James Murry or Murray

My great-great grandfather James Murray's tombstone in Three Rivers, Texas, USA, only has his date of death because he didn't know when he was born. He and his two older sisters, both under 5 years of age, arrived in the Port of New Orleans, Louisiana, as orphans after both parents died, probably from cholera, on the ship on the passage to America. The children were too young to know their parents' names, or the New Orleans orphanage simply failed to make a record of them.

Family stories said the two girls were adopted and went to live in New York. When they came back to see their brother in Texas when they were in their seventies, no family member ever recorded their names that we found. The New Orleans Catholic orphanage didn't keep good records of adoptions, especially for girls during the mid-1840s, so that wasn't much help, although I did find a Margaret Murry that was "taken out" in 1853. James ended up living at the orphanage until he was between 8-10 years old when a rancher from Oakville, Texas took him home. Again, there was very little documentation by the orphanage. I found most of the information about him through the 1850 and 1860 U.S. Censuses.

When I started researching Irish immigrants coming to the Port of Orleans, I learned that some of the cheapest fares to the United States were on ships that had originally carried cotton bales into the port at Liverpool, England. For the trips back to the States, they used people as ballast instead of rocks, and because these ships were not well equipped for human cargo, thousands died in the unsanitary conditions on these "coffin ships."

I took the information that I knew of this family: the last name was Murray or Murry; family of five-- father, mother, two older sisters (probably under 5), and a baby or toddler boy named James. I began to look at ship's logs that came into the Port of New Orleans in the 1840s and 1850s to try to find a family that fit those parameters. The quality of record-keeping on ship logs varied greatly among ships.

But I did find one family that fit those parameters on a log for a ship called Monterey that arrived in New Orleans on November 18, 1847. The manifest writer spent the minimum amount of time recording passengers' names, including this family. The first name was Thos (Thomas) Murry - 26, Ditto - 26 (assumed mother), ditto girl - 3, ditto girl - 2, and that was the end of the page. But when I turned the page, there on the first line was "James Murry - 1." If there had been room for his name on the previous page, he would have been just another ditto.

Nine years ago, I wrote a family history book, and I left the names blank for James Murray's birthday and for his parents. But I eventually learned about Roots Ireland and subscribed to that, thinking I might find church baptismal records of a family that fit those parameters, too, including a father by the name of Thomas. And I did find one family in Kiltoghert Parish, County Leitrim:

Father - Thomas Murry

Mother - Eliza Lenaghan Murry

Daughter - Margaret Murry, baptized April 10, 1842

Daughter - Anne Murry, baptized April 6, 1844

Son - James Murry, baptized Aug. 4, 1845

County Leitrim, Kiltoghert, Roman Catholic

I contacted the parish and received confirmation that this family was indeed there in the records, but there were two older children in these records, so that may prove that this family isn't our ancestors. this is the information I received from the parish, and they said the records were from the Gowel Church.

Thomas Murray & Elizabeth Leonaghan ( also spelt Lenaghan)

Mary Murray bpt 16/10/1837

John Murray bptt 25/3/1839

Margaret bpt 10/4/1842

Anne bpt 6/4/1844

James bpt 4/8/1845

They lived in a townland called Gowel and would all have been baptised in Gowel Church

There were no death records, so this family probably left Ireland.

I included a blurry photo of James Murray in his later years in case kinfolks in Ireland recognize that distinct nose that might be in their family members. Long shot, I know. It's heartrending to think that the parents of this young family said goodbye, and then they never heard from them again. I know Murray/Murry is a very common name in Ireland, and I'm reaching for the stars here, but I thought I would try one more time to make the connection to our Irish roots.

Kindest regards,

Donna Casey Van Cleve

Marble Falls, Texas, USA

donnacaseyvancleve@gmail.com