William Vans MURRAY, Congress, MD (1760-1803)

MURRAY, William Vans, a Representative from Maryland; born in Cambridge, Dorchester County, Md., February 9, 1760; completed preparatory studies; studied law at the Temple in London, which he entered April 28, 1784, and studied three years; returned to the United States; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Cambridge, Md., in 1791; member of the state house of delegates in 1791; elected as a Pro-Administration candidate to the Second and Third Congresses, and reelected as a Federalist to the Fourth Congress (March 4, 1791-March 3, 1797); Minister Resident to the Netherlands from March 2, 1797, to September 2, 1801; while holding this post was appointed by President Adams in 1799 a member of a diplomatic mission to France; died on his estate in Dorchester County, near Cambridge, Md., December 11, 1803; interment in the Christ Protestant Episcopal Church Cemetery, Cambridge, Md.

Bibliography

DeConde, Alexander. “William Vans Murray and the Diplomacy of Peace, 1797-1800.” Maryland Historical Magazine 48 (March 1953): 1-26; Hill, Peter P. William Vans Murray, Federalist Diplomat; The Shaping of Peace with France, 1797-1801. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1971.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present