Category: Roberts Family

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Edward A. McMurray, Jr. and April 12, 1924-A Very Special Day, Part 1

This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series Edward A. McMurray, Jr. and April 12, 1924-A Very Special Day

Edward A. McMurray, Jr., with his mother, Edith M. Roberts McMurray, possibly about 1930. [Click to enlarge.]
McMURRAY Family (Click for Family Tree)

On this day, April 12th, in the year 1924 (98 years ago!), Edward Arthur McMurray, Jr. arrived in this world at 2am at Skiff Memorial Hospital. Skiff is a small hospital in the small town of Newton, Iowa, the county seat of the very rural Jasper County, just 30 miles east of Des Moines, the state capitol.

Ed’s mother, Edith Mae (Roberts) McMurray (1899-1982) had taken the train back to Newton before her due date, as she wanted to give birth in the town near where she grew up, and where family from both sides were living. Edith had moved to St. Louis, Missouri after she and her husband, Edward A. McMurray, Sr. (1900-1992), graduated from the State University of Iowa and he was accepted to St. Louis University Medical School. The move to St. Louis would have been exciting for an Iowa farm girl, but she surely missed her family greatly, as she was so close to her parents and siblings, and her beloved mother had passed away just two months after they married in 1921, while they were still in college. We don’t know if the new father was able to travel with Edith to Iowa, due to the overwhelming schedule of a medical student, but if not, Edward surely would have hopped on the train as soon as he was able. Edward Jr. may have made the getaway more convenient, since he was born on a Saturday. (Dr. McMurray would graduate the next year, 1925.)

Baby Edward A. McMurray, Jr., 1924. [Click to enlarge.]
Edward A. McMurray, Jr., probably mid-1924. [Click to enlarge.]
Here is the proud papa with his first son:

Edward A. McMurray, Sr., holding his first child, Edward A. McMurray, Jr. in 1924. Image and caption from Ed Jr.’s photo album, put together around 1948, before he got married. [Click to enlarge.]
And the proud mama:

Edith Roberts McMurray with her dear son Edward A. McMurray, Jr., 1924. Image and caption from Ed Jr.’s photo album, put together around 1948 before he got married. [Click to enlarge.]
Edward A. McMurray, Jr., with his mother Edith Roberts McMurray, 1924. Image and caption from Ed Jr.’s photo album, put together around 1948 before he got married. [Click to enlarge.]
Not only were Edith and Edward Sr. excited about the new baby, but so was the rest of the family. The visiting was about to commence.

To be continued…

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. Family treasure chest of photos, letters, ephemera, etc.
  2. Wonderful biographies written by Edith M. Roberts McMurray Luck about the  people she knew and loved.

“The Saga of Ed McMurray, Family and Friends,” a scrapbook put together by Ed around 1948 before he got married. Perhaps it was partially a scorecard for his soon-to-be-wife, Mary T. HELBLING, to learn all his family members? The captions are just adorable, as are the pictures he chose. It is one of those few things that give a little insight into who he was.

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Original content copyright 2013-2022 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. 
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Edith M. Roberts and the Prairie City High School Class of 1918

1918 Prairie City High School Graduating Class, Prairie City, Jasper County, Iowa. Edith M. Roberts is standing 2nd from left. (Click to enlarge.)

Roberts Family (Click for Family Tree)

The year was 1918, and the world was changing rapidly. The students in the photo above were born 1899-1900, the turn of a century that went from candles to gas lights for reading and doing homework, to electricity that eventually would power the lighting in their rural Iowa homes, and later computers. The US Post Office started the world’s first air mail delivery that year, with time zones and daylight savings time becoming official. World War I would finally end that November after four years of global bloodshed, but the first “Spanish flu” case was seen in nearby Kansas- that epidemic would take even more lives, a large number of them young people. Mechanization on the farm was improving although farming was still a hard and time-consuming job- note that there is only one male student in the graduating class. Other young men had likely dropped out of school by the 8th grade or even before, as they were needed on the farm or in the family business, thinking further schooling would not prepare them any better for the career they had ahead of them. Some of the young men might even have been in France or somewhere else in Europe, fighting in World War I.

Edith Roberts (later McMurray, then Luck), cropped from 1918 Prairie City High School Graduating Class, Prairie City, Jasper County, Iowa. (Click to enlarge.)

Edith Roberts (later McMurray, then Luck) is the student standing second from the left. Her parents, George Anthony Roberts, Sr. (1861-1939) and Ella “Ellie” Viola (Daniel) Roberts (1866-1922), and her siblings, George A. Roberts, Jr. (1889-1965) and Ethel Gay Roberts (later Robison) (1891-1969) lived on the family farm in Mound Prairie Township in Jasper County. Edith paternal grandparents were living at 108 N. Sherman in Prairie City while she was in high school. Perhaps she stopped by to see them after her classes some days, or took them some of the fruits and vegetables she, Ethel, and their mother had canned, or the delicious butter that Ellie made and sold in the local stores. Her grandmother, Elizabeth Ann (Murrell) Roberts died in 1917, and her grandfather John Roberts (1832-1922) may have moved in with his son William Edward Roberts who lived with his family on Jefferson Street by the time Edith graduated.

They all would have received one of these beautiful envelopes in May of 1918:

Envelope from graduation announcement, 1918 Prairie City High School Graduating Class, Prairie City, Jasper County, Iowa. (Click to enlarge.)

Within would be the announcement of Edith’s graduation, along with the names of her classmates:

1918 Prairie City High School Graduating Class announcement with list of graduates, Prairie City, Jasper County, Iowa. (Click to enlarge.)

Commencement exercises would take place at the Opera House in Prairie City on Friday, May 24th, 1918, at 8pm. Those who would walk across the stage and receive their hard-earned diploma were:

Ruth V. Schakel Bessie M. Krohn
Edith M. Roberts Blanche A. Peery
Lora L Wooddell Marjorie N. Graham
Beth M. Anderson Berlin P. Ballagh
Lillian C. Pannenbacker

It would be interesting to follow up and learn more about the later lives of Edith’s classmates. As for Edith, she attended the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. She began with interest in a degree in music and teaching, however graduated in June of 1923 with a B. A. in Zoology- very unusual for a woman in those years! She did take courses in the science of education and psychology, so also received a certificate from the School of Education so that she could teach. She valued education her whole life, enjoying any chance to learn and imparting that love to her son and grandchildren.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. Family treasure chest of photos and ephemera.
  2. There are ten persons in the class photo, but only nine are listed as graduating. Perhaps one of the women is the teacher for the class? The reverse of the photo does not list names.

 

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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.

Original content copyright 2013-2021 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

A Young Roberts Family, Jasper County, Iowa

A young Roberts family: Ella Viola (Daniel) Roberts on left, her husband George Anthony Roberts of right, and their young son George “Georgie” Anthony Roberts, Jr., about 1890. (Click to enlarge.)

Roberts Family (Click for Family Tree)

George Anthony Roberts (1861-1939) and Ella Viola Daniel (1866-1922) had known each other as very young children in Warren County, Illinois. Both families migrated across the rich midwest prairie to Jasper County, Iowa in 1868, via covered wagon- what an adventure for young children! George and Ella grew to adulthood in Jasper County and then married on 16 Apr 1885. Ella was just 18 years old, and George 23.

The family must have been full of joy as they prepared for their first child to be born. John Robert Roberts was born on 14 Mar 1888, but sadly he passed away in June. One year later, on 11 Jun 1889, they became the parents of George Anthony Roberts, Jr. They must have been very excited as little Georgie passed the three month mark and beyond. Georgie grew up to be a very hard-working man, growing crops and raising livestock as he got older, and eventually working the farm he inherited from his parents. He also worked the sections of farm his sister, Edith (Roberts) [McMurray] Luck, inherited.

It has been challenging to research the photographer of this portrait for greater accuracy in estimating a date when it was taken. Georgie was always short, so we have to consider that in estimating how old he was in the photo; he and Ella are siting up on a riser, so that alters our perception of height as well. If Georgie was a year and a half, the photo could have been taken in late 1890. Georgie’s sister Ethel Gay Roberts was born on 28 Jan 1891, however, and Ella does not look as if she is at the end of a pregnancy. So possibly the portrait was taken mid-1890, around Georgie’s first birthday.

This picture is a good example of why it is wrong to assume, or use current ways of thinking in analyzing our ancestors, their photos, and artifacts. If one did not know who the people were in this picture, a person today would assume that the child was a girl, because of the dress. However, back in the day, little boys wore dresses during their youngest years. There were numerous reasons:

1) Changing diapers was easier with an outfit that was open at the bottom- and remember, they only had cloth diapers back then, with no plastic pants to put over them to contain moisture;

2) Dresses are easier to get a wiggly or newly walking toddler into, vs. pants;

3) Dresses allowed more growth, whereas pants are outgrown fairly quickly; and

4) In general, our ancestors generally did not have many closets or storage areas, but did not need them as their wardrobes did not include as many outfits as we tend to have today. If boys and girls could wear the same clothes when very young, passing down dresses that had to be handmade, or finally could be store-bought but expensive, would make sense to our frugal and often cash-strapped ancestors.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. Thanks to those who share the wonderful treasures of our family history.
  2. See also “Wedding Wednesday: Ella V. Daniel and George A. Roberts,” http://heritageramblings.net/2014/08/20/wedding-wednesday-ella-v-daniel-and-george-a-roberts/

 

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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.

Original content copyright 2013-2019 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly, i.e, reference this blog.
 Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.

Edith M. (Roberts) [McMurray] Luck

Edith M. Roberts, circa 1920. Iowa City, Iowa.

Roberts Family (Click for Family Tree)

Our last post featured a lovely portrait of Edith Mae Roberts (later [McMurray] Luck), and this image is most likely from the same sitting.

The previously published post image is probably the same as the picture sitting on the family piano with George A. Roberts, Edith’s father, sitting in his rocker in their beautiful home. (See “George Anthony Roberts, Sr. of Jasper County, Iowa“)

Thankfully the folder from this portrait has been preserved:

Folder of pictures of Edith M. Roberts, circa 1920. Iowa City, Iowa.

How lucky to have a folder with embossing telling us the name and place of the photo studio! We know that Newberg Studio was doing business in Iowa City, Iowa, as early as 1916 and as late as 1922, though they probably were in business both before and after these dates. (More research would give more accurate dates.) Edith was part of the class of 1918 at Prairie City High School in Jasper County, Iowa, and probably graduated in May or June. She attended the University of Iowa, likely starting in September of 1918. In these photos, she looks more mature than her high school graduating class picture. (That will be posted soon.) So these photos could have been taken when she was in college, possibly as she was joining a sorority or the literary society.

Alternatively, they could have been photos taken around the time of her wedding to Edward A. McMurray (Sr.), which took place on 25 Nov 1921.

The portraits could instead have been graduation pictures- Edith graduated 5 Jun 1923 with a Bachelor of Arts in Zoology plus a Certificate from the School of Education for her additional coursework in the Science of Education and Psychology. (She would have been able to teach with that combination of classes.) It was very unusual in those days for women to earn a degree in Zoology- women were not even allowed to vote when she started college! Her major had originally been music, but she changed it when she realized the classes in zoology were much more interesting. Edith’s beautiful, soft and feminine look in the portraits is quite a contrast to the tomboy she said she sometimes was, including at the university where students had to catch their own specimens for study.

Edith Mae (Roberts) [McMurray] Luck was quite an interesting woman, especially for her time!

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

    1. Family treasure chest of photos.
    2. “Edith M. (Roberts) [McMurray] Luck, and a Wonderful Start in Family History,” published on Heritage Ramblings on 01 Dec 2019,
       http://heritageramblings.net/2019/12/01/edith-m-roberts-mcmurray-luck-and-a-wonderful-start-in-family-history/
    3. “George Anthony Roberts, Sr. of Jasper County, Iowa” published on Heritage Ramblings on 19 Nov 2019, http://heritageramblings.net/2019/11/19/george-anthony-roberts-sr-of-jasper-county-iowa/
    4. Newberg Studio ad in Abel’s Photographic Weekly, Vol. 30, No. 778, p558, p588, 18 Nov 1922; via GoogleBooks.
    5. Newberg Studio ad in The Transit, the annual published by the College of Applied Science, University of Iowa, 1916, p2 (II), via GoogleBooks.

 

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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.

Original content copyright 2013-2019 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly, i.e, reference this blog.
 Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.

Edith M. (Roberts) [McMurray] Luck, and a Wonderful Start in Family History

Edith M. Roberts, circa 1920. Iowa City, Iowa.

Roberts Family (Click for Family Tree)

It is only fitting to provide a lovely picture of Edith (Roberts) [McMurray] Luck on the blog since this is Thanksgiving weekend. Why, you ask? Have you enjoyed the posts, the stories, the pictures, and the family tree knowledge provided by this blog? If so, Edith deserves a big “THANK YOU” from you, dear reader, as well as from myself- she, along with one other influential person, was the start of my love of family history when I was a child. Edith talked about her family, shared pictures and stories, and made her descendants proud of their ancestors. What a gift! What a legacy!

Edith also preserved so much of our inheritance, even though the bibles, papers, and photos were stored in a hot-in-summer, cold-in-winter attic for decades. She drove family all over the county to visit relatives and hear their stories. She wrote lovely tales of growing up on a farm in Jasper County, Iowa in the early 1900s, and she included details about the personalities of her parents (George A. Roberts, Sr., and Ella Viola (Daniel) Roberts) and grandparents, and the parents of her first husband, Dr. Edward A. McMurray, Sr. That she preserved the legacy is so wonderful- many do not have much information about those who came before. So many do not have the family heirlooms that one can hold in the hand, knowing that others with the same blood held those objects too, so long ago. All of that legacy having such personal aspects is an amazing gift, as well.

“You come from strong pioneer stock- you can do anything you set your mind to.” How her words resonated for her descendants, in times of struggle or challenge, her oral legacy helping to make us realize that if the ancestors could persevere, we could too. Studies have shown that children who know their family history have more resilience, and that makes sense. Understanding that others have had similar- and worse!- obstacles to face in their life helps us realize we are not alone in having roadblocks thrown at us as we navigate life. Knowing how dire the circumstances of our ancestors might have been at times makes one feel ‘wimpy’ in comparison, until one realizes those same genes make us who we are today. The ancestors have given us this gift through our DNA and our stories, down through the ages. That resilience, that fortitude, can be found within ourselves if we but search for it, tap into it, and use it to persevere.

Edith also showed us the joy of family, the happiness that comes from loving deeply, and from giving and supporting each other and the community. These are gifts that help to make us whole, and fulfilled.

Thank you, dear Edith- and all our ancestors.

 

[More to come about this photo!]

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. Family treasure chest of photos, lovingly shared.

 

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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.

Original content copyright 2013-2019 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly, i.e, reference this blog.
 Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.