Robert Murray

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the Australian rules footballer, see Robert W. Murray.

For the Irish boxer, see Robbie Murray (boxer).

Robert Murray (1721-1786), the family chieftain, was born in Pennsylvania and came to New York City in 1753 after a short residence in North Carolina. The Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan derives its name from the Murray family, 18th-century Quaker merchants mainly concerned with shipping and overseas trade.

He quickly established himself as a merchant and about 1762 rented land from the city for a great house and farm. The total area was just over 29 acres (117,000 m2). In today's terms, the farm began a few feet (metres) south of Thirty-Third Street and extended north to the middle of the block between Thirty-Eighth and Thirty-Ninth Streets. At the southern end, the plot was rather narrow but at the northern end it went from approximately Lexington Avenue to a spot between Madison and Fifth Avenues. The great house was built on a since-leveled hill at what is today Park Avenue and Thirty-Sixth Street.

His eldest child, Lindley Murray (1745-1826) was perhaps the most illustrious member of the family. He returned to England after the American_Revolution and published a number of books including the most popular reader of its day.

Mary Lindley Murray is credited with delaying William Howe and his army during General Washington's retreat from New York in 1776. As the story goes, Mrs. Robert Murray invited the group to tea at her manion in Inclenberg (now Murray Hill), and, through feminine wiles, succeeded in delaying the British troops for a period sufficient to allow a successful American retreat. Although a further British advance may have been disastrous for the Americans, the legends arising from the incident--with Mrs. Murray playing the role of Circe or a Siren--are probably apocryphal. Evidence suggests the delay at Murray Hill was according to a prearranged British plan.

The legend is commemorated in a plaque at Park Avenue and 37th Street in New York City, which reads:

                         In honor of 
                     MARY LINDLEY MURRAY
                for services rendered her country
           during the American Revolution, entertaining
                   at her home, on this site,
            Gen. Howe and his officers, until the 
            American troops under Gen. Putnam escaped.
          September 15, 1776        November 25, 1903  
                         Erected by
               Knickerbocker Chapter, New York
            Daughters of the American Revolution.