Draft:James Murray (Maryland judge)

James Murray (before 1740 – 1784) was a justice of the Maryland Court of Appeals from 1778 to 1784.

Murray was one of the first group of five judges appointed to the Maryland Court of Appeals by the Maryland General Assembly in October 1778, and commissioned by Governor Thomas Johnson Jr., on December 22, 1778.

"On the 12th of December the House of Delegates recommended Benjamin Rumsey, Benjamin Makell, the fourth, Thomas Jones, Solomon Wright and James Murray to be Judges of the Court of Appeals and on the same day the Senate agreed to the appointment of the five gentlemen named".

"James Murray, whose Hunting Creek plantation on the border of Caroline and Dorchester counties was attacked [by a mob who thought he was one of five prominent Eastern Shore figures hoarding or engrossing salt supplies], was a prosperous merchant and lawyer. He held property assessed at over ₤3,000 in 1783, including seventy-one slaves. When he died the following year Murray possessed a vast landed estate of 6,749 acres. He was also an active Patriot, serving in the provincial convention as a representative from Dorchester, acting as chairman of the Committee of Observation, and holding the offices of colonel in the county militia and commander of the Eastern Shore's upper battalion."

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