I was very excited to see your post, as despite McMurrays being very numerous, there do not seem to be many of us researching them. I would love to see more of what you have found of William
McMurray & Mary
Proctor, their parents and children. I will be happy to share what I know.
I started doing genealogy at age 12 on visits to
Iowa, and did not know about proper documentation at the time, so please forgive that omission on some of my data. (Am so glad I copied what I did back then anyway!) My dear grandmother, Edith
Roberts, who married Edw. A. McMurray,
Henderson & Mary Ann's great-grandson, took me all over the county visiting relatives and they let me copy information from family bibles, yellowed newspaper obituaries, etc. There was only one public Xerox copier in their small town in 1966, and no one would allow me to take the photos, etc. to copy, unfortunately, plus it was expensive and did not do a very good job. So I transcribed pages and notes, many of them in purple
Flair pen (the latest thing then!) but no documentation except "
McMurray Family
Records, 1966." I do have documentation for some of my
McMurray info, but have very little about sibs or parents of
Henderson, except a letter about an heirloom passed down from Mary
Proctor which I can share. (Unfortunately transcribed, and not with the letter it speaks of.)
Here is some of what I know:
>
Henderson McMurray and Mary Ann
Horn- Marriage
>
> Married on Wednesday, the 19th ult., by the Rev. J. Munroe, Mr. Henderson
McMurray of
Huntingdon County, PA to Miss Mary Ann
Horn, daughter of Mr. Frederick
Horn of Bedford County, PA.
>
> Source: Hollidaysburg, PA register &
Huntingdon County Inquirer newspaper; 4 March 1845. Posted 31 Aug 2005 by JC at pa-roots.org, Marriage
Records- Huntingdon County; accessed 03 Dec 2007.
I also believe the same marr info was copied in 1966 from a family bible.
They were living near
Rochester, Cedar Co, IA on May 17, 1854, when their son James was b.
I have pictures of
Henderson & Mary Ann's headstones, if you are interested.
From a
Newton, IA newspaper article on the anniversary of Henry B. McMurray and Anna Larson, "Celebrate Golden Wedding Anniversary, Married December 18, 1889":
> At the age of 9 years, Mr. McMurray came with his family to
Jasper county in 1869 and has continued his residence here. Prior to coming to
Jasper county his family made the trip in a covered wagon from Bedford Co., Pa. to Cedar County, Ia. in 1852.
"his family" would be
Henderson & Mary Ann.
Henderson's 1906 obit in the
Newton Daily News listed only one sibling, "One sister, Mrs. C.C. Meyers of Waverly,
Iowa" as still living. Waverly is in
Bremer Co. After reading your note and the clue of her marrying Wm. H. Myers, plus doing some research today, this is prob. Catharine
Charlton McM, listed on the 1850
Allegheny Twp.,
Blair Co., PA census with her father, William
McMurray. She was 17, so b. ~ 1833 in PA. I cannot find any online marr. rec for Bedford or
Blair counties- does anyone know why? In PA, marr. registration was not required until 1885, I think, but it seems that some of this info might be available somewhere.
The 1860 census for Sugar Creek, Cedar, IA lists a James
McMurray in the household of John & Elizabeth Crissman, Eliz b. ~1827 in PA. There are children listed as ages 11, 19, 9, 6,5,3,10 mo. This Eliz. was probably Eliz. C. Horn, the sister of Mary Ann
Horn,
Henderson McMurray's wife. Could the Aaron Crismer you listed as marrying
Celia McMurray, possibly be related?
I will check my notes to see what other info I have.
Pamela
timetrvlr1800@gmail.com