Murray,
Alexander. During the infancy of Clearfield county there were but few
of the pioneer families that settled within its borders but that were subjected
to untold hardships and privations for many years ; and of those who made the
attempt none, or at the greatest, but very few, hoped for any greater
acquisition than a comfortable living. In the year 1821, John Murray and Mary,
his wife, with a family of small children, came from Huntingdon county and took
up their abode in that part of the county that was, in later years, erected into
Girard township, upon lands for which the father had a contract of purchase, but
for which no payment had then been made. After three years passed in clearing
the land, for it was a dense forest, and erecting a cabin in which to live, the
head of this family was taken away by the hand of death, leaving to the widowed
mother the care of the children, and with no hope for future comfort save her
great mainstay and support,—faith and trust in God. Armed with these, and
being possessed of much courage and energy, she commenced the battle for life.
She was a woman of much force of character, and is kindly remembered by many of
the older people of the county, to whom her sterling worth, and her faithful
struggle to keep together and maintain her children, were well known. She lived
to an advanced age, and died April 7, 1871, which was the fiftieth anniversary
of her advent to this county.
Alexander Murray, the subject of this sketch, then being in the twelfth
year of his age, did much to help in the care of the family. He cultivated a
little land and farmed some with one horse. The mother was skilled in the art of
weaving and made the cloth for her family wearing apparel, and for other
families as well, receiving as compensation commodities for home consumption.
Young Alexander soon grew strong and worked at Karthaus in the winter. When
fifteen years old he drove team and received the same pay as older men. But
little cash found its way to the family purse, only food and clothing being paid
as wages, and that at very high figures. The first money received by our subject
he earned by building sixty rods of the old Milesburg and Smithport turnpike.
For this he got $50 cash and an order for $45 more, the latter, however, was
never paid, owing to some default on the part of the treasurer of the
company.
Mr. Murray then commenced lumbering on a small scale, and
saved some money with which he paid for the homestead and bought more land, and
never thereafter did the family suffer for the necessaries or comforts of
life.
On the 23d day of February, 1843, Alexander Murray married
Isabella M., daughter of Thomas Holt, of
Bradford
township. Of this marriage nine children were born, five of whom are still
living : Warren P., the oldest son, now living at home ; Thomas H., of
Clearfield ; William E., who died in his twenty-first year ; Alfred A., who
manages the farm ; Martha A., the oldest daughter, who married Dr. W. S.
Gilliland ; Sarah B., who married Robert C. Gilliland, of Snow Shoe, Pa. The
other children died young. On the 1st day of October, 1879, after a pleasant
journey along life's path of nearly two-score years, marred by no unhappy event
save the loss of four children, the wife of Alexander Murray died : a devoted
companion, a loving and affectionate mother, a kind and Christian friend and
neighbor. Three years later, January 19, 1882, Mr. Murray married Mrs. Ermina J.
Spackman, a lady of gentle manners and loving disposition, and with whom he
hoped to pass his remaining year ; but the destroyer was not idle, for on the
5th day of May, 1885, she, too, was called from earth, leaving her husband, now
on the shady side of life, not rich, nor poor, but with a glorious hope of an
inheritance in heaven that is incorruptible and fadeth not away. A man of
temperate habits and correct life, and though full of years, he is an
exceedingly well-preserved person, and a good type of that sturdy class who have
endured so much privation, and contributed so largely to the growth and well
being of the county.
