Elizabeth Murray was not a relative of mine, but her funeral card was one of the many my dad found in his parents' house. It reads: "Pray for the repose of the soul of Elizabeth C. Murray who died on November 12, 1937. On the same page in my genealogy scrapbook is an obituary:
It reads: "Murray - Elizabeth C. (nee Adams) suddenly, beloved wife of Stephen J. (whose funeral card we also have), and devoted mother of Ellen Hindley, Margaret McGuire, Elizabeth Hinch, and May and Thomas Murray. Funeral from her residence, 613 E. (something) st., on Monday, 9:30 a.m., thence to Immaculate Conception Church, where a solemn Requiem Mass will be offered for the repose of her soul. Interment Calvary Cemetery."
Looking at the 1930 U.S. census, we find Stephen and Elizabeth, age 55, living at 613 E. 16th Street in Manhattan. In 1910, they're living at 647 E. 16th Street, which is pretty much right across the street from where my great great grandmother Mary Horgan Gorry was living that same year (at 654 E. 16th Street) and where Mary Horgan's father, John, had died two years before at 652 E. 16th Street. And Mary was only two years older than Elizabeth, so the connection between Elizabeth Adams Murray and my family then is there - my great great grandmother and Elizabeth were friends. And apparently pretty good friends and longtime friends as well, because in 1896, before she was Elizabeth Murray, Elizabeth Adams was my great-grandfather Elmer Gorry's godmother at his baptism.
So, friend and godmother, which makes her just as good as family. :)
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