Notes:Murdoch Street

To do

Ellen Murdoch Watson, daughter of John Murdoch, Jr. See Source:History-pgh-environs-4, pp. 45–47; also mentioned in Source:David-b-murdoch-obit and Source:Murdoch-family.

To do

Shop on Smithfield Street. Was there one or two?

• Source:Gathered-to-rest says: "On the death of the father [John Murdoch, Sr.], two of the sons, William and James, took up the business. They established the well-known store on Smithfield street."
• Source:History-pgh-environs-4, p. 47, says: "He [John R. Murdoch] joined his father [John Murdoch, Jr.] in business upon the completion of his schooling, and when the elder Murdoch retired, formed a partnership with his brothers Alexander, James and David, under the firm name of John R. & A. Murdoch. Their shop was on Smithfield street, and the business was conducted successfully and prosperously until 1895."

Murdoch family tree

1. John Murdoch (1780–1827) = Elizabeth Campbell (1780–1835)
   1. John Murdoch, Jr. (1802–1882) = Jane Robb (1804–1850)
      1. Ellen Murdoch (1831–1913) = William or John Watson
         1. William Watson
         2. Ellen Watson
      2. John R. Murdoch (1833–1917) = Susanna McWilliams
         1. George Alexander Murdoch (died 1905)
         2. John Robb Murdoch (died 1908)
         3. Sallie Winebiddle or Sarah Murdoch
         4. William Howard Murdoch = Katherine Helen Diskin
            1. Helen Winebiddle Murdoch
            2. John Murdoch
            3. William Howard Murdoch, Jr.
            4. Elizabeth Esther Murdoch
            5. Jane Robb Murdoch
      3. Alexander A. Murdoch (1840–1893) = Lydia Keller McMaster(s)
         1. Lydia Keller Murdoch (1872–1955) = Robert Webster Jones
            1. Robert Jameson Jones
            2. Alexander Murdoch Jones
            3. George McMaster Jones
         2. Jane Robb Murdoch (1875–1958) = Alfred C. Dickey
         3. Alexander Murdoch (1877–1951) = Aimee Beringer
      4. David Bryson Murdoch (ca. 1847 – 1899)
      5. James R. Murdoch
   2. Andrew Murdoch (1805–1829)
   3. William Murdoch (1801 or 1807 – 1897)
   4. James Murdoch (1815 – ca. 1893)
      1. A. M.
      2. J. B.
   5. Eliza Murdoch (born 1812)
   6. Isabella Murdoch (born 1818)
   7. Margaret Murdoch (born 1827)

Murdoch Street and Road

Source:Sidney-neff (1851) shows "W. & J. Murdoch's P. H. F. Nursery"; J. Murdock to the north, on the north side of the 4th Street Road; J. Murdock to the south, on a road approximately corresponding to Forbes Avenue.

Source:Beers (1862) shows "Wm. & Jas. Murdock (Pittsburg Hedge Farm & Nursery)"; J. Murdock to the north; J. Murdock Jr. to the south; also to the south, "J. Murdock Jr. (Pittsburg Nursery)".

Source:Hopkins-1872, p. 67: Road separating properties of Jas. Murdoch to the west, Wm. Murdoch to the east and south (modern Murdoch Road and westernmost part of Northumberland Street). Properties to the south are owned by Jno. Murdoch, Jr.; Jno. R. & A. Murdock ("NURCERIES"); Jno. R. & A. Murdoch. Modern Murdoch Street passes through this land.

Source:Hopkins-1890-vol-4, plates 15, 16: Murdoch Street (with dashed lines) from Wilkins Avenue to Bryson Street (modern Covode Street). Most of the property on both sides of the street was owned by members of the Murdoch family.

Source:Hopkins-1910: Murdoch Street is drawn with solid lines south of Northumberland (plate 22), but dashed lines to the north (plate 16).

Source:Hopkins-1911-vol-4: Murdoch Street is drawn with dashed lines between Wilkins and Northumberland (plate 14), solid lines from Northumberland to Beacon (plates 17, 19), dashed lines to Covode (plate 19).

Source:Murdoch-farms-plan: Laid out July 1915, recorded February 21, 1916. Development between Northumberland and Plainfield Street/Woodmont Street separated Murdoch Street into two disconnected pieces.

Source:Hopkins-1923-vol-2, plate 14, shows Murdoch Farms Plan.

Source:Ordinance-1933-121: Murdoch Street, from Plainfield Street to Wilkins Avenue, changed to Murdoch Road.

Miscellaneous notes

Source:Fleming-halket (1915-08-01): "In 1872 Mr. [Josiah] King procured from the Murdochs, nurserymen of Pittsburgh, a willow whose parents' stem had draped over the grave of Napoleon at St. Helena. He planted this over the remains of Braddock; but the tree soon withered and died. He then planted the trees shown in the picture which are pines. This was in 1872."

Source:Fleming-war-gardens (1917-07-29) mentions the Murdoch tract and its transformation into a residential area.

Source:Murdoch-family (1965-01): "Murdoch Miscellany—The impressive stand of trees surrounding General Braddock's grave near Uniontown was donated and planted by John Murdoch, Jr. . . . the last Murdoch descendant to live on the original tract was Miss Ellen Watson who died in the early 1960's . . . whether any specimens of the once-famed Murdoch Peony survived is doubtful, but the attractive pink variety was developed by John R. and A. Murdoch, florists, about one hundred years ago . . . for years coal deposits on Hobart and Pocusset streets burned underground, necessitating frequent trips by the horse-drawn fire engines of the day . . . Alexander Murdoch (1840–1893) was one of the founders of Homewood Cemetery where so many of the clan lie buried."

Source:Toker (1986), p. 258: "Fair Oaks, at right angles to Murray Hill Avenue, is a good representative of the prosperous interwar period in house building in Squirrel Hill. West of its intersection with Wilkins Avenue, the street enters the Murdoch Farms district, which was dairy land until the early twentieth century."

Source:Squirrel-hill (2005):

• pp. 18–19, in a discussion of Source:Hopkins-1872: "Thomas Wightman's 10-acre estate and the holdings of the various Murdoch family members are in place."
• p. 21: "The Murdoch family, who owned floral shops downtown and grew flowers in their Squirrel Hill and Oakland greenhouses, owned large tracts of land now known as Murdoch Farms, between Wightman Street and Schenley Park."