Answer Man: A year ago my wife and I bought a Springfield house built in 1902. My kids and wife swear they hear odd noises throughout the night — even when everyone is asleep. Granted, it's an old house. But this got me thinking: Who lived in my house prior? What's the best way to uncover anything about previous owners or possible deaths on the property?
— Lucas Temple of Springfield
In this column I'll show you how I would research a house I might buy. Or one I've already bought and scares me at night.
In fact, Lucas, to show you how I would research a house I've researched: yours.
I've learned two of its earliest owners were William B. and Genevieve Murney.
Have you heard of the Murney Clinic in Springfield? It is named after one of their sons, Dr. Robert James Murney, deceased. His son happens to be Patrick Murney, who owns Murney Associates, Realtors.
Did I come across any crimes that happened in the house so heinous they were reported in the newspaper?
No. But I did find a short news story where one of the owners had a heart attack at the house and was “dead on arrival” by the time he got to the hospital. It's not clear if he died in the house or not.
The year people got new addresses without even moving
First, let me point out something important about tracking older property in Springfield that I didn't know until reporting this column.
To track the history of a house built prior to 1947, you need what I'll call a Springfield Address De-Coder Ring.
In 1947, the city revamped addresses for consistency. It seems that there were many instances where the city annexed property along a street that ran from city-into-county and the addresses along the street did not make sense.
In other words, today's address might have been something different in 1946 and all years prior, according to Brian Grubbs, who works at the Library Center, 4653 S. Campbell Ave., as manager of local history and genealogy.
Your 1036 W. State St. address, Lucas, was actually 1016 W. State St. prior to 1947.
The library is compiling its “decoder” — my term — database for Springfield addresses, Grubbs says. In the meantime, for help in this area call the library at (417) 883-6112 and ask for local history.
For some info you must go to assessor's office
In a previous column, I shared how I regularly obtain information available to anyone because it's public.
When it comes to the history of a house and discovering prior owners, start at the Greene County Assessor's office. It's on the ground floor (lowest level) of the county building at 940 N. Boonville Ave., Room 35. There's a computer available to the public in a cozy little room that was recently re-modeled; you can smell the newness of the carpet.
You can find some information — but not all — about a house online, without going anywhere. But you must make the trek to that public computer to find out, for example, the most recent owners and the date the structure was built. Or you can pay for a subscription.
I checked news archives for address and found most recent six owners
Your house, as you know, Lucas, was built in 1902.
The most recent owners were:
May 9, 2023 to present: Lucas and Makayla Temple
July 26, 2022: Naomi Ang
December 14, 2018: Rebekah Robinson
May 19, 2014: Carrissa Ann Plevka
April 24, 2007: Jean Mayfield
Aug. 1, 1989: Newell N. Mayfield
Were any of these people ever in the news? Was there ever a crime at the house on West State Street so heinous it was in the newspaper?
I ran all these names through Newspapers.com and selected two newspapers for the search: the Springfield News-Leader and Springfield Leader and Press.
The Springfield-Greene County Library provides free online access to Newspapers.com for those with a library card. To be honest, this library link never quite works for me. So I use my own subscription, which works much better. I don't know why.
All I learned, according to newspaper archives, is that while at Kickapoo High School, Naomi Ang wrote a couple of opinion pieces published in the Springfield News-Leader, that Newell N. Mayfield apparently was a minister and Carrissa Ann Plevka was his daughter; Jean was his wife.
By searching the same newspaper archives by address, Lucas, it does appear a former owner of your house might have died in it.
A June 1964 death notice for “Arthur Francis Brown” states he lived at 1036 West State St. and that he had a heart attack at home and was dead on arrival at the hospital. I believe the death notice had transposed the name and that his name actually is “Francis Arthur Brown.” He was 61.
I don't think it's unusual for someone to have died in a house as old as this one.
Baseballs still in the attic?
Francis Arthur Brown and his wife, Ruby Brown, might be the people who owned the house the longest — especially Ruby.
I went to the Library Center to review city directories; some are in print and some are online or on microfilm. Some of the printed copies, however, are so old and in such poor condition that they are not available to the public.
A city directory lists residents' and addresses and occupations; at least the old ones did.
For the best advice on using city directories, go to the local history section of the library at 4653 S. Campbell Ave. and ask for help, says Grubbs.
According to the 1953 City Directory, Francis A. Brown and Ruby M. Brown owned the home at 1036 W. State. The listing states that their son, Francis A. Brown Jr., lived with them. It lists Junior's occupation as “baseball player.”
I like the simplicity and truth of that. “Baseball player.” It sounds noble.
Maybe, Lucas, the racket at night is caused by a few baseballs left in the attic.
Thirty-five years after that entry in the city directory, a July 1989 legal ad in the Springfield News-Leader states Ruby Brown still owned the house, but was holding an auction to sell off furniture and antiques. The house was sold the next month.
Was house once a grocery store?
There's a chance your house, Lucas, once housed a grocery store.
According to a 1908 news story, an 83-year-old woman had wandered off on a walk, causing concern among neighbors, but she was found by “Groceryman Hardesty,” who operated a grocery store at the former address of the home at 1036 W. State.
I've found numerous ads in the Springfield News-Leader in the early 1900s for Hardesty Groceries “on State Street,” as well as some classified ads for rooms to rent by Hardesty Groceries. One of them says:
“TO LET: A MISSOURI FLAT, SIX nice rooms, newly papered, with hall pantry, closets, bath and modern conveniences, rents cheap.”
In addition, according to 1929's society pages, a Mrs. Zan B. Claypool hosted what I'm sure was a delightful luncheon in her home, which is now your home, Lucas.
Mister Zan B. Claypool did, indeed, die at home, but it was a different home. He was 75 when he died in 1961 in his home at 3203 E. Sunshine St.
Murneys lived in house by 1914
In the 1914 city directory, the owners of the home are listed as William B. and Genevieve Murney. They married that year.
They had four sons: William B. Murney Jr., Dr. Joseph A. Murney; Dr. Richard G. Murney; and Dr. Robert J. Murney. All four are deceased.
The youngest, Robert J. Murney, at one time was chief psychologist at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners. He was a faculty member at the former Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield, where he both instructed and supervised students. He also served as director.
In 2004, the clinic, 1322 S. Campbell Ave., was renamed in his honor and is now called the Burrell Behavioral Health Murney Clinic.
His son Patrick Murney, 64, owns Murney Associates, Realtors. I reached out to Patrick Murney for this column — Did Murney ever list the house? — but did not hear back by deadline.
This is Answer Man column No. 75.
