Southwest Sierra #98 – Mary E. “Her Story”

Continued. This week’s article provides more family background on Mary E. and her children, along with their steady migration westward. As mentioned in SS#96, Mary E. and John Murphy wed on October 4, 1861. Their first home was on the farm of Mary E’s grandparents, William and Elizabeth King, near Greencastle, Indiana. Her first two children were born on the farm: Flora (1862) and Martha (1864). Grandpa King died in 1865 and the farm was either given or sold to the King’s remaining daughter, Polly, or to their sons, George and Jacob. The Murphys and Elizabeth (Kurtz) King, aka Grandma King, moved westward to Illinois. Mary E.s third daughter, Clara Belle, was born in Tuscola, Illinois, in 1867. The family then moved on and settled in Tiskilma, Illinois.

At this time, a terrible diphtheria plague hit Illinois. John Murphy worked as a carpenter, and Mary E. worked with Dr. Richardson, making house calls and taking care of the sick. On one occasion, Mary E. and the Doctor were away from their families for three weeks. Fortunately, none of their families became sick. Just after that time, “Grandma King” (Mary E’s grandmother who raised her) passed away in 1867-68.

The Murphys moved again westward to Beaver Creek, Nebraska. Their last child, George, was born there in 1869. They remained there until tragedy struck: John Murphy died of pneumonia in 1875. Mary E. was left to raise the children alone. She and the children remained for a few months, but after many prairie fires, droughts, and some unpleasant experiences with the Sioux Indians, the family moved to Sydney, Nebraska. There, Mary E. opened a dressmaking shop. Flora and Martha were put to work in the shop. The 3rd daughter, Clara Belle, was sent to live with a rich family in Chicago as a child companion to the family’s daughter. The family had a wonderful library, and Clara Belle was allowed to read as much as she wanted after her chores as “playmate” were finished for the day. The son, George, remained with Mary E. and his sisters Flora and Martha.

While living in Sydney, Nebraska, Mary E. met and married Mr. William R. Godfrey on November 7, 1881. (She was 38 years old) Mary E. and Mr. Godfrey’s first son, William R. Godfrey Jr., was born in Sydney on July 2, 1882.

About 1883, the entire clan arrived in Canon City, Colorado. Mary E.’s youngest child, Fred King Godfrey, was born there in May of 1885. (She was 42 years old with a span of 23 years between the births of her oldest and youngest child). Mary E.’s brother “Col.” Straughn had been making prospecting trips to Colorado starting in the 1870s. Did he have something to do with the Godfrey’s move to Colorado?

Mary E.s eldest daughter, Flora Murphy, moved back to Tiskilwa, where she worked as a housemaid before marrying William Chesney in 1890. The two younger daughters, Martha and Clara Belle Murphy, both married while the family was living in Canon City. Clara Belle married Mathew Daniel Bell in 1884. [Clara Belle’s married name was Clara Belle Bell! She is my great-great-grandmother, making Mary E my 3 x great-grandma. I had one extra “great” in last week’s article.] Martha married Albert Lee Hayes on December 3, 1890.

With the daughters wed, the much smaller Godfrey clan then moved to 2424 Lawrence Street in Denver, Colorado, around 1890. [George Murphy isn’t mentioned again, but he would have been 20 years old by now.] Son-in-law Matt Daniel Bell was a railroad track and bridge inspector for the Colorado Midland Railroad. His work required him to be away from home and family for months at a time. It was decided that Clara Belle and the three children should also move to Denver. That way, Matt Daniel could visit his family when he was in town. Clara Belle and her eldest daughter “Dottie” were both excellent seamstresses. They started to work at “Elitch’s Gardens” in Denver as seamstresses for the summer stock company there. Matt and Clara Belle bought a small house behind the Gardens.

Mary E. became a widow for the second time when William Godfrey Sr. died in Denver in 1895. Son-in-law Albert Hayes died a few years later, leaving daughter Martha a widow with four youngsters to raise. Martha moved in with her mother, Mary E., in Denver.

In approximately 1903, Mary E. decided to move west once again to Long Beach, California, probably because of the fair weather. She was joined by the clans of daughters Martha and Clara Belle, and eventually her two sons Will and Fred. Her final home was at 439 East 48th Street in Los Angeles. Next week, we get to “hear” Mary E. speak with a lengthy letter that she wrote to granddaughter Clara on March 21, 1914.

The majority of the information used for this article was taken from a Biography of Mary E. (Straughn) Murphy Godfrey compiled by Daniel Thomason in the 1990s and published on ancestry.com