John Murch (1739 - 1820)

Born 8 Oct 1739 in Biddeford, York, Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Day) Murch — married 1 May 1761 in Biddeford, York, Massachusetts Bay

Husband of Charity (Cook) Murch — married 17 Jul 1806 in Trenton, Hancock, Maine, United States

Descendants

Died 15 Mar 1820 at age 80 in Trenton, Hancock, Maine, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: S Mercer [send private message]

Biography

Corporal John Murch served with 12th Massachusetts Regiment (1777), Continental Army during the American Revolution.

John Murch He was named in will of father John Sr. who was married to Hannah Kent: they had four children--Hannah Murch, John Murch Jr, William Murch and Sarah Murch. The children inherited property from their uncle Stephen Kent, which was overseen by Clement Kent, presumably another brother of Hannah and Stephen.

John Murch of Biddeford came prior to 1771, and settled on the west side, on a farm afterwards owned by his son-in-law, Col. Jesse Button, who came to Trenton from Wallingford, Conn., about 1780, and died June 9, 1842, at the age of eighty years. He married first Elizabeth Day, daughter of Joseph Day and Patience Hilton. He married second Charity Cook, daughter of John Cook and Betty Hartford.

In 1768 Benjamin Milliken and his brother Thomas built a dam at the "Head of the Tide at the Lower Falls." They built their mills on the east end of the dam and sold the west end and privilege to William and John Murch, and Benjamin and Samuel Joy. Each party was to keep his end of the dam in repair.

He was a Corporal in the Revolutionary War and was in the disastrous Battle on the Penobscot in 1779.

He is buried with both wives on family land in Trenton. There are several markers in the woods off a dirt road. (personal knowledge)

By his first wifeElizabeth Day he had the following children.

• i. Hannah Murch b. 1763 in Biddeford m. Jonathan Flye, son of William Flye and Phoebe Tuttle
• ii. John Murch b. 1764 in Biddeford m. 1st Ruth Norwood, m 2nd Mary Young
• iii. Joseph Murch b. 1766 m Susannah Joy
• iv. Samuel Murch b. 1767
• v. Phoebe Murch 1768-1837 m. Jesse Dutton who was a cordwainer.
• vi. Noah Murch b. 1770 m. Hannah Haynes. Lived his whole life in Trenton

By his second wife Charity Cook he had the following children:

• vii. Cyrus Murch b. 1805, was a master mariner and a soldier in the Aroostook War. m Rhoda Leland
• viii. John C. Murch b. 1807, was a master mariner m. Jane Marshall. Lived in Trenton
• ix. Eliza D Murch m.1. John Cook Mercer
• x. Mary A. Murch
• xi. Jane Murch b. 1814 and married John Ford
• xii. Charity Murch

Research Notes

Ancestry Thru Lines document relationships of his children Eliza Day Murch, Charity Cook Murch, Noah Murch, Mary Ann Murch and Jane Murch.

• Fact: Residence (1790) Trenton, Hancock, Maine, United States
• Fact: Residence (1800) Trenton, Hancock, Maine, United States

Question: Was John Murch the Private in Col. Josiah Brewer's regiment at Penobscot?^[1] Or was he the Corporal in Col. Samuel Brewer's 12th Massachusetts Regiment? ^[2][3]

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts, Revolutionary War, Index Cards to Muster Rolls, 1775-1783," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSQZ-J3CF-K?cc=2548057&wc=QZZQ-MZS%3A1589088736 : 20 September 2019), Mosher, John - Murraw, William > image 2287 of 2663; Massachusetts State Archives, Boston.
2. ↑ Service Record for John Murch
3. ↑ "United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-994M-WW5Y?cc=2068326&wc=M61K-NWL%3A355081601 : 21 December 2016), 38-Massachusetts (jacket 13-19) > image 233 of 713; citing NARA microfilm publication M246 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1980).

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 20 December 2019, 14:59), entry for John Murch II(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:LH8W-2X8); contributed by various users.

• Murch, Dana P. From Water to War: A Murch Family History. Belfast, ME: 2014.

• Heads of fams. At the first U.S. census. Me. By U.S. Bureau of the Census. Washington, 1908. (105p.): 31

• Davis, Albert H. The History of Ellsworth, Maine.

• The "Murch Family of Trenton" http://banfield-hodgkinsfamily.com/

• MURCH WINCHESTER GENEALOGY, by Richard Scott, https://cors.archive.org/details/murch-winchester-genealogy/page/178/mode/1up

• Bangor Historical Magazine Vol IV. July 1888 - June 1889 featuring the Benjamin Joy family. p. 74