Walkabout: Thomas E. Murray, Brooklyn’s Most Important Forgotten Inventor, Part 3

Inventor and business giant Thomas E. Murray died in 1929, just as the world was about to suffer through the Great Depression. He left his large family over $11 million, and a personal and company portfolio of over 1,100 patents. The story of his life, his family and his businesses can be found in Part 1 and Part 2 of this story.

Following Murray’s death, his eldest son, Thomas Jr., became company president, and the work at the factory at 1250 Atlantic Avenue in Crown Heights went on.

Thomas Jr. was a chip off the old block. He had inherited his father’s generosity and love of invention, and was a skilled inventor himself. He was an excellent businessman as well, even better than his father. In 1928, he was made a trustee of the Brevoort Savings Bank.

He was also a devout son of the Church, who like his father was sworn in as a Knight of St. Gregory, a singular honor bestowed on men of great faith. His home was down the street from Papa Murray’s house, at 800 St. Marks Avenue. For both Murrays, it was only a short walk up the street to get to work.

The factory buildings at the corner of Atlantic and Nostrand Avenues were growing, taking up more than half the block between Nostrand and Bedford Avenues. If the back of St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church weren’t there, they probably would have expanded all the way to Bedford.

There were three different Murray factories here. They also had plants and offices elsewhere, including in Manhattan. Pictured above was the manufacturing plant for electric signage, electric and plumbing parts, and Murray radiators.

During World War I, mortar shells were made here. It was also the company think tank, where ideas could be worked on and perfected. The patents that made the Murray fortune came out of these buildings.

Thomas wasn’t the only smart Murray son. His younger brother John was also an engineer. He lived at 169 Rugby Road in Flatbush with his family. In January of 1929, he was appointed by Governor Theodore Roosevelt to a position on the board of the powerful Port Authority of New York, due to his engineering expertise.

In announcing the appointment, the Daily News noted that he was vice president and general manager of the Metropolitan Device Company, a Murray company, as well as the executive V.P. of Thomas E. Murray Consulting Engineers. He was also the V.P. of the Metropolitan Engineering Company of Brooklyn, the Murray Radiator Company, and the Murray Conduit Systems.

After his father’s death, Thomas Jr. was able to make his mark on his own. He had to cope with some labor problems, including a series of strikes at his factories. But negotiations got everyone working again, and in spite of the economic downturn the plant grew.

In fact, for the neighbors behind the plant on Pacific Street, you could say they were too successful. By 1936, the plant on Atlantic Avenue was going 24 hours a day. Behind the plant on Pacific Street stood an apartment building and a row of townhouses dating back to the late 1880s.

The owner of 1251 Pacific, Dr. William Steers, and John Morris, the owner of 1253 and 1255, filed an injunction to have the factory close at night. The residents of the block were unable to sleep, they complained, and the vibrations, noise and smoke 24 hours a day was intolerable.

The judge noted that although Pacific was zoned as residential, Atlantic Avenue was not, and the factory was legal. He did order them to close on weekdays between 10pm and 7 am, so the block could sleep.

They did so, but hard on the heels of this ruling would come World War II, which changed everything.

When World War II broke out, the War Department came to Brooklyn to talk to Thomas and his brother Joseph. The two men had been in charge of operations during the first war, when the company was the country’s only manufacturer of 240mm trench mortar shells. Now their country needed them again.

Those shells were needed again, as were three-inch Stokes mortar shells and other ordinance. The Murrays, through patented welding technology, were the fastest and most expedient shell manufacturers in the country at that time. In order to handle to massive production, the company opened two new factories, in East New York.

In 1941, the company and its workers were awarded a special “E” for excellence banner by the Army and Navy, as well as the thanks of a grateful nation. The plant received a large banner to hang inside, and each employee was given a small personal banner as well.

Meanwhile, as success followed the Murray family in business, their social standing and success was matched by very few in the country at the time.

The Murrays became Irish Catholic aristocracy. They were lauded and written about in the society and gossip columns of New York City and Southampton, Long Island. The family became part of what was called the “Golden Clan,” a group of extremely wealthy Irish Catholics who summered in Southampton and made news on Wall Street and in the halls of power.

The Murrays and another family, the McDonnells were at the top. The McDonnells’ fortune was derived from stocks and banking, among other interests. Thomas Jr.’s daughter Anna married James McDonnell, joining these two clans into a huge blended family. Given that the McDonnell scion had 14 children and Thomas had 11 — and many of his brothers and sisters also had large familys — this was going to be an enormous family.

Thomas Jr. built his own large house in Southampton, near where his father had built a huge shingled house on the shore decades earlier. Joseph built his own castle in nearby Water Mill; others, including his brother John, followed suit. The papers ate this up, and the gossip flowed as to what these rich, good looking people were doing out in Southampton.

Like the Boston Kennedy clan — whom the Murrays all knew,  of course — the Murray-McDonnells were the talk of society and those who cared what rich people were doing. And what they did was build big, have more children, and build even bigger. They summered a lot, invited prominent clergy to hang out with them, rode polo ponies and show horses, and looked good.

Basically, they looked and acted like a Ralph Lauren commercial on steroids.

Over the next 30 or so years, the papers were full of Murray-McDonnells and their spreading families. One of the McDonnells married Henry Ford II. One of the John Murray’s daughters married Alfred G. Vanderbilt II.

After World War II, Thomas was appointed by President Truman to the new Atomic Energy Commission.

The family had long ago left Brooklyn for the towers of upper Park Avenue, near their favorite churches, St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Thomas More.

Slowly, as the second half of the 20th century progressed, the Murray children passed on, and the subsequent generations either lost the family money or just got very quiet about it. I’m sure there’s many a tale to be told there, including what happened to the Brooklyn factories.

The Murray family today is still huge. But the legacy of great-grandfather Murray was lost to many. In 2008, his great-grandson Sean Murray McGuire and some of his cousins pooled together long lost information and made an effort to bring Thomas Murray back into the spotlight. Through their efforts, Murray was finally inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Last year I met one of the family members, Lucy, who attended one of my walking tours of Crown Heights North, looking for her great-grandfather’s house. It’s long gone, replaced by an apartment building. She told me a bit about him, but I didn’t realize that he was THAT Thomas E. Murray until the first part of this story ran.

Since beginning this series, I’ve received emails and comments from several other Murray descendants, including Sean McGuire. I’d like to thank them for the kind remarks. It has been my pleasure to bring Thomas E. Murray back into the Brooklyn spotlight. I’m sure there is much more to this family tale. The Murray’s were a vital part of Crown Heights North and American history.

Above, an early 20th century postcard of St. Marks Avenue. The Murray mansion is to the left, obscured by foliage.