OBITUARY:
FUNERAL TODAY FOR MR. J. J. MURPHY.
Daughter of 1853 Pioneer of Oregon; Congregational Church Member Here.
Mrs. J. J. Murphy, well known in Salem where she resided for many years, passed away in Portland Sunday. Funeral services will he held this morning at the First Congregational church of Salem, of which she we long a member, at 11 a.m., being conducted by the Rev. W. C. Kantner. The interment will be in the Odd Fellows cemetery where the family burial plot is located. Mrs. Murphy was 92 years old at the time of her death. She was a native of Kentucky, [born] March 29, 1841, and was born Elizabeth Catherine Lister, her father being a native on London, England, and her mother of Ireland. In 1853 the father decided to leave Kentucky for Oregon on account of his wife’s health. The journey was made by boat down the Kentucky and Ohio rivers, then up the Mississippi to St. Louis and up the Missouri to St. Joseph which was one of the termini of the overland trail. At St. Joseph teams and wagons were procured for crossing the plains and Mr. Lister and several of the children, including Elizabeth started west, leaving Mrs. Lister with one son in St. Joseph because her health was precarious. The train had severe hardships around Klamath lake and the Three Sisters country, but finally reached the upper Willamette valley where Mr. Lister took up a claim, returning a year later to bring his wife to Oregon. When she was 16 years old Elizabeth married S. T. Church, who was engaged in the mining and pack train business, and later, at Harrisburg, in a transportation line. To the union were born a son, Samuel W., a daughter, Harriet, widow of the late Dr. A. J. Giesy of Portland, wife of Louis G. Clarke. Portland. Mr. Church died in 1871 at Santa Clara, Cal., and in 1874 Mrs. Church married J. J. Murphy. The family home was established in Salem. A son Chester Griffin Murphy was born here. He was a noted athlete in Stanford university and is now a practicing attorney in Portland. The Murphys own the business block on Commercial street at the southwest corner of Sate and Commercial streets. Mrs. Murphy was an active member of the Salem Congregational church for 60 years. Her husband died 20 years ago. The last few years she made her home in the Mallory hotel, Portland. Surviving relatives all of Portland, are Mrs. Giesy, Mrs. Clarke, Chester G., and the following grandchildren and great grandchildren. Paul C. Giesy and his son, John A., and daughter Harriet; Marlan M. and Catherine E. daughters of C. G. Murphy; Mrs. Ruth Church Robertson and her daughter, Mary, and Miss Genevieve Church.
Oregon Statesman 29 November 1933
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