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Tuesday, May 3, 2022
Donations re Gene Autry and SW Division
Frisco telegraph order dated July 29,1927 at Ravia, OK matted and framed believed to have been the first train order telegraphed by Claude Murphy, a 40-year telegrapher with the Frisco Railroad. He worked at Ravia, OK; Catoosa, OK; and Sapulpa, OK. He worked with Gene Autry and was close personal friends with Gene. When Gene left railroading and got into the music business, he offered to put his friend Claude in charge of a restaurant in Chicago. Claude declined. Gene went on to great fame and fortune. Claude Murphy tried to enlist in the military for World War II and his enlistment was declined. He was an essential worker needed back home in the USA where he dispatched telegraphs every day to keep US troops and equipment rolling.