“Gen. John Sullivan and the Battle of Rhode Island. (Providence, 1902.)
“The American Not an ‘Anglo-Saxon’ People. (Boston, 1902.)
“To the American Irish Historical Society he was ever loyal and faithful. No call for service came to him in its behalf to which he did not respond. The highest office in the Society he might have had and political preferment could have been his from the appreciative citizens of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, but he turned from them lest his time and efforts might be diverted from that branch of history he loved so well. As long as his strength held out, he was in the harness serving the Society and, at our last annual meeting in New York, unable to walk, he was carried from the Grand Central Depot to the Manhattan Hotel, and there he conducted to the end the magnificent dinner and entertainment that followed the meeting. The effort was almost fatal, and during the night loving and tender friends watched over him but, by determined will, he rallied and reached his pretty villa at Sea View from which he never departed again in life. In all his work for the Society, he was ably assisted by his noble wife, Mary H. Sullivan Murray, a lady of great intelligence and refinement, who took up the work of the Secretary-General and faithfully maintained it until a member could be selected to relieve her. In paying our deep tribute to her husband, it would be amiss not to mention the faithful wife and assistant who now mourns with us his loss.
“We wish to record here the great benefits which we have received from the work and services of our first Secretary-General and pay tribute to his learning and ability; we further record the deep sorrow with which we look upon his vacant place, and, lastly, we record our loving tribute of affection for Thomas Hamilton Murray as a man, fearless, honest and faithful, an upright citizen and an earnest member of the Society.
“‘The soil out of which such men as he are made is good to be born on, good to live on, good to die for and be buried in.’”
Resolved, That the American Irish Historical Society, in appreciation of the services and efforts in its behalf by Thomas Hamilton Murray, late Secretary-General, unanimously adopts the minute prepared by Mr. Lee, orders that it be spread in full upon the records of the Society, and that a copy of the same under the seal of the Society be presented to the widow, Mrs. Mary H. Sullivan Murray.
The following are a few of the many letters received by Mrs. Murray immediately before and after the death of our late Secretary-General:
New York, May 9, 1908.
Dear Mrs. Murray: I am pained to learn of Mr. Murray’s low condition. You have my heartfelt sympathy. Mr. Magrath has just called, and spoke of his visit. I am still hoping that Mr. Murray will rally.
I am writing Mr. Lee of Providence to call, as I understand Mr. Murray wishes to see some member of the Society.