A sidebar with James Murray.

Byline: Thomas Franz

Plunkett Cooney attorney James J. Murray's family history on Mackinac Island goes back nearly 200 years.

Murray, the managing partner of Plunkett Cooney's Petoskey office, was recently elected chair of the Mackinac Island Community Foundation Board of Trustees.

He spoke with Michigan Lawyers Weekly about his family history on the island and how he can impact the community with his new position.

Your family history dates back to 1839 on the island, how were you able to trace that and what do you know about those original settlers?

It's actually pretty easy because they're all buried in our family cemetery on the island. I'm the fourth generation. Our generations are spread out a bit because my great-grandfather came from Ireland in 1839 and there are records of that and he's buried there.

Two other families came from the same town in Ireland in the late 1830s and also settled on the island.

Do you have any insight into why they settled there?

Mackinac Island during those years was the hub of the entire Midwest area because of the fur trade. There was a lot of commerce and opportunity up there in that straits area. My great-grandfather came and ultimately was one of the sheriffs in that era and also built the Murray Hotel. Rumor has it that he went to California during the gold rush and came back with his money to build the Murray Hotel.

What about the rest of your family on the island?

My grandfather was a probate judge for Mackinac County for over 40 years in the early 1900s, and he's buried in our cemetery. He was also the mayor in the early 1900s. My father was a lawyer in the Detroit area and he's buried here too. I'm not only the fourth generation to be on the island but also in the law.

With your new position, what duties does being chair of the Community Foundation Board entail?

Like a chairman of any board with a board of trustees, I will run the meetings and work with the executive director. I will sit on multiple committees. The Mackinac Island Foundation has about eight different funds so I'll work with the executive director and different committee members who work on these special funds but I will oversee them all.

With so many family and...