Section of page 2 in Edith Roberts’ college scrapbook with sorority invitations. Edith was attending college about 1919- very few women were enrolled at the University of Iowa (in Iowa City) in those days. (Apologies for the poor copy- it was a photocopy back in the days before scanners.)
“As a means of creating and communicating self, … scrapbooks operate in much the same way that popular forms of social media do for students today.”
Ms. Hoarn continues in her article to discuss how scrapbooks served the same purpose years ago as Facebook does now- to allow communication between family and friends and give a sense of who the person was at a certain point in their life.
Scrapbooking- and by extension the paper ephemera passed down that we family historians so cherish- is also an act of curation, Ms. Hoarn explains.
12 June 1892- Will McMurray’s Graduation program from Newton High School, Newton, Iowa.
She compares this collecting of text and images to Pinterest and Tumblr sites that showcase interests, passions, and events. Whether neatly organized onto boards on Pinterest or into a scrapbook, autograph book, photo album, diary, or even a shoebox, most of what we have inherited has been culled through generations to be the most important ephemera of a life. If we are lucky, we may even have commentary attached to give us more insight into a life.
“Heap good shot. Ketch plenty fish.” Probably William Hanford Aiken about 1910, when he was living in Florence, Colorado with his family.
Instagram, of course, is today’s electronic version of the photo album and if we are REALLY lucky, our old images will also be “tagged” with names, dates, and places.
Mabel Mulhollen is written on the back, Nov. ’28 [1928] on the front. Sadly no place clues for this photo.A caption can touch our hearts or give us a giggle- sometimes both at the same time.
About 1929? Edward A. McMurray, from his own photo album in which he wrote the captions, created in the late 1940s as he was preparing to get married.
As one who laments the passing of paper and worries what treasures will be left for the next generations to cherish in their even more ephemeral electronic world, I truly treasure the scrapbook, photo albums, and shoe boxes of photos and papers left by our ancestors. I am so glad that we do have ways of sharing the old-timey via new technology, though, so all can gain a bit more insight into those who have gone before.
2) In the near long ago, boys graduated to long pants as they matured- a rite of passage that was longed for by many, much as our generation cannot wait until we can drive.
3) While searching for appropriate pictures for this post, I found the above image of Mabel- we have a younger picture of her that until this moment we thought was the only one- see Mystery Monday: Mabel Mulhollen. She may be more important in our family than we realized since there is more than one photo of her. We can also use this photo of her at an older age to compare to other family images from the same time period that include people we do not know. Is she family or part of the FAN Club? More research needed.
4) FAN Club= Friends, Associates, Neighbors; researching these folks can help us learn more about our ancestors.
5) The Newton (Iowa) High School Class of 1892 included Lillie Brown, Ella Clarkson, Marie Hass, Henry Jasper, Fred Kennedy, Belle Lambert, Artie McKinley, Willie McMurray, Hettie McCord, Fred Meredith, and Lillian Patten.
“An Altrurian Experiment” in Harper’s Weekly, 15 Sep 1894, Vol. 38, No. 1969, Page 867, Part 1.
Altruria, a Utopian colony founded by Edward B. Payne and others in 1894, was an experiment in using the ideals of Christian Socialism and applying them to the workday world of the colony members. Workers were paid the same, whether it was a job as a laundress, a position Edward Payne’s daughter Lynette Payne worked, or farming, building, cooking, etc. Men and women were paid the same for their work, and women held positions within the group organization. No one job was more important than another, and all workers were valued. Those colony members who were too old to work would be paid from the group coffers once the colony was larger and more established.
“An Altrurian Experiment” in Harper’s Weekly, 15 Sep 1894, Vol. 38, No. 1969, Page 867, Part 2.
The $50 entrance fee was “seed money” to get the colony going- literally “seed money” in some respects as the colonists did have large gardens and orchards, and even a store where excess produce was taken for sale to the public.
Many of the Socialists of the day did not believe in the use or acquisition of money, and in Altruria, paper checks and tickets were used for paying workers and purchasing products in the Altruria stores. “Cooperation” was emphasized instead of competition and the aggressive, selfish motives of ‘business as usual’ in pursuit of the almighty dollar, which was abhorred by the Altrurians.
The Altrurians were progressive from a farming and manufacturing perspective, utilizing machines when possible to make their work easier and less time-consuming.
Edward B. Payne was the President of the First Council, and the by-laws required a female Vice President. Rev. Payne still had his pastorate in Berkeley at this time, so did not live full-time at Altruria. He did visit frequently, however, and in addition to his organizational tasks, edited and wrote much of the colony’s newspaper, The Altrurian.
Sadly, the community lasted less than two years. Although members were vetted prior to joining the colony and the group received donations from around the country, there was still internal dissention, and economic woes were significant. The zealous group overextended themselves loan-wise and building progress was not swift enough for the loaned money to begin to turn a profit. Additionally, the Crash of 1893 and resulting national depression affected this enterprise that began in 1894, making it a risky venture from the start. The colonists were able to hold on until 1896 when they ended their “glorious failure” still full of optimism that cooperation could work in a more perfect world.
Notes, Sources, and References:
1) “An Altrurian Experiment” in Harper’s Weekly, 15 Sep 1894, Vol. 38, No. 1969, Page 867. Copy owned by author.
2) William Dean “W.D.” Howells wrote A Traveller from Altruria, a novel which describes the American system of society to a Mr. Homos of Altruria. The book is basically an indictment of capitalism and the consequences of competition, including the class differences it produces. It is also a guide to the cooperative lifestyle of the fictional Altruria. This novel was a best-seller in many countries, especially England and the United States.
3) Edward Bellamy wrote Looking Backward, a time-traveling Utopian novel. In the story, Julian West falls into a deep sleep and wakes up 113 years later, in the year 2000. The US has been converted to a Socialist society, and the book explains these principles and makes an argument for cooperation rather than competition to make a better world. It was the third best-selling novel of its time.
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Elizabeth Cady Stanton, c1880. Wikipedia, public domain.
Quick- who is Elizabeth Cady Stanton?
No, she is not a relative of mine. (I wish!)
You may have dozed off during the maybe two minutes of your high school history class that focused on her and the movement which she helped found.
If you are female in America, or African-American (male or female), you owe many of your rights to her tireless work for suffrage and abolition.
If you are male, she helped gain rights for your sister, mother, wife, and daughters, and helped make all persons in our society more equal, which benefits all.
Today is the anniversary of Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s birth. She was born to Daniel Cady and Margaret Livingston Cady on 12 Nov 1815 in Johnstown, New York. Her father was an attorney and state Supreme Court judge, and Elizabeth was formally educated in a time when few women had that privilege. Despite her father owning slaves, she also was an abolitionist, temperance worker, and a leader of the early women’s rights movement.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the principal author of the “Declaration of Rights and Sentiments,” first presented in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention. Based on the Declaration of Independence, it listed the ways that women did not have equal rights in the United States of America: they were taxed without representation, subject to laws they were unable to have a voice in, etc.- the same as the grievances colonists had with Great Britain around 1776. The Oneida Whig stated later that the convention’s ‘Declaration’ was “the most shocking and unnatural event ever recorded in the history of womanity.”
Elizabeth was different from many in the women’s movement because she addressed other women’s issues, not just suffrage: divorce and custody (men automatically got the children in the few divorces of the time, even if they were bad parents), work and income, property rights, and even birth control. She worked closely with Susan B. Anthony who is now the better known suffragist. They had an equal partnership, however, with Elizabeth writing speeches and Susan delivering them, since she was unmarried and had no children and could travel more easily than Stanton, who had seven children.
So why is a post about Elizabeth Cady Stanton on this blog? Yes, she is one of my heroes, but her work affects all the women in our family who came after. Edith Roberts was in college the year women got the right to vote- I once asked her what she remembered about it, did she go out and exercise her right to suffrage right after it became law, did she also protest and write to get women suffrage? She replied that she didn’t even remember the event, as she was so busy in school and with her sorority. (I was disappointed.)
Also, Edward B. Payne, our McMurray ancestor, was active in the woman’s suffrage movement in Berkeley, California in the 1890s. More about this in a future post.
Women’s Suffrage- women are not too emotional… Article in Marion Daily Star (Marion, Ohio), 08 May 1897. Volume XX, Number 143, Page 7, Column 6. NOTE: Women did have the vote in Wyoming in 1897, thus the reference to lunatics there being only men.
Although she married, Elizabeth had the phrase, “I promise to obey” removed from her portion of the vows, later writing, “I obstinately refused to obey one with whom I supposed I was entering into an equal relation.”
Over 70 years after the beginnings of the women’s suffrage movement, Elizabeth Cady Stanton died on 26 Oct 1902 without ever having voted in the United States of America.
2) North Star, July 28, 1848, as quoted in Frederick Douglass on Women’s Rights, Philip S. Foner, ed. New York: Da Capo Press, 1992, pp. 49-51; originally published in 1976, cited in Wikipedia article on ‘Declaration of Sentiments’: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Sentiments
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Edward A. McMurray, Jr., was just completing his first semester of college when the news on the radio told of the horrific attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1942. He was working in a gas station to help with college expenses plus helped support his mother as he could. He had dreamed of going to college, but felt he needed to go to war, since he was 18 years old. His duty to his mother as an only child prevailed, however, and he continued with college and work. By the time December, 1943 rolled around, however, there was no escaping it- he needed to put his dream of being a doctor like his father on hold. Ed enlisted in the Army Air Corp on 24 Oct 1943 in Des Moines, Iowa, and officially began boot camp on 13 Dec 1943 at Jefferson Barracks in Missouri; like all Reservists at that time, he spent his tour on active duty throughout World War II.
Ed wanted to be a pilot, so had signed up for a training program at college for flying (possibly the Civil Air Patrol?); unfortunately, his eyesight was not good enough to be a military pilot. His second choice was to go into the Medical Corps, but by that time, they had enough trained men to fulfill the need. So Ed went to boot camp at Jefferson Barracks, then was off to his training school to become an aircraft mechanic.
Edward A. McMurray, Jr., on right in uniform with unknown friend. c1943 or 1944 in Newton, Iowa.
Mac’s unit left the United States for the South Pacific on April 28, 1944. (See my previous post about his time in the South Pacific here.) He spent 22 months overseas, returning 14 Feb 1946. He had served in the 3rd & 4th Engine Over-Haul Squadrons and the 13th Depot Supply Squadron, and remembered his Serial Number even into his later years: 17152911. Ed separated from the Army Air Corp on 22 Feb 1946, just eight days after returning from overseas. He was honorably discharged.
In 1949 Iowa offered its World War II veterans a service compensation bonus. Mac filled out a two page application that detailed his squadrons and service dates. (What a treasure for genealogists!) The WWII Service Compensation Board determined he had earned a bonus of $345.00.
Thank you, Edward McMurray, and all the brave men and women who have served throughout the years to keep our country, and our world, free. Freedom, of course, is not free, and so many were prepared to pay the ultimate price if needed. We are so grateful that Ed and so many others came home.
Make sure to thank a veteran today.
Notes, Sources, and References:
1) National Archives and Records Administration. U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data: Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946 [Archival Database]; ARC: 1263923. World War II Army Enlistment Records; Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 64; National Archives at College Park. College Park, Maryland, U.S.A.
3) Ancestry.com. Iowa, World War II Bonus Case Files, 1947-1954 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: WWII Bonus Case Files. State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa.
4) Not quite sure how the WWII service compensation was calculated, but they looked at his months of foreign duty (22) as compared to active domestic service, which they noted as 29 months. Not sure where that number came from, as he had signed up in October 1943 but did not leave the US until Feb. 1946; that was only four months, for a total of 26 months in service.
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“Murder in the First Degree” Part 1. The Hood River Glacier, April 19, 1901, Vol. 12, No. 48, Page 2, Column 1. Public domain.
The Hood River Glacier, Hood River, Oregon, continued the saga with results of the trial of Jim Green for the murder of Edson V. Benjamin on April 19, 1901, page 2. (Fast trials back then.)
MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE
“Stevenson, Wash., April 13. – James G. Green was found guilty of murdering E.V. Benjamin at Wendorf’s near Underwood’s landing, March 24. The jury returned a verdict of murder in the first degree after delivering 45 minutes. Although the verdict was received in stolid silence by the defendant, he had broken down during the trial and had made an open confession of his crime. A new trial will be asked for. It was the sight of the widow of the murdered Benjamin with her great sorrow, that unnerved Green and caused him to alter his mind as to fighting the cause to the end. After the session of the first day he called his counsel and Judge Miller, and declared that he wanted to trial over as soon as possible, as he was unable to bear the sight of Mrs. Benjamin’s grief.
“I killed Benjamin,” said Green, “and should receive the punishment. I want to plead guilty and hang here in Stevenson. Benjamin is dead, but I can’t stand the sight of Mrs. Benjamin in the court room.”
“This being the desire of the confessed murderer to have the agony of the trial over, the prosecution cut short the testimony to be introduced, and this gave Green an opportunity to take the stand and tell his story. He began by stating that he was 31 years old, and then spoke of his visit to the Hayne’s home and his departure from there at 11 o’clock at night for his logging camp.”
“Murder in the First Degree” Part 2. “Murder in the First Degree” Part 1. The Hood River Glacier, April 19, 1901, Vol. 12, No. 48, Page 2, Column 1. Public domain. (Click to enlarge.)
“When I came to Wendorf’s I saw a light. I looked in through the window and noticed Benjamin sitting there with Nellie Brown, and I raised my gun and shot him. I didn’t realize what I had done until I seen him fall back, then I went to Haynes’ and told what Mrs. Haynes swore to yesterday. We had emptied a couple of bottles of whiskey. I had one bottle with me, about at drank in it, which I finished on the road. I didn’t know there was a dance at Wendorf’s place nor the whereabouts of Benjamin. I was told he had moved to a logging camp on the White Salmon, 18 miles away. I had no trouble with Benjamin, nothing serious. We had trouble one time and fixed it up, and shook hands over it, and was as good friends as ever. I have known Nellie Brown for three years. Three months after I first met her we were engaged. This lasted until New Year’s of 1901.
“Asked if Benjamin was the cause of the breaking of the engagement, Green declined to express himself, stating that he did not desire to make any exposures. When asked what his feelings were toward Nellie Brown, the defendant broke down and cried, replying that he loved the woman better than his life.
“Counsel for the defense argued for a verdict of murder in the second degree, as he said there was no testimony showing the deed to have been premeditated. The prosecution demanded conviction in the first degree or acquittal. It required the jury but 45 minutes to return a verdict of murder in the first degree.
“When he realized that his fate was sealed, Green’s desire to be hanged immediately at Stevenson underwent a change, and he requested his attorneys to fight the case as hard as possible, and ask for a new trial. Green has been returned to Vancouver pending the decision on the motion and sentence.”
Edson was my first cousin, four times removed, so not quite as distant as I first thought. He and Jennie had no children to carry on the story, and I learned of it through an email via Find A grave from a person who documents the area. He had already done some research, and I had some in place, such as Edson’s parents and ancestors, plus I did more research and found the additional news stories. I am so glad that Edson’s story can finally be told!
We really don’t know much about Edson’s wife Jennie. She was the daughter of James B. Munger and Julia A. (maiden name unknown, born Ireland in Feb of 1837). Jennie was born in Jan 1866 in New Jersey. She married Edson Benjamin 4 Mar 1887 in Polk Co., Nebraska. (Polk Co. Marriage Records vol 2, p 59) Jennie was just 34 when the Underwood Landing tragedy took her husband in 1901. She remarried 18 Feb 1908 to Alfred P. Slade (1867-1930) in Multnomah, Oregon; it was his second marriage as well. (He may have been married to Mattie MNU and had a step-child, Rebecka Clifton, living with them in the 1900 US Federal Census for Dayton, Yamhill, Oregon. This needs to be confirmed that it is the same person, as no occupation listed.) Alfred was listed as an orchardist/fruit farmer in the 1910 and 1920 US Federal Censuses, and he owned his farm. By 1926 they had moved to 1588 Ellmore in Portland, Oregon, where Alfred was a tire maker at age 59. No children are listed in any of the censuses of Alfred and Jennie, and as they were both about 42 when married, they may not have ever had children.
Jennie died on 04 July 1927 in Aberdeen, Gray’s Harbor, Washington. Alfred became a boarder and was living in Portland still at the 1930 US Federal Census. He was a laborer doing odd jobs at age 62 in April of 1930. We have been unable to find death information for him, though an Alfred P. Slade is listed in FAG in Darke, Ohio, where Alfred was born; this person, however, may be his father.
2) 1910 US Federal Census for the Slades- Source Citation: Year: 1910; Census Place: East Hood River, Hood River, Oregon; Roll: T624_1278; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 0084; FHL microfilm: 1375291. Ancestry.com, accessed 10/22/14.
3) 1920 US Federal Census for the Slades- Source Citation: Year: 1920; Census Place: Hood River, Hood River, Oregon; Roll: T625_1494; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 77; Image: 826. Ancestry.com, accessed 10/22/14.
4) Portland, Oregon City Directory- Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Accessed 10/22/14.
5) 1930 US Federal census for Alfred P. Slade- Source Citation: Year: 1930; Census Place: Portland, Multnomah, Oregon; Roll: 1954; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 0551; Image: 1109.0; FHL microfilm: 2341688. Ancestry.com, accessed 10/22/14.
6) 1900 US Federal census for Alfred P. Slade and Mattie MNU- Source Citation: Year: 1900; Census Place: Dayton, Yamhill, Oregon; Roll: 1353; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 0166; FHL microfilm: 1241353. Accessed via Ancestry.com on 10/22/14.
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![Mabel Mulhollen is written on the back, Nov. '28 [1928] on the front.](https://i0.wp.com/heritageramblings.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Mabel_mulhollen.jpg)
