Murray Cemetery Douglas County, Oregon ********************************************************************************* USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE: ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm ********************************************************************************* Burial list of Murray Cemetery submitted by Darrell Murray November 2002. Both above notices must remain when copied or downloaded. -------------------------------------------------------------------- I last visited the Murray cemetery in the late 1980's. It is about 200 to 300 yards west (?) (left as you are driving away from Camas Valley) of Upper Camas Valley Road on a small hillside adjacent to the property then (and probably now) owned by the Wiley family. Get a Yahoo map or Mapquest map to Camas Valley and then just ask for upper camas valley road and the Wiley property. It's been a while since I've been there, but I want to say this was only a mile or two from "downtown" Camas Valley. I'm virtually certain it is still intact. You have to go through the woods or cut across the Wiley property to get to it, and probably can't see it from the road. I found it by asking local kids who took me through the woods to it. Then I located the Wiley property, which was much easier access. There is a little gate at the entrance to the cemetary. The man who lived on the Wiley property in the 80's was good about letting me visit. It's such a tiny community, it's quite the news when "outsiders" come to visit the old graveyard. They'll be talking about it for a month after you visit. Update: I located in some old notes I had taken 15 years ago the specific tax lot location of the cemetery. It is Township 29, Range 8, section 7. The tax account number is 2500. An address that is either adjacent to the cemetary or at least extremely near it is 2181 Upper Camas Valley Road in Camas Valley, Oregon. Here is the info from the headstones: Starting from the Northwest corner (rear far corner) with maiden names in parentheses: Row I: Marie Smith 1917-1918 Elizabeth Smith 1849-1925 George A. Smith 1835-1915 Rosetta Smith 1867-1881 Row II: Vacant (?) Vacant (?) Vacant (?) Alice Wilson 1868-1881 Vacant Constance Helena Kinnicutt 1907-1908 Lena Rivers Kinnicutt 1888-1908 Charles Henry Garland Murray 1896-1907 Elmer Murray 1887-1920 Row III: Harry Friend ?? Martin Luther Friend ?-1927 5 Vacant spaces Sarah Elizabeth Murray (Doney) 1862-1932 William R. Murray 1856-1932 James Harvey Murray 1866-1955 Row IV James Murray 1832-1890 (birth year conflicts with date of April 14, 1829 cited in "God Made A Valley" by Ms. Welcome Combs p. 67.) I don't recall which date was on the headstone. The information to the left is from notes I made when I was there. Sarah A. Murray (Friend) 1836-1875 Ailsie Davis (Murray) 1855-1875 Oak Tree Effie Estella Murray (Hunter) 1876-1942 Zach T. Murray 1869-1947 Row V Rhoda Ann Murray 1865-1939 Elias Murray ?? (wooden grave marker - was a son of James Murray) Augustine Murray 1867-1888 Wide space Joseph Murray 1858-1872 Steven Murray 1860 -1862 James Murray was my great, great grandfather. He came to California in about 1853 and to Camas Valley later that decade, I think around 1856 after brief stint in Butte Falls Oregon (northeast of Medford). There are biographical statements from Zack Murray (my great grandfather) and William Murray (my great, great, great uncle) at the Douglas County Historical Museum. They are interviews done during the late depression years by a WPA (Work Progress Administration) worker. I have copies. They talk about the difficult times and close community of these people. When little Steven Murray was buried in 1862, the ground was frozen to a depth of 4 feet. Times were different. They deserve a special little note in the historical registers of our times. I have what I am sure is one of the few existing copies of the Welcome Combs book referred to above. She was a teacher at Camas Valley school for many years and wrote a booklet that was published probably 60 or 70 years ago. It also provides a good description of the pioneer times in this place, right down to the last raid of the local Indians and a visit by Jack London (author of Call of the Wild) at William Murray's stage coach inn.