Editing Murray Hill, Manhattan (section)

==== 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>