New at HCHM: Three Photos & A Mystery

Posted on by hchm-curator

by Kristine Schmucker, HCHM Archivist/Curator

Recently the museum received three photos with limited information. The donor had been told by older relatives that they were photos from the time their family lived in Newton, Ks. The donor’s grandfather was  Joseph Murphy, but had been born in Newton with the name Job Combs March 26, 1885. The photos are of a house, a Feed & Sale Stable and a man identified as Carter Williams. The house photo had the Mrs. B.F. Denton photographer stamp on the back along with the color scheme of the house.

Research started to discover the location of the Feed & Sale Stable business, but the mystery of the Combs became the story long after the location of the stable was known.The Feed & Sale Stable was located at the corner of 5th & Poplar, Newton in 1885. The business was owned by Job Combs, but who was he?

The Mystery

The biggest question surrounded the identity of Job Combs and why did he change his name to Joseph Murphy? The second was the identity of Carter Williams and how did he connect. The first thing discovered was there were two Job Combs – a father and son.

Job Combs Family in Newton

In 1871, 28 year old Job Combs arrived in what would become Harvey County with his 16 year old wife and several children, the oldest William was eleven. Job was born in Indianna in 1843 and served in 2nd Indianna cavalry. An oral story in the family says that he was a spy, but when he was captured, he was able to escape due to his slender wrists.  He lists his occupation as “jockey” in the 1880 Census. His wife, Mollie, or MJ, was born in Arkansas in 1855 and listed her occupation as “Keeping house.”

Ten years later Job Combs announced that he was an independent candidate for the office of sheriff. He noted that he was not a politician and had never run for office. He served in the military as a member and promised; “if elected he will be a terror to horse thieves and other law-breakers throughout the ‘Great Southwest’.” (Weekly Republican 7 September 1881) He did not win election.

Throughout the early 1880s, Job Combs worked for various stables in Newton including the Ensign Stable.

The next mention in the newspapers is on September 27, 1883, when R.O. Tyler was put on trial for selling liquor to Job Combs. The complaint was brought by his wife, Mollie Combs who had instructed Tyler not to sell to her husband. Over forty witnesses were subpoenaed in the case.

Life must have stabilized for the Combs family for a few years. In 1885, Combs bought two lots at the corner of 5th & Poplar and erected a stable 32′ x 110′. (Newton Democrat 24 April 1885).

Newton Democrat, 12 March 1886

He built a house next to the stable “with six rooms, a good well and cistern, cellar and every convenience.” (Newton Democrat 12 Jun 1885)

Baby Combs

Earlier in March the Combs family added one last son to the family. On March 27 1885 the Newton Democrat offered congratulations to the Combs family on the birth of a son named Job Combs.

“Mrs. Job Combs . . . presented her leige lord with an heir – a son who kicks the beam at 12 pounds avoirdupois . . . the mother and child are doing nicely and hopes are entertained that the father will if an antidote can be found for his excessive hilarity. We congratulate, you Job, and wish you many, many -er, er, well, many happy days, even years , with the youngster.” (Newton Democrat 27 March 1885)

“The Best Piano in the City”

Two years later, Combs sold home on 5th and bought a farm three miles west of the Fair ground. His land and other assets are sold at a sheriff’s auctions in 1892 and 1889.

Job Combs and Mollie Williams Combs divorced May 18, 1888, and Mrs. Combs began selling furniture. One item in particular was a point of contention, “the best piano in the city.”  Mrs. Job Combs advertised it for sale in 1888. It is possible that her ex-husband Job did not agree to the sale of the piano. In May 1891, this piano became the focal point when Job Combs was arrested for disturbing the peace in an altercation with D.S. Welsh. Welsh had possession of the piano.

Newton Daily Republican, 1 December 1888

Combs spent time in the City jail and was fined $5 and costs as a result. No further word on what happened with the piano. Job Combs does not appear in the Harvey County papers after 1892.

Who Was Mrs.  Mollie Combs?

Born in Arkansas in 1855, she married Job Combs young, possibly at the age of 14. She came with him to Harvey County in 1871. After the divorce from Job Combs, Mrs. Combs’ name begins to appear in the Police Court sections of the newspapers.

In 1890, Mollie Combs got in trouble with the law as “a proprietress of a bawdy house.”   Her establishment was located on E 6th and was known as the Atlantic House.  In June 1890, Dr. Earnest Schurchart  was arrested for violating a prohibitory liquor law. Schurchart, described as a “German of rather disreputable character whom it is said has only been out of the penitentiary a short time,” was living at the Atlantic house. One witness against Schurchart was Mrs. Combs son. Mrs. Combs was “fined $50 and cost for keeping a house of ill fame.”

The 1900 Census shows that Mollie has moved to Minneapolis, Minnnesota and is married to Patrick Murphy. Included in the census is a 16 year boy named Joseph Murphy born 26 March 1885 in Newton, Kansas. Patrick Murphy is listed as his father.

Who Was Patrick Murphy?

In a document with the U.S. Social Security Numerical Identification Files, Name and Form, 1943 for Joseph Murphy, Patrick Murphy is listed as the father and Mollie Williams is listed as the mother. Joseph’s birthdate was 26 March 1885 in Newton, Ks. Was Patrick Murphy Job Combs’ actual father?

Patrick Murphy was a difficult man. He lived in Burrton, Kansas. He was a known gambler who regularly beat his wife. For example, on December 23, 1890, the Newton Daily Republican reported; “Sheriff Pollard has gone to Burrton for Patrick Murphy who is accused of assaulting his wife and children.”

Samantha Murphy received a degree of divorce from Patrick Murphy on the ground of extreme cruelty February 27, 1891.

Job Combs/Joseph Murphy

Joseph Murphy made a life in Hennepin, Minnesota. He married Ollie L. from Norway sometime before 1910. They had one child, Amy Virginia Murphy.

On an application to change his name dated February 1943, Job Combs officially changed his name to Joseph Murphy and listed his parents as Patrick Murphy and Mollie Williams. Just a few years later on documents related to his death on 2 April 1948, Job Combs is listed as his father, Mollie Williams his mother and his spouse was Ollie L. Murphy.

Job Combs/Joseph Murphy was 63 years old when he died at St. Louis Park, Hennepin, Minnesota.

Loose Ends

Mollie Williams Combs Murphy died in January 1925 at the age of 80 in Minneapolis, MN. She was survived by her sons Joseph Murphy, Harry C. Combs and William Combs, daughters Nellie Combs Halliday and Amy Combs Drain.

At this date, nothing more has been found on Job Combs (the elder) or Patrick Murphy.

Who Was Carter Williams?

The last mystery includes the photograph identified as Carter Williams, “grandfather of Job Combs who changed his name to Joseph Murphy.”  Evidence suggests that the photo is of Mollie Combs Murphy’s’ father. No evidence could be found that he ever lived in Harvey County.

Carter Williams

Sources

  • Divorce Index, 1872-1940, Archives Indexes, Harvey County Historical Museum & Archives, 203 N Main, Newton, Ks.
  • Burrton Graphic: 27 December 1890,3 July 1891, 30 September 1892,
  • Newton Daily Republican: 18 June 1890 27 June 1890 23 December 1890.
  • Newton Democrat:  12 September 1884, 17 September 1886.
  • Newton Journal: 20 June 1890.
  • Newton Kansan: 20 September 1883, 1 September 1887.
  • Weekly Republican: 25 September 1885, 26 December 1890, 27 September 1891.
  • Kansas County Marriages, 1855-1911, Charles C Flowers and Amy Combs, 1 June 1886.
  • Kansas County Marriage Records, 1855-1911, Ira Combs and Mary Elisabeth Simpson, 12 May 1890.
  • Kansas County Marriage Records, 1855-1911, Wm M Combs to Luella Callager, 11 August 1889.
  • Kansas County Marriages, 1855-1911, Patrick Murphy and Samanta Gibson.
  • Kansas Naturalization Records, Partrick Murphy 10 October 1887.
  • Minnesota Deaths, 1887-2001, Entry for Joseph Murphy and Job Combs, 2 April 1948.
  • U.S. Social Security Numerical Identification files, 1936-2007, Joseph Murphy.
  • U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, Entry for Joseph Murphy and Ollie L Murphy.
  • U.S. Census: 1880, 1885, 1900.

Cora Day Entertains

Posted on by hchm-curator

by Kristine Schmucker, HCHM Curator

We often feature Harvey County citizens that are prominent or at the very least “respectable.” Information can be found on most people in various census’, obituaries, and city directories with a little digging.

Then, there are the people in the shadows.  Their names appear in the police court or mentioned in connection to a tragedy. Rarely is there a photograph. With names like Amy Flowers, Ada Combs, and Mrs. Swan, these women appear in history briefly and without leaving too many clues as to who they were. In the late 1880s-1890s, there was a push to rid Newton of  ‘bawdy houses,’ ‘joints’ and ‘gambling dens.’ Women who inhabited the bawdy house were often in the news of the day.

This post is the first of a series of several featuring some of the stories surrounding these women.

“House of Ill Fame”

In January 1889,  Mrs. Dick “Jennie” Risdon was indicted for “keeping a House of Ill Fame or common Bawdy House,” along with Malley Combs “owner and keeper of a bawdy house or brothel . . . situated on Myrtle Street in the city of Newton.” 

Malley Combs Indictment, 26 January 1889.

Malley Combs, 26 January 1889.

Several men were also indicted. Cora Cummins, “a female under the age of eighteen years, to wit, the age of sixteen,” was a witness in the indictments of Daniel Cummins, William Murry, and John Hurst. Men who “carnally and unlawfully know one Cora Cummins . . . contrary to the statues and against the peace and dignity of the State of Kansas.”

No further information could be pieced together on the young Cora Cummins or the situation.  Malley Combs appears in the story below about Cora Day.

“Inmate of a House of Ill Fame”

Another woman that frequently made appearance in Police Court was Cora Day.  Throughout the 1890s, she appeared in the Newton papers somewhat frequently.

 Cora Day is first mentioned in 1890, when she was “charged with being an inmate of a house of ill fame.” At the same time, Mr. Malley Combs was fined fifty dollars for “keeping a house of ill fame.” (Newton Daily Republican, 1890) Cora was in court again in April 1891 “charged with being a inmate of a house of ill repute.” This time a fine of $5 was imposed.  She paid the fine and was released.

“Cora Day Entertains“

By 1896, Cora Day ran her own “house of ill fame.” In August 1896, the newspaper editor described events at Cora Day’s house in “the southwest part of town.” Three young men “invested in a cheap alcohol drunk and a cheap afternoon’s entertainment.” They became “noisy and disturbed the neighbors” and police were called.  The house was raided and the three men were taken to the city “refrigerator.” Cora seemed to disappear and avoided arrest.

The newspaper reporter did not hesitate to describe her in harsh terms.

“Cora is about the most unattractive specimen among the ‘other kind’ of women in Newton and the boys were evidently bound to have the worst society as well as the worst of drink.”  

The three men paid their fines using the names of “Tut Fisher, Bill O’Keefe and Henry Jones . . . the young men ‘gave instructions’ at police court to ‘keep their names out of the paper.”

“In the Future . . . Look for No Leniency.”

Even though the names of the women involved was printed, the men involved could avoid their names  appearing in the newspaper, or use a alias as they did in the case of Cora Day. In  March 21, 1890, the editor noted he was lenient this one time.

“two gamblers and a number of females of loose character who were brought in and duly fined.  By urgent request – and on account of the respectability of the parties – their names will not be given . . but in the future they need look for no leniency.”

Newton Daily Republican, 12 March 1890.

Dangerous Business

Living in and running  a bawdy house could be dangerous.  Cora Day was no stranger to violence.  In 1893, Cora received “surgical attendance . . . sewing up several bad cuts she had received in a free-for-all melee that occurred at her establishment the night before.”  (Newton Daily Republican, 20 December 1893)

In 1896, Cora Day had moved to Wichita and lived at 224 South Fourth Ave. where she “was beaten almost to death.” The Wichita Daily Eagle reported that a man who gave the name “Jack” “called to the house for the purpose of spending the night.”

“When he was dressed he drew from his coat pocket a silk handkerchief on the inside of which was a cotton one.  The handkerchiefs contained a half pint of the largest buckshot, and grabbing the girl by the throat, began beating her over the head.. . The girl screamed and the other occupants . . . rushed to the room, but the  man grabbed the girl’s revolver and kicking out the front window made his escape.”

The police were unable to find the man concluding that “the man was crazy.” Some witnesses reported that he was “from Newton, Kan., and a watch will hereafter be kept on men from that city.”

“Notorious Mother”

Following the beating in Wichita, Cora returned to Newton.  Trouble found her again.  In 1897, the newspaper editor observed that “misfortunes do not come singly to Cora Day.” This time, she was charged with “keeping a bawdy house and unfit to properly care for her children.”

The newspaper followed the sad story over several days in August. One the headline read, “An Inhuman Mother.” She was charged with cruelty, abuse and ill treatment of her children Ida, 15, and Clarence, 14. Day was found “guilty of beating and mistreating the children, who were sent to the poor farm.”

Newton Daily Republican, 11 August 1897.

Cora plead guilty to the charge of disturbing the peace. Police Judge von der Heiden fined her $10, but she had no money.

“The judge thought it would be an inhumane act to commit her to the hot, dingy city prison, so instead, induced the woman to promise that she would leave town . . .  by Thursday.  . . if not, he will send her to prison.”

After the August incident, Cora Day disappeared from the Newton papers.

One final mention in October 1897.  The newspaper reported that the Day children were “sent from the (Harvey) county poor farm to Springfield, Ohio where they will be cared for properly.”

Sources:

  • Harvey County District Court, Harvey County Government, Box 3J, FF 7, Harvey County Museum & Archives.
  • Wichita Daily Eagle, 4 February 1896.
  • Newton Daily Republican: 18 April 1889, 23 June 1890, 20 April 1891, 12 May 1893, 20 December 1893, 21 May 1894, 4 February 1896, 17 August 1896,  22 August 1896, 26 August 1896,  11 August 1897, 12 August 1897, 13 August 1897, 14 August 1897, 16 August 1897, 19 October 1897, 13 June 1898,8 July 1898.
  • Evening Kansan: 11 August 1897.