Pickleball!

pickleball paddle

A couple of years ago I read an article in the local newspaper about pickleball. Touted as the fastest growing sport in America, it looked like it would be fun to play. I have to admit that I was a little turned off when they mentioned that it was a good sport for older people. And then I realized I am an older person, whether I feel that way or not. Pickleball was invented back in 1965 by some men in Bainbridge Island, Washington. One of the men had a badminton court in his backyard, but they couldn't find the rackets to play. Instead they used ping-pong paddles and a perforated plastic ball. The game has elements of tennis, ping-pong, and badminton. You play on a court with a lower net, using an over-sized ping-pong paddle and a whiffle ball. There is some dispute as to whether the game was named after the family dog, Pickles, or whether it was a reference to Pickle Boat, which has a mixed crew. Here is a fun piece that NBC News did on pickleball.

I didn't give the game too much thought until one of our friends began to play it a lot. Earlier this year, my local recreation center offered a pickleball clinic, so I decided to check it out. One of the USPA Pickeball Ambassadors was there to conduct the clinic. Who knew, right? I have to say, I enjoyed learning how to play the game. There are many, many locations throughout St. Louis where you can play pickleball. Our center began offering play on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, which don't work out for me because of my small group weight training. I was delighted when they added Wednesday mornings, as that fits nicely with my schedule. The locations provide all the equipment, so you really don't have to invest in anything until you see if you like it. Most people eventually purchase their own paddles since the ones provided are always wood and not recommended for serious play.

I have now played in Affton and Shrewsbury as well as in Webster Groves, and most of the people are quite nice and not overly competitive. A few of the guys will try to make you eat the ball, but that is the exception rather than the rule. My experience has been that during the day I bring the average age of the room down, but at night I am definitely one of the older people on the court. Depending on how many people show up at any given time to play, you can get a great workout in. I know that I perspire more playing pickleball than I do working out in the gym. I am so happy to have an additional activity to add to my workout schedule so that I don't get bored.

Play ball - pickleball, that is!

John J. Murdock Update

Civil War reenactment

As mentioned in the previous post, my neighbor volunteered to look up John Murdock on the Fold 3 website. After a careful search by her, she located an Amnesty Oath for John Murdock in the state of Mississippi dated 6 September 1865. I know from city directories that my John Murdock (and he is mine now) was in St. Louis at that time period, so that is not him. She also found a John T. Murdock in the county of Platt (sic), Missouri on a document which states that he was 61 years old when it was signed in 1864. That means he was born in 1803, and my John wasn't born until 1814. A third and final paper was found on a D.H. Murdock who was a First Lieutenant in Charleston, South Carolina so he is not the correct Murdock either.

Armed with this new information, I am confident that my John Murdock did not serve in the Civil War. At this point I can cross military research off my list and focus on other resources to learn about the man and the land that formed Shrewsbury, Missouri.

House History and Murdock Farm

SWT Design, Shrewsbury, MO

Thursday I met with a man from the Shrewsbury Historical Society to talk about house research in Shrewsbury, and to see what he might know about John J. Murdock and Murdock Farm. The Society is just getting up and running again following a few years of dormancy. The impetus is the fact that Shrewsbury will be celebrating its Centennial in 2013. As it turns out the Society doesn't have any information about Murdock Farm (which is the land upon which Shrewsbury was originally platted in 1889), and they are focusing their current efforts on history from 1913 to the present.

I shared what I have found about John Murdock - including the fact that I believe he was NOT a general in the Civil War - as well as the various maps I have been collecting of the area. I guess I am on somewhat of a Myth Busters mission at this point. The City of Shrewsbury website states that Murdock was a general in the Civil War, as do all the other resources I have come across including Wikipedia (though I realize Wiki is not a reliable source). A book that was written about the town also states that he was a general. If so, where is the proof? A neighbor lady down the street is a subscriber to Fold 3, an online database consisting mostly of military records. She is going to look Murdock up for me, as that website is working in conjunction with the National Archives. She says that if the record is not in Fold 3, then he wasn't in the Civil War. I don't think she will find any surprises.

I may not win any friends in going forward with this. After all, it sounds pretty cool to say that your city was established on land once owned by a Civil War general. But John J. Murdock was a very interesting man in his own right, and he has quite a story to tell. I may just become the vehicle to make that happen. He certainly has me hooked!

With the centennial celebration, I mentioned that I would be happy to give a presentation on researching house history if that fits into what they are doing. Since we own a business in the area that was once a home, it would be a fun talk for me to give. In the meantime, I'll continue to dig into the Murdock Mystery.

Cemetery Digging

Fall colors at Calvary Cemetery

Since it was such a beautiful day I headed up to Calvary Cemetery to do a little digging - figuratively speaking. Since I have been continuing my research on the building we own at 7722 Big Bend I have become a little obsessed with John J. Murdoch. Mr. Murdoch was a very successful auctioneer in partnership with Charles K. Dickson from around 1854 until Dickson died in 1871. They owned a LOT of property in the city of St. Louis as partners, and Murdock owned quite a bit of land west of the city in the area which was to later become Shrewsbury. He farmed the property and I can place him there from around 1857 through 1879. When he died in 1880 he was back in the city. Later census records and directories do not show any of his family members living in the county, so I believe the property was disposed of before 1880.

When Dickson died there apparently were more liabilities than assets in Murdock & Dickson, and as the sole remaining partner all the debt fell to Murdock. He began to sell off the property in the city to pay down the debt. Then Dickson's family filed lawsuits against him, and I can see that at least until 1903 the suits were still active. One document indicated that Murdock was insolvent when he died, having assigned all of his individual estate for the benefit of his creditors. That may mean that Murdock Farm fell victim to the liquidation.

But back to why I made the trip to Calvary. Articles and books about Shrewsbury state that the city was formed on land that was once Murdock Farm, owned by John Murdock who was a general in the civil war. I have been trying to figure out where they came up with him being a general. He was not even in the Civil War as far as I have been able to find out. First of all, he was born in 1814 so that would have made him 47 when the war began. Second, generals in the Civil War were pretty well documented and I find no record of him at all. Third, I can place him in St. Louis through census records and city directories during the time period of the war. Heck, he got married here in 1855. Fourth, his obituary makes no mention of him being a general.

So I thought perhaps his tombstone might have a marker indicating his service. He and 7 of his family members are buried on the same plot as 9 members of the Charles K. Dickson family, which I think is interesting in light of the lawsuit. Imagine my surprise when I got to the plot and found this tombstone.

Dickson-Murdock family plot

Dickson tombstone

You can see all the open space on the plot, but the only headstone is for Dickson. And even they only list 5 of the people who are buried on this plot. So strange... And even if the Murdocks were destitute at the time of John's death, you would think that somewhere along the line a family member would have erected headstones, wouldn't you?

So I will not have a tombstone to help me answer the veteran question. At any rate the man in the office at Calvary said it was up to the family whether the stone stated anything about military service. It is possible it would not have been listed anyway. I will continue to look for clues, but unless I have the wrong John J. Murdock I think someone made up a good story for how Shrewsbury got its start.