Early in the spring of 1800, William, Joseph and David Murphy returned to Missouri with their families. They were accompanied by a younger brother, Richard, who came to establish a home for their widowed mother, Sarah Barton Murphy. Soon Mrs. Murphy and three other sons—Isaac, Jesse and Dubart—her only daughter, Sarah, a grandson William Evans; a hired hand and African American woman and boy followed. The journey was made by flat boat down the Holston River into Ohio; thence to the Mississippi River and up to Ste. Genevieve, a distance of more than . Many places infested with hostile Native Americans, they managed to pass in the night while keeping concealed along the banks during the day. When the party arrived at Ste. Genevieve, the inhabitants gave them a rousing welcome. About the same year, Michael Hart and his son Charles settled in the same vicinity.