unable to attend to that business at present owing to my sight failing — I depend upon my pension from Government for support!'" The loss of his teaching position may explain Murray's increased painting activity during this period. His impaired vision apparently didn't interfere with his calligraphic skills which show no decrease in quality. There are no known paintings, however, between the record for Frederick Sexton in 1822 and Murray's death on May 19, 1828 William Murray produced a total of eighteen known watercolor and ink paintings. Fourteen of them are signed "Drawn BY/WILLIAM MURRAY" or some variation. Generally the date of execution is inscribed just below or after his name. As distinctive as his signature, however, was William Murray's drawing style. Present in every watercolor is a leafy green vine which, in most instances, creates a border. Generally a red flower with yellow center sprouts from the vine at regular intervals. The parents' names and dates are generally included within a central heart, often with a large flower-like form rising from the top. On either side of this central form — and in some instances above as well — are circles, rectangles, or small hearts inscribed with the names and birthdates of the children. Other symbols present in Murray's work are clover, seal and snowflake forms, black coffins, pineapples (an early symbol of hospitality), Masonic emblems and uniformed military men. Many of these characteristic Murray motifs are found, as well, in three works attributed to the painter Samuel Morton. Morton's 1804 family record for John and Martha Stanton Holmes has the large central heart, circles for the children, and leafy vines that Murray employed in the Suthard, Thompson, Weller and Diffendorf paintings. Morton, however, became more ambitious, adding two handsome spread-winged eagles perched on pedestals on either side of the central heart as well as bust-length portraits of a man and a woman — presumably John and Martha Stanton Holmesi6 The eagle was a popular emblem of the new republic and was seen frequently in the decorative arts. 30
Birth record for Jerusha C. Denison;SamuelMorton;September 20, 1809; Ink and gouache on paper; 93/4 x 7/ 3 4"; Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Schwartz. Denison's family lived in Cherry Plain Hill, near Stephentown, which is thought to be the hometown ofSamuel Morton and ofJeremiah and Roby Salsbury foils, for whom Morton had made afamily record.
Amin)91ccottO ant)Arattur The study of these family records by New York artists suggests interesting parallels to the fraktur of the Pennsylvania and New York Germans. In both cases the product was utilitarian; the fraktur, among other things, served as birth or baptismal certificate, book mark, music book or religious text, while the family register served as a permanent record of the name and relationships of members of a given family. In both instances the addition of various adornments or designs converted an otherwise strictly functional object into one which could properly be called an art form. The creators were usually not trained artists but more frequently were school teachers or clergymen and,in each case the rendering was a watercolor and/or ink on paper. Both were based upon an antecedent, the fraktur on the fraktur-schriften (fraktur writing) which the German immigrants had brought from Europe and the New York family records are probably based upon English and Continental engravinge Similarly, there are parallels in the imagery as well. The circle, within which was inscribed the name and other data concerning the family members, was a device frequently employed by makers of Pennsylvania and New York German fraktur' as well as by painters offamily records in eighteenth and nineteenth century America and Europe. So was the heart, whose historic significance as a symbol goes as far back as the caves of Cro-Magnon man,as has been well reviewed by Schaffner and Klein. They point out,"hearts were a symbolic motif often associated with the folk art surrounding the major events of life: birth, marriage and death'" Little wonder, then, that they should be used so frequently. Other shapes were utilized by both family record and fraktur painters, as well, including flowers, vines and snowflake forms. Since Murray and his group lived in an area heavily populated by New York Germans, it is quite likely that their work was influenced, at least in part, by their neighbors who had brought the art of fraktur-making from Germany. Perhaps in German families, like that of Henry Moyer, there were fraktur painters, as well. The work of these New York record painters may well represent an art form that combines the European tradition for family records with the specifically German fraktur style. A.K. and S.K.