Edward F. Murray papers

The Edward (Ed) F. Murray papers consist of roughly 130 manuscript letters written by Ed Murray to Miss Mae McGarry, most of which are addressed to her in Norwich and Putnam, Connecticut. The letters date between 1917 and 1922 and chronicle Murray's time as a student at Trinity College (Hartford); his time as both a major and minor league baseball player; his time as a cadet in military training with the Aviation Section of the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War I; and his time after military training playing baseball and trying to establish an insurance agency.

While a few letters from 1917 describe some of Murray's time as a student at Trinity College, the majority are addressed from St. Louis, Missouri and from hotels in the Midwest region as he traveled playing baseball in the American League for the St. Louis Browns. Murray soon was sent to Portland (Maine) to play in the minor leagues, but by the fall of 1917 had wrapped up his time playing there. In one letter Murray makes a point to tell Miss McGarry that playing in the minor leagues does not have the same benefits of the majors, like having everything taken care of for him.

The letters from 1918 to 1919 describe Murray's military course work and training first in Princeton, New Jersey at the U.S. Army School of Military Aeronautics, and then in Texas at Camp Dick in Dallas, and later at Call Field in Wichita Falls. Occasionally, Murray would draw pictures of the types of planes he was learning to fly so that Miss McGarry would have a better understanding of what he was describing. In one of the letters Murray tells Miss McGarry of a crash landing and begs her not to worry, as he only had suffered a bloody nose.

By 1920, having finished his military training and returned home to Connecticut, Murray is back on the baseball field, with letters sent to Miss McGarry (mostly from New Haven but also from hotels on the circuit). This is the smallest grouping of letters.

The largest grouping of letters is from 1921 and 1922, sent from Laramie and Cheyenne, Wyoming. While it is not completely evident from his letters what work Murray is undertaking at the beginning of his time in Wyoming, Murray appears to have gone there to join his brother James (also a Trinity College graduate, baseball player, and pilot), who was working as a pilot flying the U.S. mail from Cheyenne. Early letters are about playing baseball for the Laramie Baseball Club, and later ones tell of Murray trying to establish an insurance agency and the ups and downs that went with it, such as having enough money to rent office space and purchase office equipment. Interesting points in Murray's letters mention him having been coerced into singing in the church choir; playing two roles in a minstrel show; and his comings and goings with friends. Murray tells Miss McGarry often how much he misses her and looks forward to bringing her out to Cheyenne to be with him.

There is one letter from Mae McGarry to Murray, though the envelope does not include a postmark and Murray's response to her is on the same paper. Another letter is addressed to Miss Mary M. McGarry from the International Kindergarten Union. She was reported to have been a principal of a kindergarten in Norwich for as many as four years. One additional letter is addressed to Mrs. Wm. P. McGarry in Norwich, from "Hugh" in Worcester, Massachusetts (presumably both relatives of Mae McGarry).