Buried in a lone grave on his ranch in northwestern Coryell County is a young man who was shot in the back and killed 160 years ago by a group of bandits.
According to the book, “Vignettes of Coryell County,” the story of the Murrell murder continued to be a murder mystery, which, to this day, still haunts residents of Coryell County.
Lemuel Murrell came to Texas in 1846 and eventually settled in Coryell County about twelve miles northwest of Gatesville where he established a homestead and a trading post. The merchandise sold at his trading post was transported by wagons drawn by oxen from Houston. Cowboys often rode alongside the wagons of merchandise to protect the cargo from Indians.
Lemuel Murrell was known as a cattleman and was known to have large herds of cattle on his property. It also became known in Coryell County that he had a vast fortune of hidden gold.
According to the book, “Vignettes of Coryell County,” on the evening before his death Murrell left his house without taking his gun – something that he never did. This was in 1865 during what was known as the Reconstruction Period following the Civil War, and when the “carpetbaggers were causing much disturbance.”
It had been reported that two bands of outlaws, the Shelleys and the Quantrells, were known to make Coryell County their hiding place.
Late on the evening of June 9, 1865, a group of masked men arrived at the Murrell home. The bandits demanded money and told Murrell that he would have to reveal the hiding place of his gold treasure. It was written that Murrell gave the bandits $100 and told them that was all he had, but the bandits didn’t believe him. As he turned to go into his house to get his gun, the bandits shot him in the back, which killed him instantly. He was 44 years of age.
After killing Murrell, the bandits threatened to kill his six-month-old daughter, Olga, by throwing her into the oven of a hot stove unless Mary Jane Murrell told them where her husband had hidden the gold. It was written that some of Murrell’s former slaves stood crying and begging her to give them the gold to save the baby. She finally convinced the bandits that she knew nothing about where the gold was hidden, and they eventually left.
The murderers were never apprehended.
Following her husband’s shooting, his widow would live until 1879 when she also died at the same age as her husband, 44. She was buried in the Ater Cemetery where many of her children and grandchildren were eventually buried.
The hidden “Murrell Treasure” was never discovered and has become a tale of lore in Coryell County. The location of the hiding place of the gold went to the grave with Lemuel Murrell 160 years ago.