Rudolph Pfefferle (1829-1894) was born in Bavaria.  He made his livelihood at Ocean Springs as a house carpenter.  Mr. Pfefferle was married to Josephine Pfefferle (1837-1904), also a Bavarian immigrant.  She arrived in America in 1840.  In 1900, Josephine Pfefferle was living on the corner of Ames and Bienville Street, which is known today as Bienville Boulevard.  She acquired this property from F.M. Weed in April 1897.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 23, p. 11)

  After Josephine Pfefferle passed intestate on January 10, 1904, her niece, Marguerite Ruffra Makofsky Bader (1835-1906), filed litigation in the Chancery Court of Jackson County, Mississippi to be recognized as Mrs. Pfefferle’s sole heir at law.  Mrs. Bader was born in Germany and the mother of six children.  In 1900, she was residing at New Orleans with Charles Makofsky (1866-1900+), a son.  The court awarded Marguerite R. M. Bader the Pfefferle house in Ocean Springs valued at $500.(JXCO, Ms. Chancery Court Cause No. 1314-September 1904)

After Mrs. Bader passed at New Orleans in 1906, her Ocean Springs property was inherited by her five living children: Herman Makofsky (1864-1907), Charles M. Makofsky, Edward Makofsky, Otto Bader, and Annie Lecke.  Herman Mafosky who had lived six years with Mrs. Josephine Pfefferle, his grand aunt, acquired the Pfefferle home from his siblings in March 1907.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 32, pp. 403-404)

Prior to Mrs. Bader’s and Herman Makofsky’s demise in 1906 and 1907 respectively, Florence Brabant, a neighbor of Mrs. Pfefferle in Ocean Springs, filed a claim against the estate of Mrs. Josephine Pfefferle.  Mrs. Brabant alleged that she had had “nursed her, bought medicine, fed her, and cared for” Mrs. Pfefferle from March 1903 until her death in January 1904.  In fact, Mrs. Pfefferle had been carried to the Brabant home where she was nurtured and medicated until her death.  The Brabant family also buried Josephine Pfefferle and they wanted to be reimbursed for their expenses accumulated during her care and for the funeral services provided for Mrs. Pfefferle.  Herman Makofsky response to these allegations in his deposition to the court was that Josephine Pfefferle paid the Brabant family for their services from money she had received from the sale of land to E.M. Westbrook.  George W. Davis of the Davis Brothers Store acted as Mrs. Pfefferle’s banker as Ocean Springs did not have a bank at this time.(JXCO, Ms. Chancery Court Cause No. 1263)

 

Isaac J. Murdock

Closure to the Josephine Pfefferle lot came in May 1911, when I.P. Delmas, court commissioner, sold the property to Isaac J. Murdock for $410, after forced heirship litigation, post-mortem of Herman Makofsky (1864-1907).  The money was given to Selena Claverie Makofsky (1874-1911+), the widow of Herman Makofsky, for her children’s support.  The Makofsky children were: Ernestine M. Carey (b. 1890) married Walter T. Carey; Irene M. Falk (b. 1892) married J.C. Falk; Walter Makofsky (b. 1894), and Herman Makofsky (1896-1948).(JXCO, Ms. Chancery Court Cause No. 1804)

 

Isaac J. Murdock

            Isaac J. Murdock lived at 6337 Madison Avenue in Chicago.  In 1881, he found employment with the South Park police.  I.J. Murdock joined the Chicago Police Department in 1887 and was assigned to the Woodlawn Station in 1906.  Captain Murdock retired from the Chicago Police Department in December 1910.  He and his wife’s picture were published in The Chicago Examiner to commemorate the occasion.  In regards his retirement, Isaac J. Murdock related the following:              “I may not be as well off as some policemen who have left the force, but I am pretty well fixed, and all that I have I owe to my wife’s economy.”(The Ocean Springs News, December 10, 1911, p. 1)

After acquiring the Pfefferle home in May 1911, the Murdocks shipped their furniture and personal items to Ocean Springs from Chicago.  By late September 1911, they were making significant improvements to the old Pefferle home north of the L&N Railroad.(The Ocean Springs News, September 23, 1911, p. 5 and September 30, 1911, p. 5)

 

REFERENCES:

 

Chancery Court Causes

Jackson County, Mississippi Chancery Court Cause No. 1263, “Estate of  Josephine Pfefferle”,.

 

Jackson County, Mississippi Chancery Court Cause No. 1314, “Mrs. M. Bader v. Heirs at Law of Josephine Pfefferle”, September 1904.

 

Jackson County, Mississippi Chancery Court Cause No. 1804, “Celena (sic) Claverie Makofsky v. Mrs. Ernestine Carey et al”-                           .

 

Journals

The Ocean Springs News, “Murdock Retires From Police Force”, December 10, 1910.

The Ocean Springs News, “Local News”, September 23, 1911.

The Ocean Springs News, “Local News”, September 30, 1911.