The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-11-05

| bass grow. He was an expert with the
rod and line as he was with the pen.
But when he did pick up the pen, he
| always said something, and said it in
| such characteristic way that people
| loved to read it. His readers didn't al
| ways agree with the conclusions he
but they enjoyed reading them just the
| same. He wrote so differently, from
| other country editors
| In his forty years at the editorial
| desk he always found time also to mix
| ur, in the political contests. Scan the
/ history of most all revolutions in Kan
sas, except the Pop revolution, and you
! will find as one of the leaders Colonel
Bent Murdoch of EIDorado." He help
! Ell frame the second declaration of in
| dependence" which resulted in E. w.
| Hoch succeeding w. j. Bailey as COVER
ror six years ago. Ther he joined the
| Stubs revolution, which is still on in
| Kansas. On several occasions he eX-
| rected a political job, but never land
ed one until Governor Stubs made
| him fish and game warden. Still it
| vas his fault. He could have been fish
and game warden under the last half
| dozen Republican governors. All OF
| them offered him the place, but he
| spurned it and usually turned on the
\ ones who made the offer. Realizing
| that it was that or nothing under Gov
| ernor Stubs, he took it under protest.
| 1t was always a mystery to him why
! he couldn't get some big political Of
| fee. But the reason was that WhIe ne
| was regarded as an able editor, he was
/ not looked upon as a strong business
man and the places he always sought
lad to go to business men.
The veteran E,lDorado editor always
| Insisted on being called lieutenant If
higher than second lieutenant" said
he. land am perfectly willing to be
| called lieutenant" Still everybody
continued to call him colonel.
The colonel has had more than his
share of personal grief. His first wife
went insane, killed herself and one
child and made another child a Grip
r1e for life. That always bore heavily
. on him because he was a devoted man
to his family. The other was when he
was caught in the Copeland fire. He
lad to jump from the third story and
was badly hurt. That awful expert
ence no doubt helped to shorten his
| life. He has not been himself, phys
/ ically, since then.
| Traced Ancestry to Scottish Knight.
| The Murdocls of Kansas trace their
| ancestry back to one James Murdoch
of Scotland, who was knighted by
James II of England, only son of Mary
| Queen of Scots, for shooting a raven
on the wing with an arrow and put
| ting the second arrow through it before
it fell to the ground. The Murdoch
crest is raven with two arrows
through it. Less knightly, perhaps.
| but of more practical benefit to human
lty, was the achievement of one of his
descendants, William Murdoch. born
N Ayrshire in 1884, worker in the
| Soho Iron works, who invented the
| first traction engine and discovered the
process of making gas from coal.
Members of this family first came to
this country from Scotland in 100 and
settled in Virginia. There their de-
scendant, Thomas Benton Murdoch of
| ElDorado, Kansas, was born on farm
| A..
His great grandfather Murdoch, was
2 soldier in the Revolution, his grand
| father lost his life in the war of 1912
| and his father served as a colonel of
Virginia troops in the Mexican war:
| On his mothers side he is descended
| from the Pierreponts, who came from
France in 1900 and served with dis
| tinction in the wars of 1875, 1912 and
| the war with Mexico.
| Col. Murdock's Life.
Thomas Benton Murdoch was born
in Morganstown, Virginia, in 1S41.
Kansas with his parents, who settled
on farm in Lyon county. At the
| opening of the civil war, October,
1851, Bent" Murdoch entered the
Ninth regiment, Kansas volunteers,
and served three years and a half as
private. He was then commissioned
| second lieutenant, and served as such
| until the close of the war. In going to
war, he followed the example of sew
eral generations of his family. His
! father was a colonel of Virginia troops
in the Mexican war, his grandfather
was killed while fighting the British
| in 1912, and his great-grandfather
was soldier of the Revolution.
| AT the close of the war, Bent"
Murdoch learned the printers trade
and in 1870 began the publication of
| the Eldorado Times, which he pub
lished until 1881. when he sold it and
! began the publication of the Eldorado
| Republican. His publications have al
ways been a factor in the improve
ment of Butler county. He was a
booster of his district, and beside
welding considerable political in
| fiuence, his paper was instrumental in
| the settlement of Butler county.
| Col. Murdoch was twice elected to the
state senate from his district, the TWen-
ry-eighth The faulty system of taxa
| lation. He has always been known as
a staunch Republican, but had per-
sonal views and independence of
thought which sometimes clashed with
| the arrangements of the ruling faction
| Col. Murdoch first married Francina
Crawford, in Ohio. in 1867, who died in
| 1871, leaving a daughter. Mary In 1873
| he was again married to Marie Culbreth,
of Maryland. One daughter, Ellina, was
born to this union
ElDorado, one of the finest homes in
Butler county, has been the scene of
many pleasant entertainments. Many
friends have enjoyed the Murdoch hos
pitality in that house.
| Col. Murdoch was a brother of the
late NJ NJ. Murdoch, owner of the Wich-
| tia Eagle and an uncle of Congress-