Yoo-hoo--Where are you 21st century cousins?

Well, a month or so ago, a comment I posted on a census record on ancestry.com yielded results. A descendant of one of my great-granduncles on the Murray side replied to my comment. I hoped my third cousins would have some family history that I lacked--family history lost perhaps in part because my great-grandfather, Albert, went to an orphanage at a young age. His brother, Stanford (aka Sanford), was slightly older. Alas, it seems Stanford might have been too young as well. And one comment sounded eerily familiar--according to Stanford's grandson, his grandfather's life was not spoken of. Just like my great-grandfather. More circumstantial evidence to suggest these children had a tough life.

There were no solid leads to follow, although Stanford's grandson had begun some family research and it seems as if he had hints that the Murray line was a Colonial line. That is consistent with information from some secondary data from census reports. I'll keep hoping I manage to uncover something leading back to the right location in Connecticut where I can discover some real evidence on whether the Murrays were Scottish or Irish immigrants.

I'm continuing to pursue two older sibling's line, hoping for clues. (two others were childless). Richard Murray and Mary Jane Murray Van Patten families...where are you and what do you know?

But, I really, really need to move beyond the internet and get to the Library of Congress and the DAR. I think it's the only way I'll have a break-through.

 A potential magazine story on my search is in some stage of development and I really hope it comes to fruition.

It's kind of cool to enlarge your family and share a history.

Mystery Monday-What year is this photo?

How can you not love this photo?  Really, the hair is awesome!  Look at the shirt!

A cousin just sent it to me--a scan of a tintype of my great-grandfather, Albert Murray.

But I have no idea what year this is from.  Albert was born in 1856.  He was a farmworker and laborer in New York and around 1880-1882 settled in Emporium, PA where he married, was a constable, and at one point, worked at a dynamite factory.  I have trouble imagining someone who was a laborer being this finely styled for anything other than his wedding in 1882 when he was 26.