The labor world., 1911-05-13

s5 q 80 Il11sM5S Il llkAl1lllt WS)flLl
themselves. Three large men could !
sleep comfortably in q single bed. The
We're two feet high. The
beds were seven feet In length. The
footboard was high and beautifully
curved. The corner posts at the head
were six inches square, and supported
the lined mahogany canopy
that extended over half the length Of
the bed. The headboard, fully five
feet in height, was mass Of solid
mahogany, exquisitely carved in fig
ures, fruits and flowers. =
Magnificent Furniture.
The round mahogany table in the
dining room was of baronial size.
When fully extended it was 20 feet
in length and gave room for a good
~ company. The sideboard and the
serving table were lin keeping with
the dining table, the sideboard being
fully six feet In height and eight feet
in length ...$ szzs. =
The furniture in the drawing room
and in the private apartments was
upholstered in dark green damask,
sprinkled with gold flowers. One
wardrobe was: notably massive, pam
eled with mirrors. and rich in carv-
ings. 1t was about 10 feet high, five
feet wide and two feet deep, and
lined with rosewood. The -dressers
were of quaint styles. Above the wide
drawers, the deep mirror was flanked
with pyramids Of smaller drawers
and Shelves tending themselves to
every convenience Of feminine need.
The bookcase was the marvel of the
Cherokee country, being ten feet high
by six feet wide, with innumerable
devices in drawers and hinges for
the person sitting at it's carved desk.
The carvings everywhere were bold
and heavy. OF no less beauty was
the mirror that hung In the drawing
room. Its length was about eight
and one-half feet and it's width six
1eet' IT'S broad frame nodded in gilt
1loWers. The passing of more than
TO years did not dim the luster of the
mirror. For more than 80 years it
hung without change on the same
cord. A companion piece of this mir
ror was small table.
Ihese were only few pieces of
this notable collection of furniture.
Ihe only loss wasEa few chairs during
the civil war. Under martial law
Major Murrelps property was de-
clared confiscated. A crowd gath
cred to attend the sale by soldiery of
the contents of the Murrell mansion.
! 1e" chairs We're sold before in
tervention drove the invaders from
the mansion and closed it's doors At
TINS time the Cherokees that had cast
thelr fortunes with the Union were
IN the ascendancy over those Chero-
KEGS that had gone with the Confed
eracy.
Major Murrell returned at inter-
vals' to Park Hill after the close of
the war. He maintained his property
IN comfortable way until he was de-
MED citizenship in the Cherokee na-
ton: He died 20 years ago at New
orleans at the age of Sc years.
The war had estranged Major MIR.
rell from many of his old Cherokee
friends, and his occasional visits to
his Park Hill mansion were filled with
| regrets and heartaches. Finally, he
decided to abandon his old home. The
bulk of his beautiful furniture was
! moved into single room, carefully
! wrapped, and the door locked. There
| 1t remained for 80 years in the dust
and cobwebs. The mansion fell into
bad repair and in winter storms rain
came through the roof and damaged
| the polish and the green damask and
| the gold flowers.
The Murrell mansion passed +o
! kinsmen, and for many years it has
| been owned by Colonel Robert Ross
OF Tahlequah, a nephew of the two
wives of Major Murrell, Lewis Ross
| having been granduncle of Colonel
Ross. Much of the furniture was dis
| trlbuted among members of the Ross
family. Some of it remains in the
| Murrell mansion at Park Hill, and
fully two wagonloads were carried to
| Mrs. w. P. Ross at Fort Gibson, a.
| daughter of Lewis Ross, who died
| July 20, 1908, at the age or nearly 81
years. This furniture is now owned
| by William D. Ross at Fort Gibson.
One of the most exquisite pieces was
love token. from Major ,Murren to
his second wife-a mahogany sewing
! table, inlaid with mirrors and mother
VI pearl ana llHeQ WIN rosewood.
The ingenious workman that made
this table contrived many little draw
ers and hinges that cause it to open
in peculiar and unusual ways. The
old Murrell piano, a costly and splen-
did old instrument brought from the
east to the Cherokee wilderness, is
owned by Herbert Ross at Fort Glib
son. g..'@
The direct heir, to whom belongs
the furniture stored in. the locked
room at Park Hill, was George Ross
Murrell, the Louisiana planter. As
the years passed the Murrell ana
Ross kinsmen in the Cherokee coun-
try grew hopeful that George Murrell
would distribute the furniture among
them, however. In March, 1909, Mrs.
James r. Murrell, advanced in years
and holding fast to things connected
with the pride of southern families,
came from Louisiana to visit her
Cherokee relatives. She unlocked the
musty room, and memories of far