David Graehl
In recent years the James and Mary Murray Murdoch family has taken the opportunity to honor our ancestors in many ways. We have produced art, biographies, family histories and written music. Wee Granny’s courage and
devotion were commemorated by placing a headstone in the cemetery located near the spot where she died 150 years earlier. We were instrumental in placing a highway marker near the same location. We also replaced the deteriorating headstone of John Murray Murdoch in the Heber City, Utah cemetery. Additional family histories have been published or are nearing publication.
Many of us have seen the benefit and felt the interest generated by the family histories that have been completed. When I look in the Red Book and see the names of my family members, and see my name recorded with my family, I feel a sense of belonging. I am grateful for the heritage that our ancestors provided for us. I am interested in their experiences, in the lives they lived and the challenges they faced. President Henry B. Eyring, of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, recently pointed out that reflecting on the stories and diaries of his ancestors has helped him make important decisions throughout his life. (Address given during the world wide conference on genealogy, Salt Lake City, Utah, April 26, 2010)
We are now at another exciting time in our family. With the recent creation of online databases and the associated development of other software tools, the leadership of the John and Mary Murray Murdoch Family Organization feel impressed that it is time to tackle a large task. We feel that it is time to put together a complete genealogical record
of all of the descendants of James and Mary Murray Murdoch. Our family will accomplish this by creating an online database that will contain only the genealogies and appropriate source information for each descendent. In our next
newsletter we will review the details as they are finalized in the coming months.
Through the years much work has been done by family members to publish family histories from collected information and to record vital facts about many of their descendants. The online record that will be created will not replace these efforts. The need for published family histories will continue since these histories include personal stories and additional information.
To accomplish the creation of the online record, the family leadership is exploring the options that are available to us. There are a number of ways that the information can be managed, recorded and preserved. We are also
organizing volunteers within the family who will coordinate the collection of information and will make certain that all the details are properly documented and recorded. In the coming months we will determine the methods and
technologies that will assist us in completing this task.
Many of you have already experienced the power that comes from collecting and recording information about family members and the excitement that comes from discovering new information about the family members that were previously unknown to us. Their place in our family and the story of their lives is very important to us and to them. We need to make sure that their place in our family is part of this great record.
I appreciate the work that so many of you do within your own families and within our extended family. It takes all of our continued efforts to maintain the bonds that tie us together in the James and Mary Murdoch family as well the other
families of which we are members. Our families will be a great source of strength and happiness to us.
May 2011 be a bright and happy year for us all.
David Graehl
President, the James and Mary Murray Murdoch Family.