McMurray Family – Page 35 – Heritage Ramblings

Sentimental Sunday: Jonathan Felix Benjamin

*Hannah (Ford) Benjamin- Bible Record Transcription (click to enlarge)*

Websites like Find a Grave (FAG) have been incredible resources for genealogists- we have found cousins and long lost living relatives, information is available to help as ‘clues’ to be verified for one’s own research, locations within plots can help determine family relationships, as can inscriptions on tombstones or cemetery records, and it is comforting to know where family is “quietly resting.” Writing memorials for FAG has also been a wonderful exercise to analyze and reassess what I think are known facts, and to tell a person’s story. It is also a way to tug at one’s heartstrings, as one learns of the love and heartbreak of a family.

Today my work on Wittemburg Cemetery memorials on FAG tugged at my heartstrings.

If you are a descendant of Dr. E. A. McMurray, Jonathan Felix Benjamin would be a some-number-of-greats Uncle. He was the g-g-uncle of Dr. McMurray, so you can figure your relationship from there.

Jonathan Felix Benjamin was the fifth child of seven known children born to Jonathan N. Benjamin and Hannah E. Ford Benjamin. He lived the first part of his life in Burlington, Licking Co., Ohio, until he moved west with other family members at age 29, in 1867 when they all migrated to Jasper County, Iowa.

In 1870, Jonathan F. and his wife were living with his father and mother on a farm in Malaka Twp, Jasper Co., Iowa. The parents had just $150 in personal estate, but Jonathan F. and his wife had $6500 in real estate and $1000 in personal value.

Jonathan F. and Hannah E. Marple had married in 1863 (probably in Licking Co., Ohio where their first child was probably born) and had six? children: Edson Benjamin (b. 1864), Roland “Rollie” E. Benjamin (b. 1867), William Benjamin (b. 1867), possibly another William (b. 1870), Emma Benjamin (FAG #44708133, b. 1872, married Herman B. Lufkin), and Orlin Dell Benjamin (b. 1878). An “Infant Benjamin, son of J.F. and H. E.” is buried in the same cemetery as his parents, and died in 1873- this may be one of the Williams? though dates do not align.

By 1885, the Iowa State Census shows the family living in Twin Lakes, Calhoun, Iowa. They may have returned to Jasper Co though in 1895, where there is an Iowa State census record that has Jonathan’s age a few years off.

In 1900, Jonathan F. was listed as head of household in the census for Newton (City), living at 748 Main St. at age 60 with his son Orlin, daughter Emma, her husband Herman Lufkin, and their 4 y/o son Percy. Jonathan was listed as a house painter who had been out of work for 2 months, but he did own their home.

The part that tugged my heartstrings, after seeing they had an infant buried in Wittemberg Cemetery, was Jonathan’s listing as to marital status in the 1900 US Federal Census. He was listed as married for 37 years, but his wife was not listed on the page- she had died on 27 March 1900, and the census had been taken on 08 Jun 1900. How hard that must have been to face life without one’s partner of 37 years! Just that simple little “M” in the marital status column, with a “37” alongside for the years married, but no wife listed after his name, tells a story. He just couldn’t be a widower yet- in his heart, he was still married.

(OK, the cynical and fact-based folks will say that it could have been the census taker’s error, or that of the person giving the information. But maybe not…)

Jonathan was living alone in 1910, when he may be found in the Federal Census renting on Third St. in Newton, still working as a house painter but not out of work. He was listed as a widower in this census.

Jonathan F. Benjamin passed away in March of 1913, age 74. He is buried in Wittemburg Cemetery alongside his wife Hannah E. (Marple) Benjamin.

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) From “Notes on the Life and Family of JONATHAN BENJAMIN, 1738-1841, Frontiersman and Revolutionary War Veteran,” Hannah (Ford) Benjamin Family Bible Transcription. (Bible owned by Orletta Hatch Foreman at the time of these “Notes.”) Type-written copy given to me back in the 1960s, when I was too young to know much about documentation. I believe it was written by the Benjamin family historians, and reading it and later finding information about these Benjamin ancestors in a book got me totally hooked on genealogy.

2) 1870 US Federal census, Jonathan Benjamin head of household: Source Citation: Year: 1870; Census Place: Malaka, Jasper, Iowa; Roll: M593_398; Page: 342A; Image: 324; Family History Library Film: 545897.

3) 1880 US Federal census, John F. Benjamin, head of household: Source Citation: Year: 1880; Census Place: Twin Lakes, Calhoun, Iowa; Roll: 330; Family History Film: 1254330; Page: 285B; Enumeration District: 025; Image: 0313.

4) 1885 Iowa State Census, Jonathan F. Benjamin: Quigg, Gary, comp.. Iowa, State Census 1885 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003.

5) 1895 Iowa State Census, Jonathan F. Benjamin: Ancestry.com. Iowa, State Census, 1895 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003. Original data: Iowa. 1895 Iowa State Census. Des Moines, Iowa: State Historical Society of Iowa.

6) 1900 US Federal Census for Jonathan F. Benjamin, head of household: Source Citation: Year: 1900; Census Place: Newton, Jasper, Iowa; Roll: 439; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 0030; FHL microfilm: 1240439.

7) 1910 US Federal Census for Jonathan Benjamin: Source Citation: Year: 1910; Census Place: Newton Ward 1, Jasper, Iowa; Roll: T624_407; Page: 14A; Enumeration District: 0032; FHL microfilm: 1374420.

8) My Find A Grave memorial #57139950 for Jonathan Felix Benjamin: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=57139950.

9) My Find A Grave memorial #57139890 for Hannah E. (Marple) Benjamin: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=57139890

10) My Find A Grave memorial #28129737 for Infant Benjamin: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=28129737.

11) US GenWeb- Iowa listings for Wittemburg Cemetery, Jasper Co: http://iagenweb.org/jasper/cemeteries/wittemberg/burials.htm

12) [Edited 04/06/2015 to add] See also posts for Edson Benjamin and his wife, Martha “Jennie” Slade Benjamin:

Tombstone Tuesday: Edson Benjamin and Martha Jennie Slade

http://heritageramblings.net/2014/05/13/tombstone-tuesday-edson-benjamin-and-martha-jennie-slade/

Series of posts beginning with Tombstone Tuesday: Edson Benjamin- “A Cowardly Murder,” Part 1: http://heritageramblings.net/2014/11/04/tombstone-tuesday-edson-benjamin-a-cowardly-murder-part-1/

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Tuesday’s Tip- Organizing computer files

*05 June 1948- Wedding picture of Edward A. McMurray and Mary T. Helbling*

Last week I wrote about creating file names so that your computer will automagically create a sort of timeline in your file folders- see Tuesday’s Tip- Let your computer create a timeline!

Images and documents with multiple persons can be challenging to file- which name should be used as the file name? I tend to use the oldest or most prominent or most important-to-me persons in the photo or document, and one can then create a note to go into other folders referencing where the document or image has been placed. I am hoping to convert to using Lightroom (LR) soon- just wish it could use .pdfs. With LR, you can leave your images in the file hierarchy you like and have the program just point to its location. It also allows you to tag multiple people, so it will help with this dilemma.

My file folders are arranged differently than those of many genealogists. My family moved around a lot, so listing files by place just doesn’t work for me- I prefer to have everything about one person pretty much together. This is a problem though, with things like censuses, since you will find a census entry for a person as a child in their family, and then with a family of their own. I have decided to deal with this by keeping a person in their birth family until they were off on their own as an adult, which usually coincides with marriage and a family of their own. My folders thus have a name like McMURRAY_W-PAYNE_L, for Will McMurray and Lynette Payne, who were the parents of Dr. E. A. McMurray, and his documents and images would appear in their folder until he married. The next folder he would appear in chronologically would be the McMURRAY-ROBERTS folder, where documents about his life with his first wife and son would reside. McMURRAY-KENNER would be the last folder I would put his documents in, for his life with his wife of 61 years and their beautiful family. If you use this method, choose which name to put first and be consistent- either husband or wife first.

Since I am one of those uppity women and a feminist, and it is still Women’s History Month (ahhh, the irony of a Women’s “HIStory” Month…), I use the maiden names of women throughout their lives. That helps me tell “HERstory.” Plus, it helps to separate out Hannah Ford from Hanna Marple who married father and son so both became Hannah Benjamin. (And the confusion continues, since father and son are both Jonathans.)

If you decide to try any new system, start small, maybe with just one family, to see if the system works well for you. There will always be items that could be filed in various ways- just try to find what you can be consistent with and use it. Change it to how it will best work for your mind to work with it easily- after all, the idea is for your brain to be analyzing, not filing. Remember, too, that you don’t have to change everything at once- that would be a daunting task, and quite a problem if you decide you don’t like the system or it doesn’t work for you. So that it’s not overwhelming, start with your new files as you create them, and change older ones out when you have a few minutes here or there, such as while waiting on hold for 30 minutes with the cable company. I still have a lot of cleanup to do on my files since I started on this system even though it has been many years that I have used it. Changing to another computer has also thrown my system off, but further work on this system will be an enjoyable project filled with rediscovered gems as I get my filing system well organized.

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Family photo archives.

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Five Family Photos for Friday- Hannah Melissa (Benjamin) McMurray

Hannah Melissa Benjamin with her great-grandson, Edward A. McMurray, Jr., about 1926. — *Hannah Melissa Benjamin with her great-grandson, Edward A. McMurray, Jr., taken about 1926.*

The above photo was in with McMurray family pictures that I have seen all my life. My family thought that the youngster was Edward A. McMurray, Jr., but he was not sure who the woman was with him. He always said, “I can’t remember that far back.”

In the last decade of his life, we went through the photos another time. He looked at this one intently, again puzzled as to who the woman was. For years I had been intrigued with his great-grandmother, Hannah Melissa Benjamin- I had never seen a picture of her, but had been born 100 years and two months after her, and just loved her name. Knowing the year that the picture was probably taken due to Ed’s age, I combed through the possibilities of who it could be; Hannah Melissa (Benjamin) McMurray was the best possibility. I asked, “Do you think it could be your great-grandmother, Hannah Melissa (Benjamin) McMurray?” He looked up, surprised, and replied that it was indeed her, and he remembered that she was very, very stern. Melissa, as she was known, died when he was just eight, so that was the only thing he could remember about her.

*Hannah Melissa Benjamin, possibly circa 1910? She was 56 in 1910.*

Hannah Melissa Benjamin was born to Sylvanus Rufus Benjamin and Sarah Ann Palmer on 03 Aug 1854 in Burlington, Licking County, Ohio. Licking County was a big transportation center at that time, especially after the Ohio Canal had been completed.

In 1865 or 1866 the family moved to Jasper County, Iowa. They lived on a farm about four miles northeast of Newton. In 1870, her father owned a large amount of land- he had the highest real estate value of any other household listed on the census page.

Melissa married Frederick Asbury “F. A.” McMurray in Jasper County, Iowa, on 18 September 1873. FA was an auctioneer who cried sales throughout the area. They had five children: William E. (1874-1957, marr Lynette Payne, had 3 children); Harry James (1876-1962, marr. Emma Tripp, no children); Addie Belle (1879-1958, marr. Forest Gillespie, no children); Roy (1884-1973, marr. Emma Hotger, no children); and Ray (1886-1979, marr. Elizabeth “Bessie” Catherine Blackwell, no children), all born in Jasper County.

*Hannah Melissa (Benjamin) McMurray, possibly 1915 or 1920?*

F. A. McMurray died on 12 Dec 1929, leaving Melissa alone for almost three years. Melissa may be found in the 1930 US Federal Census, age 76, and living at 310 E. 4th St. N in Newton. She had a housekeeper and two lodgers living with her, and her home was worth $8,000.

*Headstone of Hannah Melissa (Benjamin) McMurray in Newton Union Cemetery, Newton, Jasper County, Iowa.*

Melissa (Benjamin) McMurray died on 09 Nov 1932 in Newton. She is buried in Newton Union Cemetery, along with her husband and many other Benjamins.

*Benjamin Family Headstone Grouping in Newton Union Cemetery, Newton, Jasper County, Iowa.*

[NOTE: Post edited 3/21/14 to add death dates for William, Roy, and Ray McMurray.]

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) 1870 US Federal Census for Sylvanus R. Benjamin, head of household: Source Citation: Year: 1870; Census Place: Newton, Jasper, Iowa; Roll: M593_398; Page: 370A; Image: 380; Family History Library Film: 545897.

2) John Benjamin Obituary: The Newton Record, Thursday, May 24, 1900 Page 1, Column 2.

3) My Find A Grave Memorial #28154269 for Hannah Melissa (Benjamin) McMurray: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=28154269

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Workday Wednesday- Dr. Edward A. McMurray

Dr. Edward A. McMurray, probably about 1925. — *Dr. Edward A. McMurray, about 1925.*

A doctor in the family is always nice- we got our eye checkups every summer when we went to visit our grandfather in Newton, Iowa. He was very well known in town- when a person heard our last name, they would always ask, “Are you related to ‘The Doctor’?” Then they would speak of what a wonderful doctor he was, and how he had helped their family so much. It sure made us proud of our grandfather.

Dr. Edward A. McMurray attended Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, for his undergraduate work. He then was accepted to St. Louis University School of Medicine, in St. Louis, Missouri, where he received his medical degree in 1925. The picture above was taken soon after he completed medical school. His dear daughter said, “He grew a mustache so he would look older and people would believe he was a doctor.”

Dr. McMurray returned to Newton, Iowa to open a General Practice. Around 1939-1940, he moved to Queens in New York to train in eye, ear, nose, and throat medicine. Once that residency was completed, he again returned to Newton, practicing there for the rest of his career.

Iowa GenWeb has recently added some information about Jasper County physicians which verifies some of the above information, and adds a bit more about Dr. McMurray’s career. The Newton Daily News of Tuesday, April 27, 1937 included “E. A. McMurray now of ___”- it was in an area of the fold of the newspaper, so more could not be read. Two days later, on April 29, 1937, the paper included, “Edward A. McMurray, born Newton, Ia., Nov. 10, 1900. Graduated St. Louis University, 1925. Practiced Newton, Ia., 1926. Offices: city health physician, 1935, coroner, 1923; president Jasper County Med. Soc. 2 years.”

Either the transcription or the original newspaper was probably in error in the year Dr. McMurray was County Coroner. In 1923, Dr. McMurray was still in college, either in Ames, Iowa, or, more likely, St. Louis, Missouri, and did not yet have his medical degree. He is listed in the Iowa Register as being elected as County Coroner from 1933-1938.

Dr. McMurray is mentioned in some newspaper articles in his capacity of County Coroner. In the September 24, 1936 Jasper County Record, the paper reports that Dr. McMurray conducted an inquest to determine the cause(s) of death of Mrs. Harry Evans. Mrs. Evans was expecting her ninth child, and she and her husband had had a quarrel just two hours before her death. The autopsy and inquest conducted by Dr. McMurray led to a manslaughter conviction for Mr. Harry Evans.

In the information about Jasper Co. physicians on US GenWeb, Dr. McMurray was noted as a member of the Jasper Co. Medical Society in the ‘present’ roster, meaning 1937. (Note: This section bears close reading- it looks as if it is a listing of members below the headline, “25 Members in 1912.” Dr. McMurray was only 12 years old in 1912, however, so 1912 is not the year being referred to- smart as he was.) He was listed as a member of the Jasper Co. Medical Society in the Thursday, May 6, 1937 edition. It also lists him as a Doctor born in Jasper Co., in Newton.

Above: Listing for Dr. E. A. McMurray and his wife Elna Mae (Kenner) McMurray in the 1939 Newton [Iowa] City. The same listing is in the 1941 Newton City Directory.

Using a variety of sources can help us understand more about the workday world of our ancestors.

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Jasper County Physicians newspaper articles, Newton Daily News, Apr 3, 1937-May 13, 1937, excerpted at http://iagenweb.org/jasper/physicians/.

2) Hold Inquest in Death of Woman (Mrs. Harry Evans): http://iagenweb.org/jasper/cemeteries/sugargrove/evans/evans2.html

3) Elected Officials of Jasper County 1882-1940: http://iagenweb.org/jasper/history/elected-officials/index.htm. Transcribed from the Iowa Official Register, 1933-1934, page 122; 1935-1936, page 166; and 1937-1938, page 347.

Note that Dr. McMurray’s uncle, Ray McMurray, served as the County Engineer for many years.

4) 1939 City Directory- Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

5) 1941 City Directory- Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

6) 1940 US Federal census for Edward A. McMurray, head of household: Source Citation: Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, Queens, New York; Roll: T627_2731; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 41-586. This entry notes he had 4 years of college education.

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Tuesday’s Tip- Let your computer create a timeline!

*ROTC Camp Training Certificate- Edward A. McMurray, Sr.(Click to enlarge.)*

Timelines can help in analysis of family migrations, locations, family size, occupations, and developing an understanding of what your ancestor’s lives were like. Who has time, though, for making up a separate timeline when you barely have a few minutes to just do the research???

The quick and easy way to have your computer create a pseudo-timeline for you is to title all your genealogy files- birth, marriage, death certificates, censuses, newspaper articles, etc., so that they automagically are ordered chronologically as you place them into your computer folders. Of course, you may need to add details if you don’t have a document or image for in-between dates. An example of this is seeing a big gap with no births for 6 years in a family that otherwise had a child every 2 years. I create a note using a text file (I use a Mac and like Text Wrangler), add an estimated date for my hypothesis and a few notes, such as “See Journal Name, Article Name on genealogy bookshelf.” In the birth-gap instance, I would include a note to search local cemeteries for an infant death in that gap period. (Don’t forget to add it to your To-Do list too.)

Here is my method for file names to automagically appear in chronological order, using the above certificate for Dr. Edward A. McMurray as an example:

1. Start your file name with the date- July 25, 1923 would be written as:

1923_0725_

If the month and/or or day is unknown, use double zeros instead of the two digit month or date: 1923_0300 or 1923_0000. Also, always use a leading zero for single digit months or days so the computer will order properly- if you don’t, the computer will think the 12th of the month comes before the 3rd.

Another option for the above document would be to put the date range that it pertains to in Dr. McMurray’s life:

1923_0614-0725_

2. Add the last name of the main person you want to link to the file in capital letters- this helps when skimming files. Follow with an underscore and then the first name and initial, including descriptive abbreviations such as Sr. or Jr.:

1923_0725_McMURRAY_Edward A_Sr_

Or use a birth-death date range to differentiate two persons with the same name:

1923_0725__McMURRAY_Edward A_1900-1992_

3. I then give a brief description of the item:

1923_0725__McMURRAY_Edward A_Sr_ROTC Camp Trng Cert_

4. If it is a newspaper or magazine article, book, website, etc., add the details such as volume, page, date.

_Journal name_v1_n2_p3-5_

5. Follow with the repository or website and date accessed if applicable:

_ancestry_20140318

or:

_FAG90601933_2014_0318

(with the memorial number on Find A Grave listed for easy reference.)

6. For an item that requires permission to reproduce, or a courtesy attribution, I add whatever is appropriate, such as:

_permission

to signify the photographer has given me permission to reuse the image.

The above certificate is a scan of the actual copy in my possession, so my file name would be as follows:

1923_0725_McMURRAY_Edward A_Sr_ROTC Camp Trng Cert_pmm.png

When you place the file into your folder structure, all those files will be ordered by date and voila!- a timeline without a lot of extra time spent. Another benefit is that all those in the family folder will be a part of the timeline, so it will be easy to see how an event in a child’s life relates to a parent’s.

I am planning to add my photos into the folders as well, so any one person will have their information together. I scan the back of the photos and use exactly the same file name, but add

_rev

so the two files hang out together in my folders.

You can create text files for more information, such as metadata, who owns the photo, when you did the research, etc., about a document or image. Just cut and paste the file name for the document you are referencing, and the new file will have a .txt extension, so will always stay next to the .docx, .png, etc. file. If it is already a .txt file, you can just add

_notes

or something similar to differentiate.

I use a Mac so can use ridiculously long file names, thankfully.

Since I am one of those uppity women and a feminist, and it is still Women’s History Month (ahhh, the horrible irony of a Women’s “HIStory” Month…), I use their maiden names throughout their lives. That helps me tell “HERstory.”

I hope this has given you some ideas for file names that can help you to access your genealogy treasure quickly. Check back next week for more information on how I structure my file folders for fast access to information.

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) ROTC certificate from our family treasure chest of photos and documents. (Lucky us.)

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Category: McMurray Family

Sentimental Sunday: Jonathan Felix Benjamin

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Tuesday’s Tip- Organizing computer files

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Five Family Photos for Friday- Hannah Melissa (Benjamin) McMurray

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Workday Wednesday- Dr. Edward A. McMurray

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Tuesday’s Tip- Let your computer create a timeline!

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