A Victim of a Forgotten Plague

Lillie Cardin Murr was the first wife of Louis Murr and the mother of my great grandfather Raymond Amos Murr. Lillie was born in January 1878 in Monroe County, Tennessee to Thomas Barrett Cardin and Amanda Manis. She died at the age of 49 on August 11, 1927 of Pellagra at the Eastern State Hospital in Bearden, Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee. Her life had been largely a mystery, until I located her death certificate…

Two facts from it helped me figure out the end of her story:

• Pellagra is vitamin deficiency disease frequently caused by a chronic lack of niacin (which is instrumental in the circulatory system). It is classically described by three D’s: Diarrhea, Dermatitis, and Dementia. In order to have a decisive diagnosis, skin legions must also be present. A common cause is a corn-based diet. Following the corn cycle, the symptoms typically appear in the spring and worsen in the summer due to sun exposure until eventually becoming constant. Without treatment, death usually occurs in four to five years. Between the years of 1906-1940 their were an estimated 150,000 deaths caused by Pellagra in the Southern United States with the majority of victims being the impoverished, African Americans, and adult women. Of the infected, only about 2% of pellagrins were institutionalized.
• The Eastern State Hospital, located in the Bearden area of Knoxville, was primarily a mental institution and where she had been a patient for the last 20 days of her life.

In 1896, Lillie had her first child despite being unwed, his name was Charles “Charlie” Cardin, he went on to marry Mary Ann Giles in 1914 in Monroe, Tennessee.

Lillie married Louis Murr on November 25, 1900 in Monroe County, Tennessee. The couple went on to have the following children there (not including at least one other child who died prior to 1910):
Andy Murr b. July 12, 1904
Gibson Murr b. July 25, 1906
Bessie Murr b. abt 1908
Virgil C. Murr b. December 25, 1910
Earnest Murr b. August 5, 1913
Raymond Amos Murr b. October 17, 1914

The family lived near Tellico Plains, Monroe, TN where Louis farmed, the Murr family probably had grits or cornbread at almost every meal. Today, the recommended daily value for women over 19 years of age is 14mg of niacin and we typically receive enough due to the amount of meat we consume. But back in the 20′s, meat wasn’t as readily available to the impoverished families of the Southern US. Corn was, and it was a heavily relied on staple in their diets. The prosperity of the “Swinging Twenties” was much more prevalent in cities, as the First World War had created an agricultural boom and after the war ended prices on corn, cotton, and wheat plummeted. The 1920′s created a growth in cities while the rural communities suffered a lull in their economy, and in 1921 Pellagra cases spiked because of it.

In the beginning stages, Pellagra causes depression and fatigue. Next, painful blistering occurs on the sufferers hands, chest, and neck (often made worse by the skin being exposed to sun). It isn’t uncommon for the tongue and throat to turn bright red and for hair to fall out, as well as mental confusion to begin. As the disease progresses, the minerals from bones and teeth deteriorate causing osteoporosis and tooth decay. In advanced stages, sufferers may become extremely sensitive to light, have heart muscle damage, some sufferers get nerve damage and paralysis of limbs. In the months before death dementia takes hold of the brain. The stigma for those afflicted with Pellagra was almost as horrible as the disease itself.

Because Lillie was hospitalized in July of 1927, it is likely she had been suffering from dementia for some time and that her family just couldn’t care for her anymore. Pellagra no doubt wreaked havoc on her body, mind, and personality. Ten years after Lillie Cardin Murr’s death, in 1937, niacin was identified as the vitamin responsible for preventing the malady and by 1960, it was almost completely eradicated in the US.

The Murr Family Involvement in the Howard-McGhee Jones Feud.

In a historic and not fantastically well documented and overgrown cemetery on a hill over looking the Tellico River in Howard, Monroe County, Tennessee sit three modest headstones, side by side…

Anyone with family from the South will tell you, you don’t have to be a Hatfield or a McCoy to have kin involved in a feud (I’ve made a previous post about my Zachary and Evan’s ancestors on my maternal side and their feud with Champ Ferguson and his family), Southerners are known for being stubborn, and in Appalachia that strong-headedness and the sense of pride can lead to trouble.

My father’s maternal grandfather, Raymond Amos Murr lived the majority of his life where his family had been for generations; Monroe County, Tennessee. He was the son of Louis and Lillie Cardin Murr. Louis’ older brother James “Jim” David Murr was killed in the deadly and infamous Howard-McGhee-Jones Feud.

Above: Headline for an article of the happenings in Monroe, Tennessee from a Kansas City Newspaper

The Howard-McGhee-Jones Feud began sometime around early 1893, when Thomas Calloway Howard began courting Alva McGhee, the young teenage daughter of John McGhee and Sarah Harrison against the wishes of Mr.McGhee. Despite her father’s wishes, on November 9, 1893 fifteen year old Alva and nineteen year old Tom were married.

On April 9, 1898 in Citico, Monroe, Tennessee brothers Henry and Earnest Howard and Jim Murr, their friend and relative were all killed. Tom Howard was also shot and was expected to die of his injuries. The boys were all shot by Tom’s father in law John B. McGhee and his son, Joe.

Above: The Howard Family circa 1895

The relationship between Tom and his in-laws was no doubt a rocky one, and on the day of the shooting Tom’s brothers Earnest and Henry along with Murr made their way to Tom’s to warn him that McGhee was making threats to his life, passing by the McGhee homestead on their way which was a quarter mile away from the home of Tom and Alva. When the boys arrived, he reassured them that he was on good terms with his father in law and the three left the way they came. This time, when they were directly in front of the McGhee home John McGhee and Joe McGhee ran out and began firing at them using a shotgun and repeating rifle. Tom heard the shooting and ran from his home to the scene but was stopped by a rifle ball to the head and was expected to die of his injuries… but he lived. There was also an account (or maybe rumor) that Earnest had been talking to a McGhee daughter and that is what had provoked the attack. Alva testified against her brother and father at the coroner’s inquest and trial that the shooting had been without cause. Jim Murr, Earnest Howard, and Henry Howard were buried next to each other with modest headstones, Jim’s was engraved by hand. Miraculously, Tom lived.

Above: Alva McGhee Howard

The McGhee’s were caught and a trial was held. It is worth mentioning that John McGhee’s uncle was a successful railroad entrepreneur… On January 25, 1900 the Sweetwater Telephone reported that the McGhee’s had been acquitted of murdering Earnest. In January 1900, the Sweetwater reported that the trial was still the talk of Monroe County, it caused a huge stir that the only two witness’ the state had to the incident were Tom and the defendant’s daughter and sister, Alva, and at that time their accounts of the event had coincided. Alva was now, in this new trial, contradicting her husband’s statements and as a witness of the state, they were damning. It was also repoted that she was now living under her father’s roof and had filed for divorce.

Above: The Clue Hotel

In September 1900, the Sweetwater reported that the feud was rekindled in Madisonville, Monroe, Tennessee at the old wooden Clue Hotel near the courthouse. This time, the shooting claimed the life of Charles Jones (the only man there without a pistol), who died one hour later due to pistol wounds to his stomach. Charles was a justice of the peace and in town for the second trial of the McGhee’s, he was also married to John McGhee’s sister. Josh Jones and Calvin Howard received life-threatening injuries. Tom Howard once again escaped with his life, as did Moutrie Jones, Dick Denton, and Oscar Howard. Tom Howard was at the time remarried and living in Knoxville, he had made an appointment to speak to his lawyer the next morning before the trial in Madisonville. Tom changed his plans when he saw a little bulldog puppy in a basket, he decided to go down the river early, bring his mother the little dog as a gift and be at the courthouse early on trial day. When he arrived in town, Tom decided to see how the court docket was coming along, two of his relatives were accompanying him. Tom, with the puppy in its basket under his arm, came up the stairs and stepped onto the Clue hotel’s porch and there he saw the Jones’ sitting outside. Tom had apparently told Clue Hicks, owner of the Clue that he had planned to stay until he saw who the other guests were, meaning the Jones’. That started an argument and then, within seconds, the firing began. There were between 25 and 30 shots from 6 different guns, the whole time Tom kept the dog in the basket under his arm, even though he had apparently been cut by a knife at some point during the chaos. Before his death, Charles Jones gave a statement that Tom Howard had begun the shooting, but the Howards claimed that the firing began while Tom was being stabbed.

On March 20, 1902 Tom Howard was shot and killed by Josh and Moultrie Jones at the Shooting Gallery at the Southwest corner of Jackson Ave. and Gay St. in Knoxville at around 2pm. All accounts of that incident seem to claim that Howard was trying to avoid the Jones’ and not have any trouble. He had been trying to escape but had already been shot a number of times before falling over a railing, and being more vulnerable to the shots being fired, was shot several more times. Each of the Jones’ fired five shots from their .32 Smith and Wesson pistols, with six or seven hitting Tom Howard.

One article states that at the time of his death, Howard was working as a police officer. He was laid to rest in the same cemetery as his brothers. The Jones’ were eventually granted a $20,000 joint bond after the judge decided he didn’t think they were guilty and they left Knoxville to return to their homes in Madisonville. Interestingly, Alva never remarried and took the Howard surname to her grave. EDIT: Alva was remarried between the trials of her father and brother to Charles Paul Hicks, son of Alice Grubb Hicks but they divorced after the trail of her brother and the marriage was “hushed up”. Thanks to Joan Troy for this discovery and information!