Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....McMurray, William M. November 12, 1860 - 
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Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com January 24, 2011, 3:21 pm

Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 801 - 802
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     WILLIAM M. McMURRAY.  The life story of William M. McMurray is that of a 
self-made man whose laudable ambition and unfaltering industry carried him 
forward until in railway circles, advancing step by step, he reached the 
responsible position of general passenger agent of the Union Pacific. He was a 
native of Ireland, his birth having occurred in the town of Keady, County 
Armagh, Ireland, November 12, 1860. His boyhood and youth were passed in that 
country, where he remained until November, 1882, when he came to America, 
being then twenty-two years of age. It was his characteristic ambition that 
caused him to seek a home in the new world, for he believed that he would find 
a better chance for progress and advancement here. After five years spent in 
the east he came to the Pacific coast and entered the employ of the Southern 
Pacific Railroad Company at San Francisco in 1887, being assigned to a 
position in the passenger department. That he made good, meeting all the 
requirements of his position and giving evidence of his capability, is shown 
in the fact that in September, 1905, he came to Portland as assistant 
passenger agent for the Southern Pacific and the Oregon Railroad & Navigation 
Company. A year later he was advanced to the position of general passenger 
agent, assuming the duties of that office in July, 1906. In 1911 he became 
general passenger agent of the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company 
and in 1921 was appointed general passenger agent of the Union Pacific, in 
which responsible position he continued until his death, at all times 
discharging his duties most efficiently and proving a thorough executive of 
the road.

     On the 15th of June, 1892, Mr. McMurray was united in marriage to Miss 
Florence Wightman, a daughter of John and Celeste Wightman. Mr. and Mrs. 
McMurray had three children. John W., who served with the aviation forces in 
the World war, being stationed at San Diego, California, is now living in 
Lewiston, Montana, where he represents the Vermont Loan & Trust Company of 
Spokane, Washington. He married Laura Miller, of Sherman county, Oregon, and 
they have one child, John W., Jr. W. Robert, the third son, now with the City 
Mortgage Company of Portland, married Gertrude Taylor, of Albany, Oregon, and 
they have one son, W. Robert, Jr.

     The family circle was broken by the hand of death when William M. 
McMurray passed away. He was a loyal and consistent member of the Presbyterian 
church and he also had membership with the Benevolent and Protective Order of 
Elks and in the Westmoreland Country Club and the Chamber of Commerce —
affiliations which indicated much of the nature of his interests and the rules 
that governed his conduct. In Portland he was a great favorite, very popular 
with all who knew him, and his friends were legion. He possessed a genial, 
friendly nature that expressed itself in appreciation of the good qualities of 
others. Moreover, his business record won him the admiration of all, for he 
had started out in life empty-handed and worked his way upward by sheer force 
of character, ability and undaunted enterprise.

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