TAHLEQUAH — The historic George M. Murrell Home, 19479 E. Murrell Home Road, will be the reception site for the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Tahlequah Branch 28th annual Homes for The Holidays tour from 1 to 5 p.m. Dec. 13.

The event is held in conjunction with the Murrell Home’s ninth annual Christmas Open House. The public is invited to the reception and to view the homes on the tour which will be open from 1:30 to 5 p.m. The reception is free, but tickets for the home tour are $5 in advance or $6 at the door and is available at various businesses or from any AAUW member.

This year’s theme for the Murrell Home will be “Father Christmas through the Years.” More than a dozen reenactors dressed in period costume will represent Santa Claus in different eras. Visitors may tour the 1845 mansion and learn about Christmas customs from the mid-Victorian period. A special exhibit of never-before-displayed 19th-century items from the Murrell family will be showcased in the library of the home.

The Murrell Home is represented on the 2009 AAUW Christmas ornament, which will be for sale for $12.50 at the Home and also at another house on the tour. For more information about the ornament, contact Irene Wickham at iwickham@cablelynx.com or call at 456-5584.



History of the home

George Michael Murrell was born in Lynchburg, Va., but moved to Athens, Tenn., to pursue mercantile interests with his future father-in-law, Lewis Ross, brother of Cherokee Principal Chief John Ross. George married Minerva Ross in 1834. During the Trail of Tears in 1838-39, the Murrells moved to Park Hill where George established a plantation and built a large frame home similar to those he remembered in Virginia.

He called the Greek Revival-style house “Hunter’s Home” because of his fondness for the fox hunt.

The home was completed in 1845. George and Minerva had no children, but two of Minerva’s cousins, Joshua and Jennie P. Ross, came to live with them.

After Minerva died in 1855, George married Minerva’s sister, Amanda. They eventually had six children. Their first child died as an infant. The second child, George Ross Murrell, was born in the Murrell Home in 1861. When he was only 10 months old, troop movements and guerilla warfare began in Park Hill during the Civil War, and the Murrell family left the area. George, Amanda and their children never returned to live in the “Hunter’s Home.”

George went to Virginia to help the Confederacy while Amanda Murrell and infant son accompanied her Ross relatives north. Before she left, Mrs. Murrell persuaded her aunt and cousin to occupy her home. After surviving several raids on “Hunter’s Home” by General Stand Watie and his troops, Eliza and her daughter, E. Jane Ross stayed at the home until the end of the war.

After the Civil War, various members of the Ross family continued to occupy the Murrell Home until 1907 when Oklahoma became a state, and the land was allotted. Since George Murrell’s descendants were living in Virginia and Louisiana, they were unable to receive their ancestor’s property. The land was allotted to their cousin, Lula (Ross) Henderson who sold it soon thereafter. The property changed hands several times until 1948 when the State of Oklahoma purchased it to preserve for future generations to enjoy.

The first curator, Jennie (Ross) Cobb, a great-granddaughter of Chief John Ross, lived in the house in the 1890’s as a teenager. Because she knew family members who had original furniture pieces, Jennie was responsible for the return of many of these items to the site. Jennie was an amateur photographer who took what are believed to be the earliest pictures from inside the house about 1900. Much of the restoration work done in recent years are based on Jennie’s pictures.

AAUW will have a Goodie Shoppe in one of the homes where baked goods may be purchased. Guests also will be able to purchase tickets for a drawing for a gold-filigree mirror donated by Baker’s Furniture.



If you go

WHAT: AAUW Homes For The Holidays Tour in Tahlequah.

WHEN: 1 to 5 p.m. Dec. 13.

WHERE:

• The historic Jack Brown house on the Sequoyah High School Campus,

• Ginger Brown, 2045 Birch Lane.

• Jerry and Sue Catron, 703 W. Shawnee.

• Dr. Charles and Pam Gosnell, 1840 Stickross Mountain Road.

• David and Janell Meigs, 407 E. Ballentine Road.

• Dennis and Betty Vaughn, 862 Cherry Springs Drive.

TICKETS: $5 in advance or $6 at the door and available at various Tahlequah businesses or from any AAUW member.