1652100

"THE MURPHYS ACCORDING TO FANNIE GRAFFIS"
EARLY HISTORY
BY
HAZEL KERK MURPHY WIESJAHN
DAUGHTER OF NATHAN ARCHIBALD "ARCH" MURPHY & MARY E. "MOLLIE" VENARD
GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER OF MARTHA BARBARA KERR

RACHEL

Aunt R was the oldest of the family. She had two husbands. Her first husband’s name was Eph Moore. When he died there were 2 children -- Lillian Day and Nathan. Her second husband was David Hastings one of the highly esteemed men of the church and community. Known to every one as Uncle David -- never Dave -- always David.

She was also the fattest of the family. Her voice was fine and sharp. Grandfather had a big rocking chair bought to fit a fat man and Aunt R filled it all up when she sat in it.

How well she liked to hitch her pony to the phaeton and come down to spend the day. in She always picked a nice warm summer day. She was quite a good seamstress and loved to piece quilts. So all the family took their scraps to her and she made many fancy comforter tops and quilts.

The Post Office used to be in her house before the Mooresburg Store was built. In the early days Aunt Mary G used to ride a horse to Star City for the mail twice once a week after the rail road was built through to Chicago. A letter must have been a real event in those days and a daily paper something undreamed of.

Aunt Mary and Aunt Jane attended college at Valparaiso. It was a Methodist college then and they roomed with the Methodist preacher while there. Aunt Jane’s beau never came back from the Army War of 61 so she never married. She was a good seamstress learning the Tailors trade and sewing for the Winamac tailor for several years. In later years she devoted her time to being a good cook and excellent housekeeper for her widowed brother. She not only liked to cook fancy things but she enjoyed eating them as much well as anyone. In the winter time she used to make a sweet bread seasoned with cinnamon that she called Russian bread. It was as good as cake. I never saw a recipe for it. So I think is was one of her own inventions. Like so many older folks she liked cookies and her favorite was a spiced sugar cookie with a scalloped edge. They always tasted the same -- and I never saw a burned or scorched product that she made.

AUNT RACHEL -- WHO’S WHO

The Author - Hazel Kerk Murphy, b. 1891; m. Henry Wiesjahn 1915; d. 1954; sister of Clancy Kerr and Chase Murphy; Grand Aunt of Allan, Marilyn, Dave, and Sue Murphy; Great Grand Aunt of Ben & Clancy Murphy and Carmen Schlatter.

Aunt R- Rachel Ann Murphy (actually Hazel’s grand aunt); b. about 1832 in Ohio; m. Ephraim Moore 03 June 1852; m. David Hastings before 1870; William Kerr Murphy’s sister; mother of Lillie Day and Nathan Moore.

Eph Moore - Ephraim Moore, Rachel Ann Murphy’s first husband and the father of her children Lillie Day and Nathan.

David Hastings - Rachel Ann Murphy’s second husband and a miller. In 1870, Rachel, David and all of their children are living next door to her brother William Kerr Murphy and his family.

Grandfather - William Kerr Murphy, b. 1835 in Ohio; d. 1901 in Indiana.

Aunt Mary G - Mary A. Murphy (actually Hazel’s grand aunt); b. 1837/38 in Ohio; m. John Graffis 06 April 1865; William Kerr Murphy’s sister; mother of "Lizzie," Lucy, Fannie, and maybe Ed Graffis.

Aunt Jane - Sarah Jane Murphy (actually Hazel’s grand aunt); b. 10 January 1841 in Staunton Township, Miami County, Ohio; d. 30 July 1922, Harrison Township, Pulaski County, Indiana; in 1880, thirty-nine-year-old Sarah Jane is keeping house for her mother Martha Barbara Kerr next door to her brother William Kerr Murphy. Also in Martha Barbara’s household are Sarah Jane’s niece, fourteen-year-old Fannie Graffis and her nephew, twenty-one-year-old William Dunn.

The Widowed Brother - William Kerr Murphy, b. 1835 in Ohio; d. 1901 in Indiana

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Ancestry.com Indiana Marriages, 1845-1920
Pulaski County, Indiana
Index to Marriage Record 1840 - 1920 Inclusive Volume II Letters I to Z Inclusive; W. P. A. Original Record Located: County Clerk's Office - Winamac Compiled by Indiana Works Progress Administration 1940

County: Pulaski
Name: Rachel Ann Murphey
Spouse: Ephraim R. Moore
Marriage Date: 03 Jun 1852
Book: C-B
Original Source Page: 73
[see also: http://www.geocities.com/pulaski_in/pulaskimarr2.html married by Adam D. Killiam, MG]
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Pulaski County, Indiana
Index to Marriage Record 1840 - 1920 Inclusive Volume II Letters I to Z Inclusive; W. P. A. Original Record Located: County Clerk's Office - Winamac Compiled by Indiana Works Progress Administration 1940

County: Pulaski
Name: Rachel A. Moore
Spouse: David Hastings
Marriage Date: 02 Mar 1870
Book: C-C
Original Source Page: 99
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Ancestry.com Images Online, image 51 of 161
1860 U.S. Census, Moors Burgh Post Office, Harrison Township, Pulaski County, Indiana, p. 45 (987); 05 July 1860
Line 11: h/h 313/313
Ephraim Moore, 35, Miller, $2900/$110, b. Ohio
Rachel A. Moore, 28, b. Ohio
William, 11, b. Indiana, attended school
Nathan, 7, b. Indiana, attended school
Thomas, 3, b. Indiana
Lillie, 1, b. Indiana
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Ancestry.com Images Online, image 8 of 20
1870 U. S. Census, Harrison Township, Pulaski County, Indiana
Post Office: Winamac; 08 July 1870
Line 16: h/h 55/51
William H.[K.] Murphy, 35, Farmer, $300/$2000, b. Ohio
Sarah, 35, Keeping House, b. Indiana
Archibald, 11, b. Indiana, attended school w/in census year
Mattie, 9, b. Indiana, attended school w/in census year
Jennie, 3, b. Indiana
Martha B., 64, b. Virginia
Sarah, 29, b. Virginia
William Buchanon, 21, b. Pennsylvania

Line 24: h/h 56/52
David N. Hasting, 47, Miller Flour, b. Ohio
Rachel [nee Murphy; Aunt Rachel, William Kerr Murphy's sister], 38, Keeping house, b. Ohio
Ella A., 18, b. Ohio
Anna, 14, b. Indiana
Elga N., 16, b. Indiana
Nathan [Moore], 16, b. Indiana
Thomas [Moore], 15, b. Indiana
Lilla [Moore], 14, b. Indiana
[Nathan, Thomas, and Lillie are Rachel's children by her first husband, Ephraim Moore]
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Ancestry.com Images Online, image 16 of 17
1880 U.S. Census, Harrison Township, ED 151, Pulaski County, Indiana, page 16D
Line 48: h/h 142/142
David W. Hastings, 57, Farmer, b. Ohio; father b. Virginia; mother b. Pennsylvania
Rachel A.[nee Murphy] Hastings, 47, Wife, keeping house, b. Ohio; father b. Michigan; mother b. Virginia
Edward Graffis, 11, nephew, works on farm, b. Indiana; father b. Ohio; mother b. Indiana