He descended from a long line of Musgrave Lords and Barons. He changed his name to Musgrove shortly after he arrived in Maryland. His only son John was two years old when his father died. From John Musgrove, Sr. comes the largest Musgrove family clan in the USA.

John Musgrove, Jr.

"Col. John (the Tory) Musgrove, Jr. was born about 1718 in Charles County, Maryland and died in Sept 1781 in Newberry, South Carolina, USA.  John Jr. inherited land in Virginia and half of wild horses breeding stock, etc., which he took to South Carolina with him."
GENI

John and his older brother, Edward, owned land in South Carolina during the Revolutionary War. Edward remained neutral during the war. Still, a battle was fought on Edward Musgrove's land, and it's now a South Carolina 'State Historic Site'; preserved for prosperity. It's also the site of another famous Mary Musgrove.

"John Jr. was commissioned a Major by the British during the Revolutionary War. His sons John III and William T. fought as teenagers in the 96th Brigade, a Tory regiment. Col. John Musgrove Jr. was a British Tory.  

Col. Phil Waters of the American side owned the adjoining Plantation. During the War, Col Waters took the Musgrove Plantation at the point of a gun. John Jr. died in 1787 shortly before his land was taken. He might have been killed by the patriots after the War." 

GENI

Mobbing a Tory

 

Grandpa John's widow, Araminta (Gordon) Musgrove, sued for and recovered the land some years later. (Note: Rumor was our missing ancestor, James Walter Musgrove, was called Gordon.)

John Musgrove III


(Note: Records indicate the latter Johns were Sr. and Jr., respectively. According to informal records, the Eldest John had the middle name Thomas whereas his descendants were both named Edward. This would make this John's grandfather's middle name the same as his older brother's (John Jr.'s Uncle Edward) first name. Following the custom and ignoring the records, I've called this John the Third. ed.)

British Loyalist

John Musgrove III was born in 1763 in Newberry, South Carolina. He fought for the Loyalists with his father at fourteen during the Revolutionary War. His father paid for this error with his life. Our Grandpa John moved to Baker County, Georgia. He had several sons, including Larkin Cuthbert Musgrove, who was rumored to be our ancestor.

Larkin Cuthbert Musgrove

"James Walter Musgrove, Sr. has been reported by descendants to have come from Baker County, Georgia. However, I have been unable to tie him back to one of the many Musgrove families from that area. 

"The American Family Musgrove" by Richard G Musgrove pg 725

Our family historians have counted 'James Walter (known as Gordon) Musgrove' as a son of Larkin Cuthbert Musgrove. (blog link here) Like Richard Graham, we've found no such person in Baker County.

Baker County Connections

We are connected to Baker County through our second great-grandmother, Elizabeth Arissa (Collins) Musgrove.

Her father, John Forbes Collins, left her mother and his family in Baker County, Georgia, and moved in with Elizabeth (Bryan) Musgrove in Clinch County, presumably the widow of James Walter Musgrove. She visited her father. met the son of his new wife (John, known as David Musgrove) and married him. So the first maternal line of our Musgrove clan was from Baker County.

Murray/McMurray Connection?


We were surprised by the results of our test y-DNA line through Family Tree DNA (FTDNA). Our test candidate was a descendant of Edward Columbus Musgrove. We matched no Musgroves in Baker County, Georgia.

Pinckney McMurray

Instead, we closely relate to the Murray/McMurray surname results. The test candidate we closely matched was a relative of Pickney McMurray. Immigrant surnames were fluid. One generation's Murray became the McMurry, MacMurray, or McMurrey of the next generation. On the 1850 Baker County census (hosted zoomable file) - a few years before John Collins left his family - one of Collin's neighbors was the family of David McMurrin.

McMurry Family Reunion

Pinckney McMurray's descendant has a story about a MacMurray who left his family near the Florida/Georgia border while traveling to Alabama around this time. This researcher needs to devote more time running down this 'clue.' However, it's always at the corners of our eyes.

Updated January 2019: Y-DNA Update

*Note: Relationships, such as grandmother, 2nd great, etc., are expressed from the perspective of the grandchildren of Willis Edgar and Carrie (known as) Mae (Merritt) Musgrove.

Terms of relationship - grandmother, uncle, aunt, cousin, etc.  - are used here generically to include relatives such as fourth great-grandfathers, great grand uncles, second cousins twice removed, etc.