The Old Charles Town Library has stood the test of time and remained a center of our community for nearly 100 years. The success of our organization can be traced back to the helping hand offered by one individual, Elsie Bogardus Murphy.
While “Miss Elsie” was fortunate enough to be in a position to offer substantial monetary support to the creation and maintenance of the Library, her one act opened a host of opportunities for others to support our efforts in ways that have sustained us for nearly a century.
Elsie Bogardus Murphy funded the original Charles Town Library.
Born in 1881 in Montague, Michigan, Miss Elsie was the first of four children, born to a wealthy lumber family. Claymont Court, originally the home of Bushrod Washington who was a grand-nephew of George Washington, was purchased by her parents as a summer home, thus offering Miss Elsie an opportunity to fall in love with Charles Town and Jefferson County.
Even though she traveled throughout the United States and Europe, Jefferson County remained Miss Elsie’s home base. She purchased the East Washington Street lot, present home of the Charles Town Library, and gifted the property specifically for the creation of a permanent lending library.
When funds were needed to establish a volunteer fire company, she coordinated efforts to bring in money and made her own donation leading to the establishment of the Citizens Fire Company. Additionally, her philanthropy led to almost a million-dollar bequest in her will to the hospital in Ranson.
Obviously, Elsie Murphy was a person of great wealth, but more importantly she understood the importance of support from the patrons of a community’s library. The Charles Town Library receives about 20 percent of our annual budget from Jefferson County and the city of Ranson. In 2024, we received no financial support from the city of Charles Town or the Jefferson County School District. We rely largely on investments and the support of our patrons, organizations and companies which value the services we have provided since the 1920s.
Please consider joining the others who have benefitted and will benefit in the years to come from all of our in-person activities, books (both printed and digital), and the other services that are only available here at 200 East Washington Street. We thank you and we are sure Elsie Murphy would thank you as well.
