Romping Child Drops Dead of Heart Disease
The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, 1930-06-18, p.22
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articleThe article as printed
Summary
Frances Murphy, 6 years of age, **daughter of J. J. Murphy, manager of the boys' department in J. W. Robinson & Co. department store**, was happily romping on the lawn in front of her home at **4300 Victoria Drive [Los Angeles]** late Tuesday afternoon (June 17 1930) when she suddenly gasped and fell to the ground. Dead when picked up. Dr. C. O. Driver of 3431 Leimert avenue was summoned and pronounced death due to heart disease. Because heart disease as a cause of death is unusual in a child, Deputy Sheriff Thomas was detailed to investigate. Inquiry developed the child had been subjected to several previous heart attacks, and Dr. Driver's finding was pronounced correct. ARCHIVE SIGNIFICANCE. **MAJOR ARCHIVAL FIND.** Three observations: (1) **The "J. J. Murphy" in this 1930 LA clipping is almost certainly the same J. J. Murphy as the LA Murphy already in the archive** (= `person_james_murphy_son_of_pat_and_ellen`, father of James J. Murphy Jr. b. ~1914 m. 1936). The Mrs. James J. Murphy household lives at 4339 Victoria Ave LA in 1940 per the existing Llewellyn-Murphy wedding clipping; this 1930 article says 4300 Victoria Drive — close enough that either (a) the family moved one block north on the same street between 1930-1940, (b) it's the same address with Drive/Avenue and 4300/4339 as typesetting drift, or (c) the Victoria Drive 4300 is the 1930 home and the Victoria Ave 4339 the 1940 home in an adjacent neighborhood. Geographic alignment is very strong. (2) **Frances Murphy is a previously-unknown daughter of the LA Murphy household**, born c. 1924 (age 6 in June 1930) and died June 17 1930. She is a SISTER of the existing `person_james_j_murphy_jr_la`, `person_agnes_terese_murphy_la_1940`, `person_charlotte_smith_schueller` records and any other daughters in that household. Adds to the count of Mrs. James J. Murphy's children. (3) **J. J. Murphy = boys' department manager at J. W. Robinson & Co.** in LA, 1930. J. W. Robinson & Co. is a major high-end LA Wilshire-district department store (founded 1883, later "Robinson's of Beverly Hills"). The role parallels his father JJM's Butte Hennessy's career — boys' department manager 1898-1915 — generational repetition of the department-store boys' dept role. Strong evidence for the Butte → LA Murphy chain-migration narrative. Per the user's scope-shift directive (Patrick / James / Johanna Murphy supplemental records arrive in a future folder outside archive/clippings/), I am NOT promoting Frances Murphy or modifying the J. J. Murphy father identification unilaterally. Flagging here for user judgment.
In its time
Narrative
Frances Murphy, six years old, daughter of J. J. Murphy, manager of the boys' department at J. W. Robinson & Co., collapsed while playing on the lawn in front of her home at 4300 Victoria Drive, Los Angeles, and was dead when picked up. Dr. C. O. Driver of 3431 Leimert avenue attributed the death to heart disease. Because heart disease is unusual as a cause of death in a child, Deputy Sheriff Thomas investigated and found she had suffered several previous heart attacks, confirming Dr. Driver's finding.
- “Happily romping on the lawn in front of her home at 4300 Victoria Drive, Frances Murphy, 6 years of age... suddenly gasped late yesterday and fell to the ground”
- “She was dead when picked up.”
AI-generated (claude-opus-5). Verify against the transcription before quoting.
People
- Frances M /Murphy/(as printed: Frances Murphy)role: deceased child subject · family confidence: 95 certain
James and Agnes's youngest child; the family tree gives her death as 18 June 1930, the date of this report. Linked in the 2026-10-03 rescan; was under mentioned.
- James Joseph "James J." Murphy (b. 1883 Ardgroom; d. 1938 LA)(as printed: J. J. Murphy)role: father of frances la boys dept manager · family confidence: 100 certain
James himself: manager of the boys' department at J. W. Robinson & Co., Los Angeles, on Victoria avenue, father of six-year-old Frances. Corroborated by the Los Angeles city directories (buyer, J. W. Robinson Co., 4339 Victoria Av) and the family tree (Frances, 1924-1930). Linked in the 2026-10-03 rescan; was under mentioned.
Also mentioned
- Dr. C. O. Driver · physician_pronounced_death
Of 3431 Leimert avenue LA.
- Deputy Sheriff Thomas · investigated_unusual_pediatric_cardiac_death
Places
- Los Angeles, California (primary)
Themes
Story threads
Tags
Source type
news_item, death_notice
Related sources
1936-10-07_los-angeles-times_marriage-license-murphy-schueller(unresolved)1940-11-09_los-angeles-times_llewellyn-murphy-wedding(unresolved)
Transcription
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
- **MAJOR USER-JUDGMENT ITEM.** Confirm: is the J. J. Murphy of 4300 Victoria Drive LA (boys'-dept manager J. W. Robinson & Co., June 1930) the same person as the James J. Murphy of 4339 Victoria Ave LA in the existing Llewellyn-Murphy and Murphy-Schueller wedding records? If yes, Frances Murphy (d. age 6, 1930) is added to the LA Murphy children — between James J. Jr. (b. ~1914) and the named 1940 daughters (Agnes Terese, Dahl, Imelda, Joan Claire). If no, this is a second LA J. J. Murphy family deserving its own person records.
- 4300 Victoria Drive vs 4339 Victoria Ave LA — same address with typesetting drift, or family moved 1930→1940? Worth a property-records check.