Pa. Swatara & Chillisquaque Murrays & DNA Testing
For the last 15 years or so I’ve researched my branch of the Murray family, while sifting available resources through the Murray Family Genealogy Forum.One valuable source is the Murray-Wilson family bible, as compiled by my g-g-grandfather Samuel Wilson Murray (b. 1829), as well as Census, parish, and tax records.But after years of constantly nagging my aunt to get my reluctant Murray family uncle to submit to a DNA test, the miracle happened and a 67 marker DNA test was completed. It is now part of the Murray DNA project.The results are interesting.
The Murray-Wilson Bible.
Many researchers seek this bible because it covers colonial Pennsylvania and attempts to connect three families: William, John and James Murray; their lines ultimately reaching back to 17th Century Scotland and are divided into two groups.
The Swatara Murrays.
Part one of the Murray-Wilson bible concentrates on the Swatara Murrays. It takes its cue from various Pennsylvania county histories and from 19th Century genealogist Dr. William Henry Egle, whose works are found in the Pennsylvania State Archives.
The assumed father of all three Murray lines is one John Murray (b. abt 1668 - 1735), supposedly from Fenwick, Ayrshire, Scotland, who settles along Swatara Creek, just southeast of present day Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, around 1732. Some researchers continue to link THIS John Murray as possibly the son of the Rev. John Murray, who supposedly descended from the Tullibardine-Athol Murray group.The famous “Murray Hill” Murrays of New York City are part of John Murray’s descendants. Two of John Murray Sr.’s sons are documented as William (b. 1690-1773) and John (b. 1691-1774?).
The Chillisquaque Murrays.
Part two the Murray-Wilson bible quickly jumps to an area of colonial Pennsylvania northwest of present day Harrisburg, Pennsylvania known as Sherman’s Valley. The area lies along the Susquehanna River and into what is now Cumberland and Perry counties. Most of the white settlers in the region were Scots-Irish immigrants who left home country in the pursuit of a better life in the Americas.And it is into this colonial environment that the supposed THIRD son John Murray Sr. appears. He is James Murray, said to be from Amagh, Ireland (b. abt. 1706 - 1757). James Murray is my 6th great grandfather.It was his son, Colonel James Murray, who possessed the definitive Murray family bible, destroyed in a house fire (Isn’t it always the case? The only house to catch fire is the one that has the family bible).
James Murray was undoubtedly among the original Scots-Irish settlers who came into Sherman’s Valley as early as 1740 – 1742. During this time before the French and Indian War, the Pennsylvania government in Philadelphia made treaties with local Indian tribes in protecting their traditional lands and, therefore, making them off limits to white settlers.But upon arriving in ports like Philadelphia or New Castle, Delaware, James Murray and other settlers quickly moved into the interior of Pennsylvania. Impatient with the pace by which it took to acquire new territories, James and other settlers trespassed on county land not yet purchased from local tribes. They were considered "squatters".
And so it is by 1750 that there was cooperation with the Pennsylvania authorities in nearby Carlisle with removing these illegal settlers. On May 24, 1750, James Murray is first listed on Pennsylvania colonial records when he and a group of settlers, living on “some of the best hunting land” for the Indians, were evicted from their cabins which were burned to the ground.
But James Murray, who married one Jean (Janet) Davidson, eventually resettled and stayed in Cumberland County until his death. His three sons, John, “Colonel” James and William Murray, (along with their brother-in-law, James McMahan), moved in 1769 to Northumberland County and settled along Chillsquaque Creek, north of Harrisburg, near the left fork of the Susquehanna River, just south of present day Milton.
Murray-Wilson Bible Analysis.
Having identified the two Swatara Murray lines and giving some background historical information that lead to the great Murray exodus to Pennsylvania, The Murray-Wilson Bible then concentrates on James Murray’s descendants, including Wilson and other related families.
The definitive question here is this.Is James Murray, my 6th great grandfather, truly the son of John Murray from Fenwick, Ayrshire, Scotland?It’s a long shot to say the least.And I have my doubts. But the Murray-Wilson bible attempts to answer this question.
Dr. Egle’s Murray history states that James Murray was related to the Swatara Murrays, but that no definitive relationship can be established. Both Egle and other family sources cite Murray family tradition indicating there were other, unrecorded children of John Murray; that “kinship” between the two lines was “mutually recognized” including a strong family resemblance. The Murray-Wilson bible also quotes family sources as stating the geographical distance between the two Murray lines in colonial Pennsylvania was close enough to maintain ties and social interaction.
I can appreciate the optimism, but it’s difficult to accept that the Swatara Creek John Murray had three sons or more, instead of the two acknowledged ones. The Swatara Murrays came over on the first Scottish immigration wave and are acknowledged straight from Scotland. James Murray, however, follows about 10 years later, more likely through Ireland, and settles in an area away from Swatara Creek on the opposite side of the Susquehanna River, which is not so much deep but very wide.Add to this the lack of any documentation linking these families beyond conjecture, especially with the original Murray bible going up in flames. The fact that Col. James Murray, a family member who settled north of the Swatara group and continued moving north istelling, especially in light that HE, not the Swatara Murrays, ever kept a family bible. Still, there are other Murray-Wilson bible sources that hint at the lines being related, but can’t confirm how close; a factor I’m more inclined to agree with.
DNA Testing.
There is one other factor that could prove once and for all if James Murray, my 6th great grandfather, is related by blood to John Murray from Fenwick, Ayrshire, Scotland and, if possible, related to the Tullibardine-Athol Murrays: DNA testing.
Having convinced my uncle, Michael Murray, to take a 67 marker DNA test, I can at least present some results that may help Murray family researchers.
It is a pleasure to know that the American connection of the “Murray Hill Murrays” of New York City and the “Swatara Murrays” of colonial Pennsylvania are currently considered relevant to my Murray DNA experimental group.Both segments relate to information provided by the Murray-Wilson family bible and other sources. Past speculation on a possible American connection to the Tullibardine-Athol linage seems more likely than not. Time will tell.
But the biggest surprise of all was the discovery of an almost perfect match: an astounding 66 out of 67 matches – statistically rare – with the administrator of the MORROW DNA Project This particular family DNA group seems to have ended up for the most in North Carolina, a far cry from Pennsylvania, but not unlikely. Many of the earliest Scots-Irish immigrants (of the 1720s and 1730s) who first settled in Pennsylvania obviously relocated into Virginia and the Carolinas. From there immigrants and their descendants went on to populate the states of Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee in the 1780s and 1790s.
Any Murray researcher who can trace their male ancestry to colonial Pennsylvania, especially around the areas of Cumberland, Dauphin, Perry, Lancaster Lebanon or York counties should take a DNA Test.My Murray line was established around Milton, Carlisle and Harrisburg. Anyone believing they are related to the New York City Murray Hill Murrays should do likewise.
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Re: Pa. Swatara & Chillisquaque Murrays & DNA Testing
Robert Burns 4/26/14
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Re: Pa. Swatara & Chillisquaque Murrays & DNA Testing
Dora Smith 12/16/13
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Pa. Swatara & Chillisquaque Murrays & DNA Testing
Kenneth Isbell 1/12/14
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Pa. Swatara & Chillisquaque Murrays & DNA Testing
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Re: Pa. Swatara & Chillisquaque Murrays & DNA Testing
Robert Burns 7/17/13
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Re: PA. Swatara & Chillisquaque Murrays & DNA Testing
ALEXANDRINA NOBLE MURRAY 7/16/13
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PA. Swatara & Chillisquaque Murrays & DNA Testing (Reply)
Kenneth Isbell 9/03/13
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Re: PA. Swatara & Chillisquaque Murrays & DNA Testing (Reply)
ALEXANDRINA NOBLE MURRAY 10/15/13
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Re: PA. Swatara & Chillisquaque Murrays & DNA Testing (Reply)
Dora Smith 12/16/13
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Re: PA. Swatara & Chillisquaque Murrays & DNA Testing (Reply)
Dora Smith 12/16/13
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Re: PA. Swatara & Chillisquaque Murrays & DNA Testing (Reply)
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Re: PA. Swatara & Chillisquaque Murrays & DNA Testing (Reply)
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PA. Swatara & Chillisquaque Murrays & DNA Testing (Reply)