Theresa Murray, date unknown. Kelley House photo.
As Women’s History Month ends, local author Molly Dwyer’s words from 2017 still ring true— “Discovering women’s history is no easy matter … one must scour multiple sources to discover a sentence or, with luck, a paragraph acknowledging them.” Thanks to a small paragraph in an 1884 Mendocino Beacon article, we know a little more about two quick-thinking women: Theresa Murray and Susie Murray Whaley Taft. Enjoy this excerpt about them from Dwyer’s book, From Maidens to Mavericks: Mendocino’s Women, Mendocino Historical Review Volume XXIX.
Theresa Flanagan Murray and her daughter, Susie, are featured in an October 11, 1884, Mendocino Beacon article describing a stagecoach robbery outside of Boonville. Robbers accosted the stage on its regular run from Cloverdale to Mendocino and the Murray women acted in concert to outwit the robbers. When the bandits demanded she turn over her riches, Susie told them she had no money and directed them to her mother, saying: “Overcome your scruples, Mama. Give them your purse.” Mrs. Murray couldn’t find her purse. “Don’t you have it?” she asked. “Why no, Mama,” Susie replied, “but do find it, and give it to them before they kill us.” The robbers argued over what to do, apparently reticent to insist they disembark. After a few minutes of indecision, the bandits fled.
Theresa was a native of County Cork, Ireland. Her husband, John Murray, ran one of the oldest businesses in Mendocino, a two-story pharmacy and general merchandizing store [directly west of Out of this World on Main Street; this building was demolished in 1935]. A good Irish Catholic, John had made his way from Boston in 1850 to try his hand in the gold fields, but in 1858 he came north, established his store, and married Theresa, whom he’d most likely met in Boston. Susan was their eldest child; she had four younger brothers, one of whom died before turning three. The room above their Main Street shop was home to all sorts of gatherings, including dances, theatre, Christmas events, and political meetings. It even served as a courtroom.
The Murray family valued education. Mr. Murray sat on the school board and donated to the school building fund. He’s described as “truly a self-made man” who used his wealth to see that his children had “extra educational advantages abroad.” Theresa took over her husband’s pharmacy after he died in 1893. Mrs. J.D. Murray & Company carried “a complete line of drugs, chemicals, sundries, cigars and general merchandise.”
Susan Ellen Murray had a fine reputation as a piano teacher. Mendocino hosted her wedding to Frank Whaley, a San Diego businessman. The marriage was short-lived, however; Susan divorced Whaley after only two and half years, a radical step for a Catholic woman. However, California’s divorce laws were liberal for the time, with grounds that included: “impotence, adultery, extreme cruelty, desertion or neglect, fraud, habitual intemperance and felony conviction.” Just which of those transgressions made Susan divorce Frank isn’t clear, but she returned to Mendocino in the summer of 1891, a divorcee and single mother with a two-year-old daughter. Home again, she resumed teaching piano and organ, for which she was paid “$12 a quarter” for lessons given in Caspar, Mendocino, and Little River.
Susan looked after her mother and raised her daughter, Theresa Whaley, who died tragically when she was only nine years old. Theresa Whaley is interred beside her grandparents in Mendocino’s Hillcrest Cemetery. Susan is buried in Oakland alongside Adin Taft, an indication that she remarried. She was living in Oakland at the time of her death at age 70.
From Maidens to Mavericks: Mendocino’s Women, by Molly Dwyer, is for sale at the museum and on our website. The author’s lecture from May 17, 2015, is available to watch on the Kelley House YouTube channel
The museum is open from 11AM to 3PM Friday through Sunday. “Northern Pomo: Mendocino’s First People” is on exhibit through the end of March; in early April the new exhibit will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Corners of the Mouth collective. Walking Tours of Mendocino are available throughout the week; the cost is $25. Visit the Kelley House Event Calendar for a Walking Tour schedule.