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Alexander Murray and Elizabeth Murray

Hello All,

I am a descendent of Alexander Murray and Elizabeth Murray, who came to York Factory in 1815 with their five children. One of them, my great-great-grandfather, was James Murray, who subsequently married Letitia Flett, my great-great grandmother.

I am looking for any information about Alexander and Elizabeth, as well as James and Letitia and their children. Also, if anybody knows of any on-line resources which might enlighten me as to conditions in York Factory, the trip to the settlement, the settlement itself, settler life, etc, I would be very grateful.

Thank you all, even for reading this! :-)

Cheers,

Bruce

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Permalink Reply by Edith Matheson on January 22, 2012 at 1:57pm

Hi, Bruce,

I've been waiting for someone to reply who knows more about this than I do but so far no one has.

First, regarding the history, have you checked www.lordselkirk.ca? Their section on "The Settlers" gives a brief history. Also just Google your question. Frequently Wikipedia is one of the first hits, but you should also get others. I find most of the histories are similar; they all used the same pretty limited primary sources.

Regarding the Murrays, I don't know much. I don't have the genealogy section for them from the book from The Lord Selkirk Association, so I don't know anything about James and Letitia. My only connection is this: My great-grandfather, Angus Matheson (1810-1898) had a younger brother, John (1814-1898), whose daughter Mary (1849-1933) married Francis Murray (1844-1927). Angus Matheson was among the settlers who moved to Iowa in the period between 1835 and 1940. So I have concentrated mainly on the descendants of the Red River Settlers who moved to the U.S. I don't know who Francis's parents were, but I know his son Albert moved to the U.S. about 1907. He was an Episcopal clergyman who, interestingly, also lived in Iowa for a while. By 1930 his family was in Minneapolis, where my cousin became acquainted with him. I wonder if any of this connects with what you already know.

Permalink Reply by Carolyn MacKenzie on February 27, 2012 at 6:36pm

Bruce, I have some information on James Murray- as well as obits and headstones if you are interested. Just as a point of interest James married Elizabeth Holmes (daughter of Dr. John Peacock Holmes and Elizabeth Cocking) and it was their son Alexander who married Letitia Flett (daughter of Rev. George Flett and Frances Cook. James died in 1839, accidently shooting himself while hunting.

If you give me your email address I can pass on the information that I have as well as some headstones.

regards Carolyn

Permalink Reply by Bruce Andrew Doig on November 11, 2012 at 3:05pm

Hi Carolyn, you are correct. I actually have a photostat of Alexander and Letitia's signatures on the Red River Agreement which ceded the land to Canada in return for a plot of land and Hudson Bay scrip dollars.

Alexander Murray and Elizabeth Murray

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