John Boyles Murray (1756-1828)

He was born at Norwich in England. He went to America entering the counting house of Clark & Nightingale in Providence, Rhode Island, one of the senior partners being his first cousin who was brought up by his father in Norwich. On the outbreak of Revolution, he sided with the Patriots and joined the Providence Cadets under his employer, Col. Joseph Nightingale. He served on the Quartermaster-General's staff under his friend Col. Ephraim Bowen and was attached to the Marquis de Lafayette's command when he invaded Newport. He was then appointed Agent of Prizes and remained in Providence until the end of the war. In 1783, he went into partnership with John P. Mumford and Oliver Bowen (brother of the Colonel) and established two commercial houses, one in New York City and the other in Alexandria, Virginia, where he married his wife. Occasionally, he had charge of exporting Washington's crops from Mount Vernon, and the General would sometimes take a cup of tea at Murray's house before returning home. In 1792, he closed the Alexandria house and continued his business in New York.