I was born on May 26, 1942 in Verplanck, New York, into a large happy family.  There were many uncles, aunts, great-uncles and aunts, grandparents, cousins, etc.  The relatives who did not live in Verplanck lived close by and there were frequent parties, visits on holidays and numerous other occasions to be with the extended family.  This environment existed, more or less, for the first twenty years of my life.  Of course, some of the older relatives died in the 1950’s and early sixties but it didn’t seem to diminish the number of relatives on hand at any given time.

By the the 1970’s, time had taken it’s toll.  In 1974 my father, William J. Murray, passed away.  This was a great shock to all of us (one which I have never gotten over), but more than that it proved to be the event which caused me to think of how fleeting is our time here on earth.  I thought of all the things a person does in his or her life which are quickly forgotten when that person dies.  People have to get on with their lives and unless something is written down and/or a picture saved of a loved one, that loved one is forgotten, if not by their immediate family then by their decendants.  It was this thinking that spurred me to start collecting data about my family. The stories, pictures, dates, etc.  I now have amassed quite a collection and have decided to stop talking and start acting.  The following is my feeble attempt to record my family’s history so that someday when someone asks “where did we come from”, they can be given some type of answer, however incomplete.

My immediate goal was to trace my relatives time in America and describe where they came from in Europe.  I have traced all of them to their towns in Europe except for the Kellys and the Altzs.  These continue to be my toughest challenges. 

I don’t claim this to be a finished product, but merely a work in progress.

 William H. Murray Jr.