"The Worst Hard Time" page 108: "Alfalfa Bill said anything could grow in Oklahoma. His daddy, David, had made wine not long after grabbing a piece of dirt in the 1889 Sooner land rush; his Murray Mosel was so well-known that President Teddy Roosevelt had declared it "the bulliest wine of the land." Alfalfa Bill was himself a bully, but these times needed such a man, he said."
Okay.... wait...I don't know where this information came from.
"His daddy, David".... ???? David who? Is David a nickname? I'd think step-dad or something, but his mother died back when Murray was two....so I don't think there is a step-dad.
His dad's name was Uriah Dow Thomas Murray... at the age of 91, he administered the oath of office to his son....just as William Murray would do thirty years later when his son, Johnston Murray, was sworn in as Oklahoma's 14th governor.
Archives Source Oversized Materials Box B
The archives do shorten his name to U.D.T. Murray...but I don't see a "David" anywhere when referencing William Murray's father.
Bethany Public Schools mentions the father/son relationship as well.
Handbook of Texas has the same name reference.
One of many genealogy posts that mentions "Uriah Dow Thomas Murray" as his father.
Anyway....long way of explaining my original question? Why the 'David' reference? Was that a name used by intimates? If not, what is the connection?
Sooooo...of course this leads to the next question?
What is all this about Murray's father making wine, his famous Murray Mosel, and Teddy Roosevelt lovin' it???
I'm surprised at this revelation...for a number of reasons.
A) I'd never heard of it. ha... okay that's not shocking.
B) His father was a winemaker? When? For a long period of time? As an occupation? Or was this wine a 'one-hit wonder' while he did other things?
I've seen a reference to his father doing work in saw mills and grist mills....with the title "Reverand"...with his 2nd wife being an evangelist
...not as a winemaker.
C) famous Murray Mosel?? I can find no reference to it yet.
D) When did Teddy Roosevelt make this proclamation? As president? ... so far I've found him claiming an 'occasional' appreciation for mint julep....
E) For all the imagery of a cigar-smoking Murray, I've yet to find something that tied him to being the son of a winemaker... surprising being as its the time of Prohibition and all.
....side note...the noting of TR calling it the "bulliest wine' and then describing W.H. Murray as a 'bully' is kind of funny. Of course, 'bully' this and 'bully' that was a favorite saying of TR... slang for "worthy, jolly, admirable"...obviously not the insinuation when describing W.H. Murray
...a curious tidbit though about his father...must be more.... still searching...
3 comments:
Governor Murray's birth name was William Henry David Murray. His parents were Uriah Dow Thomas Murray and Bertha Jones. Uriah Dow was the son of James I Murray and Cynthia Basham. James Murray was the son of Thomas Murray and Margret Mercer of Gainsborough, Jackson Co Tennesee.
Uriah and his second wife Mary Jane Green are my great grandparents
The wine making is not true. Uriah Dow Murray and his wife Mary Jane were members of the Nazarene Church in Council Grove, Bethany Oklahoma. They were traveling evangelists....only wine they drank was of the grape juice variety with communion.
Willam Henry had an Uncle David who was the youngest son of his great grandfather, Thomas. David was the father of Cicero Murray who worked with his cousin "the governor" in state government. That is the only David that would be connected to the gov...his great uncle David...Since Thomas Murray had 12 children and David was the youngest he was within the generational span of gov Murray.
Actually, Cicero Murray's father was George Frank Murray, not David. Cicero's sister, Geneva, was my paternal grandmother.
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