More to Murfreesboro

Yesterday as I walked around Nashville I took this picture and posted it to Facebook with the following:

“Hey Tennessee, what are you going to name that town?”

“Murfreesboro”

“Gesundheit.”

Reason #742 I live walking in new towns. You have time to notice things like “Murfreesboro”. 

Pretty sure I’ve made that noise sneezing here in middle age.

A few minutes later I added that a quick glance at Wikipedia gave me a story worth telling. A story that connects me to this city with a funny name, spans from my origins in Oregon to this place in Tennessee, and then to the rural lands of Revolutionary War New Jersey. It was my very own “6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon” moment. Here’s the story.

The namesake of Murfreesboro, Hardy Murfree was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army, serving under Robert Howe. In June of 1778, their regiment joined with others under General Washington in preparation for what is now called the Battle of Monmouth.

Sparks started bouncing around my memory and I did some other quick wiki work to verify I was remembering things correctly.

See, I discovered not long ago that I have an ancestor who was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. John Hart was a farmer and politician in New Jersey. His support of the revolution had already made him a target of the British, and he had spent some time in hiding as a consequence. But during a time when he was back on his family farm, Washington and his army were on the march in anticipation of a significant battle.

As they passed by the Hart family lands, John invited the army to set up their camp on his land so they could rest and prepare at a safe distance from the British lines. An army that would have included lieutenant colonel Hardy Murfree. The battle that waited for Washington’s army as they rested on the Hart family farm was, in fact, the Battle of Monmouth.

My ancestor risked the charge of treason against the crown to harbor an army that included the man for whom this city in Tennessee gets its name. The army camped on his land for three days. The odds of them talking, sharing a meal, or simply passing by one another with a nod are pretty good.

It’s funny how one little thing can change your perspective. I had no interest in that place beyond a joke aimed at the name. Now I feel a strange attachment and affection for the place, even though I’ve never gone into Murfreesboro. There is a sense of rooting and belonging that comes when you get a sense of the legacy others have left you. Just the fact that one of the men who gave me my name put himself at risk to serve the needs of a man who was worth naming a town after is connecting.

Read through the Old Testament stories and you’ll find many similar connective lines. It’s rarely seen in just one verse, but rather in stories scattered across the pages that only with familiarity do you start to see the lines. In Genesis we see a complicated relationship between Judah and his little half-brother Joseph. The first big interaction we see has Judah leading the way as he and his other brothers sell Joseph into slavery and fake his death to their dad. Not a great start.

But as the story progresses, Judah is changed. He loses two sons and gets caught in a scandal due to his own lack of integrity. A lesson or two gets learned. When the day came that Judah and his brothers stood before a Joseph in disguise, reigning as the second in command of Egypt, Judah offers himself as a substitute to prevent Joseph’s full brother Benjamin from going into slavery. This is the moment that breaks Joseph’s facade and the brothers are reunited with hugs and tears.

That was a transformative moment for those two. It changed their legacy. As you comb through the pages of scripture, you will often find the families of Judah and Joseph aligned against the odds. When the kingdom splits and David’s family (Judah) is divided from the rest of Israel, it is primarily the family of Joseph’s brother Benjamin that remains faithful to the leadership of David’s line.

You may not have, or at least may not know the stories that have shaped your history. I feel very lucky to have found these stories. But one thing we all have is the ability to shape the story of those who come behind us. To live stories of love and courage that change the world, even if only for one.

Your stories may never rise to Wikipedia fame, but you never know how an act of generosity, compassion, integrity, or mercy might bind your family to another forever.