William B. Munnerlyn
(ca. 1846 - ca. 1883)

William B.”Bill” Munnerlyn was born about 1846 in North Carolina, probably in Anson County.  He was the youngest child of  Frances “Fanny” Munnerlyn.  The name of his father is not known.  The 1850 and 1860 census indicate that he had two brothers, John and Robert.  More research is needed to learn about Robert.  It is known that John came to Texas prior to 1870, and he can be found in Madison County on the 1870 census.  He is also named in the will of his cousin, Henry B. Munnerlyn.

Some descendants of William believe that his middle name was Benjamin, however, they do not have proof of this fact.

 On December 23, 1869, Bill married Sarah Elizabeth Tyson.  The newlyweds set out for Texas the following May.  For the account of their journey read the sketch of Mrs. S. E. Pritchard that you can access from the link below.  The trip took almost a week and they arrived at Bill’s brother, John’s house in Madison County 6 days later.  Bill and Sallie moved around a good bit, but finally settled in Young County, TX a few miles from Graham.  Bill was a farmer and sometimes they struggled very hard to get by, however, after settling in Young County, their crops seemed to do better.

They were parents to 2 daughters, Lora and Fanny.  While the girls were still small, Bill was elected to the school board.  He was serving on the school board in 1883 and in May of that year, something happened and he found himself in jail.  He was so humiliated that he hung himself in his jail cell.  This must have been a terrible blow to Sally and her daughters.  In December of that year she remarried. He wrote out his Will while he was in the jail cell.  According to family tradition, the dark spots on the original Will are drops of blood which resulted from hanging himself.

-- Francine M. Jones, May 13, 2003

Cemetery Information:

 

Descendant Relation:
?? > Joseph Munnerlyn > ?? > William B. MUNNERLYN

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Last Updated 07/08/06