Beckham County, OK - Obits: Florence, Frances and Kathleen Murphy, 1918 03 September 2008 Submitted by: delma25@pldi.net (Delma Tindell) ********************************************************************* USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ********************************************************************* MURPHY, FLORENCE MURPHY, FRANCES MURPHY, KATHLEEN (29 Aug, 1918, Elk City Newspaper, Elk City, Beckham Co, OK): Frank Murphy and family, of wife and three children and sister-in-law, Mrs. Chas. Murphy were on their way from Foss to Eastern Oklahoma. When near El Reno a train, No. 42 on the Rock Island ran into them. Mrs. Chas. Murphy and Frances Murphy being instantly killed and Mrs. F. Murphy and other two children died in the night. Mr. Murphy is injured so badly that it is thought he has only a slight chance to live. He is a well-known hardware man of Foss. His brother's wife had been visiting them, her husband, Dr. Murphy being in the army in France. Mrs. Frank Murphy was a prominent worker in the Red Cross at Foss. The three children were Kathleen, aged seven, Frances, aged about nine and Claude, fourteen. Obituary of Mrs. F. R. Murphy Mrs. F. R. Murphy, who was Miss Florence Bradshaw, was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Bradshaw, and was born in Washington County, Nebraska, July 15, 1878. With her parents she moved to Clyde, Kas., and a short time later, when she was six year old, the family moved to Hope, Kansas. She received her common school education at this place, after which she entered high school at Abeline, Kansas. Graduating from high school, taught in the schools at Hope and Herington, Kansas, until 1901, when she came to Foss and accepted a position as bookkeeper in the Hubert Bros., lumber yard, making her home with her sister, Mrs. C. F. Haytronft. She later taught in the school here, and in February, 1905, she was married to F. R. Murphy, who was in the hardware business here. The couple went to Herington, where the ceremony was performed, at the home of the bride's parents. To them three children were born, Claude, Frances and Kathleen. The two last named went to their reward in the accident which took the life of their mother. She is survived by the husband, and son, Claude, her parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Bradshaw, and a brother, Chas. Bradshaw of Herington, Kas., another brother John Bradshaw, in the army at Camp Pike, Ark., three sisters, Mrs. C. F. Hartronft, Cordell; Mrs. Chas. Hodger, Abeline, Kas.; and Miss Louise Bradshaw, who is a buyer for a wholesale house in Iowa. Deceased united with the M. E. Church when a child and when she came to Foss she joined the M. E. Church, South. She took a great interest in religious work and for years was organist in the church. When the United States entered the war she was one of the first women of the town to enter actively upon the patriotic work, and it is doubtful if any woman in this section of the state did any more work of this nature than she. When the local chapter of the Red Cross was organized she was chosen president and the great amount of work accomplished by the chapter was due greatly to her efforts. The funeral services were conducted at the Methodist church and was one of the most largely attended funerals in the history of the town. The sermon was preached by Rev. T. J. Taylor, who described the death of the mother and the two little girls as the saddest affair ever visiting this community. He spoke of the sweet christian character of the mother and the lovable disposition of the little girls, and dwelt at some length on the life beyond. The following served as pall bearers: E. A. Graves, Horace Childress, Fred Graves, Wm. Gilham, W. J. Lawson, A. B. Jones, E. S. Cook, and E. J. Hestetter. The following from the Foss Enterprise gives a report of the funeral of Mrs. Frank Murphy and daughters who were in the automobile accident of August 20th near Union City. The bodies of Mrs. F. R. Murphy and daughters Frances and Kathleen arrived from El Reno at noon Wednesday. They were held at the F. R. Murphy store until 2 p.m., the hour of the funeral. The three bodies were in one casket, a metallic case. Accompanying the remains were Mrs. C. F. Hartronft, sister of Mrs. Murphy, and daughter, Mrs. Lena Brown, and J. H. Murphy and Mrs. Burton of Phillipsburg, Kas., father and sister of F. R. Murphy. When it was seen that the husband and father would likely survive, it was decided to hold the bodies for a few days, thinking that he might recover sufficiently to express a wish as to their burial. The body of Mrs. Chas. Murphy was shipped to Illinois and buried by the side of her father. Her husband, Lieut. Chas. Murphy, of England, was notified of her death by cablegram. (12 Sep 1918, Elk City Newspaper, Elk City, Beckham Co, OK): MURPHY AND SON RECOVERING In our report two weeks ago of the automobile accident of Frank Murphy and family of Foss, we said that the son, Claud, had died, but this report was untrue. The Foss Enterprise last week, says he and Mr. Murphy are expected to recover. The injuries of Mr. Murphy were severe. He struck on his head and practically his entire scalp was torn off and cinders were ground into his head. The scalp was stitched back into place and is healing satisfactorily. One of Claud's legs is broken, has wounds on side and a number of bruises. They had not been told of the fate of the other members of the family, because of their condition. Mr. Murphy told his father that his family had not been to see him and no one would tell him about them, that he presumed it was for the best. Eye witnesses who saw the auto before the train came in sight state that the driver of the auto was watching a freight train which was on the siding awaiting the arrival of the passenger train, which was a fast one and did not stop at Union City. --------------------------------------------------- Return to Beckham County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/beckham/beckham.html