Dicy Ellis (Wilson) (Murphree) - Life History

Dicy Murphree Ellis Wilson was the Daughter of Daniel Murphree, Jr and Mary Bullard. According to the 1850 McMinn county census, she was born in Georgia. Daniel Murphree and John Bynum registered marks and brands in Wilkes County, Georgia, in 1777. (Book of Mixed Records, Wills, Administrations and Deeds—1777-1778, Page 33, Folio 43, Wilkes County, Georgia Genweb site.) Since the Murphree and Bynum families were known to be associated, this Daniel Murphree is probably Dicy's father. Dicy first married Jeremiah Ellis, a Methodist minister, about 1796. The Ellis family is registered in the 1800 census in Pendleton District, South Carolina. A plat for 168 acres of land on Rice Creek, Pendleton County was recorded for Jeremiah Ellis on March 8, 1799 (South Carolina Department of Archives and History), and he witnessed a deed June 22, 1804, in Pendleton County (Pendleton District, S. C. Deeds, 1790-1806, Betty Willie, compiler, p. 361, 1982). After Jeremiah's death in about 1809, Dicy and her five Ellis children moved to Rhea County, Tennessee, where she had relatives. (Ref: Ezekiel Ellis: His Progenitors and Progeny, Ransom A Ellis, Jr., p. 78 -- A letter written by her grandson Melvin L Ellis, youngest son of Ezekiel Ellis.) Dicy married James Wilson on June 22, 1820, in Rhea County, Tennessee. James Wilson died in September, 1841, and Dicy is mentioned extensively in the probate records of his estate. They were parents of three sons. In the 1850 census Dicy was registered in the household of her youngest son, Jackson Wilson, in the 23rd subdivision of McMinn County, Tennessee, where she is shown as age 70, born in Georgia. It is thought that she died in about 1853, and family tradition has it that she was buried in New Zion Baptist Church Cemetery, although there is no marker for her in the cemetery.

Jim L. Wilson
April 4, 2018