Orange
County
Biographies
JAMES WEST MURRAY
James West Murray had been a valued
member of the police force of Santa Ana for a period of thirty-five years when
called to his final rest on the 9th of June, 1933, in his
seventy-fourth year. A native of Oswego,
New York, he was born on December 29, 1859, a son of John and Sarah
Murray. Coming to California he worked
on a stock ranch now known as the Baldwin ranch near what is now Lamanda Park. This
was in 1877. He was a thorough horseman
and for some years was identified with the breeding, raising and selling of
horses and mules. Before he was eighteen
he had made five trips to the Orient, with mules, for a Mr. Wilson of
Kentucky. On the sixth he got only as
far as San Francisco when he received word of Mr. Wilson’s death and
consequently the trip was abandoned and he went to work for Mr. Titus. He also spent some time on a large stock
ranch in Montana and subsequently served as deputy United States marshal at
Dillon, Montana. He there married Miss Isola Mann and then returned to California, residing for
some years in Los Angeles and in San Diego.
In 1897 he came to Santa Ana, where in the following year he was
appointed to the police force, on which he served continuously throughout the
remainder of his life, performing his duties faithfully and efficiently over a
period of thirty-five years. He was
respected by all and in his service as a peace officer was known as a quiet and
unassuming but very courageous man. His
fraternal relations were with the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks.
Mrs. Isola
(Mann) Murray, the first wife of James W. Murray, passed away in 1907, leaving
a daughter who is now Mrs. A. L. Crane, of San Jose, California. In 1913 Mr. Murray was again married, his
second union being with Miss Laura L. Lacy, daughter of Dr. John McClellan
Lacy, who was a pioneer physician of Santa Ana and Orange County. A review of the career of Dr. Lacy follows this
sketch. Mrs. Murray was a member of a
family of eight children, one son and seven daughters, of whom four survive,
namely: Mrs. N. B. Pierce, a resident of
Chicago, Illinois; Mrs. Lela Vaughan, of Orange, California; Mrs. Laura L.
Murray, of Santa Ana, this state; and Mark B. Lacy, who is now a resident of Washington,
D. C.
Mrs. Murray was for seventeen years
in charge of the office of the city water department for the city of Santa Ana
and has always been an active member of the Business and Professional Women’s
Club, of which she has served as president.
She resides in the beautiful home erected by herself and her husband at
501 West Nineteenth Street, Santa Ana.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 293-294, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S
ORANGE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES