The history of Hunter’s Home began when Minerva Ross and George Murrell first met sometime in the 1820s. Born in January 1819, Minerva was the oldest of five children born to Lewis Ross and his wife Frances. They were a wealthy, influential family in Tennessee where Lewis operated a mercantile. Not only was Lewis Ross treasurer of the Cherokee Nation, but his brother John was the first principal chief.
Born in 1808, George Murrell was part of a wealthy, white, Virginia plantation family. He moved to Tennessee in the 1820s to partner with his brother, Onslow, in a mercantile operation. It was here that George came into contact with Lewis Ross and met his first wife Minerva. The couple were said to have eloped after asking and being denied permission to wed. According to family history, they snuck out of the house and ran to the Hiwassee River along the back of Ross’ property where Murrell had hidden a canoe. They were married in Athens, Tennessee, at the Cherokee Agency in McMinn County on July 7, 1834. They set up household with four enslaved people on a property in Athens.
Before the Cherokee removal to Indian Territory, Murrell reportedly traveled to Park Hill with the Ross brothers, Lewis and John, to find a new place to settle. When Murrell saw Park Hill Creek and the land surrounding present-day Hunter’s Home, he approached Jack McCoy, the Old Settler living there, and asked to buy his improvements. Cherokees did not own the land but held it in common. This meant Murrell could not purchase the land, but he could buy the improvements. McCoy told Murrell he would not sell even if he offered $2,000. Murrell promptly produced $2,000, and McCoy sold the improvements. Lewis Ross presented the cabin McCoy had lived in to Minerva upon her arrival to Park Hill.
According to an 1862 census, 42 enslaved people lived at Hunter’s Home. Among the enslaved people were skilled workers such as a seamstress, cook, blacksmiths, teamsters, and those adept at fiber arts, as well as field hands. Upon arrival at Park Hill, Murrell set his enslaved people to construct the mansion and clear the land for planting. The home was built on a rise above Park Hill Creek on foundations of sandstone blocks quarried nearby. The home’s architectural style is Greek Revival and was originally L-shaped with a parlor and sitting room at the front of the house, separated by a central entrance hall and a dining room in the back of the home. Directly behind the parlor was the dining room, which was separated from the kitchen by another porch. Two sets of stairs provided access to the second level of the house, which contained three guest bedrooms (one of which was used as the winter bedroom), a balcony, and the stairway leading to what was once the clerestory. A clerestory was an antebellum version of air conditioning. It enabled circulation of air throughout the house, helping to keep it cool.
According to a diary written by George’s niece Emily Murrell, a library was added to the house and used as a family sitting room as well as an office. They converted a side porch into a solarium, filled it with houseplants, and installed a large cage that they filled with canaries. A kitchen garden accessible via the kitchen stairs provided vegetables for meals and a surplus to preserve for later use. Herb gardens provided for spices and seasonings as well as medicines to relieve everyday complaints such as stomachaches, scrapes, and other maladies.
The outbuildings included a springhouse to provide fresh water and cold storage for the house; a smokehouse to preserve meat; barns; stables; kennels; and various sheds and coops for fowl, pigs, and sheep.
A log cabin on the east side of the plantation served as George’s mercantile where he sold items such as pencils, ink, cooking implements, silks, gentlemen’s beaver hats, and china. He also installed post office boxes in his store when he became postmaster of Park Hill.
At the blacksmith shop located somewhere near the mercantile store, enslaved workers forged everything from horseshoes to plows—producing additional income for the plantation.
Other sources of income and supplies for the plantation included apple orchards and acres of field crops such as corn, sorghum, and pumpkins. The Murrells claimed an estimated 800 acres in the Park Hill area for their use.
Visitors to the house walked up a long tree-lined path or rode in their horse-drawn conveyances to the entrance at the east porch. The Murrells enjoyed a rich social life as family and friends often stopped to visit or to join in the many socials at the home. George and Minerva hosted a great variety of weddings, dinners, and parties.
Minerva, a devout Methodist, entertained members of many churches at the house. Emily noted in her diary the many evenings Minerva hosted prayer meetings, and that she went to church services every Sunday, except when she was too ill. While their lives were rich in family and friends, the Murrells had no children, possibly due to Minerva’s illness. She loved children though, and invited neighborhood children to her home where she read Bible stories and served cakes and candies. The couple also helped raise Minerva’s cousins, Jenny Pocahontas Ross and Joshua Ross. Jenny later married Murrell’s nephew, John Dobbins Murrell, and Joshua established a general store of his own in Muskogee.
In 1855 Minerva passed away due to complications from malaria. She was a month shy of her 37th birthday.
