Mary Lindley Murray

Mary Lindley Murray (1720 – December 25, 1782) is known in the American Revolution as the Quaker woman who in 1776 held up British General William Howe after the British victory against American forces at Kips Bay. Murray treated Howe and his generals to cake, tea, and wine and delayed them several hours as the American rebels led by General Israel Putnam got away safely and undetected.

The year before, she wrote a letter to prevent her husband, Robert Murray, from being banned from New York. She was a patriot and her husband was a loyalist, who illegally unloaded British goods from his ship, against Article 10 of the Continental Association.

Murray had twelve children, the eldest, Lindley Murray, was the leading author of the first four decades of the eighteenth century.

Early life
Mary Lindley, born in 1720, was the daughter of Thomas Lindley (1684–1743), a member of the Quaker religion and an Irish immigrant, and Hannah Duborow, the daughter of a Quaker brewer in Philadelphia. His father, James Lindley (b. 1641), likely came to Ireland from England in his youth. Thomas' brother, James Jr., immigrated from Ireland to Pennsylvania before Thomas in 1713. Thomas immigrated to the American colonies about 1718, or in 1719.

Mary's relatives were among the Scotch-Irish settlers who were known for settling in the wilderness without purchasing titles for the land, which meant that they could have taken land that others William Penn gave to his relatives in his wills, or taken Native American land. As Scotch-Irish Quakers, they were generally known for creating a "climate of self-reliance and helped foster a taste of independence", which would have played a role in their political beliefs during the American Revolution.

Thomas was a blacksmith and anchorsmith. He and other Quakers invested in Durham Furnace, a successful iron ore forge along the Delaware River on 6,000 acres. His experience working with iron to make anchors was helpful experience for the company.

Thomas purchased 480 acres in Paxtang Township, Lancaster County near the man who would become his son-in-law, Robert Murray, about 1733. Thomas Lindley was a justice of the peace in 1738. He represented Lancaster County in the Pennsylvania Assembly from 1739 until 1743, the year he died.

Mary Lindley Murray School
Thomas Lindley, Murray's father, built a school and named it after his daughter, Mary. Mary was the school's first female graduate. She was the first principal of the school, also known as Public School (P.S.) 116.

Marriage and children
In 1744, Mary married Robert Murray, becoming Mary Lindley Murray. Robert was a Presbyterian, and converted to the Quaker faith for her. Robert was born in Scotland and immigrated to Pennsylvania from Ireland as a child in 1732. The Murrays stayed in Pennsylvania for several years.

Lindley, the first of twelve children, was born at Swatara, near Lancaster in 1745. He was a noted grammarian and author. Lindley was the author of 11 books and the top selling author in the United States during the first four decades of the nineteenth century. Of Murray's twelve children, five made it to adulthood, including Lindley, John, Susannah, and Beulah, who were alive at the time of her death. Susannah was married to Col. Gilbert Colden Willett, a British officer, and Beulah was married to Martin Hoffman. Robert was a successful miller of flour, allied with other Quakers. As a merchant, he transported flour and wheat to the West Indies, which was the major import from Pennsylvania.

After Pennsylvania, the family was among the "tide" of Quakers moving to North Carolina in the 1750s. They settled there by 1751, before moving to New York City in 1753. Murray was a wealthy merchant, a partner of Murray and Pearsall, a merchandising firm. His varied and related trades included operating import and export of goods, operating the merchandising firm, investing in whaling operations, selling maritime insurance, having a dock on the East River, and being a freight forwarder. Much of Robert's fortune was earned due to transatlantic trade during the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) between Britain and France. An economic downturn of the trade business resulted in 1761, after the Fall of Montreal in September 1760. Robert Murray suffered from poor health and needed a milder climate. Mary Murray, Robert, and her children moved to England, living there from 1764 to late 1771 or in 1775. Robert and Philip Sansom, a British Quaker, established the Murray & Sansom trading business in London. Robert's brother, John, operated the business in New York. Robert visited New York City in 1768, 1769, and by 1773. As anti-British sentiment grew in the days leading up to the American Revolutionary War, Murray was subject to agreements in the colony against British trade, ultimately leading to the First Continental Congress and the War for Independence.

Prelude to the war
The Thirteen Colonies enacted Article 10 of the Continental Association, forbidding the receipt of goods from Britain as of February 1, 1775. That month, two ships anchored at Robert's docks. The first attempted to dock was made by the James, but was discouraged by the nonimportation forces (patriots) on shore until the British navy helped them dock, but they were unable to unload their cargo of household goods and coal and the ship left on February 11. A ship owned by Robert's Murray and Sansom tried later to dock with the assistance of the Custom House. Attempting to dock and unload goods clandestinely, the Murrays were seen as Loyalists, against the patriots. On February 17, Robert Murray's ship, the Beulah waited in the waters near New York City, blocked by a patrol boat, and attempted to unload up to two tons of goods to a ship sent from Elizabeth, New Jersey to meet them at Staten Island. After an investigation, the Robert and John Murray were found to be guilty and, among their prices that they had to pay, many wanted them banned from New York. Murray, known to be a Whig, wrote a letter to the Committee of Sixty of the ways the wives and children would be harmed if her husband and brother-in-law were banned from the city. Her letter worked, the Murrays stayed in the city.

Revolutionary war
Murray returned with her family during the first year of the Revolutionary War. She was a patriot and Robert sided with The Crown. During the war, the Murrays lived north of "town" (now called Lower Manhattan), in what was considered the country. They lived on their 29-acre estate called Belmont, also known as Inclenberg (Dutch for beautiful hill), in Murray Hill. The area named for the Murrays. Their two-story house, built about 1762, sat at what is now the corner of 37th Street and Park Avenue. It was situated with the East River on the east side. Extensive gardens and lawn on the north and south sides, overlooked Kips Bay and the East River. An avenue of spruce, elm, magnolia, and poplar trees led to the residence. The Murrays entertained international travelers, like the Tunisian ambassador, who arrived in New York with letters of introduction for the Murrays.

On September 15, 1776, British General Howe waited near the Murrays' estate for regiments coming across the East River. In the meantime, General Israel Putnam of the Continental Army led 3,500 soldiers north from the southern end of the island, unknowingly putting them in danger of engaging with the British. George Washington had troops in the area, but they were north in Harlem Heights.

Murray watched British troops pull into Kips Bay with five man-of-war ships anchoring in front of her house, resulting in a total of 8,000 British and Hessian soldiers in the area. Not expecting any engagement that day, the British generals stopped at Murray's house for two hours, where they received cake, tea, and wine. While Murray and her daughters served the British, a maid watched out a window on the second floor to ensure that the American soldiers passed by the estate safely.

Putnam's forces would have been outnumbered and certainly have lost many soldiers if they had crossed paths. It has been said that Mrs. Murray saved this part of the American army.

Death and legacy
Mary Lindley Murray died on December 25, 1782, before the colonies earned their independence. Lindley Murray said of Murray, "My mother was a woman of amiable disposition, and remarkable for mildness, humanity and liberality of sentiment. She was indeed a faithful and affectionate wife, a tender mother, and a kind mistress. I recollect with emotions of affection and gratitude her unwearied solicitude for my health and happiness."

The Knickerbocker Chapter, New York of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a plaque at Park Avenue and East 37th Street, Manhattan, on November 25, 1903, in honor of Mary Lindley Murray.

In honor of MARY LINDLEY MURRAY WIFE OF ROBERT MURRAY for services rendered her country during the American Revolution, entertaining at her home, on this site, Gen. Howe and his officers, until the American troops under Gen. Putnam escaped. September 15, 1776    November 25, 1903 Erected by

Knickerbocker Chapter, New York Daughters of the American Revolution.

In popular culture

 * The tale of Murray is the basis of a Rodgers and Hart musical. Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart saw the plaque installed at Park Avenue and East 37th Street about Murray and were inspired to write Dearest Enemy about her. It opened at the Knickerbocker Theatre on September 18, 1925.


 * The play Small War on Murray Hill (1957) was based upon the events of September 15, 1775.


 * A Staten Island Ferry named the Mary Murray was launched in 1937 and in service until 1975.