- Mystery Monday: Frederick Asbury “F. A.” McMurray- Sheriff of Newton, Iowa?
- Tuesday’s Tip: Using County Histories to Understand F. A. McMurray’s Time as Sheriff of Jasper County, Iowa
- Wishful Wednesday: F. A. McMurray and His Nomination as Sheriff
- Thankful Thursday: F.A. McMurray Elected Sheriff of Jasper Co., Iowa
- F. A. McMurray vs. Chas. H. Hook for Sheriff of Jasper Co., Iowa
- Sorting Saturday: F. A. McMurray and Recounting the Vote for Sheriff of Jasper Co., Iowa
- Madness Monday: F. A. McMurray and the Sheriff’s Office of Jasper County, Iowa
McMURRAY Family (Click for Family Tree)
Now that we are reasonably sure of the authenticity of the certificate naming Frederick Asbury “F. A.” McMurray as an elected sheriff of Jasper County, Iowa in 1899, we need to determine just what happened after the election. Did F.A. actually serve ant time at all as sheriff? If so, were there any interesting events that occurred during his tenure? If he did not serve, then what chain of events caused him to step down after running for office- and winning?
First, let’s review the important facts from the Election Certificate posted yesterday:
- The election was for Sheriff of Jasper County, Iowa.
- The election occurred on 7 November 1899.
- Term of service was two years, beginning 1 January 1900.
- F. A. gave bond and took the Oath of Office by 14 November 1899.
- The Election Certificate was signed on 14 November 1899.
Now we know the dates and place to use in searches.
County histories were written for many midwestern states around the time of the Centennial celebration in the US, in 1876. Jasper County did publish a history, so the first search was for the page that listed county officers. Since this book was published in 1878, it would not contain the election information we seek.
We can, however, look to see if F. A. McMurray was listed, and if there was any work in law enforcement. The volume only lists “McMurray, F., far., S. 11; P. O. Newton.” We would need to check land records to confirm that our F. A. McMurray is the same as this farmer who worked on Section 11 in Jasper County. In 1870, “Asbury” McMurray had been working on a farm, probably his family’s with his father (Henderson McMurray) and 3 brothers in Jasper County, and he had $350 in personal estate- perhaps his savings for a farm of his own? It is highly likely that “McMurray, F.” and F.A. McMurray are the same man, as F. A. was 28 that year (1878), had been married for 5 years to Hannah Melissa Benjamin, and they already had two children, William Elmer McMurray and Harry James McMurray. As a married man with children to support, and especially since he had some cash as a single man 8 years earlier, F.A. probably had a piece of land he worked, whether owned or rented. F. A. was then listed as a farmer in the 1880 US Federal Census for Newton, Jasper County, Iowa. (That census does not list whether a farm was owned or rented, and there are no agricultural censuses available from that year.) So we could be talking about the same man.
The county histories from this era are often called, “Mug Books” since they contain portraits of individuals and pictures of family homes, along with a very favorable biography of an individual. Many of the publishers required payment to have an entry in the book, so that is why some people may not be included. As an example, F.A.’s father Henderson McMurray was listed as a farmer in both the 1870 and 1880 US Federal Censuses for Jasper County, Iowa, yet he is not listed in the county history. “F. McMurray” may have paid a small fee for his very short description. As the biographies got longer and more detailed, one could generally surmise that the material wealth and community standing of an individual increased as well, and probably the cost of their self-advertisement. (Nevertheless, these books give family historians great information sometimes!)
The older county history did not include any information about F. A. being in law enforcement in those early years, so let’s look for a more recent history. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa was published in 1912, so we may be able to find the information we seek within these pages. Volume 1, pages 92-3 contain a list of Jasper County Sheriffs, but C. H. Hook was the sheriff in 1899 and 1901; F.A. McMurray was not listed. (Joe Horn, who signed the certificate, was listed as the County Auditor elected in 1898 and 1900.) There is no biography for any McMurrays in either volume.
So interestingly, despite the family having a certificate that states F. A. McMurray was elected as Sheriff of Jasper County, Iowa, in 1899, he apparently did not serve. We need more detailed sources to tell us the whole story.
To be continued…
Notes, Sources, and References:
- The History of Jasper County, Iowa, Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, &c: A Biographical Directory of Its Citizens, War Record of Its Volunteers in the Late Rebellion, General and Local Statistics … History of the Northwest, History of Iowa… Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1878, pp 452, 576. https://books.google.com/books/about/The_History_of_Jasper_County_Iowa_Contai.html?id=IHwUAAAAYAAJ
- Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa by Gen. James B Weaver, B.F. Bowen & Company, 1912, Vol. 1– https://archive.org/details/pastpresentofjas01weav/page/n5 Vol. 2– https://books.google.com/books/about/Past_and_Present_of_Jasper_County_Iowa.html?id=H3wUAAAAYAAJ
Click to enlarge any image. Please contact us if you would like an image in higher resolution.
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.