In Volume One, we learned how frequently family connections existed between the various homesteading families that settled here.  Apparently, in Volume Two, that trend may continue.  One of the earlier landowners in Meridian Heights (top of Coast Meridian area) (c.1930s – 1940s) was a father and son team, James de Pas Murray (father) and James Ivan Murray (son).  Their family history can be traced back to the early years of the grandfather, James Irving Murray, who was living in Alameda County, California.  Curiously, this was the same community from whence the Millard family had originated, prompting a closer look for any other overlaps between the stories of James de Pas Murray and Augustus Millard.  Although Augustus was roughly a half-generation older than James de Pas, the similarities in their individual stories were striking.  Both were born in Warm Springs, Alameda County, California: Augustus in 1869 and James De Pas in 1888.  Both appear to have immigrated to Canada in about 1890: Augustus in 1890 and James De Pas in either 1890 or 1892.  Both appear to have had an initial presence in the Mission-Matsqui areas of BC during the 1890s: Albert Stallard (Augustus’ son) had been born there in 1892 and James De Pas married there in 1909.  In fact, the 1891 Canada Census lists both families as living in Sub-Dist. 14, New Westminster Dist., BC: Millards as Family #43 and the Murrays as Family #84.   And, both later acquired land within relatively close proximity of the other on Burke Mountain: Augustus arriving in 1923 and James De Pas following in 1931.
Coincidence? Or, did the two families know one another?