Nellie was the sixth of twelve children born to James Owen "Jim" Murphree (1847-1923) and Lulu Smith (1853-1937). Seven of the children survived to adulthood; five died in infancy.

Nellie was born in the house that her father built in 1881 on his share of the David Murphree estate. It was near "Point Evergreen," the house that her paternal grandfather, Judge David Murphree (1811-1866) had built (completed in 1848) on Prices Creek, near its intersection with the bend of the Guadalupe River between Cuero and Victoria. That area later became part of the Thomaston community which was established in 1872 upon the arrival of the Gulf, Western Texas and Pacific Railway's new extension from Victoria.

After Judge Murphree's death in 1866, Nellie's father, James Owen Murphree (1847-1923) assumed responsibility for management of the family's ranch. After his marriage to Lulu Smith (1853-1939) on 27 Mar 1872, Jim and Lulu continued to live on that ranch and in that house where all 12 of their children were born.

Nellie was a schoolteacher and served for several years as Superintendant of Thomaston schools. She was a noted historian, especially of early Texas history, and especially in the DeWitt county area.

In 1962, the book "A History of DeWitt County" by Nellie Murphree was published. It was edited by Dr. Robert W. Shook, then a young (b. 1931) history instructor at Victoria College in Victoria, Texas.

In the Foreward to that book, Dr. Shook wrote:

"Judge David Murphree bought, at public auction at Victoria in 1845, lot No. 1 of the Amadore League. In 1848 he built a home near the bank of Prices Creek. This was the first home in the farming and stock-raising area that came to be called the Prices Creek and later Thomaston Community. Since 1848 Murphrees have lived on that land in the bend of the guadalupe River. Miss Nellie Murphree granddaughter of David Murphree, has resided on this tract since her birth.

"It was during the centennial year of 1936 that Miss Murphree became interested in DeWitt County history. As a teacher and writer of local history Miss Murphree has devoted her energies to inspiring students, reearching family genealogies, and preserving materials which would otherwise have been lost. Her works include 'A History of the Cuero Presbyterian Church,' contributions to the 'Handbook of Texas,' and numerous newspaper articles.

"The materials organized in this work were taken from standard and primary sources from the University of Texas and other libraries. DeWitt County records were also thoroughly researched by Miss Murphree. Much of the data assembled over the last three decades had its inception in conversation, personal reminiscences, both written and oral, family records, and old settlers' tales."

From a 3 Nov 1963 article that appeared in the "Books and Things" column by Roy Grimes in the Victoria Advocate:

"A History of DeWitt County represents the life's work of a devoted teacher and dedicated local historian who has spent some 30 years in assembling the first-hand materials for this little volume. She is Miss Nellie Murphree, whose family has been in DeWitt County ever since Judge David Murphree bought a tract of land on Price's Creek in 1845.

"Her friends consider it a profound blessing that Miss Nellie, who is now 81, has lived to see this work perpetuated in a well-organized and published form that is bound to increase in value as a source of information as the years pass by.

"The History traces the development of the county from the first empresario grant to Green C. DeWitt in April 1825, through the Texas Revolution, its official organization as a county from parts of Goliad, Gonzales and Victoria counties in 1846, through the years of the Civil War, Reconstruction, all the way to the progress and prosperity of the modern era.

"Miss Nellie's history documents the beginnings and connections of more than 650 families many of which are interrelated and the DeWitt County connections of some of them are now fairly remote. It also provides sketches of 41 separate and distinct DeWitt county communities from first to last, many of them now virtualy forgotten and vanished without trace of historical marker or footnote.

"A number of them which continue to flourish were established by German immigrants in the 1840's and 1850's who dropped off on the hard route from the old port at Indianola to the then center of German settlement in Texas around New Braunfels."

During her later years, Nellie Murphree was generally known as "Historian Emeritus" of DeWitt County. Her book provided the basis for the later publication in 1990, eight years after her death, of the 859-page book "DeWitt County History," by the DeWitt County Historical Commission.

In her 1962 book, she described herself as follows: "Nellie was a long-time teacher and later local historian with a remarkable memory and appreciation for the people and events which made the DeWitt County region one of the most important sections in Texas."

And, in that book, speaking of her brother Bob, herself, and their sister Ann, she wrote: "He, Nellie and Ann live in the parental home and remain active in the Cuero Presbyterian Church."

Nellie was a lifelong resident of Thomaston, and she maintained continual residence for over 100 years in the house that her father had built, from her birth 19 Jun 1882 until her death 15 Dec 1982.

[Note: The portrait shown on this page is of a young, Nell Lulu "Nellie" Murphree. It appears to have been taken c1900 when she was about 18 years old. It was taken either in a studio near her home in Thomaston (probably Cuero or Victoria) or by a travelling photographer. It is from a collection of photographs owned by Dr. Robert W. Shook of Victoria, Texas. Please do not replicate the photo or use it in any way without first getting his permission and then not without identifying the owner of the photograph and the date and place it was taken.]