Rev. Joseph Alexander Murray, D.D. and Lydia Steele Foster

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Husband Rev. Joseph Alexander Murray, D.D. ^{1 2 3}

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           Born: 2 Oct 1815 - Carlisle, Cumberland Co, PA 1 2 4
     Christened: 
           Died: 27 Nov 1889 - Carlisle, Cumberland Co, PA 5 6
         Buried: 

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         Father: George Murray (1762-1855) 2 7 8 9
         Mother: Mary "Polly" [2] Denny (1778-1845) 2 8 9 10

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       Marriage: 2 Oct 1879 11 12

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   Other Spouse: Ann Hays Blair (1819-1875) 1 6 11 - 25 Apr 1843 6 11 13

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Wife Lydia Steele Foster ^{1 6 11}

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           Born: 9 Mar 1836 - Carlisle, Cumberland Co, PA 11 12
     Christened: 
           Died: Aft Nov 1889
         Buried: 

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         Father: Crawford Foster (      -      ) 12
         Mother: 

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Children

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General Notes: Husband - Rev. Joseph Alexander Murray, D.D.

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His preparatory education had been obtained in his native place and elsewhere, and in August, 1837, he graduated from the Western University of Pennsylvania at Pittsburgh. In the autumn of the same year he entered the Western Theological Seminary in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and from it graduated in the autumn of 1840. In October of the same year he was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of Ohio, which then embraced the churches in and about Pittsburgh. Soon after he received invitations to visit vacant churches, and accepted one to preach at Marion, Ohio. This church he supplied for six months, from December, 1840, to May, 1841, inclusive, but finally declined a unanimous call to become its settled pastor. He then visited his native place, and in October, 1841, received and accepted a call to the united congregations of Monaghan (Dillsburg) and Petersburg, and was ordained and installed pastor of the same by the Carlisle Presbytery in April, 1843. This relation happily and usefully subsisted for about eighteen years. During his pastorate the present church edifice was erected at Dillsburg. For years he served there also as school director, and was president of the board. During the same period he had received several invitations to churches at other places, which he declined. Finally, however, in consequence of impaired health, he resigned the charge. The pastoral relation was dissolved in October, 1858, and he then retired to Carlisle, but he often afterward ministered to the charge in Dillsburg, and supplied for years the church at Petersburg. His health never again permitted him to undertake the active work and assume the responsibilities of a settled pastor, though he has often filled vacant pulpits and assisted his clerical friends. [HCC 1886, 388]

He received his preparatory education in Carlisle, was for a time a student in Dickinson College and completed his college course at the Western University of Pennsylvania, at Pittsburgh, from which he was graduated in 1837, and at once entered the Western Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church at Allegheny, from which he was graduated in 1840. During his student life, in college and seminary, he was a member of the family of his cousin, Hon. Harmar Denny, a prominent lawyer, mayor of Pittsburgh, member of Congress, and influential in national politics of that day. The contact of young Murray with many of the leading men of the Whig school, and the associations of his home, continued into his later years, and had much to do with imparting breadth to his character and information, and the courteous manners and dignified bearing which always characterized him. His pen was frequently effectively employed, even as a young man, in the political discussions of that day. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Ohio in October, 1840, and supplied for some time a church at Miami, Ohio, and, although cordially urged to continue his work there, during a visit to Carlisle in 1842, he accepted a call to the church at Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, where he became so attached to the church and its people that he continued with them until, by reason of impaired health, in 1858, he was obliged to give up the active pastorate. He had not only been a pastor to his charge, but as a model citizen, was interested in every enterprise promotive of the interests of the borough. He was especially active in regard to public education, and was president, for many years, of the Board of Directors of public schools. He removed to Carlisle, and although his health improved, and seemed to be quite restored, he never felt at liberty again to resume the responsibility of a charge, but was always active in pulpit ministrations and all kinds of church work. He was a member of the General Assembly in 1844, 1861, 1865 and 1875. He was appointed, with Judge H. W. Williams, to defend an important decision of his Synod before the General Assembly in 1875, and was appointed a member of the Judicial committee. In 1876 he was made moderator of the Synod of Harrisburg by acclamation. His scholarly habits and tastes led him into many fields of literary activity. He became especially known for his thorough, pains-taking, intelligent research in State and National, as well as local, history, and was regarded as an authority on many historical, biographical and antiquarian questions, and accumulated a large amount of documentary material. He was readily accessible, and always ready to give information. He was a member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, of the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, Corresponding Member of the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia, and of other Historical Societies. He was the active secretary of the Hamilton Library Association, of Carlisle, from its organization to his decease, and did much to direct and encourage the accumulation of local historical literature. His contributions to literary, historical and religious periodicals were numerous, and some of unique value. Many of his public addresses were published. The Western Theological Seminary conferred on him the degree of D. D. in 1869, and in 1886 he was elected a director of that institution.

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General Notes: Wife - Lydia Steele Foster

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from Philadelphia, PA

1 William Henry Egle, M.D., M.A., Pennsylvania Genealogies; Chiefly Scotch-Irish and German (Harrisburg, PA: Harrisburg Publishing Co., 1896), Pg 591.

2 —, History of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warners, Beers & Co., 1886), Pg 388.

3 —, Biographical Annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 35, 152.

4 —, Biographical Annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 152.

5 William Henry Egle, M.D., M.A., Pennsylvania Genealogies; Chiefly Scotch-Irish and German (Harrisburg, PA: Harrisburg Publishing Co., 1896), Pg 600.

6 —, Biographical Annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 154.

7 —, Biographical Annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 33.

8 William Henry Egle, M.D., M.A., Pennsylvania Genealogies; Chiefly Scotch-Irish and German (Harrisburg, PA: Harrisburg Publishing Co., 1896), Pg 581.

9 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 877, 985.

10 —, Biographical Annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 34.

11 —, History of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warners, Beers & Co., 1886), Pg 389.

12 William Henry Egle, M.D., M.A., Pennsylvania Genealogies; Chiefly Scotch-Irish and German (Harrisburg, PA: Harrisburg Publishing Co., 1896), Pg 602.

13 William Henry Egle, M.D., M.A., Pennsylvania Genealogies; Chiefly Scotch-Irish and German (Harrisburg, PA: Harrisburg Publishing Co., 1896), Pg 601.