M
A documented family line

The Murray Families of Linn County, Iowa

Irish railroad contractors from Montreal and a Scottish-American family from Montgomery County, New York · 5 people named in the record

The 1901 Linn County book sketches two Murray families and never connects them, so they are kept apart here. Thomas and Ann (Keating) Murray, natives of Ireland, went to Montreal in 1836, came to Benton County, Iowa, in 1855, and moved to Clinton Township in Linn County in the spring of 1871 before retiring to Cedar Rapids, where Thomas died in 1886. Their sons John E. Murray, born at Montreal in 1841, and Charles P. Murray, born near Montreal in 1854, built railroads in Iowa, Nebraska, the Dakotas and other states as the firm of Murray Brothers of Cedar Rapids. Andrew Keachie Murray, born in Florida, Montgomery County, New York, in 1813, was a grandson of Alexander Murray, a Scot who served in the Revolutionary war. He came to Linn County in 1868, bought a forty-acre farm that later lay inside Cedar Rapids, and laid it out in town lots as Murray's first, second and third additions. Every fact below is cited to a public-domain Linn County history.

Earliest in the record

William Murray and Elizabeth (Keachie) Murrayborn 1784
→2 households
5 people

Most recent in our records

Charles P. Murrayborn 1854
At a glance

The families on this page

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  1. 1Thomas and Ann (Keating) Murray's family, Clinton Township and Cedar Rapids
  2. 2Andrew Keachie Murray's family, Cedar Rapids
1
Family 1

Thomas and Ann (Keating) Murray's family, Clinton Township and Cedar Rapids

Thomas Murray and Ann (Keating) Murray Thomas d. 1886

Irish immigrants; farmers in Benton and Linn Counties

  • Both were natives of Ireland and married there; they came to Montreal in 1836, where he was briefly in the brewery business and then a foreman in the quarries that supplied stone for the Queen's bridge1
  • He went back to Ireland in 1845 but returned to Canada nine months later, and was a foreman on construction of the Grand Trunk Railway while living on a farm near Montreal1
  • In October 1855 they came to the United States and settled in Florence township, Benton County, Iowa, where he bought land and farmed1
  • Moved to Linn County in the spring of 1871, farmed in Clinton township four years, then retired to Cedar Rapids; he died March 12, 1886, at seventy-eight, and she November 17, 1892, at seventy-three1
  • Of their ten children nine reached maturity: William, John E., Elizabeth (Mrs. Frank Wear of Omaha), Mary (Mrs. Michael Broderick of Harrison county, Iowa), Thomas F., Maggie (widow of C. H. Usher), Charles P., Jennie and Anna F. (Mrs. Eugene Quinn of Cedar Rapids)1

John E. Murray b. 1841

Railroad contractor; senior partner of Murray Brothers

  • Born in Montreal, Canada, May 19, 1841, son of Thomas and Ann (Keating) Murray; schooled in Montreal and Benton County, and stayed on the home farm until he was twenty-nine1
  • His first contract was grading for the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Minnesota Railroad between Waterloo and Cedar Falls; he later built for the Chicago & Northwestern, the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley in Nebraska and the Black Hills, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and other lines1
  • One of the first stockholders and directors of the Security Savings Bank of Cedar Rapids1
  • Married Mary Culkin, daughter of Michael Culkin of Rockford, Illinois, May 16, 1876; they had eight children, including William T., a graduate of St. Mary's College, Kansas, who worked with his father; the family belonged to the Church of the Immaculate Conception1
Read the original 706-word biography (excerpt)

JOHN E. MURRAY.

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

As printed in the source1. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

Charles P. Murray b. 1854

Railroad and general contractor; partner in Murray Brothers

  • Born near Montreal, Quebec, January 16, 1854, son of Thomas and Ann (Keating) Murray; attended the district schools of Benton County1
  • The firm built one hundred and fifty miles of the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad in Nebraska and Dakota, did part of the sewer work in Cedar Rapids and the complete system at Marion, and in 1901 was finishing a contract on the Wabash railroad in Ohio1
  • Married Helen L. Schuize, a native of Iowa City and daughter of Joseph Schuize, October 7, 1890; their children were Inez G., Harold J. and Edith M.1
  • Owned residence property in Cedar Rapids, timber land in the Black Hills of South Dakota, property in Omaha, and Iowa and Minnesota land; the family were members of the Church of the Immaculate Conception1
Read the original 107-word biography

CHARLES P. MURRAY.

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

As printed in the source1. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

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2
Family 2

Andrew Keachie Murray's family, Cedar Rapids

William Murray and Elizabeth (Keachie) Murray William 1784–1852

Farmers in New York; parents of A. K. Murray

  • William's father, Alexander Murray, was a native of Scotland who came to America in colonial days, served in the continental army in the Revolutionary war, and later drew a pension1
  • Elizabeth's father, Andrew Keachie, was also born in Scotland and served as a militia man in the Revolution1
  • William owned a small farm in New York and spent his life there; he was born in 1784 and died in 1852, and Elizabeth was born in 1790 and died in 18221
  • Of their six children one died in infancy; the eldest, David, born June 18, 1812, came to Cedar Rapids in 1876 and died there in 18921

Andrew Keachie Murray b. 1813

Farmer and real-estate developer, Cedar Rapids

  • Born in November 1813 in Florida, Montgomery County, New York, son of William and Elizabeth (Keachie) Murray; he taught school for a few years and ran a singing school three winters1
  • Married Margaret M. Gordon in New York June 6, 1854; she was born in Baltimore, Maryland, June 5, 1826, a daughter of Alexander Gordon, a Scottish-born missionary of the Associate (later United Presbyterian) church, and Margaret (Martin) Gordon1
  • Farmed in New York until 1868, then came to Linn County and bought a forty-acre improved farm now within the limits of Cedar Rapids; he made his first addition of town lots in 1871, and the land became Murray's first, second and third additions1
  • He recalled only about fifty houses on the west side of the river when he arrived; he was a Republican and an elder of the United Presbyterian church1
  • Of ten children six grew up: Alexander Gordon; Edward M., who made a bicycle step-ladder of his own invention in Chicago; David A., a former missionary in Japan and pastor at Ottumwa; Agnes E.; Sarella M., wife of Dr. E. L. Hawes of Mankato; and Frederick G., a Rush Medical College graduate of 19001
Read the original 171-word biography (excerpt)

ANDREW KEACHIE MURRAY.

This well-known and honored resident of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was born on the loth of November, 1813, in Florida, Montgomery county. New York, and is a son of William and Elizabeth (Keachie) Alurray, who spent their entire lives in the Empire state. The paternal grandfather, Alexander Murray, a native of Scotland, came to America in colonial days, and became a soldier of the continental army in the Revolutionary war. He afterward drew a pension in recognition of his services. Our subject's maternal grandfather, Andrew Keachie, was also born in Scotland, and fought for American independence as one of the militia men of the Revolution. William Murray, the father of our subject, received but a limited education during his boyhood, and throughout life followed agricultural pursuits, owning and operating a small farm in New York. He was born in 1784. and died in 1852. while his wife was born in 1790, and died in 1822. They were the parents of six children, one of whom died in infancy.

As printed in the source1. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

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Sources

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  1. Biographical records of Linn County, Iowa (1901)

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