Sarah Lim: Elmer Murchie’s boyhood impression of Merced

One day in 2019, my friend David Fuentes walked into the Courthouse Museum office and shared with me some manuscripts that came from W. E. “Bill” Bedesen.

Bedesen, who passed away in 1986 at the age of 102, was a fixture in the community for both his professional achievement as Merced County surveyor and his work as a local historian.

At the time, I made copies of these papers and set them aside for future review.

Recently, with the Courthouse Museum closure due to COVID-19, I found time to catch up on some old projects including reviewing papers that are part of the Bedesen Collection.

At a glance, I noted the lack of authorship of these typed manuscripts which were written in the first person. Then, one story about working as a surveyor for the Crocker-Huffman Land and Water Company puzzled me even more since Bedesen was a surveyor for the county not for the company.

Finally, when I read the story about the author’s impression of Merced in 1907, which indicates he was a newcomer, I knew these were not Bedesen’s papers since he was born and raised in Merced.

So, who is the author of these papers?

“I came to Merced in 1907. When I first came here, the town was 35 years old, with a population of 3,500.”

This reminds me of something I read recently while helping a researcher look for information about Elmer Murchie. By comparing Murchie’s oral history transcriptions and the documents from Bedesen, I found them almost identical. The only difference is that Bedesen had rearranged the order of Murchie’s interview and organized the information into four different sets of documents. These papers are Elmer Murchie’s.

Now that the mystery is solved, I am curious what Murchie’s impression of Merced was as a young man.

Born on July 12, 1889 in San Francisco, Elmer Smith Murchie came to Merced in 1907 with his parents and sister and settled in the Franklin area, about 4 miles west of Merced.

Unlike other settlers who came to Merced County because of its land and water, the Murchies came because of the educational opportunity: Merced High School was one of the best.

At Merced High, Murchie was most impressed by how much personal attention he received from the teachers, how small the student population was (only 16 students in his class of 1909), and how girls outnumbered boys by three to one. Years later when he reflected on his high school experience, he expressed his deepest gratitude to all the parents who sacrificed so their children could receive a high school education, which was considered a privilege at the time.

This good education Murchie obtained enabled him to achieve a productive professional life at the Crocker-Huffman Land and Water Company, starting as a surveyor after high school to retiring as the general manager in 1961.

Although Merced had a very good high school in 1907, its economic development and infrastructure growth had not fared as well. According to Murchie, “The business area was limited to what is now called 16th and 17th Streets between K and M. The residential area was between Front Street and 21st Street and J and P Streets. Beyond these limits was farming. On the south side of the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks, there was quite a residential district of about three-square blocks and a large Chinatown.”

In 1907, Merced had mostly dirt roads except 16th Street (Front Street) and 17th Street (Main Street) which were heavily graveled. Murchie was fascinated by the uneven sidewalks which were made of concrete or wood. Because of the floods, the stores were often built several feet above ground level. As a result, each sidewalk was made to suit the height of a particular store floor. And some stores, like the Crocker-Huffman Company Office on 16th Street, purposely built the sidewalk so that passengers could step from the wagon to the sidewalk.

As a young man, Murchie paid special attention to the recreational activities and entertainment around him. Surprisingly, he found plenty to do in this quiet rural community from stage shows at Leeker’s Opera House to Chautauqua sessions in the vacant lots, from three-ring circus visits to a traveling medicine man and his show, and from baseball games to greyhound dog races.

However, it was the band concerts in the Courthouse Park that were most enjoyable, according to Murchie. In addition to the excellent music, the concerts provided entertainment for all ages: the adults visiting each other, the children romping around in the park, and the teenagers promenading on the sidewalk.

A simple pleasure could also be found by watching the trains go by. Murchie recalls how every train that pulled into Merced was often met by many enthusiastic spectators.

“The spectators would pull out their watches to see if the train was on time. They wanted to see whether the train was overloaded with passengers and how rough was the starting and stopping of the old steam train, and of course the puffing and whistling of the old engine itself was exciting.”

There was never a dull moment in the life of Merced residents, and Murchie had preserved some of these early memories in an interview with Robert Hall in 1968 which now is part of Courthouse Museum archives.

The Courthouse Museum is closed indefinitely due to COVID-19. We apologize for the inconvenience and look forward to welcoming you back to the museum soon.

Meanwhile, please follow us on facebook.com/mercedmuseum for the amazing photos, stories, and “Beyond Appearance: Portraits of Merced County Women” exhibit.