Family snapshot precursor to storm-related upheaval

Danny Joe McMurphy can be seen smiling at the camera on Sunday morning, Dec. 11, 1949, in front of his parents’  eating establishment, “7th Street Cafe” in Hannibal. The day this photo was taken was an historic one in Hannibal. Shortly after noon, a tornado ripped through town, from west to east, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. Photo contributed by Danny Joe McMurphy, Sullivan, Mo.

MARY LOU MONTGOMERY

Edward Payne and Ruby E. McMurphy, who garnered culinary arts experience in Monroe and Franklin counties in Missouri during the years immediately following World War II, took on a new challenge circa 1949. They moved to Gerald, Mo., where they operated a bakery, then to Hannibal with their two young sons and a daughter, where they opened the “7th Street Cafe.”

The Hannibal cafe was in the same location that Fred E. Taylor (1903-1962) and his wife Edna long conducted a successful neighborhood eatery, known as Taylor Cafe.

A time-worn black-and-white snapshot, accompanying this story, aptly reflects this moment in time: Sunday, Dec. 11, 1949. The McMurphys’ youngest son, Danny Joe, (born circa 1949) is photographed seated within a true-to-the-era stroller in front of his family’s restaurant, address 108 S. Seventh.

The two-story brick building, wedged behind the double structure at 623-625 Broadway, is directly to the north of Sportsman’s Bar (in 2026) on Seventh Street.

The structure which housed the 1940’s cafe, although shuttered, remains in place today, and serves as a reminder of a simpler era.

1949 tornado

A hand-written inscription by Ruby McMurphy on the back of the photo lends a timestamp to a memorable moment in Hannibal’s past.

“Sunday, Dec. 11, 1949. Danny Joe. Before the tornado hit Hannibal.”

The Hannibal Labor Press, in its Dec. 16, 1949 edition, (newspapers.com) described the tornado which whipped through Hannibal, west to east, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

The newspaper reported:

“Sunday, Dec. 11, 1949, will be a day long to be remembered by the people of Hannibal.

“A bright sun-shiny day was drawing toward the noon hour. The thermometer registered 70 degrees, the warmest December day in the memory of the oldest inhabitants.

“About 20 minutes past noon, when many were getting home from morning church services, the people were startled by a keen flash of lightning and a loud clap of thunder. Rain began to fall and without further notice, the tornado struck at 12:25 p.m.

“The storm, lasting but a few minutes, cut a path of wreckage and destruction from Oakwood to Broadway, Center, Bird, Hill, North, North Fourth, and North Third streets to the  Mark Twain bridgehead.”

Short residency

Maybe because of the tornado, or maybe not, the Payne McMurphy family’s tenure in town was short. By 1950, they had moved to Sullivan, Mo., where Payne McMurphy assumed, for a time, management of the Goody Goody Cafe at 58 N. Clark Ave.

For a short time after Payne’s departure, his brother and sister-in-law, George and Amanda Louise McMurphy, operated their previously established restaurant on Market Street, in addition to the South Seventh Street cafe.

By 1953, George and Amanda Louise McMurphy had disposed of the downtown property, and were both living and working at 3524 Market.

That same year, Teresa Ruffel, a widow, the daughter of Tresilla and Charles Rochetta of Hannibal, was operating the former 7th Street Cafe.

Ties to Hannibal

Brothers, Payne (1911-1982) and George McMurphy (1915-1976), had strong family connections in Hannibal.

Their uncle, Frank McMurphy (1873-1959) - their father’s brother - was a recognized and respected cigar maker in Hannibal. In 1918, he, his wife, Helen, and their five young children were living at 1500 Park Ave.

As many people of that era did, Helen McMurphy contracted the Spanish Influenza. She died in mid October 1918.

In the meantime, Payne and George McMurphy’s mother, Dulcie L. Vest McMurphy, (born in 1890) left her two sons at home in Paris, Mo., and traveled to Hannibal in order to assist with the care of her sister-in-law’s young children.

Once in Hannibal, Dulcie McMurphy contracted the influenza as well, and died Monday, Oct. 29, 1918.

The 1920 census shows that 8-year-old Payne McMurphy was living with his paternal grandmother, Mary Jane McMurphy (1848-1930), in Jackson, Monroe County, Mo. In 1924, Payne moved to Sullivan, Mo., to make his home with his father.

After his mother’s death, George was subsequently taken in and raised by his father’s sister and brother-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Ed (Josephine McMurphy) Dorman (1874-1962) of New London, Mo. George’s visits to his father were routinely documented in the local newspapers.

Despite the historical nature of the picture taken on Seventh Street, Danny Joe McMurphy, today living in Sullivan, Mo., has no memories of posing for this photo, or of living in Hannibal.

Mary Lou Montgomery, Suburban Newspapers of America Editor of the Year, Dailies, 2010, retired as editor of the Hannibal, Mo., Courier-Post in 2014. She researches and writes narrative-style stories about the people who served as building blocks for this region’s foundation. Books available on amazon.com by this author include: “The Notorious Madam Shaw,” “Pioneers in Medicine from Northeast Missouri,” “Hannibal’s ‘West End,’” “Oakwood: West of Hannibal,” “St. Mary’s Avenue District,” and “Live, on stage in Hannibal 1879: ‘H.M.S. Pinafore.’” Montgomery can be reached at montgomery.editor@yahoo.com Her collective works can be found at www.maryloumontgomery.com