Editing Murray Hill, Manhattan (section)

===18th century===
[[Robert Murray (merchant)|Robert Murray]] (1721–1786) moved from Philadelphia to New York City in 1753. During that decade, he became a prosperous merchant, purchasing three vessels and obtaining an ownership stake in another. Murray had a townhouse on [[Pearl Street (Manhattan)|Pearl Street]] in [[Lower Manhattan]], which was close to his wharf on the East River at [[Wall Street]], as well as to his retail store.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 p. 3" /><ref name="Monaghan pp. 10-20">{{harvnb|Monaghan|1998|ps=.|pp=10–20}}</ref>

==== Creation of Murray estate ====
By the late 1750s, Murray was relatively successful and wished to build his own mansion.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 p. 3" /><ref name="Monaghan pp. 10-20" /> Before 1762, Murray had leased some land in a sparsely populated portion of Manhattan island for use as for his large house and farm.<ref name="NYCL (2002) p. 7; NYCL (2004) p. 6" /><ref name="Monaghan pp. 21-22">{{harvnb|Monaghan|1998|ps=.|pp=21–22}}</ref> Murray's house was built on a since-leveled hill at what is today [[Park Avenue (Manhattan)|Park Avenue]] and 36th Street.<ref name="NYCL (2002) p. 7; NYCL (2004) p. 6" /><ref name="Murray p. 4" /> The hill was named ''Inclenberg'', or "fire beacon hill" in Dutch, referencing the fact that settlers of [[New Amsterdam]] used fire beacons to give notice of armed Native American groups.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 p. 3" />  The Murray farm's total area was just under {{convert|30|acre|m2}}.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 p. 3" /> The farm began a few feet south of modern-day [[33rd Street (Manhattan)|33rd Street]] and extended north to the middle of the block between 38th and 39th Streets.<ref group="lower-alpha">{{harvnb|Wuebber|Morin|2007|ps=|p=3.3}}, gives a northern boundary between 42nd and 43rd Streets.</ref> At the southern end, the plot was narrow, but at the northern end it extended from approximately [[Lexington Avenue]] to a spot between [[Madison Avenue|Madison]] and [[Fifth Avenue]]s.<ref name="NYCL (2002) p. 7; NYCL (2004) p. 6" /><ref name="Monaghan pp. 21-22" /><ref name="Murray pp. 4-5">{{harvnb|Murray|1894|ps=.|pp=4–5}}</ref>

The great square house, west of the [[Boston Post Road|Eastern Post Road]], was approached by an avenue of mixed trees leading from the road.<ref group="lower-alpha">Shown on a detail of the British Headquarters map, {{circa|1781}} in {{harvnb|Sanderson|2009|p=55, fig. a}}. The orchards are shown behind the house to the north.</ref> It was flanked on three sides by verandas and contained apartments on either side of a large hall.<ref name="Murray pp. 4-5" /> The mansion was at approximately the present location of Park Avenue and 37th Street. Near the house were a barn, kitchen, and stable.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 p. 3" /><ref name="Monaghan pp. 3-4">{{harvnb|Monaghan|1998|ps=.|pp=3–4}}</ref> The Murray farm was bounded to the north by Thomas Bridgen Atwood's farm, which was on the western side of the Eastern Post Road between modern-day 38th and 41st Streets, and to the east by [[Jacobus Kip]]'s farm, along the eastern side of the same road from 28th to 39th Street extending to the East River.<ref name="NYCL (2002) p. 8; NYCL (2004) p. 7">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2002|p=8}}; {{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2004|ps=.|p=7}}</ref>

The site overlooked the East River and [[Kips Bay, Manhattan|Kips Bay]].<ref name="NYCL (2002) p. 7; NYCL (2004) p. 6" /><ref name="Murray pp. 4-5" /> Like the other grand projects created by distinguished residents upon Manhattan's prominent rises of ground, the Murray house was used for purposes other than farming.{{efn|See for some examples [[Richmond Hill (Manhattan)|Richmond Hill]], the [[Apthorp Farm]], the [[Morris-Jumel Mansion]], [[Gracie Mansion]], and [[Hamilton Grange National Memorial|Alexander Hamilton's "Grange"]]}} According to historians [[Edwin G. Burrows]] and [[Mike Wallace (historian)|Mike Wallace]], while some of these farms were for-profit enterprises, "their primary purpose—besides providing refuge from epidemics—was to serve as theaters of refinement".<ref>{{harvnb|Burrows|Wallace|1999|p=179}}.</ref> One descendant wrote that Robert Murray "entertained at various times almost every foreigner of distinction who came to the American shores".<ref name="NYCL (2002) p. 7; NYCL (2004) p. 6" /><ref name="Murray p. 5">{{harvnb|Murray|1894|ps=.|p=5}}</ref><ref name="Monaghan p. 22">{{harvnb|Monaghan|1998|ps=.|p=22}}</ref> Early in 1773, and again in 1774, advertisements for the Inclenberg estate were circulated, positioning the house and farm as a summer mansion.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 p. 3" />

==== American Revolution and late century ====
[[File:DARmurrayNYC.JPG|thumb|DAR plaque on 35th Street at Park Avenue in Murray Hill]]

During the [[American Revolutionary War]], Mary Lindley Murray is credited with delaying [[William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe|William Howe]] and his army during [[George Washington|General Washington's]] [[New York Campaign#Capture Of New York|retreat from New York]] following the British [[landing at Kip's Bay]], September 15, 1776. The most common version of the story is that Mrs. Murray invited the officers to tea<ref group="lower-alpha">Plying them with cakes and wine in earlier tellings, as reported in {{harvnb|Burrows|Wallace|1999|p=241}}.</ref> and succeeded in delaying the British troops for a period sufficient to allow a successful American retreat.<ref name="NYT1999" /><ref>[[David McCullough|McCullough, David]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uu1mC6zWNTwC&pg=PA216 "1776"], p. 216. "In explanation, a romantic story spread – a story that would become legendary – that a Mrs. Robert Murray, a Quaker and an ardent patriot, had delayed William Howe and his generals by inviting them to afternoon tea at her country home at Inclenberg, later known as Murray Hill."</ref><ref name="Murray pp. 17-18">{{harvnb|Murray|1894|ps=.|pp=17–18}}</ref> The Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage said she saved American independence by detaining Lord Howe long enough to permit [[Israel Putnam]] to pass up the Greenwich road from the city and join the forces of George Washington in the north end of the island, before Howe was able to overtake him. The 3,500 men led by Washington were able to escape safely.<ref name="nyt19310502">{{Cite news|date=May 2, 1931|title=TOWER SITE PART OF $2,400 FARM; 20-Acre Tract in 1799 Was the Scene of Fights With British-- Sold for $10,000 in 1805.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1931/05/02/102231333.pdf|access-date=October 23, 2017|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 p. 5">{{harvnb|Wuebber|Morin|2007|ps=.|p=3.5}}</ref> James Thacher, a surgeon with the [[Continental Army]], wrote in his journal: "It is a common saying among our officers that Mrs. Murray saved this part of the American army."<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/militaryjournald02thac | title=Military Journal, During the American Revolutionary War, from 1775 to 1783 | publisher=Silas Andrus & Son | author=Thacher, James | year=1854 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/militaryjournald02thac/page/n555 494]}}</ref><ref name="Murray p. 19">{{harvnb|Murray|1894|ps=.|p=19}}</ref><ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 p. 6">{{harvnb|Wuebber|Morin|2007|ps=.|p=3.6}}</ref>

According to later scholarship, the Murrays did not have such a large influence on the landing at Kip's Bay than was portrayed in contemporary sources.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 pp. 5-6">{{harvnb|Wuebber|Morin|2007|ps=.|pp=3.5 to 3.6}}</ref> One contemporary rumor posited that Mrs. Murray and her two daughters had used "feminine wiles" to convince the officers to stop by for tea.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 pp. 5-6" /><ref name="Bliven 1956">{{Cite book|last=Bliven|first=Bruce|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/464155344|title=Battle for Manhattan|date=1956|publisher=Henry Holt|location=New York|pages=61|language=English|oclc=464155344}}</ref> However, later scholarship stated that Howe had ordered his troops to stand down until all the British Army troops had landed at Kips Bay. According to these writers, it was unlikely that Mrs. Murray would have known that Putnam was escaping on Manhattan's west side, given that the farm was on the island's east side. Furthermore, Robert Murray traded with both Continental and British Army soldiers.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 p. 6" /><ref name="Bliven 1956" /> Nevertheless, the Murrays' actions during the war inspired at least two [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] shows.<ref name="NYCL (2002) p. 7; NYCL (2004) pp. 6-7">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2002|p=7}}; {{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2004|ps=.|pp=6–7}}</ref> The [[Daughters of the American Revolution]] placed a plaque in 1926 near the site of the Murray mansion, commemorating the family's wartime actions.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 p. 6" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Schecter|first=Barnet|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/248562337|title=The battle for New York: the city at the heart of the American Revolution|date=2003|publisher=Jonathan Cape|isbn=978-0-224-06965-6|location=London|pages=189–190|language=English|oclc=248562337}}</ref>

From 1776 to 1783, when the British Army occupied New York, British soldiers often visited Inclenberg. After the end of British occupation, the Murray family was associated with unpatriotic acts during the war, and one son, [[Lindley Murray]], moved to England.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 p. 6" /> Robert Murray died in 1786 and bequeathed different portions of his estate to his five children.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 p. 6" /><ref name="Murray p. 20">{{harvnb|Murray|1894|ps=.|p=20}}</ref> His daughter Susannah was bequeathed the farm,<ref name="NYCL (2002) p. 8; NYCL (2004) p. 7" /><ref name="Murray p. 20" /> along with some lots in [[Gold Street (Manhattan)|Gold Street]] in Lower Manhattan.<ref name="Murray p. 20" /> Her husband Gilbert Colden Willett, once a Loyalist general in the Revolutionary War, jointly ran Willett & Murray with Susannah's uncle John Murray.<ref name="NYCL (2002) p. 8; NYCL (2004) p. 7" /> Willett bought the farm from the New York City government in 1799 for 907 pounds.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 p. 6" /> His business shuttered the next year and, as part of the bankruptcy settlement, John Murray bought the farm from the Willetts.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 p. 6" /><ref name="Monaghan p. 108">{{harvnb|Monaghan|1998|ps=.|p=108}}</ref>