Sedgwick County Genealogy Trails Murdock Obits

SEDGWICK COUNTY, KANSAS

STROKE PROVES FATAL TO MARCELLUS MURDOCK

Marcellus M. Murdock, president of the Wichita Eagle and Beacon Publishing Co. Inc., died Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, Pa., where he had gone for physical therapy at Watson Clinic after a stroke suffered in Wichita last Nov. 29.

Murdock, 87, Feb. 14, suffered a second stroke March 3.

His death ended a newspaper career which started while he was a high school youth here at the turn of the century. He worked for $3 a week in the bookbinding department of The Wichita Eagle, founded by his father Marshall Murdock, April 12, 1872.

Although his reputation was based on his career as a newspaper publisher, Murdock also was nationally known for his work in aviation. He flew a plane breaking the sound barrier after he was 80 years old. His spirited backing of airplane building in the early days of aviation had much to do with Wichita becoming the great plane manufacturing city it is today.

He got into the oil business by accident and as a result participated in the "Great Butler County Trapshooter well." According to Murdock's story, he belonged to a trapshooter club here. Members shot at clay pigeons for recreation. A farmer upon whose land the club shot, mentioned that oil had surfaced on his pond. The trapshooters organized, drilled a well and found a gusher.

Murdock was active in real estate, once had a finger in manufacturing, for years was vice president and general manager of Radio Station KFH and even gambled by backing a play on Broadway.

His honors were numerous. One of his greatest in journalism was the Kansas citation of 1961 to him of the William Allen White Award. He was given the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by Wichita State University in 1963 and the Brotherhood Award of Christians and Jews in 1965. There were many other honors.

Survivors include his widow, Mrs. Paula H. Murdock; a son, Marsh M.; two daughters, Mrs. Victoria Bloom and Mrs. Foster Jennings. A third daughter, Mrs. Ward Colwell, died in 1963. Also surviving are seven grandchildren.

Gill Mortuary has charge.

Murdock was born Feb. 14, 1883, at the home of his parents, Marshall M. and Victoria Mayberry Murdock, located at Oak and St. Francis. Oak is now Murdock Street.

His father, a veteran of the Union Army, had survived Quantrill's raid on Lawrence to start the Burlingame Chronicle in Osage County. When the elder Murdock came to the junction of the Big and Little Arkansas rivers, he fell in love with the site. He founded The Wichita Eagle, was a town builder and saw a vast future for Wichita as an agriculture and wholesaling center.

Shortly after Marcellus was born, John J. Ingalls, U.S. senator and poet, bent over the baby and asked the mother his name. She answered it was Marcellus. The senator announced that thereafter it would be pronounced Mark-ellus.

Growing up in Wichita, Murdock was never far from the smell of printer's ink. He graduated as salutatorian of his high school class in 1902 and promptly went to work on his father's newspaper. He did about everything including covering the stockyards.

Guthrie was the capital of Indian Territory at the time and news from what is now Oklahoma was important to The Eagle.

The young reporter had married Maybelle Claire Armour and they set out for Guthrie where he was to be correspondent for The Eagle at $10 per week. They set up housekeeping in a room over a store and the correspondent was soon asking for a raise. He was hiked to $11 a week. (Mrs. Murdock died in 1938.)

Back in Wichita, Murdock found himself managing editor of The Eagle in 1903. His brother, Victor, was headed for Congress and this meant a 13 to 14-hour day for the youthful editor.

Marshall Murdock had become postmaster of Wichita. He had bought out a brother's interest in The Eagle and needed a publisher. His son, Marcellus, got the job in 1907.

He scared his father almost to silence by announcing that he was going to borrow $75,000 and build a new office for The Wichita Eagle. The location was to be at the southwest corner of Market and William. The post office was at the northwest corner and Marshall Murdock could watch construction of his daring son's project as he penned editorials at his postmaster's desk.

The youthful publisher gave his father another shock. He announced he was going to clean up city hall. The elder Murdock was not much for crusading. Also the chief of police was his best friend. He tried to talk his publisher son out of the attack but lost the argument. The Eagle turned the city hall upside down and there were indictments.

Always a man to keep space with invention and modern equipment, Murdock spared no pains in making The Eagle one of the leading newspapers of the state.

Then came his most daring exploit of all. He decided that he would found an evening paper. For years The Eagle had competed with The Beacon, owned and published by Henry J. Allen. So secretive was the birth of The Evening Eagle, many employees of The Wichita Eagle did not know it was in the making. It hit the streets of Wichita like a bombshell.

Allen was on a round-the-world cruise. He hastily returned to Wichita. The Evening Eagle made its bow in April or 1927 and Allen sold The Wichita Beacon to the Levand brothers of Denver in 1928.

Clyde M. Reed, Jr., publisher of the Parsons Sun, made the presentation speech when Murdock received the White Foundation award. He said, in part:

"The life of Wichita covers a span that runs from Wyatt Earp to Boeing, Beech and Cessna, from a new frontier town which was known as the Peerless Princess of the Plains to Kansas' largest city that became the Air Capital of the World.

"The Journalistic history of Wichita likewise covers a period that stretches from an era dotted with innumerable infant wonders aired from a shirttail full of type through times of raucous and rugged competition to a day of mature enterprise.

"The name of one family and for more than 50 years the name of one man have been indelibly linked with Wichita and Wichita journalism, and it is that man we honor with the William Allen White Foundation's Award for Journalistic Merit, 1961 edition.

"He is, as we shall see, 'the man who did not run' when adversity and harsh trials assailed him. Indeed, he is the man, with full measure of patience and fortitude, who persevered through dark days. He is one who added the brightest star of all to an already crowded crown of achievement at the not-too-tender age of 77, long after most others have laid aside arduous workaday chores.

"He has been a busy, exciting and fruitful life -- and a long one, too, which all began on Saint Valentine's Day in 1883. This was eleven years after his father, with flowing beard and high silk hat, had invaded Wichita to give wings to the fledgling Wichita Eagle.

"The sale of The Beacon, to the Levand family was the start of a competitive situation without precedent in all of Kansas fascinating and turbulent newspaper history. It has few parallels in the nation. The Levands introduced a brand of "gold rush" journalism to Wichita and to Kansas that surpassed anything even witnessed in Denver's gaudiest days.

"For the next 32 years, no holds were barred, and new ones were invented. The rivalry was a lusty one and extended over three decades, plus two years.

"Even the passing of years did not dim the strenuous nature of the battle.

"A momentary truce was called in 1953 when the two newspaper agreed to serve as joint hosts for a meeting of Kansas members of the Associated Press to be held in Wichita. It was an event long to be remembered.

"Something had to give, however, when the harsh laws of newspaper economics caught up with the situation in Wichita and the city's rapid expansion was momentarily halted.

"The inevitable happened. The Eagle began negotiations for the purchase of The Beacon. They were completed on neutral ground, in a Denver hotel, and the Beacon was consolidated under Murdock ownership with the publication with which it had competed so hard for so long. This was in August of 1960."

The Wichita Beacon office at 825 E. Douglas was enlarged greatly and The Wichita Eagle moved into the structure. The latest addition is undergoing completion.

It might be said for Murdock that he backed everything good for Wichita. He knew agriculture, industry and culture. He was in the midst of the fight for a modern airport. He backed flood control, Cheney Lake, better government and Wichita State University from the days it was Fairmount College. He was a booster of Friends and public schools. His papers promoted the Community Chest, the Red Cross, the YMCA and YWCA and a dozen other enterprises.

His adventure on Broadway came when a cousin, Brock Pemberton, talked him into helping to finance a play, "Enter Madame." It was a hit of 1920.

He was about 45 when he decided he wanted to learn to fly an airplane. He took his lessons from A. M. "Monte" Barnes of the Travel Air Transportation Co. He was breveted a pilot by aviation pioneer Orville Wright on July 2, 1929. He purchased his own plane and became an inveterate flier.

Although he was publisher, he soon found his editors asking him to fly reporters to various news events around the state. He was the first newspaper publisher in Kansas to own and fly his own plane.

Murdock loved to travel and often turned reporter on the trips. He talked with the people of foreign countries and got their viewpoints. He studied the economy of a nation and its political situation. Often he wrote a series of his observations for The Wichita Eagle.

He made an air trip to Europe after World War I with his son, Marsh. Following World War II, Robert Patterson, secretary of war, selected him with other publishers to tour Germany, France, Italy and Holland to study problems facing occupation troops and conversion of war-torn countries to peaceful pursuits. The trip included an audience with Pope Pius XII.

He was long a close friend of Tom Braniff, head of Braniff International Airways. He made a flight to South America with Braniff and wrote a series of articles about the nations of that continent.

In 1949, he flew to Alaska with his friends Walter Beech, Dr. R. M. Gouldner, Howard Jameson of Fox Enterprises and Col. Art Goebel, winner of the Dole race to Hawaii.

He was an ardent sportsman and enjoyed most of all bird-shooting expeditions to Arkansas and other flyway areas. He made a tour of Japan in 1956 and wrote a series for The Eagle on his observations.

He loved Colorado almost as much as Kansas and often vacationed in Steamboat Springs, Colo.

Murdock had through the years served on the Library Board, Community Chest Board, and its successor, United Fund, the YMCA and YWCA boards, that of the Wichita Children's Home and the Boy Scouts to name a few. He was active through the years in the Wichita Chamber of Commerce. He was a member of Albert Pike Lodge AF & AM, Wichita Consistory and was a past potentate of Midian Shrine. He was honored by the Disabled Veterans of the World War in 1948 for his support and by the Marine Corps in 1951 for his cooperation.

Among the many other organizations in which he was active are the American Newspaper Publishers Association, Sigma Delta Chi, the journalism society, Alpha Kappa Psi, the businessman's fraternity, Wichita Chamber of Commerce, National Aeronautical Association, the Air Force League, Federation Aeronautique Internationale and the OX5 Club of America.

One of the latest honors was parade marshal when state officers were inaugurated in Century II last January.

Murdock was a Republican but his newspapers were independent from the time of the Bull Moose split until the present.

Although The Wichita Eagle and Beacon has hundreds of employees, he knew scores of them by their first names. Dozens referred to him as "MM". Old timers called him Marcellus and he called them by their first names.
(Wichita Eagle ~ Wednesday ~ March 11, 1970 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)

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FUNERAL WILL BE FRIDAY FOR MARCELLUS MURDOCK

Funeral services for Marcellus M. Murdock will be at 3 p.m. Friday at Central Christian Church, 445 N. Market. There will be a private entombment in Mission Chapel Mausoleum.

Dr. Thomas O. Parish, former Central Christian pastor, now of Wellington, will officiate.

President and chairman of the board of The Wichita Eagle and Beacon Publishing Co. Inc., Murdock, 87, died Tuesday afternoon in Pittsburgh, Pa., where he had gone for physical therapy.

Tributes to Murdock came Wednesday from Gov. Robert Docking, Kansas congressman, journalists and businessmen.

Docking said he was saddened by the death of Murdock, a longtime and admired friend who served as parade marshal at the governor's 1969 inaugural in Wichita.

"Marcellus Murdock long will be remembered by Kansans," Docking continued "through dedication to objectivity and ethics, Mr. Murdock perpetuated the high ideals of American journalism.

"Through hard work, foresight and devotion to his state and community, Mr. Murdock became a forerunner of the aviation industry in Kansas. He was a man the Docking family held in great admiration and respect for many years."

Murdock, an official of The Wichita Eagle from the age of 23, took up flying when he was 45, and broke the sound barrier in an Air Force F100 jet when he was 80.

Sen. James Pearson, R-Kan., called Murdock "one of the most colorful -- and most human -- men on the Kansas scene in this century," and a pioneer publisher "whose enterprise grew as Wichita grew."

The senator noted Murdock's contributions to the city, to aviation and journalism and added: "This history has been enriched by the life of Mr. Murdock, and all of Kansas will regret to mark his passing."

Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., said Murdock, being young in his outlook, contributed a great deal to journalism in Kansas and in the nation.

"A pioneer in aviation, it was he who really established Wichita as the air capital of the nation," Dole went on. "He will be sorely missed, not only by members of the Wichita community but by all Kansans."

Republican U.S. Rep. Garner, Shriver said that Kansas and the nation had lost a distinguished pioneer and an outstanding journalist "and I have lost a good friend."

Shriver called Murdock's leadership in supporting aviation, culture, education, conservation and flood control.

"He was a man of 87 at death but he lived as a man who always was young at heart," Shriver said. "His sincerity, good humor and wise counsel always were a helpful inspiration to me when I visited with him in his office."

Murdock has built a lasting memorial, the congressman added, through his long and active life.

It included ventures into real estate, oil, the backing of at least one Broadway play and a period as vice president and general manager of Wichita radio station KFH.

Kansas publishers who added their tributes included Clyde Reed of the Parsons Sun, Whitley Austin of the Salina Journal, Oscar Stauffer of the Topeka Daily Capital and State Journal, Stuart Aubrey of the Hutchinson Daily News, and McDill (Huck) Boyd, publisher of the Phillips County Review.

Boyd's mother, Mamie Boyd of Mankato, Kansas' most noted newswoman, added her appreciation of Murdock, whom she had known since he was a young man.

Rolla A. Clymer, editor of the El Dorado Times, described his longtime friend as "a great spirit -- the spirit of eternal youth...buoyed up by his enthusiasms, yet he held these in check by a stern sense of reality.

"The Hall of Fame will be distinguished by the inclusion of his name," Clymer added.

In 1961, Murdock received the William Allen White Foundation's Kansas Citation for Journalistic Merit, and in 1965, the Brotherhood Award of Christians and Jews.

Clark Ahlberg, president of Wichita State University, noted that WSU had given Murdock the Doctor of Humane Letters degree in 1963.

He said the honor was in recognition of the newspaperman's "outstanding leadership as a publisher, as a warm supporter of this university over the years."

Mrs. O. A. Beech, chairman of the board of Beech Aircraft Corp., whose husband, Walter, convinced Murdock that he should learn to fly when he told the 45-year-old journalist he was too old to be a pilot, Wednesday praised Murdock's contributions to the aviation industry.

Since the family's and the company's association with Murdock since the early 1920's, Mrs. Beech said, "he never wavered in his enthusiasm toward aviation and his love of flying."

"His contribution to the growth of aviation as well as his keen interest in civic and world affairs would fill many volumes. Kansas and aviation have lost a great and dear friend."

Gill Mortuary has charge.
(Wichita Eagle ~ Thursday ~ March 12, 1970 ~ submitted by Lori DeWinkler)

PALLBEARERS ARE LISTED FOR MURDOCK

Pallbearers were announced Thursday for the funeral Friday of Marcellus M. Murdock, 87, chairman of the board and president of The Wichita Eagle and Beacon Publishing Co., Inc.

Services for Murdock will be at 3 p.m. Friday at Central Christian Church. Private entombment will be in Mission Chapel Mausoleum. Friends may call at Gill Mortuary until noon Friday. He died Tuesday.

No memorial has been designated. The family suggests that any memorials be to the donor's favorite charity.

Active pallbearers will be Bob Ames, John Colburn, Glenn Cummins, Harold Golton, Martin Johnson and Bill Lawrence.

Honorary pallbearers will be Joe Beemiller, Bruce Behymer, Don Granger, Dick Long, Sam Kiefner, Frank Long, Joe Spriggs and Arch O'Bryant.

All of the pallbearers have been connected with The Eagle and The Beacon.

A little-known aspect of Murdock's continuing support for Wichita and the area it serves was unscored Thursday by Don Pray, president of Arkansas Valley Devlopment Association Inc.

Pray, in a letter to John H. Colburn, editor and publisher of The Eagle and The Beacon, noted that in 1966 Murdock led a campaign that raised more than $25,000 to finance a local study of the feasibility of extending navigation of the Arkansas River to Wichita.

Murdock saw this as a contribution that "might lead to Wichita's greatest development" and noted that his father, Col. Marshall Murdock, selected Wichita as the location for The Eagle because it was at the confluence of two rivers.

The money was raised and the Corps of Engineers was convinced that a major study of navigation to Wichita was justified by the results of the preliminary study financed by local interests.

As Pray recounted, "When Marcellus delivered the last pledge to me, he said, "Don, I have done this, and I assure you it completes the last of my major efforts to build Wichita. I never thought I would do it, but I am proud to have this part in what I know will make my father's prediction come true after I have gone on to my reward -- be what it may."
(Wichita Eagle ~ Friday ~ March 13, 1970)