Nora Jarvis, born March 30, 1854; Henry G., born November 9, 1856, who is the only one living at the present time (1902) and owns property which has descended to him from the first Thomas Scndder, of Huntington, Long Island.

(4) George Crawford Murray was born January 3, 1827. He was a very happy, laughter-loving boy. When three years of age he was sent with his sisters to the little old school house which stood in a corner of Dr. Edward Taylor's garden, opposite the east side of the Episcopal church in Middletown. Mr. Austin was the teacher. His dearest interest a few years later was in his Latin class composed of Thomas Arrowsmith and George Murray. When, on April 19, 1836, the "Society for the Promotion of Learning: agreeable to an Act entitled an Act to Incorporate Societies for the Promotion of Learning, passed by the Legislature of New Jersey the 27th day of November, 1794," was organized and John E. Hendrickson, William W. Murray, secretary, Ezra Osborn, Dr. Edward Taylor, J. T. B. Beekman, Robert Hartshorne and James Patterson were appointed trustees of the Franklin Academy, then Mr. Austin hoped to become its principal and make it a great seat of classical learning. He was a peculiar character and the boys of his class never wearied in telling of the pranks they played upon him. When only thirteen George Murray entered Washington Institute, on Thirteenth street, New York City, to prepare for Yale College under the care of Timothy Dwight Porter. Feeling himself weak in mathematics, he took up the study himself. When a year later (1841) he entered Yale, he passed a good examination in that branch. On September 30, 1843, he received "Professor Playfair's Works" "from the President and Fellows of Yale to George C. Murray, for excelling in the Solution of Mathematical Problems." Signed, "J. Day" (Jeremiah Day.) He graduated in 1845, the youngest member of his class. During his college course his father gave him a competent allowance, from which, by living plainly and economically, he was able to purchase, with the advice of his instructors, many of the fine standard works which composed his well chosen library. An older classmate wrote to him about the time of their graduation: "My Dear Murray.—An intimate acquaintance with you during the past year has served only to increase the feelings of high esteem which I have always entertained for you, and I regret exceedingly that I am so soon to part with one whose honesty of purpose, integrity of principle, united with real solid worth has won my admiration." The sum of their estimate of Murray's character is expressed by his classmates in a series of farewell autographs, by the words most frequently used— "integrity of character."

Knowing his own predilection, this youth of eighteen chose wisely for himself a career in the new world of science and engineering. He was eminently, fitted for it, but his parents would not for one moment entertain the thought. They laid before him the choice of but two professions— medicine or law. He cared for neither, but finally chose law. For nine. months he studied with Peter D. Vroom, of Trenton, New Jersey, and then

entered the law office of Hon. George Wood, in New York City and was licensed to practice on January 8, 1849. He then returned to Yale and took a post-graduate course in analytical chemistry in the newly established scientific department of the college. In August, 1850, he returned home. His sisters had married, and his parents were alone. They wished him to remain with ihem and become a farmer. This course was most repugnant to one so thoroughly equipped for other more profitable and promising walks of life. His father insisted, and, unable to resist the pleadings of the mother, whom he loved and revered, he yielded, fully realizing the sacrifice that he made.

The farm had been rented, the buildings had been burned, the soil had been impoverished, the fences were decayed and their lines marked by wide hedge rows of weeds and brambles, the finest meadows were undrained swamps, there was no stock, and there were no implements with which to do the necessary work. Once the choice was made, the young student and promising young lawyer with all the energy and earnestness. of his character took up the task of making farming scientific and profitable, showing no sign of the suppression of every personal wish in the performance of many hateful tasks.

On January 17, 1853, his mother died, and he and his father were alone in the home that sadly missed her merry laugh. Two years passed, during which the young farmer took up the duties of good citizenship and became interested in a plank road from Middletown to Port Monmouth, in a steamboat company, and in the Monmouth Agricultural Fair Association.

On February 27, 1855, he married Mary Catherine Cooper (born March 20, 1833), daughter of James Cooper and Rebecca Patterson. James Cooper was directly descended from "Benjamin Cooper, yeoman, late of ye Fresh Kills, Staten Island now (1712) of Middletown, Monmouth county, New Jersey." At this time he purchased lands from James Ashton "along ye Broad Swamp (Nutswamp) as ye Broad Swamp runs," bounded west by Nathaniel Leonard, south, by Henry March and Mary Ashton, east, by John Gob and Mary Ashton, and north, by Thomas Herbert; also twenty-four acres bounded north "by ye Branch and ye fork," east, by Richard Davis, south, by 'ye upland' and in part by William Winter and Mary Ashton. In the same year (1712) James Patterson, from whom Rebecca Patterson was descended, purchased from James Grover the land owned by ex-Sheiiff John H. Patterson on Navesink river. These lands have remained in the hands of the Coopers and Pattersons to this time. James Cooper was the son of George Cooper and Abigail Oakley, of Westchester county, New York, and the grandson of James Cooper and Elizabeth Douglas, sister of Alexander Douglas, well known in the story of the battle of Trenton. Rebecca Patterson was the daughter of Judge Jehu Patterson and Hannah Gordon, who was the great-granddaughter of Charles Gordon, one of the founders of old Tennent church. Benjamin Cooper and his son, John, were among the early supporters of the Episcopal churches of Shrewsbury and Middletown.

In February, 1858, George C. Murray had one of his feet crushed by the sudden caving in of a mass of frozen earth in the Groom's Hill marl pit on his farm. Dr. Willard Parker, of New York, called in consultation, said, "Young man, your clean, temperate life will save you and prevent the loss of that foot." He spoke truly, but Mr. Murray was very lame, and spent hours, even whole nights of most excruciating pain to the end of his life. For a long time he used crutches— always a cane—and as far as possible moved about his farni on horseback. He was a large, heavy man, weighing over two hundred pounds. He was always so patient and cheerful that no one could realize how much he suffered from this

cause.

During the next three years George C. Murray watched analytically the passing of the events which culminated in the firing upon Fort Sumter. In several volumes of notes of speeches which he himself made, of speeches made by others, and of his opinion of the acts and principles of the men of his time, he left a local record of the Civil war that has much of interest to the people of Monmouth county. The people of Middletown erected a great flagpole and on May 26, 1861, swung to the breeze a handsome flag. George C. Murray was the orator of the day, and his address was a splendidly patriotic effort.

It was the custom in the village to celebrate the Fourth of July with a clambake on Dr. Edward Taylor's hill, on the north side of the principal street. An oration was an important item on the program. In 1861 George C. Murray was the orator and he rose to the heights of eloquence in his plea for an undivided Union.

July closed with the shame of Bull Run. Secession, in the mask of peace, dared to visit old Monmouth and so well was her disguise taken that many honest and patriotic men were deceived for the moment. A "peace meeting" was called in Middletown on Thursday, August 29, 1861. Thoroughly aroused, George C. Murray and many others, who detected the deception, determined to meet and resist the danger. A notice was publicly placed in the old historical tavern of Middletown that the "peace meeting" had been postponed sine die. In its stead was held an enthusiastic Union meeting at Ackerson's Grove. George C. Murray was unanimously elected chairman, and the resolutions which he presented, and which were adopted with tumultuous applause, were at once an eloquent affirmation of patriotic principles and a stinging rebuke to those whose sympathies were with the secessionists.

George C. Murray was in principle a Democrat, in the best and literal meaning of the word, but he was not a partisan, and would never allow himself to be bound to that which he disapproved in any party or body of men with whom he was associated, even though he knew that opposition to them meant loss and every disadvantage to himself. strong man and able partisan when he had faith in the cause he espoused. He would support no man in what he believed to be wrong. These principles he avowed and consistently followed. In the fall of 1861 he was elected to the legislature of New Jersey. He took an active part in all

delates; was chairman of the standing Committee on Education and a member of the Committee on the State Library. During this session the railroad companies were active in their efforts to obtain advantageous legislation for themselves. Many fine dinners were given at Peter Katzenbach's in Trenton with satisfactory results. Mr. Murray was frequently invited but would not accept. At length he received an invitation accompanied by the hint that if he did not come voluntarily he would be taken by force. He replied "that he would not accept the invitation; that he would be in his rooms at the appointed hour, but he wished to inform them that the first man who attempted to lay his hands upon him would do so at his own peril." He was no more molested and no richer at the close of his term as legislator than at the beginning. He utterly refused to accept the nomination for a second term in the assembly. It was a trial to him that he could not join the army at the front, but his lameness rendered him unacceptable. He sought no easy or profitable appointments.

In the many public addresses which George C. Murray made during the years of the war, he deplored violent party spirit and never stooped to the wretched abuse or violent vituperation of the partisan politicians. In debate he never lost his self-control. He despised the wire-pulling, placeseeking and jobbing which became too common and profitable in the conduct of the war, and fearlessly expressed his opinions. The declaration of martial law, the emancipation proclamation and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus he supported, but when the local wrongs in the enforcement of the (see "Division and Rebellion," Woodrow Wilson) draft act of 1863 fell upon the poor men of his neighborhood, his whole soul rebelled against the partisan cruelty displayed by the conscript officers in some localities. In Monmouth county the burden of this law fell upon the poor fishermen of the coast and upon the naturalized Irishmen who were generally Democrats. During February, 1864, many of them appealed to him for help. To leave their families meant starvation. At length, about midnight of a day when he had listened to the troubles of several whom he well knew, he sprung up, exclaiming to his wife, "By George, Kate, I can't stand this any longer!" Saddling his hcrse he went immediately to several prominent men in the township, and upon his own responsibility obtained their endorsement to draw a large summ from the bank at Middletown Point. With this money for the payment of bounties strapped about his body, he went to Washington February ?~, 1864, to re-enlist three-year volunteers then disbanding at Fairfax Court House, thus hoping to fill the quota for Middletown and relieve the poor men with families. He there found James S. Yard, of Freehold township, and Judge Butcher, of Howell, on the same errand. Proceeding to the front they reached Fairfax, Virginia, carrying upon their persons the money which they expected to expend. This became known to the desperate men who had just passed through the demoralizing tuition of three years of terrible warfare. Mr. Murray was alone during a part of this time and as he rode about he could hear the men say, "there goes

Bounty!" He scarcely dared to sleep, fearing that he would be robbed. One petty officer followed him constantly, and seemed to wish to tempt him into lonely places.

After this almost fruitless attempt to spare the poor men from conscription Mr. Murray returned to his home and, during the absence of those whom he could not spare, he made every effort to sustain their families. He gave away many bushels of potatoes and corn and hay to keep alive a horse or cow which became the dependence of the family. Mr. Murray then received the title of the "Poor man's friend."

After the close of the war, during an exciting political campaign, the "New York Tribune," especially, was very violent against the men who had been drafted, but had gone away supposedly to escape conscription, claiming that they were traitors, deserters, etc., and insisted upon their being disfranchised. Mr. Murray carefully looked up the law in the matter. When election day came, he was made judge of election. About fifteen men presented their votes and were challenged as deserters, an editorial in the Tribune being produced as authority for the challenge. Mr. Murray read the law, as he had found it, administered the oath of allegiance, and accepted the votes according to that law. The excitement was very great. The Union League had been organized and was holding secret sessions every evening. One day one of its members came to Mr. Murray and advised him to go away from home, as his political enemies were determined to have him indicted for accepting illegal votes. The penalty for this would be five years in the State's prison and five thousand dollars fine. He replied, "I will be right here on my place. If there is a grand jury in Monmouth county that will indict me for doing my duty, I am willing to stand my trial." He remained at home until informed that the grand jury had refused to listen to the complaint against him.

While he had been absent in Washington he had been nominated and elected assessor for the township of Middletown. This office he held for a number of years. Some years later, when land along the Shrewsbury river was becoming very valuable for summer residence and the taxes had been increased, Mr. Murray found that the weight of the burden was being carried by the poor property owners along the bay shore. He determined to equalize taxation by a correct valuation of property. The result was, as had been anticipated, the making of manv enemies among the rich and influential, but he believed this to be his duty and he performed it regardless of himself.

In the summer of 1865 his father died, and Mr. Murrav succeeded him as trustee of the Middletown Baptist church, the third generation to hold the office. In 1872 he became clerk of the board of trustees. During and after the war, when all the bitterness of partisan politics almost disorganized the churches of Monmouth he made every effort to sustain and uphold them.

In the execution of his father's will, Mr. Murray was obliged to mortgage his farm to pay his sister and his sister's children their legacy. During the reconstruction period farming in Monmouth deteriorated in proportion to the development of the west and south. Freights were very