WELL KNOWN BUTTE MEN BUY EXCLUSIVE PARK STREET STORE

The Butte Miner, Butte, 1920-03-01, p.5

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headlineHeadline
photographPhotograph belonging to the article
photographPhotograph belonging to the article
captionCaption
captionCaption
reportThe article, column 1 of 2
reportThe article, column 2 of 2
name as printed"nine west, to James J. Murphy. Edward"
James Joseph "James J." Murphy
name as printed"James J. / Murphy 1s virtually a"
James Joseph "James J." Murphy
name as printed"JAMES J. MURPHY."
James Joseph "James J." Murphy
name as printed"Edward Softley has been display"
Edward Softley
name as printed"EDWARD SOFTLEY"
Edward Softley

Summary

Founding-of-business article for what becomes the Murphy-Softley store. E. A. Brown of the Brown company (formerly president and manager of the Hennessy company) sold the controlling interest in the Brown company, which had been operating the store known as Green's, on West Park street — one of the exclusive ladies' apparel stores of the west — to James J. Murphy, Edward Softley and John F. Forbis Jr. Murphy and Softley to take possession and active management 1 March 1920. Brown retiring from business to take charge of other interests. Biographical capsule of James J. Murphy: "virtually a Butte product, having been a resident of the city practically all his life, and having been connected with the Hennessy company for the past 22 years, starting with D. J. Hennessy when the Hennessy store was situated in the building now occupied by the Seigel store. He has been in charge of the boys' department at Hennessy's for about 11 years and was superintendent of the Hennessy store for some time and was manager of the Hennessy branch store at Centerville for a period of three years, and is well and favorably known in the business world." Biographical capsule of Edward Softley: "display manager and for a time superintendent of the Hennessy store, his employment with that company covering a period of 17 years, and probably no man in the west surpasses Mr. Softley in window dressing and displaying goods for sale." The new management will handle the most exclusive line of ladies' clothing and will carry, if possible, a better and larger stock. Both men's portraits run with the article.

In its time

Narrative

F. A. Brown of the Brown company sells his controlling interest in Green's, the exclusive ladies' apparel store on West Park street, to James J. Murphy, Edward Softley and John F. Forbis, Jr., with Murphy and Softley taking over active management on March 1. Murphy, a lifelong Butte resident, had been 22 years with the Hennessy company \u2014 starting under D. J. Hennessy, heading the boys' department for 11 years, serving as store superintendent, and managing the Centerville branch for three years. Softley had been 17 years with Hennessy's as display manager and for a time superintendent.

“James J. Murphy is virtually a Butte product, having been a resident of the city practically all his life”
“probably no man in the west surpasses Mr. Softley in window dressing and displaying goods for sale”
“Both have shown marked ability in the positions they have occupied for so many years and are now branching out into business for themselves.”

AI-generated (claude-opus-5). Verify against the transcription before quoting.

People

James Joseph "James J." Murphy (b. 1883 Ardgroom; d. 1938 LA)(as printed: James J. Murphy)
role: subject · family confidence: 95 certain
The "main" Centerville-AOH James J. Murphy of the user's research orbit. Distinguishing details: middle initial J, lifelong Butte resident, 22 years at Hennessy's by 1920 (started 1898), boys-department head 11 years, sometime Hennessy superintendent, Centerville branch manager for three years. Combined with the AOH Silver Bow County presidency (1912–13), this is the central recurring Butte JJM in the archive. Bumped to 25 (candidate) on the strength of the density and durability of the record. Promote on user signal.
Edward Softley
role: subject secondary · family confidence: 0 not family
Business partner. Not Murphy family; logged as a recurring orbit figure across the Murphy-Softley business cluster.
D. J. Hennessy
role: former employer referenced · family confidence: 0 not family
Not family: the Butte merchant, James's first employer. Printed-name match to his person record; moved from mentioned in the 2026-10-03 rescan. Earlier note: Daniel J. Hennessy, founder of the Hennessy Mercantile company. Same D. J. Hennessy who recurs throughout the AOH / Hibernian clippings as person_dj_hennessy_butte.
E. A. Brown (Hennessy's manager; sold the Brown company to Murphy, Softley and Forbis, 1920)(as printed: E. A. Brown)
role: seller · family confidence: 0 not family
John F. Forbis Jr. (third buyer, with Murphy and Softley, of the Brown company, 1920)(as printed: John F. Forbis Jr.)
role: minority partner · family confidence: 0 not family

Places

Butte, Montana (primary)
Centerville (district of Butte) (context)

Themes

Story threads

Murphy-Softley and Money Back Store — JJM's Butte retail era 1920-1924

Source type

news_item, business_notice

Transcription

transcription: complete · confidence high

# WELL KNOWN BUTTE MEN BUY EXCLUSIVE PARK STREET STORE *The Butte Miner, Monday, March 1, 1920, p. 5. With portraits of EDWARD SOFTLEY and JAMES J. MURPHY.* E. A. Brown, of the Brown company, who was formerly president and manager of the Hennessy companyButte: companies, unions & placesHennessy’sfounded 1886The D. J. Hennessy Mercantile Company, Butte’s leading department store. Its 1898 building at Granite and Main also housed the Anaconda company’s offices on the top floor.More in Key terms →, has sold the controlling interest in the Brown company, which has been operating the store known as Green's, on West Park street, which is one of the exclusive ladies' apparel stores of the west, to James J. Murphy, Edward Softley and John F. Forbis, Jr. Messrs. Murphy and Softley will take possession of the store and the active management March 1. Mr. Brown is retiring from the business to take charge of other interests. James J. Murphy is virtually a Butte product, having been a resident of the city practically all his life, and having been connected with the Hennessy company for the past 22 years, starting with D. J. Hennessy when the Hennessy store was situated in the building now occupied by the Seigel store. He has been in charge of the boys' department at Hennessy's for about 11 years and was superintendent of the Hennessy store for some time and was manager of the Hennessy branch store at CentervilleButte: companies, unions & placesCentervilleThe hillside neighbourhood between uptown Butte and Walkerville, built among the mine yards and home to many Irish and Cornish mining families.More in Key terms → for a period of three years, and is well and favorably known in the business world. Edward Softley has been display manager and for a time superintendent of the Hennessy store, his employment with that company covering a period of 17 years, and probably no man in the west surpasses Mr. Softley in window dressing and displaying goods for sale. Both have shown marked ability in the positions they have occupied for so many years and are now branching out into business for themselves. The new management will handle the most exclusive line of ladies' clothing and will carry, if possible, a better and larger stock. *[Text checked against the page scan and the Newspapers.com clipping image at 2.5x, the first initial of "E. A. Brown" at 8-12x, 21 Oct 2026; otherwise the tile-by-tile page reading of 20-21 Oct 2026 agrees word for word. "Forbis" prints with an i that looks like an l.]*

Dotted underlines mark key terms on first mention — hover or tab to one for a reference note. The wording is the source’s own.

Open questions

The 1920 Murphy-Softley founding anchors a whole sub-cluster of later clippings (anniversary sales, window-contest, fashion shows, Columbia Gardens promotions, eventual going-out-of- business). They all back-reference to here.
John F. Forbis Jr — the Forbis family is a prominent Butte legal/civic name (his father, J. F. Forbis Sr., was a long- serving district court judge). Worth a `mentioned` entry on later Murphy-Softley material if he recurs.