Laban Haughey Murray

Fielding Lodge No. 192 - South Charleston, Ohio

Laban Haughey Murray was born on 30 December, 1881, in South Charleston, Ohio. Son of James (37) and Annie (25) Murray. He had two sisters; Mary Lavinah, born 8 May, 1883, and Anna Etta, born 27 March, 1885. Census records show that he was living in Madison, Ohio, in 1900. He appears to have graduated from Harvard University.

At the age of 27, brother Murray married Harriet Stickney Rogers (1882-1916) on 14 October, 1909, in Springfield, Ohio. Census records show that in 1910, they were living in Springfield, Ohio. His father, James Corwin, passed away on 3 December, 1914 in South Charleston, Ohio, at the age of 70. In 1915, he is listed as a traveling salesman in Springfield, Ohio.

His son, Douglas Rogers, was born on 16 November, 1916. Sadly, his wife Harriet passed away only six weeks later on 30 December, 1916, from “a complication of diseases”. She had been sick for six weeks. She was buried in the South Charleston Cemetery.

In 1917, he is listed as the Treasurer and Manager at The Ridgely-Murray Co. (eventually becoming the Murray-Black Co.) in Springfield. The job he would hold for the rest of his life.

He enlisted in the Army in 1917 and entered Officers’ Training Camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, in May 1917. He was commissioned as 2nd Lieutentant on 15 August and detailed to Camp Perry, Ohio, for the duty on staff of Colonel A.J. MacNab. On 23 August, he gave a short talk at a farewell dinner given in honor of the members of the officers’ reserve corps, who had recently received their commissions at Fort Benjamin Harrison. On 28 June, 1918, he departed New York City for France aboard the U.S.S. Justicia as part of the 82nd Division, Company F, 307th Motor Supply Train. He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant on 6 October, 1918. He departed Pauillac, France aboard the U.S.S. Huron (where the above photo was taken) on 25 April, 1919 and arrived in the U.S. on 6 May, 1919. Then off to Camp Dix where he was discharged on 10 May, 1919. He took part in the following engagements: Lagny sector, Marbache sector, Saint-Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne offensives.

He married W. Glee Holverstott on 26 February, 1924, in Marion County, Ohio.

Brother Murray passed away on 28 May, 1929 after an illness lasting several weeks. He now rests in the Green Lawn Cemetery in South Charleston with his wife.

Soft and safe, my brother, be they resting place. Bright and glorious by thy rising from it.

Lest we forget…