Counting back the Irish...

My 8th Great Grandfather, Daniel Murphree, was born in Dublin, Ireland and died in Chatham, North Carolina.

Here is the line:

I am the daughter of Vickie Sims McAuley
Vickie is the daughter of Jane A. Murphree Sims (1927-2008)
Jane is the daughter of Fred Preston Murphree (1892 - 1959)
Fred is the son of Davis Lockhart Murphree (1861 - 1935)
Davis is the son of Stephen Barnett Murphree (1833-1869)
Stephen is the son of Ellis Murphree (1802-1892)
Ellis is the son of Daniel Murphree (1778-1854)
Daniel '78 is the son of Daniel Murphree (1747 - 1781)
Daniel '47 is the son of Daniel Murphree (1715-1771)
Daniel '15 married Sarah Dempsey in Dublin, Ireland

Candice Chenault

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We hope the luck of the Irish is with you!

Thanks to all our ancestry work, we can celebrate our Irish heritage! On Candice's maternal grandmother's side, there are strong Irish roots. The Murphree family (Irish enough, huh?) came over in the early to mid 1700s from Dublin, Ireland. Daniel Murphree and his wife Sarah Dempsey Muphree left Ireland sometime after their marriage and salting a family. They died in Chatham, North Carolina. Below is the legend of the Murphrees arriving in the Americas. 

LEGENDARY BEGINNING

One well-known legend traces the roots of the family tree to the household of Daniel and Sarah Dempsey (Rowland ?) in the 18th century Ireland. According to this tradidion, there was a rebellion in Ireland in the 1740's against British rule. Among those taking part in the uprising were seven sons of Daniel Murphry. When the rebels were suppressed, the Murphy boys fled from the British and found a sympathetic ship-captain who agreed to furnish them with passage to America. As the story goes, Daniel Murphy had all his property confiscated by the authorities even though he had not himself taken part in the uprising. Afterward it is said that he lived a wretched existence in a sod hut until his death in 1762 at over 80 years of age. Had seven sons, William, Nimrod, David, Solomon, Daniel, Mills and James. The came to America sometime between 1745 and 1755 and found a refuge from the British. The change in the spelling of their surname is said by some to have been to conceal their identity but others suggest that the use of "free" instead of "phy" in the name was in commemoration of their new-found freedom.

Sims line, following the fathers

Robert Doster Sims Sr, son of Ornie Lee Sims and Mable Edwina Jones

Ornie Lee Sims is the son of William Berkley Sims and Exa A Davis

William Berkley Sims is the son of Burkley Adison Sims and Arra Anna Allen
William

Burkley Adison Sims is the son of Burkley Sims and Mary Ann Strickland

Burkley Sims is the son of Charles W. Sims Jr. and Nancy Ward

Charles W. Sims is the son of Charles W. Sims Sr. and Esther Murray

Charles Sr. is the son of Adam Symes and Mary Isham (1860s, Virginia)

New Sims Info

Through Ancestry.com, Ruth Veillon and I have made contact. Below is her recent correspondence, which helps us go back one more step!

Hello Candice,

I wanted to let you know that I appreciated your response to my October 2011 message + your offer to share information. 

To get our connection, William B. Sims is my Great Grandfather. 

I see that you have info on 4 generations back for Exa Davis Sims. Great Grandmother Sims was living with my maternal grandmother, Alma Ruth Sims McIntyre, in New Orleans, at the time of her death. I remember Great Grandmother Sims - I was 14 when she died. I also remember Muriel Cleo Sims visiting in New Orleans. I believe that Muriel + Alma Ruth kept in touch. Uncle Curt (Curtis B. Sims) visited at my home in Lafayette, LA. 

I recently came across info that enabled me to fill out William Berkley Sims' Family Tree back 5 generations. You will be interested in this Sims' line. This is what I was specifically seeking, along with the Davis line. 

I was also seeking Sims photographs, for example, I was happy to find the Jane Savage Davis photo on Ancestry. I am fortunate to have a few interesting photographs left by my grandmother, Alma Ruth Sims McIntyre. In fact, one is dated Mar 6 1944, Tarrant Photo Service, Tarrant, Ala, of William Berkley Sims + Exa Davis Sims holding a photo of Robert Doster Sims. I also have a family portrait of the William Berkley Sims, Exa Davis Sims, Ornie, Agnis, Curtis + Alma as adults. I will place these on Ancestry when my printer/scanner is repaired + I can upload them.