Joseph T. Murray

Joseph Thomas Murray (12 May 1834 in Salem, Massachusetts – 27 January 1907 in Springfield, Massachusetts) was an American abolitionist, manufacturer, and inventor. He was an early business associate of Thomas Edison.

Early life Joseph Thomas Murray was a son of James Murray (1787–1880), an English immigrant who was a mathematician and a reporter for the United States Senate during the War of 1812. His family moved in 1844 to Newark, New Jersey. At age eleven, he wanted to be a sailor and he sailed with his uncle to Africa. Due to the harassment by his uncle, the young Murray jumped ship at the first opportunity and lived for six months among the locals in Benin. There he first witnessed the effects of slavery.

After returning to Massachusetts, Murray began his training at the age of 14 at Everett Mills in Lawrence, Massachusetts, where he learned the mechanics trade and became a machinist. For two years he worked as postmaster in Danvers, Massachusetts. He also had associations with William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips. The US Marshal Charles Devens once arrested Murray as he was smuggling a fugitive slave into Boston. During the American Civil War, Murray served in the 35th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.

Later life and death Murry continued his work as an inventor. At one point, his patents may have been worth $1,500,000 in the currency of the time. However, Murray's finances fluctuated drastically during the rest of his life.

In 1907, Joseph T. Murray died of pneumonia at the home of his daughter, May Murray, in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Patents - Journal Bearing - 1889-10-15 - Lamp Wick - 1894-05-15