Little Egypt's Most Unusual Farm By C. K. Boeschenstein The following article was published in the St. Louis Globe Democrat April 3, 1955. C. K. Boeschenstein was a Staff writer for the Globe. As it tells such a fine story about a fine Johnson County family, we hope our readers will enjoy it, and many of them will probably remember…… the Murries. The Murrie family lives on a 554-acre cattle-grain farm in the rolling, rocky, wooded section of Illinois's Egypt, six miles east of Vienna, not far from the Ohio River. The sights and sounds of the Murrie farm are not unlike those of their neighbors. The Murries have a hundred head of cattle; about 90 acres in grain; leghorn chickens, hogs, two roan horses, two brown shaggy dogs, a white cat. From the Murries' neat two-story frame farmhouse on the ridge, there is a far view of verdant hills and valleys. However, although this has been the Murrie homestead for generations, the present generation now living in the white farmhouse has seen the view only dimly in early childhood, now not at all. They are totally blind. Regarding this less as a handicap than as a challenge, the unseeing members of the Murrie family (two brothers and a sister) operate the pleasant farm in a clean-cut, thrifty style through all the hazards of farming, including two barn burnings and a lightening strike on the house. The three are Violet 45, Hartwell 44, and Arthur, 41. Violet is the housekeeper, Hartwell is the farmer, and Arthur, a musician with a master's degree from Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington) works both indoors and out at the farm chores. Arthur, too, travels to Metropolis, Paducah, and other nearby cities to appear on radio programs and public performances as an accompanist for the "Harmony Boys" quartet. Alone, three blind persons would probably find it impossible to run a farm. But the three Murries are not alone. Since their birth, and now into their middle age they have depended on the understanding eyes of their mom, Mrs. Ollie Murrie, and not in vain. At 74, the mother's role on the farm is advisory but in the house she still does the cooking, ironing, and mending, writes the checks and makes out the shopping lists. The father, Charles W. Murrie, after a five year illness, died 12 years ago. Not three, but all four of their children were born with defective eyesight… a lack of optic nerve development that turned from extreme near-sightedness in early childhood to almost total blindness (about .26 vision) later in life. The fourth child and eldest son, Arvel, is married, has nine children, four grandchildren. None of the children or grandchildren has any eye difficulties according to Arvel's mother. One of Arvel's boys, Charles, nine years old, helps Hartwell with the farm chores and thereby gets a chance to ride the farm horse. Hartwell, Arthur and Violet have the feel of the farm so well in mind that they walk around it without guidance. Hartwell also like to ride. Twice a day he rides the range to "look over" his stock. To mount, he grabs hold of the horse's mane, swings easily on to the steed, and rides bareback. He shows the remarkable sense of feel and hearing often given to those whose sight has been lost. As the cows were being rounded up for milking, Hartwell startled the newspaper photographer by announcing "That's Barney (the cow's name) coming". The photographer said he didn't see or hear anything but a minute later, Barney appeared in the milk shed. When Violet was returning from feeding the chickens she was warned by the photographer about a broken board in the plank walk leading to the house. She smiled and commented "we know all about that broken board." Among her kitchen chores she peels potatoes and helps operate the washing machine. Hartwell and Arthur sometimes operate a power saw together but when it's time on the farm for other power devices, such as tractors, they rely on Dee Johnson, a farmer who lives three miles away. He also helps the brothers with other farm work. Hartwell also does the marketing…from a list his mother makes from "specials" advertised in the Vienna Times. When driven into town, he makes his way around the familiar Vienna Courthouse square, presenting his list which the grocer or other merchant fills. Often he is driven to E. St. Louis for cattle trading, a job he enjoys. Failing eyesight forced Hartwell to quit school in eighth grade, and Violet to drop out after two years of high school. But Arthur went the route, and graduated as valedictorian of his class at Vienna High School. As graduation day got nearer, he was holding his book nearer and nearer so his mother read his lessons to him. When the children were small, the father bought a piano with the thought in mind that it would be nice for Violet to learn to play. But it was Arthur with a musical ear who took over the piano and soon was playing it. He was playing popular songs and hymns by the time he was 12, and private lessons (for about 8 months) increased his skill. From high school, Arthur went to Jacksonville School for the Blind, where he learned Braille. He says " I had no idea a blind person could go to college," but he not only got there he won two degrees, a bachelor's and a master's in music. In Jacksonville, by doing special work at MacMurray and Illinois Colleges, he won a scholarship to Illinois Wesleyan. The dean of the music school, Frank Jordan, said Arthur had learned more in the last semester than any other student in the school, and described him as "a brilliant boy with an uncanny knowledge of the consol." Arthur had mastered both the organ and piano. His fellow students elected him to honorary literary and musical societies. By Braille or records, he memorizes music phrase by phrase, left hand then right. "It isn't so hard a task when you enjoy it" he commented. When he gave his graduation recital at Illinois Wesleyan, Bach was his favorite composer, but since then he has turned to more simple, religious music. On Sunday Arthur travels to Paducah (35 miles) to play at Broadway Baptist Church. His music now is nearly all piano. He is fond of the pipe organ but there are no pipe organs available near his home. In college his favorite subject next to music was literature. He likes to read novels (transposed into Braille) and to listen to literary recordings. The mother reads the newspaper to the family. One of the most valued possessions in the household is a tiny radio set that is the center of attention when the day's work is done. On the walls of the home there are religious pictures and framed mottoes. One motto reads, "Jesus Never Fails." The College of Agriculture at the University of Illinois, anxious to bring the farm closer to the school, often sends students to a typical farm to find out about what goes on there. One student at random chose the Murrie farm for a study of cattle raising on a small farm. He found it was in many ways typical of a good farm, with healthy cattle, a variety of other farm animals, and a sound policy of planting part of the acreage in grain. But what surprised him and his university instructors when he reported back to them, were the blind operators of the "typical farm."