Hardy Murfree

Hardy Murfree never saw the town that carries his name. He moved to Williamson County around 1807, on land granted for his Continental Army service, and died in 1809, two years before the legislature renamed Cannonsburgh for him. In 1808 he advertised for the return of an enslaved man, Toby, whom he thought was heading toward South Carolina. Born at Murfree's Landing in North Carolina, he had led the militia that repulsed Tarleton's British Legion at Skinner's Bridge in 1781. His daughter Sally Murfree Maney inherited the land that became Oaklands.

What the plaque says

Hardy Murfree Revolutionary War Hero Lieutenant Colonel Hardy Murfree, for whom Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is named, served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He fought in many engagements, including Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. At Stony Point he played a key role in defeating the British. Murfree was born June 5, 1752, in Murfreesboro, North Carolina, a town named for his father. In 1789 he was a member of the North Carolina Second Constitutional Convention, and he was credited with assisting in securing a majority vote for North Carolina's joining the Union. Murfree was a charter member of the Society of the Cincinnati in North Carolina. He died April 6, 1809. Reverse Through land grants and purchases Murfree acquired thousands of acres in Middle Tennessee, including some tracts within modern-day Murfreesboro city limits. Four of his children were settlers here. Matthias B. Murfree built a fine house on East Main Street, Sally M. Maney and her husband constructed Oaklands, and Lavinia M. Burton's house was Uxor Hill. All of these houses have survived for more than a century. Fanny M. Dickinson's home, Grantlands, was destroyed during the Civil War. Another daughter, Mary H. Hilliard, and her husband, provided a portion of the land for the original town of Murfreesborough and developed the first subdivision south of the town square.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Stones River National Battlefield — 3.0 mi
  The Murfreesboro battlefield of December 1862, with a national cemetery built by Black soldiers, a Trail of Tears route and the story of the freedmen's settlement called Cemetery.
• Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration — 24 mi
  The Shelbyville show grounds where the Tennessee Walking Horse has been crowned world grand champion each late summer since 1939, and where the practice of soring is part of the story.
• Henry Horton State Park — 25 mi
  A Duck River park on Governor Henry Horton's former farm in Marshall County, with a mill ruin from 1845, kayak floats and the grave of a governor the House declined to impeach.
• Fort Negley — 30 mi
  The largest inland stone fort of the Civil War, built in 1862 on St. Cloud Hill by more than 2,700 conscripted Black laborers, hundreds of whom died.

More markers nearby

• Forrest's Murfreesboro Raid, July 13, 1862 — steps away
• Morgan's Wedding — steps away
• Grantland Rice — steps away
• James Daniel Richardson — 0.2 mi