By Derek Smith
By Dr. Charles Kempf.
Copy edited by Derek Smith
This is a story by Dr Charles Kempf. It is a wonderful manuscript which I recently discovered, squeezed between hundreds of documents, housed in a group of historical archives, contained in the basement of the Port Huron Public Library. It is a story that calls out to you and states “I am interesting, informative, and full of historical nuances.” The story draws you back into the early 1900’s, and contains many idiosyncrasies, uncovered by the author, who was witness to those historical moments.
Just to recap, Andrew Murphy was a son-in law to Henry McMorran, Clara Watson was chef extraordinaire in the Port Huron area, and David McMorran, Henry McMorran’s son. Emma was Andrew Murphy’s wife, Clara McKenzie, sister to Emma and daughter to Henry and Emma McMorran, Mary Ann is Charles Kempf’s daughter.
Part 3
In the 1960s Murphy had his chauffeur George drive his pickup to Reese’s Corners, 10 miles east of Sarnia on London Road. This little crossroad had a year-round general store where Murphy could purchase double yoked, large hen’s eggs. He would buy six cartoons at a time, give George one carton, and take the rest home. Helen and I were guests one evening, and he took us into the kitchen. He had a frying pan on the stove containing two of those eggs, to cook for his breakfast.
It would be remiss of me, being a Canadian from the Sarnia area, if I did not lend a tad more history to Reese’s Corners.
When I was a younger man, Reese’s Corners was famous, and still is, for its 2000-foot grass runway.
On many Saturdays, it was not unusual to find myself, and a large group of private pilot friends, trying to land on that runway. If successful, we would then enjoy a country breakfast, at a wonderful little restaurant next to the field.
It is there where we would exchange table talk, touching on almost every topic familiar to man.
I cannot remember if the eggs were “Murphy’s double yoked variety”, but the coffee, the peameal bacon, the brown toast, and the home fries speckled with sauteed onions, were certainly a welcome addition to my person, especially on a cold winter’s day. If you are over that way, the restaurant is still open, and the food is great!
Travelling from Port Huron and heading east on London Road (# 7 Hwy), just past the Skyview Restaurant, you can turn right at the Reece’s Corner light, then head south into Petrolia and Oil Springs. There you will find the Oil Spring’s oil museum, and an area where the first oil wells in North America began pumping operations.
It is also interesting to note that region is still producing some oil, and lays claim to be the oldest continuously operating oil field in North America.
It would make a great day trip, where one could gather some local oil history, enjoy a homemade breakfast or lunch at the “Skyview”, and perhaps a butter tart for dessert!
Now, travelling back to the McMorran ( Murphy) mansion and Dr.Kempf …
One day when we were at the Murphy house, Mr. Murphy took us to a hallway off the kitchen, that ran east to the middle of the house. The hallway was lit by one light hanging down which was turned on with a pull chain. The south wall contained drawers and some cupboards above the drawers. A row of quart bottles of pop sat in front of several bottles of whiskey, gin, brandy, wine, etc.
It was dark in the hallway. Andrew often had nuns from the Mercy Hospital come to his back door and into his kitchen, to visit with him or help him with a chore. Understandably, he did not want them to see what he hid in the hallway area, behind the pop bottles.
On the north side of the hallway there was an old refrigerator with cooling coils on the top.
A sink sat beside the refrigerator. Murphy brought three big glasses out, held the tray of ice under the water tap to thaw the huge cubes, placed three cubes in each glass. He asked us which bottle behind the pop we desired. Murphy never measured what he poured into the glasses. He handed us our drinks, and we went down the hall into his den and sat down to enjoy those beverages. We visited for an hour. Upon leaving Murphy gave Helen a small gift, I don’t remember what, and a dozen of those large eggs for me to take home.
Murphy’s dining room was off the kitchen, with a door going into the dark hallway. His dishes were kept in the cupboards in the hallway. His dining table was big enough to sit 24 people. Most of his dishes and silver came from England. I remember Clara Watson showing us a china set, containing 24 place settings, to use at the Chateau. The Murphy’s had sent it to her from England. She never used them.
At another time, we were given a bottle of Vernors Arcadia Dry ginger ale, from Murphy’s wine cellar. On the back of the bottle was the date that the bottle was filled. Very clearly etched in the bottle was 1930. The bottle had never been opened. The story: when James Vernor died in 1927 his son James Vernor II wanted to sell a dry ginger ale, to compete against Canada dry. It was the leading ginger ale at that time, which was often used to mix with alcoholic drinks. His father was very religious and would not make a product that could be used with alcohol. However, against his father’s wishes, the son went ahead and made the dry ginger ale, naming it Vernors Arcadia Dry Ginger Ale. The new product never became popular and was taken off the market in 1933. The Detroit Historical Society had a display of all the bottles sold by Vernors.
I still have that unopened dry bottle of Vernors ginger ale.
In later years, the bottle of Arcadia Dry Ginger Ale was loaned to the Port Huron Museum, dry display, by the Kempf family.
On my remembrance of a Shakespeare’s play story book, our daughter Mary Ann told me that Mr. Murphy wrote her name in the book as a gift from Murphy and his wife. At that time, Mary Ann was a senior at Port Huron high school. Her teacher, Bob Hayes, asked Mary Ann and two other girls, if they would like a summer job at the Port Huron Golf Club. He was going to be club manager in 1962 and wanted young waitresses. They took the job for three summers. The Murphy’s were social members there, enjoying Clara Watson’s meals. Clara assigned Mary Ann to serve the Murphy’s their tipples and dinners. The Shakespeare book was a token of their appreciation for her services, and as a gift for her graduation from high school.
On one occasion, when visiting the Murphy’s home, Helen brought home a 32-ounce bottle of Mr. Boston Gin, bottled in England.
It was purchased from a Michigan liquor store but had no Michigan stamp on the bottle. The bottle had been in Murphy’s wine cellar and was purchased before prohibition days. There’s a black mark scratched on the label and the handwritten price of $1.95 clearly marked on the label.
Prohibition started in 1920 and ended in 1933. It was passed as part of the 18th Amendment.
It was thought that by banning the sale of alcohol, crime and corruption would be reduced, and social problems eased, resulting in a smaller burden on taxpayers for the operation maintenance of prisons and poorhouses. It was also thought that by prohibiting alcohol, the general hygiene and health of Americans would improve.
The sisters, Emma Murphy and Clara Mackenzie thought that Helen was special to them. They were both childless and her visits seemed to fill a void in their lives.
After Emma died, on one Sunday when Helen went down to visit Murphy, she returned home carrying a rocking chair with a cane seat and back. It was a gift to Helen from Emma, a gift that Emma wanted Helen to have.
According to Murphy, when Emma McMorran was 10 years old, she asked her mother to buy her a chair to put beside her bed. There she would rock her dolls to sleep, before putting them to bed. Murphy told us it was Emma’s favorite possession. It sat beside her bed for the rest of her life.
In the 1940’s to 1950’s, Helen often visited Clara McKenzie and Emma Murphy. When returning home, she never talked about these visits. They were private and special for her.
To be continued…
