At the end of the 17th
century there lived in Nijeveen, in the province of Drenthe, one
Luichen Roelofs Murris. In 1712 he married Hendrickjen Peters
Johncker. They had three children Willem Luchies (1713-1788),
Trijntien Luchies (1716-1750) and Roelof Luchies (1718-?)
Family names were not in common use before 1811 in the Records of small
towns.
Usually
one was known by the father’s name (a patronym). That is how the Luichen
children were named “Luichies”. We know that Willem Luchies moved to
Amsterdam. He was a kraak skipper.
In large towns family names were more common and Willem conformed, but he
shortened the name Murris to Mur. That is how our family name originated.
But we do not descend from this Willem Luchies Mur. He is the ancestor of
the Amsterdam branch, but this branch has died out in the male line.
We know nothing about the fate of
Trijntien, but Roelof Luchies stayed in Drenthe and
kept Murris as his
family name. In 1749 this Roelof Luchies Murris married Jentien
Hendriksd Prins. They had three children Luchien Roelofs Murris
(1750-1809), Hendrik
Roelofs Murris (1752-1813) and Gerrit Murris
(1761-1840).We know Luchien moved to
Amsterdam and probably joined
his other family, who were Kaag skippers . He changed
his
regional forename (from the province of Drente) to Lucas. We descend
from this Lucas.
The Murris family located in Meppel and
the surrounding area descend from Hendrik and Gerrit, so we are related.
They probably sailed the river Vecht to
Utrecht and so regularly moored in Breukelen. That is where Lucas may well
have met Fijtje Slot. Anyway, they were married in 1782.
The Marriage register, which is located in the National Archive in Utrecht
states that:
“Married Lucas Mur, born in Kolderveen
in the province of Drent and Fijtje Slot, born in Breukelen had their
Banns called three times without objection and were joined in Matrimony by
our esteemed minister N.Schnitzel on 19th May 1782”.
Ancestor
Lucas Mur
was born on 9th August 1750 in Kolderveen. He married Fijtje
Slot (1762-1835)
in Breukelen on 19th May 1782. He became a coachman at
Nijenrode Castle.
The horse-drawn barge as well as the
coach were very popular at that time. It was no fun to travel in a coach
over unpaved roads. By using the horse-drawn
barge “[....]
many
dangers
and discomforts
were avoided by the traveller by water; the journey is
shortened
and (this transport) can be used even in frosty or windy weather” .
So it was stated when the
Decision was taken to construct the
canal and
towpath between Amsterdam and Haarlem.
Lucas borrowed money from his boss
Johan III Ortt, at that time the owner of Nijenrode Castle, he bought a
horse-drawn barge and started a regular service along the river Vecht
between Amsterdam and Utrecht. He thus laid the foundation for the
transport companies which carried the name Mur along the major roads of
Europe.
Lucas and Fijtje had six children, four
sons and two daughters. The first two died when young. Roelof
reached the age of 5 and Antje lived until she was 3 years
old. There was another daughter also named Antje, she lived until
she was 42. Another Roelof was born next; he survived until he was
82, which was considered very old in those days. Jacob the 5th
child, lived until he was 32. We don’t know of any descendants. The last
one was Willem, he reached the age of 83!
Lucas died on 5th October
1808 in Breukelen. The following information was found in the Utrecht
National Archive:
“Lucas Mur was buried in the church, to
tolling of the bell, floor covering, opening of the grave, bier and
partioning f.4-19 (four guilders and 19 stivers. Paid 5th
October 1809”.
Branches of the family tree
Roelof
married three times and had a total of twelve
children. The family branches from Loenen, Maarssen and Breukelen are
descended from him. These branches are dealt with separately because there
are half-brothers involved.
He continued the barge service, which
was started by his father. Mur Transport in Loenen (red Mur) and Trio
Transport in Breukelen (green Mur) sprang out of this enterprise. He was
also active in public life in Breukelen as a Council member and an
Alderman.
Willem
married Lammerte Meijers They had nine children,
the ancestors of the branches from Aalsmeer, Kortenhoef, Utrecht and both
Loosdrecht branches. We record hese
branches separately because they settled in different places and had
varied occupations.
He bought Pieter Loenen’s bakery, which
is located along the canal in Loosdrecht opposite the
hotel-café-restaurant “The New Bridge” (there used to be a drawbridge
once). Willem also established the first post office in Loosdrecht.