This week’s #FridayFind is… a family feud?

Written By Dmitri Schmidt

According to any 80s sitcom, you’re practically destined to feud with your in-laws. Cheers, Golden Girls, the list goes on. The trope often involves the mother and daughter-in-law, but when it comes to real life, fathers and sons-in-law certainly aren’t exempt.

By November 4th, 1909, Mr. M.J. Murphy had had enough of this feuding and meant to settle it once and for all by consulting the ultimate authority: the church. You see when Mr. Murphy’s son-in-law married into the family, he had promised to raise his future children as Catholics. But 20 years later, after Mr. Murphy’s daughter had passed away, he went back on his promise. With no other option left, Mr. Murphy wrote the [below] letter to the church, searching for documentation to support his case against his son-in-law.

The answer came back only three days later: there was no record of dispensation.

What family feuds have you discovered in your genealogy research? Tell us about it and send it to emma@backlog-archivists.com!

Dmitri Schmidt

Dmitri plays a pivotal role in coordinating Backlog’s outreach efforts. They curate our weekly #FridayFinds and #ArchivalTips social media posts, shedding light on items discovered in our genealogy work and providing tips and tricks to approaching problems in the archives.

Dmitri holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and German Studies from Saint Louis University. During their university years, they dedicated over 1000 hours to interning and volunteering at local St. Louis institutions, including the St. Louis Science Center and the St. Louis University Museum of Art. As the Collections Intern at the Science Center, Dmitri assisted in developing and installing the "Into the Vault" exhibit.

Before joining Backlog, Dmitri served as a Fulbright Grantee, teaching English as a second language in former East Germany. From guiding 11th graders in analyzing pop albums as poetry to discussing the significance of the civil rights movement with 8th graders, they covered a broad spectrum of subjects. While reveling in connecting with students and injecting fun into grammar lessons, Dmitri's deep passion for all things archival eventually drew them back home.

Today, Dmitri works as a Herbarium Assistant at the Missouri Botanical Garden, helping digitize the millions of preserved plant specimens. After being scanned and transcribed, these images aid scholars around the globe in furthering botanical research. Dmitri also serves as the archivist for the Kirkwood Historical Society. They are currently overseeing the “Journeys into Kirkwood’s History” project, which aims to digitize documents related to Kirkwood’s early Black settlements.

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