Amanuensis Monday: Will McMurray’s Grocery in Newton, Iowa

McMurray Family (Click for Family Tree)

An “amanuensis” (A-man’-U-en-sis) is a person who copies or writes from other works or dictation. The term is pretty archaic, and was used much more in the early- to mid-1800s. After that time those persons, still required to hand write much since we had no copiers or scanners, were more often called “scriveners” or “scribes.” Scribe is actually an even older word, but it too lost favor especially once typewriters, dictation machines (remember “Dictaphones”?), and computers came on the scene.

We have been telling the story of William Elmer McMurray (1874-1957) and the grocery he and his wife, Lynette Payne McMurray, owned in Newton, Iowa. Will initially had a partner, William Charles Killduff, but later Will and Lynette owned the store on their own. The store carried a wide variety of items through the years, and placed advertisements regularly in the local newspapers. Here are some of the items they carried, transcribed from a variety of sources, some listed below.

fresh and salted fish “which we will sell cheap”

fresh oysters in bulk and can

lettuce, celery, radishes

[Grocers back then also bought directly from local farmers. Other than tinned (canned) foods, there were fewer middle distributors with food sitting in a train car for days going cross county, or sitting in a warehouse for days or months. Stores did carry some items that came from afar, but some, like oysters, would only be available “until the season closes.”]

peaches, by the carload

[train carload? Suggested a better price due to the quantity the grocery purchased.]

“Use Marshall’s Best Flour- $1.20 per sack. Sold by McMurray & Killduff.”

[This flour must really have been the “Best” because an ad for the grocery published 22 June 1899 that there had been “25,000 sacks of this flour sold in Newton and vicinity.” The population of the city of Newton was just 3,682 in 1900, and Jasper County 26, 976. The ad does not state the time period of the sales number quoted, but still, that’s a lot of flour in one area!]

Minnesota Flour, Kansas Flour

[Flours have different amounts of protein, depending on the type of wheat that it was milled from, with low protein flours considered “soft” wheat and best for pastries or cakes; “hard” flour has more protein and gluten, which are better for breads. Back then most desserts and bread was made from scratch in the home, especially in rural areas.]

Fruit jars… “at a great discount”

[for canning from your home fruit trees, bushes]

Japan Tea

Japan Rice

[A short-grain, sticky rice.]

 

Writing down information gleaned from the various advertisements also helps us learn a bit about how the store evolved over the years:

2 March 1899 ads above indicate the name of the store, and its owners, are McMurray & Killduff

9 September 1901- store listed in ad as “Will McMurray, Northeast Square, Newton, Iowa”

In the 1920 Newton Iowa City Directory, on page 104, the entry

McMurray WILL E, Groceries and Meats

tells us at that time, there was no partnership, and the grocery belonged solely to Will and Lynette. The bold lettering may have been paid for as a business, as the listing also states “(See page 7).” The directory listing noted that the store was located at 106 N 2d av E, but Will and Lynette resided at 322 E 4th N.  Just above the listing for Will was one of Will’s brothers:

McMurray, Roy, mngr meat dept W E McMurray

[It has been said by some that the McMurrays were “clannish.” They lived near each other, socialized together, took vacations together, and worked together, as this directory shows. All of these, back then, were much more common to do within a family group than it is today.]

Newspaper clippings about family business are a great way to get a feel for the times in which our ancestors lived, and a bit about their daily lives. Writing it down (being an “amanuensis”) and putting it all together is a great way to share with family too!

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. Newton Record, Feb. 23, 1899, p. 8.
2. Newton Record, Newton Iowa, March 2, 1899, Vol. 5, No. 32, Page 8, Columns 3-4.
3. Newton Iowa State Democrat, Aug 17, 1899, Vol. 19, No. 33, Page 4.
4. “Carload of Peaches,” Newton Daily Record, Sept. 9. 1901, page 2.
5. Population statistics for Newton from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton,_Iowa; Jasper County– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton,_Iowa

 

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