This year marks the 100th anniversary of the annual Murfin Reunion (19262026) and all descendants are encouraged to attend. The reunion celebrates the life and descendants of George and Sydney Ann (Henderson) Murfin (pictured). The gathering will be held Sunday, August 30, at the Stone Shelter in Glenwood Park in Macomb, Illinois. This celebration includes a homemade “Murfin” cake, lots of family reminiscing and centennial souvenirs. A potluck style lunch will commence at noon to be enjoyed by all.
George Murfin was born to Thomas and Sarah (Hall) Murfin in Derby, located in the county of Derbyshire, in the East Midlands of England. In the early 1840s, a young George Murfin arrived in America accompanied by an aunt and uncle, from Derbyshire, England, settling in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. His parents, Thomas and Sarah, and George’s three brothers and six sisters made the journey from England to Pennsylvania a few months later. All settled in Newton Hamilton, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. According to military records, George enlisted on September 8,1862, at the age of 24. He fought in the Civil War with Company M of the 16th Pennsylvania Cavalry (161st Regiment) - the Army of the Potomac. He participated in over 60 battles throughout his 3-year enlistment. Many of these engagements have recognizable names such as Pea Ridge, Antietam, Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain, Culpeper and Wilderness. The Company joined General Sheridan’s cavalry raids to Richmond and Lynchburg. The final regimental engagement was on April 9,1865, at the Battle of Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia; where on April 12, Generals Grant and Lee met for the signing of surrender documents by the Army of Northern Virginia.
After being discharged from the Union Army on June 25,1865, George returned to Mifflin County, Pennsylvania and married Sydney Ann Henderson on December 21.
The following year in 1866, George and Sydney traveled by covered wagon to Illinois and first settled in Henderson County, where two sons were born, William Thomas (1867) and George Heber (1868). They decided to travel further west to Kansas where a third child, a daughter, Sarah Elizabeth was born in Brown County (1870). The growing family decided to return to Illinois where other family members lived. George and Sydney settled in McDonough County where six more children were added: Joseph Robert (1871), Hannah Jane (1873), Samuel Henry (1875), Jemima Belle (1877), Ida (1879 lived nine days) and John Wesley (1882). George, Sydney and children (except Joseph and Jemima) are buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Macomb, Illinois.
