TALIAFERRO COUNTY, GA - BIOS Murden, Henning ***************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm *********************** This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Terri Saturday The Henning Murden Family A Day with Henning Murden's family by Terri Kimbrel Saturday I had the pleasure meeting Edward Fluker and his two daughters Miki and Terri on Monday, November 22, 2004. Ed's, great grandfather Henning Murden was best known for his Confederate Gun Shop operating in the 1840?s, 1850?s and 1860?s, in the community of Robinson, Georgia. Ed, Miki and I enjoyed a little chat over lunch at the Midway Truck stop, on the warm November Day. Terri, Miki's sister was much too absorbed looking at my photos taken during my tours of Taliaferro that she didn't jump into history tour. To my surprise Ed spoke of Henning Murden and his family. You see, Henning Daniel Murden, eldest child of five was born to Malachi Murden and Winifred Nancy Asbury on December 12, 1815. Father Malachi came to a settlement later named Robinson, Georgia from Pulaski County. He started this mile long land with a land grant of 56 acres for a grist mill. For awhile he operated the grist mill run by water-powder, located where the road from Robinson to Bethany Church now crosses the Ogeechee River. Malachi Murden increased his land holdings until he owned an area referred to as a "Mile Square". Henning married on April 12, 1837 to Cornelia F Pinkston born February 28, 1822. His father, Malachi Murden, born in 1778 built the house of the Henning Murden family where he lived until the time of his death on August 28, 1844 and Henning lived until his death on September 27, 1903. Henning didn't own the complete family plantation until he bought his brother Redmon Thornton Murden's interest in the property that he acquired after Malachi's death. The tract of land on which this house was built consisted of eight hundred acres. This two story house was built of logs. The house had been improved with the logs being covered with boards. When the wind blew hard, the house would creak and groan as the logs moved. This house was built near the family cemetery about where the house built by Velton Harwell now stands. Henning Murden, besides being husband and father to seven children, was a farmer and a master craftsman. Henning was a well known and respected man and also a type of man necessary for the development of the frontier in which he lived. At this time, it was the custom when clearing land for cultivation or pasture, to have ?log rolling? and to invite the neighbors in to help pile the logs and burn them. Not so with Henning. He would cut the logs and into ?cord wood?, hauled it out to the railroad, stacked it by the tracks until he had a train load and sold it. Henning was a stockholder of the Georgia Railroad not much longer after it had been built in 1835. The steam engine pulling the trains burned wood for fuel so there was no shortage of market. Henning sold a train load of wood for which was paid with Confederate money. The money became worthless before he was able to dispose of it, and it is still owned by the family members to this day. Henning Murden lived with his parents Malachi and Winifred until they died. He loved to fish in Little River, near Washington Georgia. It was a long horse and buggy ride to Little River to fish, but he solved that problem by digging two small fish ponds on what he called the fish pond branch, a small stream about one fourth mile across the railroad east of his home. Henning had many slaves. He never sold a one, they were like family. He said once, ?I could be a rich man, if I didn't have so many slaves.? Henning?s slaves always selected the Yule log, a sweet gum, slow to burn anyway, but still cut at least a month before Christmas. As large as would go in the big fireplace and put in the creek to soak until Christmas so the sweet gum log would be just as wet as possible and would burn just as slow and stay in the fireplace as long as they could make it. Many visitors would visit The Henning Murden family by following the front walk of the old house that was made of flat field stones to walk on. They would park near the picket fence located in the front yard and followed the walkway to the house. On the front side, next to the gate, was the gun shop. This would be on the rise about one hundred yards from the historical marker. Henning made and prepared guns, clocks and other household guns, clocks and other household items. He melted down gold jewelry and made wedding rings. The gun shop was a log house about sixteen feet wide by twenty-feet long, had glass windows a fireplace and boards nailed over the cracks between the logs on the inside. At one end was a gun rack reaching the floor to the top. In the shop was a machine made mostly of wood. In this machine was an octagon-shaped rifle barrel with a long steel rod rusted in it. The rod had a tool to cut the riffles in the barrel. Henning supplied all the members of the Stevens Home Guard with guns and molds, even though his was not a huge operation, but a limited rural gun shop. He was kept busy making equipment and furnishing supplies to the Confederate arsenals during the war. A Murden rifle from the collection of Dr. C. Conrad Smith, Augusta, Georgia, is on display at the Stevens Park Museum. Henning D. Murden was a close and warm friend of Alexander Stephens, who later became the Confederate Vice President and later Georgia Congressman and Governor. Just below the gun shop was a blacksmith shop. Henning used this shop to repair everything that the gun shop couldn't. At the lower end of the barnyard sat a two story cotton gin ran by horsepower. The corner posts hewed square by hand, from large Chestnut trees with mortis cuts to take the supports of the upper flour. This was where the cotton gin was located. The horse or mule went on the first flour or ground floor to turn the cast iron wheel that helped pull the cotton. Henning D. Murden gave to the Taliaferro County Board of Education one half acre of land for the school house on February 8, 1898. What a story of Henning Murden, but there is more. Near the old Bethany Church Road was a large Apple tree. Near the tree was the family cemetery. As long as he lived, Henning Murden buried his family here, next to the family garden. His loved ones were - his wife, his parents, his children and his brother. He tended this cemetery with loving care. It was always clean. All the graves that were built before he died were built up with brick with a cement slab poured on top. He made stencils by cutting out letters and numbers of letters, then fastening them to blocks of wood. He used these materials to imprint the letters and numbers into wet cement. He died on September 27, 1903, at the age of 87 years; there was no one to fix his grave in the same matter, nor any of the graves of those who died later. Henning Murden?s grave and the others that followed had a plain cement slab. The gun shop closed as was the life span that had benefited many. May his memory remain with us always. I would love to meet anyone knowing about the time Henning Murden talked to Sherman during the Civil war. He was captured and his weapons were taken. It is funny though, Henning returned a short time later with all his weapons in hand. That story and many more are yet to be told?.. I talked with Elizabeth, Miki's daughter before they drove away. Elizabeth is a sightless fiddle player, she asked me to look up her family located here in Taliaferro County that loves the old time country music. She said she would love to play a tune or two with them on her next visit. Elizabeth Edward and Miki live in Macon, Georgia. I told her "I will ask a few of my cousins as well. Everyone in Taliaferro is part of my extended family." I hope I can see you on my next visit. I am still researching the Murden family and the families of Crawfordville. I am a volunteer free lance journalist for the Advocate Democrat / local paper of Crawfordville and many of my journeys are published weekly in the paper. If you happen to be visiting Crawforville on a Sunday the Historical society is open from 1 to 3 But any of the members posted on the door will be more than happy to give you a tour another day of the week. The Histocial Society has many pictures and history of Talaiferro County. You should stop in and check it out. The Taliaferro County Library Hours are 2:30 - 5:30 Monday, 10:30 - 5 Tuesday and Friday and 10:00 - 1 on Saturday. They have all of Wiley Jones' books there. His sister Merline can be found many Sundays giving tours of the Historical Society. She like the other members have helped me on many occasions to locate family history. Until my next adventure, Terri Kimbrel Saturday