Are you a MURRAY, or a member of an Allied Family?

Question

A One-Name Study has been established for Murray and any variations of the name. Put the ONS sticker on your profiles and share your research with other "cousins." Allied Families may participate, as well; a complete list of families is found on the ONS page.

Comments

My mother’s maiden name was Murray. My brick wall is my great grandfather John Murray - born in January 1860 in Ireland and I am having a hard time locating his parents.

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Did you check the John Murray name in New Brunswick, Canada and Maine, USA

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My mother's maiden name was Murray. My grandfather was Major Archie Lee Murray, WW2, South Pacific theater.  Brick wall is my 4th g-grandfather, George Murray, b. about 1780, So. Carolina. I need sources for him and before. My hope is trace origins to the old country.

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Hi! I am John B. Murray, III. My brick wall is my second great grandfather, Joseph B Murray(1854 - 1938). Joseph was born in Alabama and buried in Arkansas. Ancestry says his father was James H Murray and that his mother was Maria Sharp. However, Eliza Harper is listed as Joseph’s mother on his death certificate. If anyone has information that would be helpful about Joseph and his ancestors, I’d be most grateful. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

I would like to participate in the Murray name study.  My grandmother was from Ireland, County Down, and they also had family connections in Scotland.

Answer 2

I am the 2x great-granddaughter of Julia Murray, whose name before marriage I don't know.  She married David Downey and they had a large family, including my great-grandmother Bridget Downey Phillips.

On Ancestry, I have DNA matches through the Wood/Woods family, with one of their men marrying a Johannah Murry.  Considering that Julia named one of her daughters Johanna, I believe that this could be one of Julia's sisters, or an aunt or such as that, but I'm not sure.

Census records indicate that Julia was from Ireland, but I know that she and her husband were in Scotland and Wales.  I suspect they were mining employees there.

At one point they moved to NJ.  Her husband David worked to build an underground train tunnel in West Point, N.Y.  Two of their sons were killed in a mining accident there.  

According to this article from the NY Times, David died on April 11, 1881 in that accident.  His younger brother James is buried with him.  I wonder if he died on the same day.  No mention is made of James in the article.  There is a John Murray mentioned in the article who was severely injured.  I wonder if they were related.

Julia Murray Downey lived with her daughter Johanna and their family by 1905 in Little Falls, N.J.  There is no census record of her that I can find after that time.   Her daughter Johanna died in May 1906 and daughter Bridget died in October of 1906 so she didn't live with them.  Children John, Edward, Julia, David and James all died before them and most of them in the 1880s.  She could have moved in with daughter Mary or son William but I haven't found her in census records with them.  Mary married a Eugene (?)  McCarthy and is believed to have died after 1940.  William married and lived in NY before eventually moving across the river to NJ.

I've long wanted to know when Julia died, how and what, if any, records are available to help find her parents and siblings and relatives besides Johanna Murry Wood, who I suspect is indeed her kin.

Long entry but thank you for reading to the end.
 

Answer 3

I have a handful of Murray’s in my family tree. It looks like that branch starts with Mary M Murray born in 1864.

Answer 4

I am a descendant of Julia Murray Downey.  Born in Ireland c. 1830, she married David Downey and had her first 2 children across the isle in Scotland and England/Wales. The family moved to the US by 1860 and moved around quite a bit as husband David worked in mines.  They worked the building of the Hoosac train tunnel in MA as well as the building of the train tunnel underneath West Point’s parade field.

Julia is the only Murray I know and I don’t know her parents nor siblings.  I don’t know when shied died although it was after the 1900 census in Little Falls, NJ, living with her daughter Johanna Downey Tynion and family.   She isn’t in anymore census reports after that.  She lost her husband before the 1900 census.  My great-grandfather  John Phillips, Johanna, my great-grandmother Bridget Downey Phillips and Johanna’s daughter all died within 2-3 tears of each other in the early 1900s.  Whatever took them might have taken Julia as well.

There was a blast at the West Ooint tunnel site that killed one or two of Julia’s boys.  A newspaper article names a Murray in the accident.  I don’t know if this was an unrelated Murray or a relative of Julia’s.

This is all I know.

Answer 5

I am actively trying to track down the validity and hopefully the ancestral roots of a 5g grandmother:

Bridget Murray
1813 - 1879
Pennsylvania
Spouse: James W Thompson
1810 - 1877
Maryland

Answer 6

One of my Murray ancestors is my 6xGGF John Murray born 4 Feb 1677 in Ewes, Dumfries-shire, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. (Murray-5878)

Answer 7

My mother`s maiden name was Murray,  I have a huge brick wall with my Murray research at my 2xgg Thomas Murray who was born in Ireland in 1803 but I dont know where in Ireland.  He came to London, England some time before the 1851 Census.  I have no male Murray cousins who are willing to do a DNA test.  I am tested but my DNA is autosomal and I have followed DNA matches who trace to the Dyas/Tuite and Dawes families in Ireland.  It is a family tradition that we were descendants of the Athol Murrays who were Jacobites in exile in Ireland but I have been unable to either prove or disprove this.  I would love to join any study into the Murrays

Angela Nolan Miller

Answer 8

My grandmother was a Murray. My second male cousin, with the surname Murray, has tested with the Murray DNA research Project and has been identified in the group of descendants associated with the Earls of Dunmore. I would like to have my DNA in a Murray project. I have tested with Ancestry, 23andMe, Family Tree (MT and Autosomal) and have set up a GEDMATCH.

Answer 9

I am a Murray.  My Murray line has been my most difficult.  Seems like all the Murrays were in some sort of disagreement and no one wants to talk.  My greatgrandfather is my brick wall.  There is not a lot of documentation on him.  Charlie W Murray, b 27 Mar 1872 in Illinois, d 19 Jul 1934 in Texas.  Supposed to have moved to Texas when he was pretty young.  I have not had much luck identifying any DNA relatives that have an information.  Any information or connections are welcome.

Comments

I will check my IL Murrie's. They had big families, so I can't remember them all .

d. Weakland

Answer 10

I have several Murray family members in my trees but I have not spent much time researching them.  From Wikitrees relation finder - "Don and James are 13th cousins 9 times removed"

Don Daniels and James Murray (1713-1781) are both descendants of Joan (Geneville) de Mortimer (1286-1356).

A bit of trivia for you - my wife and I planned a trip to Scotland.  We arrived the day after Queen Elizabeth died.  So most of the sites we wanted to visit were closed.  But we joined the crowds lining the streets for a view of the Royals in the processions. 

Answer 11

Hi! I am John B. Murray, III. My brick wall is my second great grandfather, Joseph B Murray(1854 - 1938). Joseph was born in Alabama and buried in Arkansas. Ancestry says his father was James H Murray and that his mother was Maria Sharp. However, Eliza Harper is listed as Joseph’s mother on his death certificate. If anyone has information that would be helpful about Joseph and his ancestors, I’d be most grateful. Thanks in advance!

Answer 12

Hi! John!

My maternal grand-father was Ralph Murrie. 1911-1999. He lived in St. Charles and Streamwood, IL during the last years of his life,but he lived in Vienna, IL and TN in his early years. Our Murrie tree goes far back in decades in Scotland, some Ireland and England. It is an amazing lineage. I will check to see if my ancestry has info for your relative. The spelling of Murrie did change in our line, too. D. Weakland

Answer 13

I am not a Murray, but have Murray relatives.

Murray, Georgetta Birk  2 Aug 1918, Anderson Madison, Indiana

Murray, Gilbert Harris 1886, Massachusetts

Murray, Margaret, 3 Mar 1881, Iowa  died 12 Apr 1949 in Gage County, Nebraska

Murray, Mary K., 1915, Indiana

Answer 14

My second great-grandmother was Jean Grace Murray, born in Kinwilling (sp?), Ayrshire to Robert Murray and Jean Robertson.  They immigrated to the U.S. in 1842 and settled with Jean Robertson's family in Whiteside Co., IL.  

It appears that Robert is likely the son of a James Murray and Barbara Millar and was born in Perthshire, but beyond them I have yet to find anything going further back in the Murray line.