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Thae Murdock family papers, circa 1850-2000

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Murdock, Thae family
Title
Thae Murdock family papers
Dates
circa 1850-2000 (inclusive)
Quantity
2.2 cubic feet:, (5 document cases and 1 oversize folder)
Collection Number
Mss 6048
Summary
Thae Murdock compiled this collection of family history telling the story of her pioneer ancestors, the McCully and Hendershott families, and the Reitzel branch, through genealogical research, family documents, newspaper clippings, and photographs. Papers relating to her parents, Gail Berg Reitzel and Raymond J. Reitzel, who met in Siberia while in service to the YMCA International Committee among prisoners of war, consist of correspondence, journals, reports, and photographs from prisoner of war camps in Hungary, on the Russian Front, and Siberia during World War I and the Russian Revolution, their marriage in Siberia in 1919, as well as Raymond’s career in medicine. The Reitzels documented their personal stories and family life in two memoirs, also contained in this collection.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

Languages
English.
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Biographical Note

Raymond Jacob Reitzel (1888-1984) was born in Mitchell, South Dakota, and received his undergraduate degree from Cornell College, where he became active in the YMCA. He served as an officer of the YMCA International Committee and representative for the Red Cross in European prison camps, first in Hungary in 1916, among Russian prisoners of war. Eventually he was transferred to the Russian headquarters in Minsk to work with POW’s on the Eastern Front. War prisoner relief work led him to Siberia in 1918, where he met Gail Linnae Berg (1894-1969), a YMCA secretary from San Mateo, California. The two married in Vladivostok in 1919, where they remained until their return to the United States in 1920, as the Russian Revolution gained ground in Siberia.

Raymond Reitzel subsequently enrolled in medical school at Harvard, and their two children Ray and Thae were born in Boston. Upon Ray Sr.’s graduation, the family moved to Galveston, Texas, where Ray taught clinical pathology. In 1930, they finally settled in California, where he directed laboratories for San Francisco General Hospital, taught clinical pathology for the University of California Medical School and as a member of the field staff at the University of Indonesia introduced clinical clerkships to their teaching curriculum. He also ran a private practice in internal medicine, and retired from medicine in 1971. The Reitzels were active members of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Burlingame, and Ray often performed in stage productions. In later life, the couple recorded their life stories in two volumes, Gail’s Shifting Scenes in Siberia and Ray’s All in a Lifetime.

Their daughter, Thae Ellen Reitzel Murdock, assembled the genealogical papers presented in this collection, including those of the McCully and Hendershott families, Oregon pioneers. Valuable information comes from recollections and other family information recorded by Frances Hendershott Walton.

Samuel McCully and family migrated west from Iowa in 1852, settling first in Salem, Oregon. Samuel McCully and his brothers founded the town of Harrisburg, and also the People’s Transportation Company. After several years, McCully sold his interests in Oregon and moved to California. His brother David, a merchant, stayed on in Salem. Members of the Hendershott family made their fortune in the California gold rush and eventually returned to bring their families west in 1852 with their neighbors, the McCullys. Other members of the Hendershott family migrated in 1853. James Hendershott served in the Oregon Territorial Legislature, as sheriff of Josephine County, and later represented Union County in the Oregon State Legislature. Some of the Hendershotts were notable supporters of woman suffrage, including Minerva Hendershott Eaton, who was mentioned in Abigail Scott Duniway’s book, Path Breaking.

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Content Description

This collection, compiled by Thae Murdock, consists of genealogical research, family documents, newspaper clippings, and photographs of McCully, Hendershott, and Reitzel families, and papers relating to her parents, Gail Berg Reitzel and Raymond J. Reitzel. The Reitzels' papers consist of correspondence, journals, reports, photographs, and memoirs, mostly relating to work with the YMCA International Committee in prisoner of war camps in Hungary, on the Russian Front, and Siberia during World War I and the Russian Revolution, and their marriage in Siberia in 1919, as well as Raymond's subsequent medical career and their family life.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library prior to any use of reproductions. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use of reproductions may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright holders.

Preferred Citation

Thae Murdock family papers, Mss 6048, Oregon Historical Society Research Library

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into the following series:

  • Series A: McCully-Hendershott-Reitzel Family Papers
  • Series B: Raymond and Gail Reitzel Papers
    • Subseries 1: Siberia
    • Subseries 2: Memoirs of Gail Berg Reitzel and Raymond J. Reitzel
  • Series C: Photographs
    • Subseries 1: McCully-Hendershott-Reitzel Family
    • Subseries 2: Raymond and Gail Reitzel

Acquisition Information

Library accession number 24658.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

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Other Creators

Finding aid prepared by Kelly Hallman and Shawna Gandy
2010

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