The Proeger Family · Generation 5 — the immigrants and the frontier

Godfrey Murfin

Husband of Gertrude Proeger Murfin · 1876–1957

Godfrey Murfin

Confirmed

Husband of Gertrude Proeger Murfin · 1876–1957

Born
20 April 1876
Parents
Hanna Kirkland
Sources
13

Research status

Research status: CONFIRMED as the husband of Gertrude Proeger Murfin, the daughter of Julius Karl Proeger. His 1957 death certificate, read from the image, names his wife as Gertrude Proeger S944, and his 1931 citizenship petition gives their marriage at Pittsburgh on 3 April 1915 S365. Card added 1 October 2026

Life in the order the records give it

Birth1876
🆕 Born 20 April 1876, by his 1918 draft card S1103, at Wem, Shropshire, England, by his petition S365. The General Register Office index lists his birth in the Wem district in April–June 1876, volume 6a, page 792 Confirmed S1102
Military1918
🆕 On 12 September 1918 he registered for the draft at Pittsburgh: 42, living at 711 N. St. Clair Street, a salesman for William Coulson & Son of 429 Fifth Avenue, New York; still a British subject who had not declared his intention to naturalize; nearest relative his wife Gertrude P. Murfin; tall, of medium build, with gray eyes and dark hair Confirmed S1103
Census1920
In January 1920 he lived at 711 N. St. Clair Street in the house of his father-in-law, Julius Proeger S179; in April 1930 he was 53, a linen salesman, owning the house S946. He petitioned for citizenship on 24 March 1931 S365
Census1932
🆕 The 1932 Pittsburgh directory lists him as a salesman, with his wife Gertrude P., householder at 711 N. St. Clair Confirmed S1104. In 1935 and April 1940 the family owned 5805 Hayes Street, Pittsburgh S942; by 1950 he and Gertrude were back at 711 N. St. Clair, he 73 S372
Death1957
Died a widower at 711 N. St. Clair Street on 17 December 1957, aged 81 S944; buried by H. Samson at Smithfield Cemetery on 20 December 1957, as Gertrude had been S945
Census1901
🆕 In 1901 he was a draper’s assistant in Birmingham, single and 24, living in at 132–133 New Street with ten other assistants and apprentices of a general draper; born at Wem, Shropshire Confirmed S1157.

Family parents, marriages, children, siblings

Parents1881
Son of Godfrey Murfin and Hanna Kirkland, by his death certificate S944. Probably the Godfrey Murfin, 4, born at Wem, in the 1881 census at Aston Street, Wem, with his parents Godfrey, a wheelwright, and Hannah, both from Leek, and the draper's apprentice of 14 at 45 New Street in 1891 Probable confirm or correct → S947S948. Evidence: the parents' names match the death certificate and the place and year match the petition. Weak: no record yet names Wem and the Pittsburgh family together
Marriage1915
Married Gertrude Proeger at Pittsburgh on 3 April 1915; one daughter, Marjone Louise, born 7 June 1917, by the petition S365. She is the Marjorie of the 1930 and 1940 censuses and the Marjorie M. Veitch of Fairfield, Connecticut, who gave the details on his death certificate S946S942S944

In the record Generation 5 — the immigrants and the frontier

Godfrey Murfin · Sources

Citations

Sources cited on this card

13 of the record's sources are cited here. The numbering is the record's own; the full list, with where else each is cited, is at Sources.

  1. S1791920 U.S. Federal Census — Julius Proeger, 711 N. St. Clair Street, Pittsburgh Ward 11. Ancestry collection 6061, record 99550057, image 4385023_00859; SD 24, ED 471, sheet 5A, enumerated January 1920. Read from the image at full resolution, 22 September 2026. Julius Proeger, head, 75, widowed, owns the house free, immigrated 1865, naturalized 1874, born Germany (Württemberg) as were both his parents, speaks English, no occupation; daughter Gertrude P. Murfin, 32; son-in-law Godfrey Murfin, 43, born England, commercial traveller in linen; and a granddaughter. 🔑 He was naturalized in 1874 — the year the index drops. His son's sworn 1919 statement gives the same year [S180]; the certificate itself is still unlocated. 🔑 Immigrated 1865, in his own household's answer, agreeing with the Saxonia crossing. ⚠ Gertrude is marked alien: under the 1907 Expatriation Act a US-born woman took her English husband's nationality.
  2. S365U.S. District Court, Pittsburgh — petition for citizenship no. 91799, Godfrey Murfin, 24 March 1931. Ancestry record 685005. Image examined, read 24 September 2026. Confirmed Godfrey Murfin, travelling salesman of 711 N. St. Clair St., born Wem, England, 20 April 1876; arrived New York 5 June 1905 on the Parisian from Queenstown; married Gertrude at Pittsburgh 3 April 1915; wife born Pittsburgh 7 May 1883; one daughter, Marjone Louise, born Pittsburgh 7 June 1917. The petition's 1883 birth date for Gertrude does not agree with her age of 32 in 1920 or 71 at her 1956 death. Both are kept.
  3. S3721950 U.S. Federal Census — Godfrey Murfin household, 711 N. St. Clair St., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (ED 77-337, sheet 14, lines 12–13). Ancestry record 244825954. Image examined, read 24 September 2026. Confirmed Godfrey Murfin, 73, born England, naturalized; wife Gertrude P., 65, born Pennsylvania; both unable to work. The same house the couple shared with her father in 1920. Her age, 65, agrees with her death at 71 in 1956 against the 32 of the 1920 census.
  4. S9421940 United States Federal Census — Pittsburgh Ward 11, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, ED 69-266, sheet 4A, lines 32–34 (10 April 1940). Ancestry record 22190050. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 24 September 2026. Confirmed House 5805 Hayes Street, owned, valued $8,000: Murfin, Godfrey, head, 63, married, born England, naturalized; Gertrude, wife, 56, born Pennsylvania; Marjorie, daughter, 22, single. All three were in the same house in 1935. The same couple as the 1920 census in her father Julius Proeger's house (S179) and Godfrey's 1931 petition (S365), which names their one daughter Marjone Louise, born 1917; the index spells her Marjarie. Gertrude's 56 fits the petition's May 1883 birth. In 1920 and 1950 they were at 711 N. St. Clair Street. Collection: 1940 United States Federal Census.
  5. S944Pennsylvania coroner's certificate of death — Godfrey Murfin, Pittsburgh, 17 December 1957 (file no. 107996, registered no. 9252). Ancestry record 5522000. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 24 September 2026. Confirmed Godfrey Murfin, male, white, widowed, died 17 December 1957 at 11:00 a.m. at his home, 711 N. St. Clair Street, Pittsburgh; born England, 20 April 1876, aged 81 years 7 months 27 days; retired. Spouse Gertrude Proeger; father Godfrey Murfin; mother's maiden name Hanna Kirkland. Cause: coronary occlusion. Informant Marjorie M. Veitch (daughter), Fairfield, Connecticut. Burial 20 December 1957, Smithfield Cemetery; funeral director H. Samson, Inc. The index reads the spouse as "Gertrude Praeger"; the image has Proeger. The address is Julius Proeger's house of 1920 (S179) and the couple's house in 1950 (S372). Collection: Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906–1972.
  6. S945H. Samson funeral home ledger — funeral of Godfrey Murfin, Pittsburgh, 20 December 1957. Ancestry record 11434. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 24 September 2026. Confirmed Sheet 30, headed "Repeat": funeral of Godfrey Murfin, 20 December 1957, Smithfield Cemetery, 2 p.m.; charged to the estate of Godfrey Murfin, c/o M. Austin George, Park Building, Pittsburgh; total $1,833.71, paid 10 January 1958. The same firm and cemetery as Gertrude's funeral in 1956 (S181). The facing page with the vital statistics shows only as bleed-through and was not read. Collection: Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S., Samson Funeral Home Records, 1866–1982.
  7. S9461930 United States Federal Census — Pittsburgh Ward 11, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, ED 2-172, sheet 13A, lines 35–37 (7 April 1930). Ancestry record 48469282. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 24 September 2026. Confirmed 711 N. St. Clair Street, owned, valued $16,000, radio: Murfin, Godfrey, head, 53, married (first at 37), born England, immigrated 1905, first papers, salesman of linens; Gertrude P., wife, 40, born Pennsylvania to German-born parents; Marjorie, daughter, 12, at school. Gertrude's 40 is the outlier against her other records (born about 1884); the site keeps about 1884. Collection: 1930 United States Federal Census.
  8. S9471881 England Census — Wem, Shropshire, RG 11/2667, page 6, schedule 43, Aston Street. Ancestry record 18351847. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 24 September 2026. Probable Godfrey Murfin, head, 47, wheelwright, born Leek, Staffordshire; Hannah, wife, 41, born Leek; Mary E., 20, dressmaker; Maria, 8; and Godfrey, son, 4, scholar, born Wem. Why Probable: nothing American names Godfrey's parents except his 1957 death certificate (father Godfrey, mother Hanna, S944), and his citizenship petition gives Wem and 1876 (S365). A boy of 4 at Wem with parents Godfrey and Hannah fits both, but no record yet ties this household to Pittsburgh directly. Collection: 1881 England Census.
  9. S9481891 England Census — Wem, Shropshire, RG 12/2123, page 12, schedule 68, 45 New Street. Ancestry record 13393916. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 24 September 2026. Probable Godfrey Murfin, head, 57, wheelwright, born Leek; Hannah, wife, 51, born Leek; Godfrey, son, 14, draper's apprentice, born Wem. Why Probable: the same household as 1881 (S947). The drapery trade fits the linen salesman of 1920 and 1930 (S179, S946), but the tie to Pittsburgh still runs only through the parents' names and Wem. Collection: 1891 England Census.
  10. S1102England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index — births registered April, May and June 1876, page 382. Ancestry record 24084485. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 1 October 2026. Confirmed MURFIN, Godfrey, Wem, volume 6a, page 792. The only Godfrey Murfin in the quarter. An index entry; the certificate itself, which would name his parents, has not been ordered.
  11. S1103U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918 — Godfrey Murfin, Local Board Division No. 8, City of Pittsburgh, 12 September 1918. Ancestry record 10311825. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 1 October 2026. Confirmed Godfrey Murfin, 711 N. St. Clair, Pittsburgh, 42, born 20 April 1876, white, alien, non-declarant, a British subject (England); salesman for William Coulson & Son, 429 Fifth Avenue, New York; nearest relative his wife Gertrude P. Murfin, 711 N. St. Clair; tall, medium build, gray eyes, dark hair.
  12. S1104U.S., City Directories, 1822–1995 — Pittsburgh city directory, 1932, page 1365. Ancestry record 190808703. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 1 October 2026. Confirmed “Murfin Godfrey (Gertrude P) slsmn h711 StClair N”. The index reads the house number as 6711; the image has h711, “h” for householder. The same page is filed under Gertrude as record 190808704.
  13. S11571901 census of England, Birmingham, parish of St Philip, Market Hall ward, RG 13/2831, p. 14. Ancestry record 16209982. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 30 September 2026. Confirmed At 132–133 New Street, among eleven draper’s assistants and apprentices living in with Henry Simmons(?), general draper: Godfrey Murfin, single, 24, draper’s assistant, born Wem, Shropshire.

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Compiled for the Proeger family

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