BIO: William Edward McMurtrie, Huntingdon County, PA

Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Abby Bowman

Copyright 2005.  All rights reserved.
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Pennsylvania A History - Biographical.  George P. Donehoo, Editor-in-Chief.
Chicago/New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., Inc., 1928.
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Page 125

William Edward McMurtrie

A member of an old and historic family in Pennsylvania, William Edward 
McMurtrie, throughout his long life, spanning almost the whole of the nineteenth 
century, did much to further the element of progress in his adopted town of 
Huntingdon.  He was born in Petersburg, Pennsylvania, February 13, 1817, and 
died in Huntingdon, January 24, 1893.  HIs father, David McMurtrie, born in 
1764, died in 1843, came to Petersburg in 1776 from Philadelphia.  He was a son 
of David McMurtrie, who came from Ayr, Scotland, in 1752, to Philadelphia.

MacMurtrie (McMurtrie) is a sub-clan of the Stewarts (Stuart) of Bute, whose 
arms Burke records as follows:

      Arms - Or, a fess chequy, azure and argent, between three lions
      rampant gules.

David McMurtrie, of Scotland, married March 18, 1757, Margery Fisher.  The son, 
David McMurtrie, attained prominence in local affairs, and served as treasurer 
of the town of Huntingdon.  He married, in 1795, Martha Elliott, born in 1779, 
in Huntingdon, where she died in 1841.

William Edward McMurtrie grew up in Huntingdon, receiving his education in the 
common schools.  After a short experience in the iron business near Frederick, 
Maryland, he returned to Huntingdon to engage in the mercantile business.  
Success attended his efforts.  Upon retiring, he purchased farms scattered 
throughout that section of the country, made a scientific study of agriculture, 
and acted as consultant to farmers.  An able and intelligent man, high 
principled and altruistic, he had the liking and respect of the whole 
countryside.

William E. McMurtrie married, February 13, 1840, in Huntingdon, Margaret 
Whittaker, daughter of Captain John and Elizabeth (Grove) Whittaker, born in 
1817, and died in 1899, in Huntingdon.  Her father, Captain John Whittaker, 
owned a hotel in the town and received his title in the days when the canals 
were being constructed.  To William E. and Margaret (Whittaker) McMurtrie were 
born eight children, of whom two survive: I. Martha Ellen, who died in 1876; 
married Robert Milton Speer, a prominent lawyer of Huntingdon, in 1864, and they 
were the parents of six children: i. William McMurtrie, a Yale graduate, 
newspaper reporter and lawyer in New York City.  ii. Dr. Robert Elliott, 
secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions in New York City, and father of 
Elliott Speer, president of Northfield College.  iii. Mary, deceased.  iv. 
Victor, deceased.  v. Margaret Agnes, who married Charles L. Reed, and resides 
in Huntingdon.  vi. Martha Ellen, who died in infancy.  2. Edward Stewart, a 
biography of whom follows.  3. Arthur, who died in Ogden, Utah, March 20, 1925.  
4. Elizabeth Whittaker, who married C. C. North in 1870, resided in Washington, 
District of Columbia, until her death.  They were the parents of the following 
children: i. David Edgar, deceased, who was a lawyer in Altoona, Pennsylvania.  
ii. William McMurtrie, with the Fuller Construction Company of New York.  iii. 
Caleb C.  iv. James, a cartoonist.  v. Elizabeth, who married Herbert A. Kipp, 
of Houston, Texas.  vi. Margaret McMurtrie, who resides at home.  5. David 
Elliott, who died in 1920.  6. Mary, who died in 1900.  7. Margaret, who died in 
1879.  8. Clara, who resides in the old homestead at Fourth and Penn streets, 
Huntingdon, in a house one hundred and two years old, built by one of her 
ancestors.  She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and is 
descended from Benjamin Elliott, a delegate to the first State Constitutional 
Convention which met in Philadelphia in 1776, and who was born in Huntingdon, in 
1752, and died there in 1835, and was the first burgess of Huntingdon, the son 
of Robert Elliott, born about 1720, died in 1768.  Benjamin Elliott married, in 
1776, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Mary Carpenter, born in 1754, died in 1784.

Thus the family founded in Western Pennsylvania by William E. McMurtrie throve 
and proved a valuable asset to the community.  The founder was a fine citizen, a 
man of high ideals and lofty accomplishments, and a stimulating business man.  
The city of Huntingdon owes much to his wisdom and foresight.