PIONEER WOMEN
(Ethelinda Murray Osborne)
By Roberta Clayton, 2301 E. Willetta Street, Phoenix, Arizona
In a comfortable vine covered brick home in a quiet residential part of Phoenix, lives a charming little old lady, old as years go, but with the mentality and alertness of a person many years younger.
This smiling, gracious pioneer woman is Ethlinda Murray Osborne.
Her parents William P. and Margaret White Murray were living in Burleson County Texas, when on April 5th 1857 Ethlinda was born. She was one of seven children. They were not long privileged to enjoy the love and devotion of their Mother, as she passed away when the children were small.
In the month of May 1870, her father brought his family West en-route to California. They were driving oxen, and had a large herd of loose cattle. The trip was hard on the stock because of scarcity of grass and water.
Whenever both of these necessities were found in the same locality, many days or even weeks were spent there until the supply was exhausted, hence it was December before the company reached Maricopa.
Mr. Murray heard of the possibilities of the valley of the Salt River, so leaving his outfit there, he came on. He was so delighted with what he found that he let the company go on to California without him.
Ethelinda's father did not live long to enjoy his new home, but the following May he passed away leaving his smaller children in the care of a married daughter and older members of the family.
When the Murrays arrived there was only one little store, and only a few houses. The valley was covered with large mesquite trees and palo Verde. This had to be cleared off and the ground leveled off for farming.
Raiding Apache bands robbed the family of most all of their cattle. Land could be preempted and farmed. The Murray boys were hard workers and it was not long before they began to prosper.
The distance from the saw mills prevented the user of lumber in the homes. The houses were built of adobe, the roof of ocatillo and palm stems covered with grass then a layer of dirt, which made them passably cool in summer. The floors were also of dirt. They were wet and patted down until they were almost as hard as the cement floors now so fashionable at the present.
Everything that could not be produced here had to be freighted in from California. Screens for the windows and doors were unknown. The flies were terrible, as were the centipedes, scorpions and tarantulas. Kind Providence must have favored the pioneers because there were few or no fatalities among them.
A little one room building where all the pupils sat on split log benches with peglegs to hold them up. There was the long "recitation bench" where at the tap of the little desk bell the next class was seated. If it were reading then each one opened the book and in rotation read the lesson verse by verse -- or sometimes the teacher played a trick by skipping around. That was an unfair advantage because it did not give you a chance to figure out which would be your paragraph and study it while the ones ahead of you read theirs aloud.
If the lesson was grammar or arithmetic then there was a black board where you might be called upon at any time to get up and diagram a sentence or work an example in long division. Then there were the spelling lessons where you had to go down one everytime you missed a word until finally you found yourself at the foot of the class or if you were a good speller you might work yourself up to the head. You could only stay there three nights in succession then you would have to go to the foot and how you studied to get to the top again. The spelling bees were looked forward to with pleasure to good scholars as it gave them a chance to show off.
Friday Afternoons were red letter occasions because then there were songs, recitations and sometimes even a playlet or farce.
School days were pleasant ones for Ethelinda. Her keen sense of humor inherited from the Whites of Ireland has stood her in very good stead during the trying days of pioneering and from her thrifty Scotch ancestors she has made the most of whatever has come into her hands -- not using it selfishly but sharing it with those who need help.
Whether it was because she had no home or Mother, because she was so attractive or because she and Young William Osborne were so much in love. Ethelinda and he were married before she was seventeen -- the wedding took place January 24, 1873. She said after two weeks of playing around we settled down to enjoying married life and its responsibility and for 64 years that pleasure was theirs.
Ten children came to bless their union, and unusual as it is, they all lived to be grown and have families, in fact all are still alive with the exception of one who passed away December 1938.
William Osborne died in Phoenix on July 12, 1937.
The Golden Wedding was beautifully and fittingly celebrated and this congenial couple had fourteen years on the way to a Diamond one.
Always William was an excellent provider and made adequate provision for his beloved companion after his death.
Ethelinda glories in her independence. She takes orders from no one. Her hospitable home is open to her family, her many friends and acquaintances but she reigns as its queen.
Though she is past 82 years of age she still actively goes about her household duties. Her vision is as clear, her hearing as keen and her intellect as bright as ever. She attributes her ability to go about her tasks to never letting down. One of her pastimes is the working of crossword puzzles and they seldom get too hard for her. Many times her grandchildren come to her to get her to tell them what the words are and they are proud to think their grandmother is so smart.
Mrs. Ethelinda Osborne is one of the few remaining pioneer who came into the territory in the early '70's. It is a real joy to visit her, she is so wholesome and understanding. The trials of early days taught her to bear stoically what ever comes. Because there were no doctors for miles around in those early days she did not look upon childbirth as a condition to be dreaded. She always had faith that everything would be all right. When sickness came to her children she mixed common sense with herbs, roots and simple remedies for their care and was successful in raising a family of strong healthy boys and girls.
Her philosophy of life is most refreshing. It can truly be said of her that she has grown old gracefully, and Henry Giles says it should be --
"The day of life spent in honest and benevolent labor comes in hope to an evening calm and lovely; and though the sun declines, the shadows that he leaves behind are only to curtain the spirit unto rest."
In a comfortable vine covered brick home in a quiet residential part of Phoenix, lives a charming little old lady, old as years go, but with the mentality and alertness of a person many years younger.
This smiling, gracious pioneer woman is Ethlinda Murray Osborne.
Her parents William P. and Margaret White Murray were living in Burleson County Texas, when on April 5th 1857 Ethlinda was born. She was one of seven children. They were not long privileged to enjoy the love and devotion of their Mother, as she passed away when the children were small.
In the month of May 1870, her father brought his family West en-route to California. They were driving oxen, and had a large herd of loose cattle. The trip was hard on the stock because of scarcity of grass and water.
Whenever both of these necessities were found in the same locality, many days or even weeks were spent there until the supply was exhausted, hence it was December before the company reached Maricopa.
Mr. Murray heard of the possibilities of the valley of the Salt River, so leaving his outfit there, he came on. He was so delighted with what he found that he let the company go on to California without him.
Ethelinda's father did not live long to enjoy his new home, but the following May he passed away leaving his smaller children in the care of a married daughter and older members of the family.
When the Murrays arrived there was only one little store, and only a few houses. The valley was covered with large mesquite trees and palo Verde. This had to be cleared off and the ground leveled off for farming.
Raiding Apache bands robbed the family of most all of their cattle. Land could be preempted and farmed. The Murray boys were hard workers and it was not long before they began to prosper.
The distance from the saw mills prevented the user of lumber in the homes. The houses were built of adobe, the roof of ocatillo and palm stems covered with grass then a layer of dirt, which made them passably cool in summer. The floors were also of dirt. They were wet and patted down until they were almost as hard as the cement floors now so fashionable at the present.
Everything that could not be produced here had to be freighted in from California. Screens for the windows and doors were unknown. The flies were terrible, as were the centipedes, scorpions and tarantulas. Kind Providence must have favored the pioneers because there were few or no fatalities among them.
A little one room building where all the pupils sat on split log benches with peglegs to hold them up. There was the long "recitation bench" where at the tap of the little desk bell the next class was seated. If it were reading then each one opened the book and in rotation read the lesson verse by verse -- or sometimes the teacher played a trick by skipping around. That was an unfair advantage because it did not give you a chance to figure out which would be your paragraph and study it while the ones ahead of you read theirs aloud.
If the lesson was grammar or arithmetic then there was a black board where you might be called upon at any time to get up and diagram a sentence or work an example in long division. Then there were the spelling lessons where you had to go down one everytime you missed a word until finally you found yourself at the foot of the class or if you were a good speller you might work yourself up to the head. You could only stay there three nights in succession then you would have to go to the foot and how you studied to get to the top again. The spelling bees were looked forward to with pleasure to good scholars as it gave them a chance to show off.
Friday Afternoons were red letter occasions because then there were songs, recitations and sometimes even a playlet or farce.
School days were pleasant ones for Ethelinda. Her keen sense of humor inherited from the Whites of Ireland has stood her in very good stead during the trying days of pioneering and from her thrifty Scotch ancestors she has made the most of whatever has come into her hands -- not using it selfishly but sharing it with those who need help.
Whether it was because she had no home or Mother, because she was so attractive or because she and Young William Osborne were so much in love. Ethelinda and he were married before she was seventeen -- the wedding took place January 24, 1873. She said after two weeks of playing around we settled down to enjoying married life and its responsibility and for 64 years that pleasure was theirs.
Ten children came to bless their union, and unusual as it is, they all lived to be grown and have families, in fact all are still alive with the exception of one who passed away December 1938.
William Osborne died in Phoenix on July 12, 1937.
The Golden Wedding was beautifully and fittingly celebrated and this congenial couple had fourteen years on the way to a Diamond one.
Always William was an excellent provider and made adequate provision for his beloved companion after his death.
Ethelinda glories in her independence. She takes orders from no one. Her hospitable home is open to her family, her many friends and acquaintances but she reigns as its queen.
Though she is past 82 years of age she still actively goes about her household duties. Her vision is as clear, her hearing as keen and her intellect as bright as ever. She attributes her ability to go about her tasks to never letting down. One of her pastimes is the working of crossword puzzles and they seldom get too hard for her. Many times her grandchildren come to her to get her to tell them what the words are and they are proud to think their grandmother is so smart.
Mrs. Ethelinda Osborne is one of the few remaining pioneer who came into the territory in the early '70's. It is a real joy to visit her, she is so wholesome and understanding. The trials of early days taught her to bear stoically what ever comes. Because there were no doctors for miles around in those early days she did not look upon childbirth as a condition to be dreaded. She always had faith that everything would be all right. When sickness came to her children she mixed common sense with herbs, roots and simple remedies for their care and was successful in raising a family of strong healthy boys and girls.
Her philosophy of life is most refreshing. It can truly be said of her that she has grown old gracefully, and Henry Giles says it should be --
"The day of life spent in honest and benevolent labor comes in hope to an evening calm and lovely; and though the sun declines, the shadows that he leaves behind are only to curtain the spirit unto rest."