Biography - William Murrie
WILLIAM JACKSON MURRIE. One of the progressive and enterprising business
men of Johnson county, Illinois, who in spite of discouragements and
misfortunes has attained a position of standing in the business world, is
William Jackson Murrie, the proprietor of a flourishing general merchandise
establishment in the village of Simpson. Mr. Murrie is a native of Johnson
county, having been born August 24, 1873, in Simpson township, a son of John
J. and Isabel (Benman) Murrie, and grandson of Jackson Murrie, one of the
old pioneer settlers of Southern Illinois. John J. Murrie, who is still
living on the old family homestead in Simpson township, has been engaged in
agricultural pursuits all of his life, and is one of the good, reliable
farmers of his section. He and his wife have been the parents of eight
children, namely: William J., Charles, Effort, John, Daisy, Fred, Edward and
Ritha.
William Jackson Murrie received his education in the district schools of his
native vicinity, and his boyhood was spent like that of other farmers' sons,
being early reared to habits of industry and integrity, and learning all the
details of an agriculturist's life. For some years he spent the summer
months in working on the home farm, and after he had completed his education
his winters were spent in the timber-lands, but in 1895 he decided to try
his fortunes in town, and during that year and the next was the proprietor
of a successful livery business in Simpson. He was married in 1896, and for
the next two years carried on farming in Simpson township, but at the end of
that time returned to the town and for two years conducted a small retail
business. He sold out his interests here in 1900 to go to Tulsa, Oklahoma,
where he thought he would have a better opportunity of showing his abilities
in the new country, but after he had established himself there and was
beginning to enjoy a reasonable measure of success his store was destroyed
by fire and he lost all that he had gained. Returning to Simpson, Mr. Murrie
did not allow himself to become discouraged, and with his father's
assistance he started in to make another beginning, conducting a store in
Simpson until 1904, when he sold out and went to Sikestown, Missouri, where
he worked in the Farmers Supply Company store until 1906, then again
returning to Simpson. By that time he had accumulated $1,000, and he spent
$350 of this for a residence and lot, and with the remainder erected a store
building and invested in a stock of merchandise, and since that time his
success has been assured. He has one of the largest trades in this section,
carries an up-to-date stock worth $3,000, and has built a fine, modern
residence. Mr. Murrie's success is the result of his perseverance and hard,
faithful work, and as a self-made man who has been the architect of his own
fortunes is entitled to the respect and esteem in which he is universally
held. He is a popular member of the Modern Woodman of America and the Royal
Neighbors, and holds a policy in the Johnson County Mutual Insurance Company
of Simpson.
In 1898 Mr. Murrie was married to Miss Barbara Ellen Farris, who was born in
1876, daughter of the late Thomas and Minerva (Smith) Farris, formerly of
Grantsburg township, and she died September 20, 1911, leaving one son, Carl,
who is eleven years old. Mrs. Murrie was a member of the Royal Neighbors and
the Johnson County Mutual Life Insurance Company, and had many friends in
this community, where her loss is deeply mourned.
Extracted from 1912 A History of Southern Illinois, volume 2, pages 664-665.
