Roberts Family (Click for Family Trees)

Since it is still the birthday week of Edward A. McMurray, Jr., let’s continue celebrating with some of the treasures we still have, in addition to all the wonderful memories.

Edward A. McMurray, Sr. (1900-1992) was still in medical school in St. Louis, Missouri, when his first son was born. Here he is with Edward A. McMurray, Jr., who was 11 months old at the time. “Dr.” McMurray would graduate from St. Louis University Medical School just a few months after this picture was taken:

And here is the proud mama again, Edith M. Roberts McMurray, when Edward Jr. was a bit older, perhaps around his first birthday:

On the Roberts side, Edith’s sister, Ethel G. Roberts Robison (1891-1969), had a son and two daughters, so Edward was not the first grandchild on that branch of the family tree. Sadly however, George Anthony Roberts (1861-1931), Edith’s father, had not wanted Ethel to marry the man she did (though in the long run Ethel made the better choice), and George would not even acknowledge his first three grandchildren. So to “Daddy George,” Edward’s nickname for him, Edward was essentially his first, and only, grandchild.

Edith’s mother, Ella V. Daniel Roberts (1866-1922), had passed away two years before Edward was born. It must have been very hard for Edith to not have her beloved momma with her to rejoice in the birth of a dear son!

On the McMurray side, Edward Jr. was the cherished very first grandchild. His paternal grandparents, Lynette Payne McMurray, and William Elmer McMurray, were doting grandparents:

Edith, in the stories she wrote about her life, spoke about Will McMurray and what a “jovial and friendly” man he was, with “a most hearty laugh.” She called Will, “Dad” and Lynette, “Mother” and was very close to them throughout their lives. Edith wrote about how Will was known to all as “Bill.”

“He would be hailed from every street corner.  “Hey Bill, how goes it this morning?” Dad would have a ready answer.

He loved the circus.  When Edward Jr. was just six weeks old, we went to one out north of town.  Proudly Dad carried his first Grandchild on his fat tummy and you can imagine the attention he got.  “How about having a look at the boy Bill?”  Dad just beamed and the rest of us acted stupid, grinning from ear to ear.”

The family nickname for Ed’s paternal great-grandmother was “Amino” which was pronounced “AM-in-o.” The caption was written by Ed, Jr. in his family scrapbook he created around 1948, just before he got married. Since he was the oldest grandchild, perhaps he came up with her nickname as he was learning to talk!

William and Lynette’s other son, Herbert C. McMurray (1911-1989), Edward’s paternal uncle, was just 13 years old when Ed Jr. was born.

A bit older, Edward looks like he is not so sure about this ride Uncle Herbert was providing:

Edward, Jr. was lucky enough to have two great-grandparents still living when he was born.  We do not have any pictures of him with his great-grandfather Frederick Asbury “F.A.” McMurray (1859-1929), but here Ed is with Hannah Malissa Benjamin McMurray (1854-1932), F.A.’s wife. In his later years, Ed was able to recognize her in this picture, but all he could remember was, “She was very stern.”

When he was a bit older, about 3 or 4, Ed hung out with his buddy Uncle Herbert:

Herbert was such a favorite with Edward Jr.- in fact, Ed asked Herbert to be his best man when he married in 1948!

Edith adored her in-laws. She traveled back and forth between Newton and St. Louis to be with Ed Sr. who was still in medical school and then likely completing his residency there. Edith wrote:

“They were so good to me.  I stayed with them a lot, in the summer when it was too hot for us to be in St. Louis and later in an apartment on the north side of 322 E 4th St. W.  I can see where we were no doubt a nuisance as [Edward] had colic and one night we had a cyclone and both of us were so exhausted that is Edward and I, we slept thru it and his baby carriage was blown off the porch and Fourth street was blocked with trees blown down.

Dad sold my cakes I made so that I could make enuf money to go to St. Louis in the fall and I was always taken with them on Sundays to Des Moines and to Hudson where we went to visit the McMillans.  I believe they were cousins of Mothers.  It would have been so nice if Mother and Dad had gone by themselves.  On the way home nine times out of ten we had a flat tire.  It would be late at night and every one tired.  Dad and I would get out and Mother would hold the sleeping grandson… [while he was] getting it fixed…”

All that family love in the early years helped Edward Arthur McMurray, Jr. grow into the fine man he would later become.

 

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. Provided above as she wrote them, with her spelling abbreviations and lack of punctuation- she was always too busy to pause for a comma or stop for a period!
3. “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 gives a little insight into who he was.

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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 2013-2022 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. 

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 the copyright or use of “Heritage Ramblings” blog material.

 

McMURRAY Family (Click for Family Tree)
[Are you related? Yes if you descend from Dr. Edward A. McMurray, Dr. Herbert McMurray, or Maude L. “Midge” McMurray Cook, who are the children of William Elmer “W.E.” McMurray. and Lynette Payne.]

It seems sort of crazy to think of auction websites and antique stores as a good source for family history. These days though, with so many kids and grandkids having little interest in the family furniture, pictures, papers, what-sits that sit on a shelf and need dusting, etc. that have been lovingly passed down for generations, such impersonal temporary repositories can be a good resource. The internet now helps us to gather these treasures after they have been spread far and wide from the original homeplace when people migrated around the country (or countries!).

One can set up alerts on sites like eBay or even on Google so that a family historian can be researching while sleeping instead of crawling the internet at 3am. (OK, I will admit that many of us will just be crawling other websites at that time…)

A person in Lake Sherman, Nebraska, posted the above treasure on eBay back in 2012, and the eBay alert system was a great research partner. I got an alert that a McMurray item was just listed! How amazing- what were the chances a McMurray or Killduff descendant would be in Lake Sherman, Nebraska at the one antique shop that had this little ‘coin’ maybe stashed somewhere mostly out of sight? Or the chance that a descendant would somehow run into this person from Nebraska who may have found this in a shoebox in their, or someone’s, old family home?? Would it have even come up in a quick conversation? Likely none of these scenarios would have helped return this token to family after about 112 years, except for eBay. It also opened a new avenue of research, as this early time of Will’s life and his business partnership with Mr. Killduff was previously unknown.

To recap a number of previous posts, William Elmer McMurray (1874-1957) was the oldest of the five children born to Hannah Melissa Benjamin (1854-1932) and Frederick A. “F.A.” McMurray (1850-1929). He was also the first McMurray ancestor born in Jasper County, Iowa. Will, known as “Bill” around Newton, Iowa, may have gotten his talents as a businessman and salesman from his father. F.A. McMurray was an auctioneer, ‘crying’ sales of farms and businesses in many counties for decades. He was one of the most successful auctioneers in the area, and in great demand. One can imagine a young Will and his brothers helping out with the travel to the sales, making an inventory of farm and household objects and livestock to be sold, tagging auction items with numbers for bidding, moving equipment or animals to the front for all to see, and receiving the money from auction-goers who had found a new/old treasure of their own. As he got older Will worked as an auctioneer with his father frequently- there were newspaper ads for “McMurray & Sons, Auctioneers,” so his brothers must have helped out too. Will eventually carried what he learned in the auction business about people, the psychology of selling and of the buyers, plus the logistics of buying and selling various goods into a business of his own.

Will worked for Willis McCollum beginning around 1892, when Will was 18 years old. The McCollom Grocery Store was located on the square in Newton, Iowa, on the northeast corner. Will worked there for a number of years, as did William Charles Killduff (1871-1959). It may have been confusing when someone in the store called out, “Will!” since there were three who may have been called by that shortened name!

On what was likely a bitterly cold Iowa winter day, the Newton Record of January 26, 1899 posted an article with the headline of “Unexpected Change of Business.” It explained that the previous morning, Willis McCollom had sold his store to his two clerks, Will McMurray and Will Killduff. It was a complete surprise to the locals:

“Willis had been so long and successfully in the grocery business in Newton that he had came [sic] to be considered a permanent fixture here in that line.”

The paper went on to applaud the work of the two young men, stating:

“The two Wills are enterprising young men, full of business push and energy, and during their service in the store have made themselves popular with its patrons. There is no question of their success.”

On March 1st the two Wills took possession of the store, in the same spot on the square. They had already placed an ad in the Newton Record stating:

“We will keep up the reputation of the old firm, which was to keep the best goods, sell them at a small profit and treat everybody nicely.”

Since the McColloms had been in the grocery business for quite some time, it was really important for the two new owners to reassure established customers that the grocery would continue being a great place to shop.  The ad went on:

“We are young in years but not young in the grocery business… [We] thoroughly understand the business, and will guarantee the same satisfaction in the future that you have had in the past.”

Just three months later, on June 6th, 1899, Will married Lynette Payne (1879-1968) so it became even more important to keep their customer’s loyalty. Also, William Charles or “W.C.” Killduff was more than a co-worker and then partner- in October of that same year he became family when he married Mae Benjamin, Will McMurray’s cousin. To build the business, these two savvy merchandisers placed ads throughout the copy in many issues of the Newton newspaper. In 1900, they offered trading stamps to every customer who visited the store on Saturday, July 7th, and the McMurray-Killduff trade token may have followed soon after. Both the stamps and the tokens were an enticement to return to the store to spend them, just like department store cash is today.

Known as a ‘trade token’, this 10mm (just over 3/8 of an inch) round is made of aluminum. Aluminum became cheap in the 1890s, which fits with the time that Will and William Killduff purchased the store. The coin, worth 5 cents in trade (probably, rather than $5) may have been given out like the stamps were, only on a certain day, or could have been offered when a specific purchase was made. While 5 cents does not seem like very much, in 1901 McMurray-Killduff Grocery sold a “1 gallon can of good peaches for 39 cents” and “2 1-pound cans of Flat Salmon for 30 cents.” So the 5 cent token would have had more buying power than it seems.

Some of the Benjamin family did move west, and we have not traced the Killduffs other than W.C., but the coin could have been owned by anyone in Jasper County, Iowa. Some people never cash in such rewards, and the object ends up in a box or drawer that then gets moved on with a migration or a yard sale. Additionally, modern day “pickers” who travel the country searching for antiques may have purchased it in Iowa and taken it to a shop in Nebraska- we will likely never know.

In September of 1901, Will McMurray paid for an ad in the paper for a carload of peaches and mason jars, and it was signed with just his name, not paired with W.C. Killduff’s. Will’s store was still on the Northeast Corner of the Newton Square, so the partnership between cousins had likely been dissolved. Will had the grocery and/or a meat market for many more years. In fact, in the 1916 Newton City Directory, W.C. Killduff is listed as a clerk at the McMurray Grocery. Will McMurray’s brother Roy McMurray also clerked at the store for a time, and of course, Will’s wife Lynette also spent more time than she liked working in the store as well as raising three children. In 1925, Will began building a new store for his grocery business because there was a problem with the buildings being over their property lines, and F.L. Maytag (yes, that Maytag), bought the property on that corner, razed the buildings, and built his Maytag Hotel . We have not found other news stories to learn more about the planned building by Will nor how long he had a grocery store, but city directories would help in that research. Will did sell insurance in his later years, and his jovial demeanor and friendly service continued to serve him well in business.

 

An Afterthought:

As this was being written, the realization of karma or serendipity washed over me- Will and F. A. McMurray sold other people’s possessions at auction, and a token from Will’s store made it back to family via a high tech auction in 2012. Wherever they are today, they may have marveled at the new technology, were happy as auctioneers that the purchase price was more than twice the opening bid, and may have had a hand in making the family’s offer the winning bid. Cool.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. See previous blog posts about Will McMurray and his grocery store, including:

   “Shopping Saturday: William Elmer McMurray and Marketing a Small Town Grocery Store.” https://heritageramblings.net/2018/12/15/shopping-saturday-william-elmer-mcmurray-and-marketing-a-small-town-grocery-store/

   “Amanuensis Monday: Will McMurray’s Grocery in Newton, Iowa.” https://heritageramblings.net/2019/02/18/amanuensis-monday-will-mcmurrays-grocery-in-newton-iowa/

   “Shopping Saturday: William Elmer McMurray as a Newton, Iowa Merchant.” https://heritageramblings.net/2018/10/20/shopping-saturday-william-elmer-mcmurray-as-a-newton-iowa-merchant/

2. “McMurray & Killduff, Cash Grocers” advertisement in the Newton Record, Feb 23, 1899, page 8.
3. A special thanks, as always, to our wonderful Iowa cousins who have shared their family treasures.
4. “Token coin” on Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Token_coin
5. “Unexpected Change of Business,” Newton Record, Jan. 26, 1899, page 1.
6. Apologies for the poor quality images, but sometimes, that’s just genealogy!

 

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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 2013-2022 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. 

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 the copyright or use of “Heritage Ramblings” blog material.

McMurray Family, Benjamin Family (Click for Family Tree)

[Are you related? Yes, if you are a descendant of the Jasper County Iowa McMurray,  Benjamin, or Lambert families. This would include having Dr. Edward A. McMurray, Dr. Herbert McMurray, or Maude “Midge” McMurray Cook as ancestors, and there are many other branches from this family.]

“SAD GOODBYES OF LOVED ONES” was one of the headlines in the 16 May 1898 issue of The Newton Daily Record. The day before, a Sunday, an extra train was arranged to take Newton, Iowa families to Camp McKinley in Des Moines, Iowa to spend a last day with their sons, brothers, fathers, cousins, and neighbors before they went off to fight in the Spanish-American War. “The parting scenes in the evening made a sad picture indeed,” the paper stated. “The boys are anxious to be off, but of course all are thinking more seriously of the uncertainty of what the future may have in store for them.” The plan was that the unit would leave for New Orleans soon.

Our ancestors were not a part of this parting scene, however. Medical examinations had taken place by the 10th of May, and sadly, William Elmer McMurray was rejected, although we do not know the reason. His brother Harry James McMurray was elected as 2nd Lieutenant of the company on the 10th, but then he too, along with three other men from Co. L,  failed the medical exam. “The boys were deeply disappointed but there was no use of kicking,” per The Record. Even with those losses for medical reasons, the company had 11 members more than what was needed, so additional men also made the sad trip home. We can imagine the hurt, the disappointment, and the range of emotions those young men felt, especially with their cousins still in a unit that was going off to a foreign war. Imagining the reactions of the parents too is not hard- how do you reconcile your son’s disappointment (times two for Hannah Melissa Benjamin McMurray and Fred McMurray, the parents of Will and Harry) with your patriotism but also your relief to not have your baby going off to war?

Knowing what happened to the unit after they left Camp McKinley gives us an interesting perspective, however.

Iowa had four infantry regiments mustered for the Spanish-American War.

The 49th Iowa, made up of men from Tipton, Marshalltown, etc., was sent to Savannah Georgia for training, and was part of the occupying force in Cuba after the war in 1898-1899.

Iowa’s 51st Infantry mustered men from Des Moines, Oskaloosa, etc., and were transported to San Francisco, CA for training. They then saw active duty in the Philippines, helping to put down the Philippine Insurrection that happened after the war..

The 52nd Iowa trained at Chickamauga Park, Georgia. The men in this unit and their families back home must have felt another connection to the Civil War as they were in the same area that Iowa troops had fought, and won, at Missionary Ridge on 25 Nov 1863. The 52nd then returned to Camp McKinley in October, 1898, and were quartered in barns that had been overhauled to prepare for the cold winter. They expected to be shipped out on 30 Oct., however with Spain surrendering on 16 July 1898 and a treaty in progress, they were mustered out on 30 Oct 1898, never seeing foreign service since the war was only ten weeks long.

And then there was the 50th Iowa Infantry, from Newton and thereabouts. Lieut. Col. Elliott Ellsworth Lambert was made full Colonel, and was in command of the entire Brigade at one point; Roland E. Benjamin may have still been in the unit, but we will leave that for other researchers to determine. The 50th shipped south from Des Moines to Jacksonville, Florida, arriving 24 May 1898. Their camp was a flat section of sandy land outside the city called “Camp Cuba Libre” since one of the reasons for the war was independence for Cuba from Spain. The men drilled and completed target practice day after day, training for their planned liberation of Havana, Cuba.

Camp Cuba Libre had up to 30,000 men living there, with supplies very scarce at the beginning. Eating utensils had not arrived so the men ate off of shingles with their fingers. Uniforms were only available in small numbers, and by the time some of the men got theirs, the uniforms of others had already worn out. Some supplies were purposefully withheld by the administration to help ‘toughen’ the men, such as tent floorboards, and medical supplies were so short that the camp had to ask the Red Cross for assistance.

Once the rainy season began in Florida, things got even worse. Flooding began in the camp. Without wooden floorboards in their tents there was no hope of staying out of the watery muck. The soldiers built new barracks that were elevated, however they still had to move around through the flooded portions of camp. (Please see a picture here that should be public domain due to its age and that it was probably taken by a federal employee, but it is apparently copyrighted by number of organizations so cannot be posted.)

Soldiers started getting sick, many with typhoid fever, which is a bacterial infection from contaminated water or food; it can also be transmitted between people due to poor sanitation. (It would have been challenging to build latrines in sandy soil with a water table close to the surface, and then the rains came…) The number of men visiting sick call increased as the rains continued, and some died, especially since antibiotics were not yet available. Female nurses, not yet common in the military, had to brave social ostracizing- they were considered loose women, especially by the camp surgeon. Catholic Lakota nuns and then Red Cross nurses from the North cared for the ailing men despite the constant suspicion and monitoring of their behavior.

Both officers and soldiers protested up the chain of command about the camp conditions and increasing sickness, and finally on 1 August they were given permission to move the camp to higher ground. This helped, but because of the long period of infection and bacterial shedding of typhoid, in just over three weeks from 10 Aug-5 Sep, 100-300 men were either relieved of duty due to illness or were in the hospital. Inspections were conducted and eventually improvements to sanitary conditions were made.

A cease-fire with Spain was signed on 12 August 1898.

The War Department ordered the 50th to return to Iowa on 12 Sep 1898. Sick men were carefully loaded into Pullman cars and the train transported the Regiment back to Des Moines, where they arrived on 17 Sep. Most men were given a 40 day furlough, and then they returned to Camp McKinley. They were mustered out there on 30 Nov 1898, never having left the continental United States.

Many of the sick went home and died soon after at their Iowa home, their illness acquired during their term of service. At least they were with their family at the end.

Of the 1,369 men of the 50th Iowa Infantry Regiment, none were killed or wounded in battle, however 32 died of disease, 30 were discharged for disease, wounds, or other causes, and 38 were transferred. Col. Lambert wrote many reports that detailed the events of the unit during its time in service.

One estimate is that 90% of the men who died during the Spanish-American War were lost to disease.

This information begs the question- would we be here if Will McMurray and Harry McMurray had been accepted into service during the Spanish-American War?

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. “Co. L Will be First to Go,” The Newton Daily Record, 11 May 1898, page 4.
2. “Among Camp McKinley Boys,” The Newton Daily Record, 16 May 1898, page 4.
3. Iowa Civil War Monuments– http://www.iowacivilwarmonuments.com/cgi-bin/gaarddetails.pl?1222301210
4. 52nd Iowa– http://www.spanamwar.com/52ndiowa.htm
5. Warren Co Iowa Soldiers some war statistics– http://iagenweb.org/warren/military/spanishamericanwar.html
6. Historical Sketch of the 50th Iowa Volunteer Infantry– http://genealogytrails.com/iowa/50th_regiment1.html
7. “Iowa Spanish-American War Soldiers Who Died Due to Illness or Wounds”– http://iagenweb.org/history/military/SPW/SPAW_deaths.htm
8. The Iowa National Guard has images along with a history at https://www.iowanationalguard.com/History/History/Pages/Spanish-American-War.aspx
   The picture that is to the left  of the descriptions of the 49th and 51st Iowa has a file name suggesting they are officers of the 50th in Jacksonville, FL.
9. An illustrated cover- envelope and stamp- from a soldier in Co. F, 50th Iowa may be seen at https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1898-cover-co-50th-iowa-camp-cuba-97337567
10. Camp Cuba Libre- one may question the accuracy of some of this after seeing pictures of the camp. — http://www.spanamwar.com/campcubalibre.htm

 

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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 2013-2020 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.

McMurray Family, Benjamin Family (Click for Family Tree)

[Are you related? Yes, if you are a descendant of the Jasper County Iowa McMurray,  Benjamin, or Lambert families. This would include having Dr. Edward A. McMurray, Dr. Herbert McMurray, or Maude “Midge” McMurray Cook as ancestors.]

As was said in previous posts in this series, the memory of the Civil War was still a part of the American psyche in 1898. Newton, Iowa’s Company L, Second Regiment, National Guard, became the 50th Iowa once they were at Camp McKinley in Des Moines- a continuation of the regimental numbers from the War Between the States.

The Newton newspaper was full of tidbits of local people and the goings-on at Camp McKinley. On April 28th, the Newton Record mentioned that Hayden Reynolds and Fred McMurray visited their sons the previous day at Camp McKinley. The boys had been in camp just one day.

On May 9th, “Mrs. Fred McMurray [Hannah Melissa (Benjamin) McMurray] went to Des Moines to visit her two soldies [sic] boys, Lieut. Will and Orderly Sergt. Harry McMurray of Co. L, at Camp McKinley.”

E. E. Lambert was called “Colonel” in the May 11th The Newton Record story that reported he had come home on the 10th and then would return in the morning, on May 12th, to Camp McKinley. His wife, Mary Elizabeth “Lizzie” (Boydston) Lambert was likely very happy to see him, even though the military had not yet given him the rank promotion the paper did.

While home, Lieut. Col. Lambert was of course asked how the Newton boys were faring at camp. He reported that Company L and the whole regiment were “… in high glee over the prospect of getting to go to the front.” Their regiment had been chosen to leave first, but he did not think it was feasible to get the regiment ready to move out until at least the following Wednesday, the 18th of May.

Apparently the First Regiment had exerted political pull as far as being the first regiment to leave camp, but that did not work out. The Third Regiment, with many soldiers from Des Moines, was rumored to be chosen next, but as the Record reported the “Second out-classed all of them.” The Second Regiment included the Newton Guard, and was to get it’s marching orders before any of the others.

After describing the Second Iowa as “the ‘crack’ regiment in the camp,” the newspaper reported that Co. L from Newton was the only group that had suffered from a “lack of comfort and friends.” A few of the Newton boys had received clothing or food from friends or family, but not the larger amount other groups, such as those from Iowa City, Keokuk, Grinnell, and Davenport, had received as “donations.” Some of these groups had received “box after box” or up to five loads of provisions, including tasty delicacies from home, clothing, and even cash. One group received about $300 in cash, another $1,300; the Newton boys had not received anything similar. The paper went on to say that the camp outfit of Co. L was one of the poorest.

“Of course, the Newton boys are as good, or better, than the most of them, but they do not always get all they really need.”

The shaming of Newton citizens by the newspaper had its intended effect- their boys at Camp McKinley began to receive “generous gifts from home” the next week. The camp outfit was improved by granite cups and plates (metal enamelware, blue or gray with white splatters was common; sometimes called ‘graniteware’), and table decorations. (??) The table decorations may have been used for the “Two Grand Feasts” provided to the boys by the ladies of Newton. “Eatables” were collected and sent up on the 10:47am train on 12 May 1898: roast chicken, dressing, bread, cakes, canned fruits, preserves, jellies, radishes, and onions. Those who wanted to contribute were to drop them by Mr. J. P. Newell’s early in the morning. The ladies requested even more chickens to help fill up those boys who were training hard at Camp McKinley. The Women’s Relief Corps (W.R.C., an auxiliary of the G.A.R.) was responsible for the big box to be sent to the boys for their Sunday dinner. The goal was for the goodies to be a “navel stretcher” and remind the boys that they had not been forgotten by the folks at home.

Apparently, the Newton families had been following the directions of the camp that soldiers were to have only regular Army rations, however that is not what was happening with the other units in camp. They did rectify the situation once they realized- and the boys were “assured of a sumptuous feast” -actually two- before they headed off to the front.

Local folks in Newton planned to go to the camp that Friday, May 13, to celebrate Flag Day. This must have been a special event, as the official Flag Day is June 14, the anniversary of when our country’s flag was adopted. What we now call “Memorial Day” was then known as “Decoration Day” and would not occur until May 30th of 1898. Citizens likely wanted to celebrate our flag and our country with their boys before they went off to war.

(To be continued...)

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. The Newton Daily Record, 28 April 1898, page 1.
2. The Newton Daily Record, 11 May 1898, page 4.
3. The Newton Daily Record, 16 May 1898, page 4.

 

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Original content copyright 2013-2020 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

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McMurray Family, Benjamin Family (Click for Family Tree)

[Are you related? Yes, if you are a descendant of the Jasper County Iowa McMurray,  Benjamin, or Lambert families. This would include having Dr. Edward A. McMurray, Dr. Herbert McMurray, or Maude “Midge” McMurray Cook as ancestors.]

Today, on Memorial Day, we honor those who have fallen in service to our country. Thankfully, there are few, if any, of our direct ancestors who have made the greatest sacrifice. No one who enters military service knows if they will be called to make that sacrifice, but they march off despite the risk.  For those who survive, any war leaves scars, both physical and mental, that last a lifetime, and their families also pay a price. Please take a moment today to think of all those who have fought for our rights, because they felt it was their duty and their honor to protect them for posterity.

Freedom is never free.

 

(Continued from yesterday)

We last left Will McMurray, Harry McMurray, Roland “Rollie” E. Benjamin, and E. E. Lambert, all cousins, as they were steaming along the rails across the prairie for the 30-mile trip from Newton to Des Moines, Iowa. Their destination was Camp McKinley, named after the President who had just declared war on Spain in April, 1898.

The Iowa State Fair Grounds had been converted into a staging and training camp.  Our boys from Newton were assigned the amphitheater as their quarters. “They are having a good time and getting used to “army diet”… We’ll bet the boys won’t go hungry,” stated the newspaper report.

Lieut. Col. E. E. Lambert was appointed as the Provost Marshall for the camp of 3,000 men. He was charged with enforcing all camp regulations and was responsible for all the property within the fairgrounds. This was quite an honor- and a huge responsibility- to be appointed to such a position. Each Iowa regiment appointed a detail of 17 men to report to Lieut. Col. Lambert for special duties within the camp.

The Iowa National Guard did not provide enough soldiers for the national quota to be fulfilled by Iowa. The Iowa Governor thus issued a proclamation that any men who had drilled as a National Guardsman or in a military school should provide their name to their local sheriff, who would pass it on to the governor for enlistment.

Will McMurray was a Second Lieutenant in the Guard, so he would have been paid $114 per month for his military service; his brother Harry was a Sergeant, and his pay would have been $17.50 per month. Their cousin, Lieut. Col. E. E. Lambert, would have made about $250/month.

The government provided flags and tents to the men, but according to the newspaper, did not furnish clothing or food. Two men went along with the Newton contingent to work as cooks for them, so it is not clear where there food came from, especially since there was also mention of the Newton soldiers having to get used to “army rations.”

Military camps are of course very regimented, and we know the schedule followed by our ancestors at Camp McKinley:

(To be continued…)

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. The Newton Record, 28 Apr 1898, Vol. 4, No. 40, Page 1.
2. A Military Tattoo in this schedule is a musical signal that the day is almost ended. Interestingly, the word “tattoo” comes from a Dutch term, doe den tap toe,  from the 1600s. It meant “turn off the tap,” referring to a beer tap. The tattoo would be sounded from the military garrison so that innkeepers/tavern owners near the base would end the service of beer to those in the military. Soldiers should then return to their quarters. Military tattoos have become elaborate musical performances in the years since. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_tattoo for more information.

 

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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 2013-2020 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.