The Murray Family
In 1780 Patrick Murray was born in Ireland. I assume he was born in County Armagh, probably in the town of Poyntpass, a small town on the main Dublin to Belfast road midway between Newry and Portadown. There is no known information about his early life or parents, but sometime around 1820 he married a woman named Sarah who was born in 1785 (maiden name unknown).
In November of 1823 they had a son, Patrick. They had another child named James but there is no other information about him.
In 1823 the Murrays were farming a seven acre plot of land which they rented from the estate of a Mr. Close who was the major landholder in the area. The farm was located in the townland of Tullynacross which is about a mile west of Poyntzpass.
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In 1837 when Patrick Jr. was 15 his father died. The family continued to run the farm for the next eleven years until 1848 when Patrick and his mother immigrated to America. They probably immigrated because of the Famine. I believe that Patrick and his mother came first to Peekskill and then to Verplanck in 1849. Sarah died in Verplanck on May 15, 1865.