A Winecoff Fire Biography by R. Michael Murphy
Born in 1893, Pearl inherited her love of poetry from her affable father, who died when she was 19. She kept his memory close by finding the same warmth in the expressions of simple verse that he did. Pearl’s mother lived with her for the rest of her life.
Pearl married in 1913, and had her first child in 1918, a son, their only child until Mary Louise was born 14 years later. Older parents Pearl, 39, and Robert, 41, faced an unexpected pregnancy and a premature delivery. Happily, they found themselves blessed with Mary Louise, “Sister”, as her family nickname would remain for her brief life.
The Murphys and the entire town of Bainbridge were devastated by the Winecoff Fire of December 7, 1946 that killed eight of their finest. The family’s palpable grief took Pearl’s mother within six months, and Mary Louise’s father within three years.
Pearl sought solace in her poetry and her Bible almost immediately following the fire.
By the early 1950’s, with two grandchildren from son Robert Jr., she regained her inherent strength. For the rest of her life, she applied herself to the relief of others. In 1960 she was named Bainbridge’s “Woman of the Year.”
Wrote Annette Morris for the Bainbridge Post-Searchlight newspaper: “Miss Pearl is well known by the people of this community for her work in the Clothing Center, through which she distributes clothing to the needy. She is known and loved by all those she is helping daily in her tireless and unselfish work. Miss Pearl was nominated by her many friends for this honor for her many accomplishments, far above and beyond the call of duty.”
Miss Pearl, Pearl Louise Cason Murphy, died in 1974 at the age of 81.
Her granddaughter's thank you note to Winecoff.Org is here.
