By Robert "Bob" Spude
On November 19, 1904, Prescott's newspaper reported: "Mrs. F. M. Murphy entertained a number of guests in honor of Miss Nellie Drake, who returned recently from a visit east. The dining room which is in red, was beautifully decorated for the occasion and a dainty little souvenir in the shape of a Cinderella silver slipper filled with bonbons was given to each guest."
What do we know of the happenings within the walls of the Victorian houses that stair-step up and down "Nob Hill," east of the courthouse square? Most of the grand homes were built between 1890 and 1902, the waning days of the reign of Queen Victoria. They housed Prescott's upper class, its merchants, bankers, lawyers, and railroad men and their families. What do we know especially of the women and their children, and their social values?
One house is of special interest to me, the one at the corner of Alarcon and Gurley, a two-story Victorian now carved into apartments and tucked behind Mailboxes Etc. At the beginning of the last century it was the home of Ethel M. Murphy, or, more appropriately, Mrs. F. M. Murphy, and her family.
Ethel is a shadow figure, for the most part, hidden behind her well-known husband, banker, railroad financier, and mine owner Frank M. Murphy. What is known comes from news clippings, family records, a few extant letters, and census data. What is revealed is a modest person who probably did not fit well within Prescott's society, possibly feeling aloof, if not superior in a pious way.
That she was educated is seen in a few extant letters, a flowing style with perfect grammar. She played piano for the church, and had other musical interests but to what extent is not revealed in information at hand. Family records provide the slim outline of her life. Born in Baltimore September 17, 1872, she moved around the East with her Oxford-educated Episcopal minister father, Edward Meany, English born mother, Mary, and four siblings. Overcoming the reverend's modest financial situation, the family nurtured a strong sense of place among betters, instinctively upper class in social outlook reflective of the Church of England's deferential society.
In 1890, they moved to Prescott. Rev. E. W. Meany is remembered for heading the drive to build the St. Luke's Episcopal Church building, still standing at the corner of Union and Marina a block from what would later become Ethel's home. Ethel helped with church functions. Among the active members was Frank M. Murphy, the town's most eligible bachelor, and richest. Ethel's distinctive upbringing separated her from the daughters of ranchers and mercantile clerks, and appealed to Frank. On June 27, 1892, thirty-eight year old Frank married nineteen year old Ethel in "the most brilliant society event that has ever occurred in Prescott," according to the local newspaper. The reception was held at William and Mary Bashford's gingerbread house, today restored on the Sharlot Hall Museum grounds. The Murphys's first home was next door.
A photograph taken a few years later shows a twenty-something Ethel, a beauty with doe-like eyes and the Gibson girl look popular during the 1890s. Attractive, polished and knowledgeable of the bigger world, she probably was more than just a loved adornment. In 1902, the Murphys moved to the home at Gurley Street, which would be their residence the rest of Frank's life. Ethel's world was her family, church and home. Newspapers noted the comings and goings of relatives, parties hosted for friends, and small gatherings for the holidays, comprised of family and intimates, usually business partners. Her friends were dictated by her husband's career, the wives of railroad men, mine owners, or bankers.
She was part of a closely-knit, affectionate family. Her brothers went to work for Frank in his mines or bank. Brother Edward married Nellie Drake of the Cinderella slipper party. Included in the household, according to census data, were maids, butler, valet, and coachman.
As Murphy's wealth increased, he planned a large housing development on the west side of Prescott, complete with park, figure eight drive, zoo, and grand residence. Maybe because of Ethel's influence and more reserved tendencies, the home was never built and the grand home site was donated to build the government's "Arizona Pioneers' Home."
Ethel, like most Victorian women, had periods of exultation and of black discouragement. Behind the walls were tales of a child lost to disease and a husband crippled by an illness that would shorten his life.
She also influenced some of Frank's philanthropy, to be a leader in donations to build Prescott's Carnegie library, help its St. Joseph Academy and the Sisters of Mercy hospital. She saw to the donation of one of his small rental houses to the Episcopal Church as a manse; today it stands on the Sharlot Hall Museum grounds as the restored Governor Fremont House.
But by 1905, the couple spent over half their time in New York, Los Angeles or Europe. Ethel enjoyed Broadway plays, and the Hippodrome, but especially New York City's St. George Episcopal Church, where banker J. P. Morgan passed the collection plate. During her thirties she was more independent, occasionally taking Frank's private railroad car on jaunts to visit family or friends. In 1907, she and her husband went to Rome and were introduced to the Pope.
In 1914, Frank's nephew died leaving a five-year-old son, Frank M. Murphy II, who Ethel, at age 42, and he adopted. Tales of family joy lasted for a few years at their Gurley Street home. Frank's illness worsened, his condition deteriorated. On June 23, 1917 he died and was buried in Ontario, California.
Ethel and Frank, Jr., moved to California like so many of the old Prescott crowd, including Nellie Drake Meany. They lived near the Ontario, California church once ministered to by her father, Rev. Edward Meany. When Prescott residents called for a monument to Frank M. Murphy she demurred. Instead she donated to her church in Ontario a life-sized statue of Jesus in her husband's name. It still stands. Ethel Mary Murphy died in California June 24, 1950.
Robert Spude is a Freelance Writer in Santa Fe New Mexico. He has an avid interest in mining history of our region.
Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number: (po0751pa). Reuse only by permission.
Frank and Ethel Murphy stopped for a photographer on the loop road that Murphy had built (now part of Country Club Drive) west of Prescott. Little is known of Ethel and her personality, but it is clear that she was attractive, polished, and knowledgeable of the bigger world.