Victor Murdock

Victor Murdock (March 18, 1871 – July 8, 1945) was an American politician and newspaper editor who served as a U.S. Representative from Kansas.

Victor Murdock
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from Kansas
In office
May 26, 1903 – March 4, 1915
Preceded byChester I. Long
Succeeded byWilliam Augustus Ayres
Constituency7th district (1903–07)
8th district (1907–15)
Personal details
Born(1871-03-18)March 18, 1871
Burlingame, Kansas, U.S.
DiedJuly 8, 1945(1945-07-08) (aged 74)
Wichita, Kansas
Political partyRepublican
Other political
affiliations		Progressive Party
SpouseMary Pearl Allen
Children2
Parents
  • Marshall Murdock (father)
  • Victoria Mayberry Murdock (mother)

Life

Victor Murdock was born in Burlingame, Kansas to Marshall Murdock – editor of the Osage County Chronicle, and Victoria Mayberry Murdock. In 1872, the family moved to Wichita, where Victor Murdock received his common school education and began learning the printing trade. At the age of 15, Victor Murdock became a reporter. In 1890, he married Mary Pearl Allen and spent some time in Chicago where he worked on the Inter-Ocean. Later in 1894, he became the Managing Editor of the Wichita Eagle until the year 1903.[1] In 1892, he reported on the Representative and future president William McKinley's campaign for governor of Ohio.[2]

Murdock was covering the Kansas legislature when he decided to run for a vacancy in the United States House of Representatives and was elected to follow Chester I. Long, who had resigned to take a Senate seat on May 26, 1903. He took office on November 9, 1903.[3] During the 1912 United States presidential election, he left the Republican Party to support and join former President Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party and was the party's choice for Speaker of the House in 1912. Murdock served in Congress until March 3, 1915.

He was elected as chairman of the Progressive Party in 1914 and 1916.[4][5] In 1916, when Theodore Roosevelt refused to run, the Progressive Party nominated Murdock for president, but he did not appear on the ballot. Murdock worked as a war correspondent in 1916 and in 1917, he was appointed to the Federal Trade Commission by President Woodrow Wilson. Murdock served to that role until his resignation in 1924 to become the editor for The Wichita Eagle, until his death in Wichita on July 8, 1945.[6]

References
  • United States Congress. "Victor Murdock (id: M001083)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
  1. "Victor Murdock, Veteran Kansas Publisher, Dies". The Iola Register. 9 July 1945. p. 1. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Victor Murdock, Editor Of Wichita Eagle, Dies". The Emporia Gazette. 9 July 1945. p. 5. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "S. Doc. 58-1 - Fifty-eighth Congress. (Extraordinary session -- beginning November 9, 1903.) Official Congressional Directory for the use of the United States Congress. Compiled under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing by A.J. Halford. Special edition. Corrections made to November 5, 1903". GovInfo.gov. U.S. Government Printing Office. 9 November 1903. p. 36. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  4. "No Going Back". The Potter Enterprise. 30 September 1914. p. 6. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Will Reconvene June 26". The Neenah Daily Times. 12 June 1916. p. 2. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Victor Murdock, Editor-Owner Of Wichita Eagle Dies At 74". The Cushing Daily Citizen. 9 July 1945. p. 2. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
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