James Bragg Marmaduke

James married Catherine Purcell on March 24th, 1824 in Richmond County. They had one daughter, Rebbecca. The fate of Catherine Purcell is unclear. Either she died or she and James divorced because he remarried in 1827 to Lucinda Lyell and had as many as eight more children. Many on-line genealogies give Catherine's death as 1851 but do not provide sources to collaborate that fact. Rebbecca remained in Virginia when her father left the state.

The 1830 census in Richmond County lists James B. Marmaduke as the head of a family. Members of the household are; one male under 5, one male 10-14, one male 15-19, one male 20-29, one female under 5 and one female 20-29. A entry in the records of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1830 shows that the General Assembly reimbursed the Treasurer of the "Lunatic Hospital at Williamsburg" $55.55 paid to James B. Marmaduke for transporting Rawleigh W. Downman from Richmond County to the Lunatic Hospital on June 15th.

During the era of Westward Expansion many members of the Marmaduke family from the Northern Neck moved to Missouri. That included James' 2nd cousin Meredith Miles Marmaduke (1791-1864), who left Westmoreland County in 1823 and immigrated to Franklin, Missouri. M.M. Marmaduke did well in Missouri and was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1840. When the governor died in 1844 M.M. Marmaduke filled the last 10 months of the term.

According to the 1884 book History of Monroe and Shelby Counties, James Bragg Marmaduke was in Missouri by 1832. He first lived in Palmyra from 1832 to 1837 and worked as a saddler there. In 1837 he moved the saddlery business to Shelbyville where he continued working until 1840 when he switched trades to general merchandising and farming. He acquired tracts of land in Shelby County in 1835 and 1837 totaling 120 acres. Both forms listed him as a resident of Marion County, Missouri. James B. Marmaduke was elected to the board of directors of the second branch of the Bank of the State of Missouri at Palmyra in January 1839 by a vote in the Missouri state legislature. In the 1840 census Jas. B. Marmaduke was listed living in Shelby County, Missouri. His household was made up of; two males under 5, one male 10-14, one male 30-39, one female 5-9 and one female 10-14. His wife does not appear to be listed.

The 1850 census lists James and Lucinda living in the town of Shelbyville, still in Shelby County. Their ages are given as 48 and 41 and both are recorded as being born in Virginia. Five children are listed, ages 11 months to 14 years and all marked as born in Missouri. James' occupation was given as Merchant and his real estate was valued at $5000.

The 1860 census again listed the family in Shelbyville. James and Lucinda still have four children living with them. James is still listed as working as a merchant. His real estate is now valued at $26,000 and his personal estate at $10,000.

James Bragg Marmaduke was a slave owner and had slaves in all four of the census records he appeared on. In 1830 he owned one male 36-54 and two females 10-23. The 1840 census listed 10 slaves; three males under 10, four males 10-23, one female under 10, one female 10-23 and one female 36-54. Two free black men were also listed as living with James in 1840, aged between 36 to 54 and 54 to 99. James also appeared on the 1850 and 1860 slave schedules as an owner, those records are only indexed by owner name and do not give information about the slaves.

During the 1856 presidential campaign James was identified as one of the leading Democrats in the County. At that time democrats were the more socially conservative party and were in favor of slavery. The Know Nothing party won Shelby County, but Democrats won nationally to put James Buchanan in office. In hindsight Buchanan now ranks as one of the worst U.S. Presidents for failing the rising tensions that led to the Civil War. In May of 1861 J.B. Marmaduke was among a group of secessionists who met in Shelbyville to rally and raise a secession flag to urge the state of Missouri to leave the Union. By the summer of 1861 Union troops had arrived in Shelby County to protect the strategically valuable rail lines in the area. James' store was searched by Federal troops for gunpowder and arms under the suspicion that he was supplying a secessionist army. In late 1861 James was arrested along with the County Sheriff and several other men who refuse to pledge allegiance to the Union. They were charged with disloyalty and taken to Palmyra where they were held for seven days until taking the oath of allegiance. Even though he had taken the oath, James remained sympathetic to the Confederacy. When a Confederate prisoner was executed in town in 1862 the body was taken to James' store to be prepared for burial.

James did not live to see the end of the Civil War. According to his grave stone he died on April 26th, 1863. He is buried in the Shelbyville Masonic Cemetery in Shelby County, Missouri. Several inventories of his property were made beginning on May 5th, 1863, apparently all of the stock in his general store was listed.