Mary Culver Murray was born in 1844 in Little Valley, New York. She had lived most of her childhood without a father. Her father, Lyman Culver, had died when she was just 7 years old. Lyman died at the young age of 48 after he served on a grand jury and contracted typhoid fever. Eleven men on the jury died. When Mary was in her twenties, she and her mother (Sarah Price Culver) followed her older brother, Cary Culver, to Colorado. Here, she met and married her husband, Alexander Murray, in 1879. She would have been 34 at the time of her marriage and Alexander was six years younger. She was 39 when Margaret was born and 43 when Rachel was born. Amazing! Mary and Alexander raised their girls at their ranch on Ralston Creek. She died at home at the age of 66. Before her death, she and Alexander celebrated the birth of 7 grandchildren and suffered the loss of one. Alexander lived nine years after Mary's death.
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| Mary Culver Murray is buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Wheatridge, CO |
When Margaret's next letter was postmarked on August 28th, her new baby girl would have been exactly 4 months.There's no return address on this envelope . . . who would have time for such things with four children ranging from 4 years-old to 4 months? The letter is addressed to:
Mrs. Amelia Cole
Berthoud, Colorado
R.H.D No. 5
I have to confess that I feel a little bit uncomfortable publishing this next letter because it contains some pretty personal information in it. The guys might want to skip the entire paragraph about "the remedy" but I think it's something that our grandmother wouldn't have minded us girls knowing - obviously she felt comfortable enough to share it with her cousin, so why not her granddaughters? I also think she must have been the kind of woman who did not blush easily as you will come to understand in the letter. So ladies read the letter with an understanding of life 100 years ago.
- Average life expectancy was 54.
- There were only 100 people who were known to be 100 years old (now there are 9300).
- Tuberculosis was one of the leading causes of death.
- About 7 moms died during labor out of every 1,000 births & 1 in 10 babies died before their first birthday
- Most homes lacked indoor plumbing
- About a quarter had phones
- No air conditioners or refrigerators
- Cars were hot sellers but there were relatively few and very few paved roads
- First Hollywood film was shot in the fall of 1911
But it was the heyday of women's suffrage and Colorado was the first state in the country to give women the right to vote (1893) - a full 27 years before it was won nationally. So it seems that the women from Colorado were a unique breed. In the book Representative Women of Colorado which was published in 1911, the preface says, ". . .the women of Colorado hold a unique position in the world. They have the ballot, a privilege denied their sisters in most other states and other lands. In no other part of the
world is woman so important a factor.....as in the Rocky Mountain west."
Grandmother Miller's second letter reads......
Boulder Colo
August 27th, 1911
Dear Amelia,This is Sunday evening and a good time to answer your letter received so long ago.
We are all well again now John is feeling fine after his sick spell he was having when Aunt Vinnie was here. How are you all standing the summer heat? It's not so hot this summer as usual do you think? How are the babies? My little one is a fine little girl now. I thank you for the babies picture you sent me. I hope I may have some pictures taken some day and I'll sure remember you.
I expect you are waiting for the promised letter with the remedy in it. Well you go to the drug store or send someone who doesn't blush and ask for a little sponge in a silk net the price is a quarter and then you get 15 cents worth of glycerin and put it in a little glass jar and add a good half teaspoon of salt, and put the sponge in the jar . If you wish I can go get this little sponge for you. The idea is this, eggs that are salted won't hatch, the salt kills all germs and when you think you are in danger of anything , insert this sponge during the day and take away when you go to bed and then take a wash and insert again for a while. Of course it feels a little uncomfortable but you will soon get used to it. It has been alright for me so far.
We went down home last Saturday and stayed over Sunday. Papa seemed to be feeling pretty good and Rachel too but it is hard for them both. Rachel just stays in the kitchen all the time and it seems so strange not to see Mama on the porch when we drive up. Little Edward says Grandma gone away. Rachel says she keeps thinking how Mama limped around to help take care of her when the little baby was born. She did not know she was so sick.
As ever your loving cousin
Margaret Miller
P.S. If you come to Boulder in September, be sure and come see me. MSM
Now you know "the remedy" and the fact that Margaret thought it was working fairly well for her......but she did have four children in about four years, so I'm not so sure about the effectiveness of this remedy!
If you'd like to know a little more about Rocky Mountain women in 1911, check out this link. It a link to the book I mentioned earlier and the fascinating thing is that Margaret Murray Miller's aunt, Mary Miller, is listed along with her picture. The woman next to Mary Miller is surely a relative when you look at her name, but I'm not sure of the relationship. Check it out, it's fascinating to page through.
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