John Dennison McMurray Sr. (1872–1948) and Judge Wilson McMurray (1879–1962)

John Dennison McMurray Sr. was born on 13 December 1872 in Pevely, Jefferson County, Missouri. His brother, Judge Wilson McMurray, was born 22 February 1879 at the same location. They were sons of Robert Emmett McMurray and Selina Gordon (Dennison) McMurray.

Both men were grandsons of John Dennison McMurray, who established the McMurray and Judge Architectural Iron Company in 1835. John Dennison McMurray emigrated from Liverpool, England, arriving in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 2 July 1833 aboard the barque Ruckers. He was approximately twenty-two years old when he traveled to St. Louis, Missouri, and he soon married Ann Eliza Wilson on 17 April 1838.

John Dennison McMurray Sr. moved to Dallas, Texas, and married Anna M. Edgar around 1897. This marriage resulted in two sons, John Dennison McMurray Jr. and Harry Edgar McMurray. Anna M. (Edgar) McMurray was born 4 November 1873 in Illinois, daughter of Harry Scott Edgar, a florist, and Elizabeth Jane (Lucas) Edgar.

John was employed as a pattern maker by Mosher Steel Company in Dallas, Texas. He died at the age of seventy-five from an illness related to a fall a year earlier. He was survived by his widow Anna, two sons, and his brother, Judge McMurray. Anna M Edgar Dennison died from heart disease on 6 May 1955 in Dallas, at the age of eighty years, six months, and two days.

John’s brother, Judge Wilson McMurray, began his career operating a pattern making shop. He later became a manual training teacher in Illinois at Granite City High School, where he taught until retirement. According to family oral history, Judge Wilson McMurray did not marry and cared for his parents in their golden years. Judge died at the age of eighty-three of heart disease, leaving two nephews to mourn his death.

John Dennison McMurray Sr. is buried in Hillcrest Memorial Park cemetery in Dallas, along with his wife, Anna. Judge Wilson McMurray is buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, along with his parents and grandparents.

(For more information on the McMurray brothers, see the St. Louis Genealogical Society Quarterly, Fall 2024, Volume 57, No 3.)

Written by Shirley Wadell
January 2025

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