Tag Archives: Murray

John Nicholson

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John Nicholson
b. 26 Oct 1807 at Parish of Bower, Caithnesshire, Scotland to David Nicholson and Janet Smith
d. 27 Oct 1886 at Parke Co., IN
bur. Seceder Cemetery (also called Portland Mills), Parke Co., IN

John Nicholson gravestone

John Nicholson gravestone

m. 29 Jun 1830 Scotland
Catherine Bain 
b. 1805 at Parish of Bower, Caithnesshire, Scotland to James Bain and Margaret Murray/Murry
d. 1841 Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada

Children with Catherine Bain:

  • Margaret Nicholson (10 May 1831-11 Jul 1905) m. William Porter 31 Aug 1848
  • Janet/Jennet Nicholson (5 Apr 1833-6 Mar 1922) m. James Pyle 10 Sept 1851
  • David Nicholson (23 Jul 1835-5 Mar 1913) m. Mary C. Dickson 6 Mar 1861
  • James D. Nicholson (21 May 1837-19 Oct 1908) m. Susanna Rexrode 25 Dec 1866
  • William Nicholson (9 Jul 1839-31 Jan 1865) m. Mary Ruth Bishop 13 Mar 1862

John Nicholson emigrated from Scotland in 1840. He arrived in Indiana about 1842 and lived briefly in Morgan County, before settling in Greene Township, Parke County, Indiana for the rest of his life.

Submitted by:
Roberta Wysong
Bloomington, IN
E-mail: rlwysong@aol.com

Julia Louise Balding Grindle

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Julia Louise Balding Grindle
b. 4 Dec 1854 Vigo Co., Indiana
d. 20 Dec 1895 Vigo Co., Indiana
bur. Kennedy Cemetery, Otter Creek Twp., Vigo Co., Indiana

Julia Grindle and William Bryant

Julia Grindle and William Bryant

m. 7 Apr 1870 William Cleaster Bryant
William Cleaster Bryant
b. 13 Dec 1848 Sullivan Co., Indiana
d. 15 July 1917 Vigo Co., Indiana
bur. Kennedy Cemetery, Otter Creek Twp., Vigo Co., Indiana

Children of Julia Louise and William Cleaster Bryant

  • Minnie F (1873-1881)
  • Elizabeth Ellen (1875-1946) m. William Riley Murray
  • William Edward (1880-1934) m1.) Margaret Sarah Devonald 2.) Dora Lillian Williams
  • Gertrude (1883-1883)
  • Della Estelle (1883-1980) m1.) Lee Center 2.)Omar Safford
  • Frank Verner (1886-1970) m. Elsie Baker
  • Catherine Venora (1890-1968) m. Frederick N. Cartright
  • (also an infant who died young)

Julia was born to Noah Simpson Grindle and Elizabeth Ann Balding. She lived in Indiana for most of her life, except for a brief period when she and her family were living in Iowa. She married William Cleaster Bryant who was the son of Christopher Myers Bryant and Martha Beard. Julia died one year after the birth of her youngest child. William was a farmer born to Christopher Myers Bryant and Martha Beard. He spent most of his time in Indiana except for a period when his family was living in IL and another period where he lived in Iowa briefly before moving back to Indiana. He married Julia Louise Grindle who was the daughter of Noah Simpson Grindle and Elizabeth Ann Balding. He and his wife are buried at Kennedy Cemetery in Vigo County.

Submitted by:
Jennifer Cruse
Terre Haute, IN
E-mail: jencruse@msn.com

William Anthony Murray

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William Anthony Murray
b. 5 July 1903, Sandcut, Vigo County, Indiana, to William Riley and Elizabeth Ellen (Bryant) Murray
d. 9 December 1995, Devils Lake, Ramsey County, North Dakota

m. 28 August 1931, Devils Lake, Ramsey County, North Dakota
Anna Mary Johnson
b. 21 May 1905, Yorton, Saskatchewan, Canada
d. 4 November 1998, Devils Lake, Ramsey County, North Dakota

Children with Anna Mary Johnson:

  • James Edward (1933-1933)
  • Lola Janice married Donald Mitchell Patnoude
  • Riley Emert (1936-2007) married Olive Jean Flowers
  • Howard Bryant married (1) Barbara Bratland, (2) Ruth Larson
  • Harlee Frank married Marilyn Toma

Submitted by:
Jennifer Cruse
Terre Haute IN
E-mail: jencruse@msn.com

Jennie Mae Comer

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Jennie Mae Comer
b. 1 December 1891, Rensselaer, Jasper County, Indiana, to William Cyrus and Sarah Jane
(Gleason) Comer
d. 2 June 1986, West Chicago, DuPage County, Illinois

m. 1 October 1920, Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, Indiana
Orval Hamilton Crisler
b. 10 October 1893, Mount Ayr, Newton County, Indiana, to William Addison and Clara Delilah (Hopkins) Crisler
d. 17 January 1986, West Chicago, DuPage County, Illinois

Children with Orval Hamilton Crisler:

  • William Orval (1922-2005) married Dorothy Helen Olson
  • Virginia Mae (b. 1923) married Leslie Alexander Simpson
  • John Edward (1924-1994) married June Freida Wilson
  • George Hamilton (1925-2000) married (1) Gloria Grover Murray, (2) Barbara Dee Bell
  • Emily Jeannette (b. 1927) married Lyle William Seefeldt

Jennie’s father, William Cyrus Comer, was also born in Indiana. Her mother, Sarah Jane “Jennie” Gleason was born in Michigan, but lived in Indiana as a young woman.

Jennie’s mother died following childbirth, and Jennie was sent to her maternal grandparents in Ottawa County, Michigan, to be raised there. She returned to Rensselaer, Jasper County, Indiana, at age nine in 1900 to live with her aunts, Mary and Lizzie Comer, at their boarding house on South Cullen Street. She stayed there until adulthood.

Jennie left Indiana in 1912 to attend nursing school in Chicago but returned again to Rensselaer to work as a registered nurse at Jasper County Hospital following her graduation. There she became re-acquainted with her husband-to-be and former classmate, Orval Hamilton Crisler. They married in 1920 and quickly were parent of five children.

In 1927, the family moved to Waukegan, Illinois. Later they moved to Chicago, then to Glen Ellyn, Illinois. Following her husband’s retirement, they moved to Dunedin, Florida. At her death at age 94, Jennie’s body was returned to Rensselaer, and she is buried there next to her husband of 65 years in Weston Cemetery.

Submitted by:
Leslie S. Hall
Waynesboro, VA
E-mail: geniehall75@gmail.com

Orval Hamilton Crisler

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Orval Hamilton Crisler
b. 10 October 1893, Mount Ayr, Newton County, Indiana, to William Addison and Clara Delilah (Hopkins) Crisler
d. 17 January 1986, West Chicago, DuPage County, Illinois

m. 1 October 1920, Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, Indiana
Jennie Mae Comer
b. 1 December 1891, Rensselaer, Jasper County, Indiana, to William Cyrus and Sarah Jane (Gleason) Comer
d. 2 June 1986, West Chicago, DuPage County, Illinois

Children with Jennie Mae Comer:

  • William Orval (1922-2005) married Dorothy Helen Olson
  • Virginian Mae (b. 1923) married Leslie Alexander Simpson
  • John Edward (1924-1994) married June Freida Wilson
  • George Hamilton (1925-2000) married (1) Gloria Grover Murray, (2) Barbara Dee Bell
  • Emily Jeannette (b. 1927) married Lyle William Seefeldt

The Crisler family, headed by Orval’s grandfather, Hamilton Crisler, came to Indiana in 1846 and settled in the Haw Creek Township of Bartholomew County. They moved to Newton County, Indiana in 1861 when Hamilton purchased 240 acres of land in Jackson Township near the later town of Mount Ayr.

Orval moved with his parents to a farm northeast of the town of Rensselaer, Jasper County, Indiana, in 1910. Following his marriage in 1920, he and his wife and their five children, moved to Waukegan, Illinois, in 1927. Orval enrolled in the LaSalle Extension School in Chicago and completed his education, becoming an accountant. The latter part of his working career was as an accountant, comptroller, and secretary/treasurer for the Chicago-based Gulbransen Piano Company.

His wife Jennie was a registered nurse who worked at the Jasper County Hospital in Rensselaer as a surgical nurse and radiology technician prior to her marriage. Orval was a farmer, having taken over the family farm after the death of his father in 1911

After his retirement, Orval and Jennie moved to Dunedin, Florida. They returned to the Chicago area in the mid 1980’s and both died there in 1986. They were sent home to Indiana for burial in Weston Cemetery in Rensselaer, Indiana

Submitted by:
Leslie S. Hall
Waynesboro, VA
E-mail: geniehall75@gmail.com

William “Riley” Murray

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William “Riley” Murray
b. 27 April 1873, Rosedale, Parke County, Indiana, to Joseph and Mahala (Montgomery) Murray
d. 17 October 1959, Devils Lake, Ramsey County, North Dakota

m. 3 July 1893, Rosedale, Parke County, Indiana
Elizabeth Ellen Bryant
b. 24 June 1875, Vigo County, Indiana, to William Cleaster and Julia Louise (Grindle) Bryant
d. 16 July 1946, Devils Lake, Ramsey County, North Dakota

Children with Elizabeth Ellen Bryant:

  • Raymond (1894-1894)
  • Grace Ellen (1895-1963) married (1) William Epperson, (2) Forrest E. Cox, (3) S. Alvin
  • Ethel Gladys (1897-1987) married Willard D. Greenleaf
  • Stella (1899-1901)
  • Mary May (1901-1989) married (1) Georg Frison, (2) Claude Allen
  • William Anthony (1903-1995) married Ann Mary Johnson
  • Harry Cleaster (1905-1984) married Myrtle Kline
  • Lee Harvey (1907-1987) married Lillian Standahl
  • Julia Esther (1913-1984) married (1) Walter Horne, (2) Felix Ochose, (3) Arnold Huddleston, (4) Walter Shaver

While in Indiana, Riley worked as a checker in the coal mines. He would take the metal “checks” or brass tags off of each man’s cart of coal as he weighed it and credited the man with the coal he had dug.

In 1914, at the urging of Elizabeth’s brother Bill, the family moved to Devils Lake, North Dakota. Riley worked for Bill, who maintained a coal and feed business, for the first year. In the spring of 1915, Riley went into farming. In 1923, he rented two farms of 500 acres each, with rights to 200 acres of Dry Lake. He used horses and employed quite a few men during the year, especially during harvest time.

The Murray home was noted for its hospitality and was a neighborhood gathering place on Sundays. There would be games of baseball, horseshoe pitching, and other activities with Elizabeth serving hundred of doughnuts and beverages.

In the fall of 1943, the farm machinery was sold at auction, and Riley and Elizabeth retired in Devils Lake. The farm was rented to son Bill Murray. Daughter, Ethel Greenleaf, continued to live in Devils Lake, but the rest of the family spread out from Michigan to Washington states.

Submitted by:
Jennifer Cruse
Terre Haute IN
E-mail: jencruse@msn.com