William Murrell Jr.

Col. William Murrell, Jr. (1845–1932) also known simply as William Murrell, was an American newspaper editor, and politician.[1] He represented Madison Parish in the Louisiana House of Representatives from for two terms.[2]

William Murrell, Jr.
Louisiana House of Representatives for Madison Parish
In office
1872 – 1876; 1879–1880
Personal details
Born1845
Georgia, U.S.
RelationsWilliam Murrell, Sr. (father)
OccupationNewspaper editor, politician

Biography

William Murrell Jr. was born in 1845 in Georgia, where he was enslaved from birth.[1]

During the start of the American Civil War, he served as valet to General James Longstreet of the Confederate States Army.[1] In 1862, Gen. Longstreet retreated from the war after family tragedy. Murrell joined as a soldier in the 44th Virginia Infantry Regiment of the Confederate States Army.[1] He later served in the Union Army.[3]

His father William Murrell, Sr. served as a politician in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana in the Reconstruction era.[3] Murrell Jr. became a state legislator in Louisiana.[4] He represented Madison Parish in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1872 to 1876, and 1879 to 1880.[2] He opposed the exodus of African Americans to Kansas, known as the exodusters.[5]

Murrell Jr. attended the 1873 State Colored Men's Convention held in New Orleans.[6] During the Reconstruction era, Murrell Jr. edited the newspapers the Madison Vindicator, and the New Jersey Trumpet.[3][7][1]

Murrell Jr. was a major on the staff for Governor William Pitt Kellogg, he was prompted to colonel and oversaw the Louisiana State National Guard.[1] In 1891, he was appointed by secretary John Willock Noble to a role in the United States Department of the Interior.[1]

References
  1. Penn, Irvine Garland (1891). The Afro-American Press and Its Editors. Willey & Company. pp. 138–140. ISBN 978-0-598-58268-3.
  2. Vincent, Charles (January 28, 2011). Black Legislators in Louisiana during Reconstruction. SIU Press. ISBN 9780809385812 – via Google Books.
  3. Hogue, James K. (November 15, 2011). Uncivil War: Five New Orleans Street Battles and the Rise and Fall of Radical Reconstruction. LSU Press. ISBN 9780807143926 – via Google Books.
  4. Foner, Eric (September 18, 1993). Freedom's Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-507406-2 – via Google Books.
  5. Vincent, Charles (September 18, 1999). The African American Experience in Louisiana: From the Civil War to Jim Crow. Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana. ISBN 9781887366373 – via Google Books.
  6. "State Colored Men's Convention". The New Orleans Republican November 18-20, 1873. 1873. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  7. "Madison Vindicator (Delta, Madison Parish, La.) 1874-187?".
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