#onthisday in 1919, Schuylerville’s Ian McDonald Murray returned home to Schuylerville. * Canadian Soldier Home* Ian Murray has served two years in overseas army* Schuylerville, April 1- Ian Murray, who had been in service overseas, has been honorably discharge from service. He arrived in town last evening at the home of his parents the Rev. and Mrs. A. B. Murray, Grove Street. He enlisted some time ago in the Canadian forces.* Ian McDonald Murray (1897 – 1983) was born in New Brunswick, Canada and grew up in Schuylerville. He moved to Schuylerville, when his father, Alexander Murray took the appointment as the rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church (A. Murray was record from 1912 to 1924). Ian Murray was a good athlete at Schuylerville High School in 1915. He went to Cornwall, Ontario and joined the company C of the 42nd Battalion Royal Highlanders of Canada – the Black Watch on 1 May 1916. (His brother, Alex joined the same battalion a month later in Quebec. His brother, Hugh became a gunner in the Canadian Corps of Heavy Artillery on 17 May 1917 in Quebec.). He was wounded twice in 1918 on 26 February and the 26 August. His first injury was in training near Villers au Bois in north west France. His second injury during the general attack on Monchy-le-Preux and Orange Hill, Battle of the Scarpe. His unit was in conflict all day with some specific work on clearing a maze of heavily wired trenches. Ian Murray ends up at general hospital No. 14 at Wimereux. His battalion was disbanded in Montreal on 11 March 1919. On 31 March 1919, Murray had returned home to Schuylerville after two years in the Canadian forces. After the war, Murray worked in New York City as an editor in the publishing industry. He marries Gretchen Pond Ostrander (17 March 1897 – 13 April 1973). on 28 September 1922 at Trinity Chapel in Manhattan. She was the daughter of William Ostrander (28 Jun 1958 – 22 Jun 1924) and Cora Eliza Laing (21 Sept 1859 – 1 Feb 1935). Mr. Ostrander was well known in the community serving as the town historian, supervisor, and Surrogate of Saratoga County. Ian and Gretchen Murray had two children, David (1924 – 17 Dec 1944) and Mary (1928 – 7 Dec 2012). The history of Ian Murray becomes difficult to follow. It looks like he receives a divorce. Then he married Margaret Alexander in 1939. He is listed as a farmer in New Brunswick, Canada. There is a gravestone that says he was a Major but we could not find his additional service record.* Rev. Alexander B. Murray (1850 – 18 Aug 1934) married Emily A. McDonald (1875 – 1936) in New Brunswick in 1888. They had 3 daughters, Helen, Hilda and Clyde, and 4 sons, Alexander, Ian, Hugh, and Angus. They moved to Schuylerville, when Murray served as the rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church from 1912 to 1924. He moved to Texas to be with his sons. He died in Berkeley, CA. Murray made a number of friends in Schuylerville. Murray wrote in the a 1919 edition of the “The Living Church” that there was a “great loss of communicants, owning to unemployment, the war, and the epidemic.” (The Living Church is a biweekly magazine based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, providing commentary and news information on the Episcopal Church in the United States and has been in continuous publication since 1878.)* Saratoga has been defined by the people who by choice or by chance make up this community. The Murray family served our community, county, and country in various ways. It is the determination of our forefathers, including Ian Murray in surmounting odds that help define the American and our allies the Canadian spirit – the will and ability to shape a better future. It is the people it is that define this community by choice or by chance have changed this country and even the world political development. That is why studying the people of Saratoga is integral to a good understanding of the condition of being human.
Historian at Saratoga - Town of Saratoga 