Page:Woman of the Century.djvu/535

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530
MURDOCH.
MURPHY.

especially fitted to lead Shakespeare classes by her years of study with Prof Hudson in Boston.


MURFREE, Miss Mary Noailles, novelist, horn in Grantlands. near Murfreesburough, Tenn., MARY NOAILLES MURFREE. in 1850. She is widely known by her pen-name. "Charles Egbert Craddock." She is the great granddaughter of Colonel Hardy Murfree, of Revolutionary fame, and her family have long been distinguished in the South. Her father was a brilliant lawyer before the Civil War, and a literary man. Mary was carefully educated. She was made lame in childhood by a stroke of paralysis, and, debarred from the active sports of youth, she became a student and reader. The Civil War reduced the fortunes of her family. After the conflict was ended, they removed to St. Louis, Mo., where they now reside. Mary began to busy herself in writing stories of life in the Tennessee mountains, where she had in youth been familiar with the people. She chose a masculine pen-name and sent her first productions to the "Atlantic Monthly." They were published, and at once inquiries were made concerning "Charles Egbert Craddock." She concealed her identity for several years. Her works have when very popular. They include "In the Tennessee Mountains." a volume of sketches (Boston. 1S841, "Where the Battle was Fought (1884), "Down the Ravine" (18S5). "The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountain" (1885), "In the Clouds" (1886), "The Story of Keedon Bluffs" (1887), and "The Despot of Broomsedge Cove" (1888). She has contributed much matter to the leading magazines of the day. Her work was supposed to be that of a man, from her pen-name and from the firm, distinct style of her writing She is a student of humanity, and her portraitures of the Tennessee mountaineers have very great value aside from the entertainment they furnish to the careless reader.


MURPHY. Mrs. Claudia Quigley, journalist, born in Toledo, Ohio. 28th March, 1863. She is descended from one of the pioneer settlers of the Maumee valley. Her father is Edward Quigley. and his wife was Eliza Sidley, whose home was in Geauga county, Ohio. The newly-married couple settled in Toledo, Ohio. CLAUDIA QUIGLEY MURPHY. When five years old. Claudia's school education began in the Ursuline Convent of the Sacred Heart, in her native city. She continued her studies there until 1881, when she commenced the study of medicine with Dr. E. M. Roys Gavitt, the leading woman physician of Toledo and one of the foremost in the State. Mrs. Murphy entered into that work with energy and enthusiasm, but at the end of a year's hard toil her eyes gave out, and she was compelled to abandon labor in that direction. In 1883 she became the wife of M. H. Murphy and continued to make her home in Toledo. Five years later her newspaper work was begun as the Toledo correspondent of the "Catholic Knight," of Cleveland. Ohio, in which position she showed the qualities necessary for success in that field of action. Her next step was into the place of managing editor of the Grand Rapids edition of the "Michigan Catholic." with headquarters in that city. During her stay there she, with two other enterprising women, began the work of organizing the Michigan Woman's Press Association, of which she was elected recording secretary, a position she held until her removal from the State. In the fall of 1890 she went upon the Staff of the Toledo "Commercial," resigning after doing efficient work in order to enter upon a broader field of action. She next became the editor and publisher of the "Woman's Recorder," a bright paper devoted to the interests of women in all directions, and a power in urging the political equality of women with men. She is a very clear and incisive writer. Her courage and energy are inexhaustible, and these are added to a quick brain and ready pen. She was, in December. 1891, the Ohio president of the International