Samuel Murrell, a master mason and veteran of the War of 1812, lived in Lincoln County for a few years before he relocated with his family to Barren County in the early 1800s.

Samuel built the Old Stagecoach Stop in 1841. It is located 8 miles east of Bowling Green, on U.S. 31 West. The house was a well-known inn and stagecoach stop on Louisville-Nashville Road until the L&N Railroad was completed. The property was previously owned by Susannah Henry Madison, wife of Gen. Thomas Madison, and sister of Patrick Henry.

The Murrell family originated in England and came to America in the late 1700s, according to records in newspapers, Ancestry.com, and documents of the war. The Murrells were Quakers, a group with Christian roots that began in England in the 1650s.

Research shows the earliest Murrell was Jeffrey (1525-1575) and his wife, Joan Taylor (1545-1605), who were born and died in England. They were Samuel’s sixth great-grandparents.

Samuel’s fourth great-grandparents, William Spotswood Murrell (1612-1653) and his wife, Anne Coe, (1612-1675) were born in Suffolk, England, and died in Surry, Virginia. They were the first generation to come to America.

George’s grandparents George Murrell (1657-1710) and Elizabeth B. Humphrey (1659-1712) were married in 1774 on the Isle of Wright in Virginia.

Samuel’s parents Col. George Murrell III (1756-1814) and wife, Sarah Blaine (1755-1808) were married Oct. 8, 1781, in Albemarle, Virginia. They moved from Albemarle to Lincoln County about 1800.

His name was on the Lincoln tax list in 1800 and 1810.

George was a member of the Kentucky state legislature and captain and volunteer of the 5th Regiment.

George died in Frankfort.

Samuel was born in June 24, 1792, near Hustonville in Lincoln County (one reference showed Virginia). He and his wife, Elizabeth Sterett, were married March 8, 1825, in Warren County, Kentucky. She was born in 1802 and died in 1865, in Barren County.

They had 10 children, all born in Kentucky: George M. (1826-1872), Mary Ann (1828-1936), Sallie Blaine (1830-1885); Henry C. (1832-1889), Maria Stockton Goodwin (1833-1906), Ellen J. (1836-1921), Elizabeth F. (1838-1887) and Chalia R. (1841-1872).

When Samuel died on Sept. 26, 1890, he was the oldest Mason in Kentucky. He was buried on the family farm in Barren County.

Although the War of 1812 ended years ago, Samuel was granted a pension a few weeks before he died. He got $1,174 in backpay, but did not live long enough to enjoy it.

He served with Captain Abraham Miller’s Kentucky Co.