A Good Age: Nut Island's gardener is 91. And a 132-year-old women's adventure journal

QUINCY − Everything just seems a bit more right in the world when I see Lois Murphy out there vigorously pulling weeds and spraying insects on the beach plums at age 91.

Lois, a lifelong resident of Houghs Neck, has worked as a seasonal gardener at Nut Island State Park for the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority for 23 years. She will turn 92 on July 8.

She loves being out on the tip of the peninsula, not far from her house, which overlooks both Nut Island and Peddocks Island. The view from her kitchen and living room windows is sweeping.

Lois grew up in a different house just around the corner on Great Hill. She and her late husband, Bill, a Quincy police captain, raised their four children − Bill, Laura, Pam and Kevin − in Houghs Neck. There is a memorial bench for their late son Kevin near the entrance to Nut Island. Two grandchildren were married there. It is a special place with comforting and happy memories.

Lois knows a lot of people in the neighborhood, and when she is working in the Nut Island wildflower beds, going after the invasive wild roses or driving her electric vehicle, she enjoys seeing people go by on their daily walks. Some have dogs and she keep treats in her pocket for them. They share information about the weather, the local news, jokes and good wishes.

Ten years ago, in 2013, I wrote: "I met Lois Murphy back in 2006 when she was the seasonal gardener at Nut Island State Park in Quincy. She was 75 and thriving in a fairly hard physical job. She had drive and passion, was physically strong, bursting with positive energy."

And that is still true. Only the pandemic in 2020 could stop Lois and her co-worker, Jeanne Healy, of Braintree, also a Houghs Neck native, but they were back on the job in 2021.

I hope Lois keeps going as long as it makes her happy. She is a rare, rich spirit.

Hear the story of a 132-year-old women's adventure journal

The Quincy Historical Society has picked a dynamic speaker with a great adventure story for its annual meeting Wednesday, June 21, at 7 p.m. at 8 Adams St. in the former Adams Academy building.

Boston-area historian and author Stephanie Schorow and the Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands will present a slide show about their new, beautifully illustrated paperback book, "A Boston Harbor Islands Adventure: The Great Brewster Journal of 1891" (History Press).

"It's about how a group of amateur sleuths helped Stephanie solve the mystery of a 132-year-old women's adventure journal," said Edward Fitzgerald, executive director of the Quincy Historical Society.

A few years ago, Stephanie came across the 19th-century journal at Harvard’s Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America. It told the story of how four middle-aged women from Lowell decided to take a convention-defying break from their family responsibilities and spend two artistic weeks together on Great Brewster Island in Boston Harbor.

They wanted to explore, have adventures, be creative and enjoy each other's company and friendship − a chance to leave the everyday world behind. They brought food, literature, art supplies and one leather-bound journal.

When Stephanie found the journal at the Schlesinger Library, only one of the four women was identified.

Enter 10 to 12 curious and talented volunteers from the Friends who got right to work researching who the other three women might be. One of the sleuths was Marguerite Krupp, a retired technical writer from Norwood. The women in the journal were only identified by their nicknames: The Autocrat, the Aristocrat, the Acrobat and the Scribe. There were photos of all four.

"For more than two years, we all loved working together on this," Krupp said. "The journal was in four different handwritings and we had to decipher who wrote what. We had all our meetings on Zoom and worked things out online."

Another fun local angle: Harvard professor John Stilgoe, of Norwell, who has taught the history of landscape at Harvard University for 49 years, first discovered the journal in a used-book store while on a bike ride in Cape Ann in 1999. He happened to have a flat tire outside the bookshop. Divine intervention?

"The journal was lying open on the counter when I walked in and I quickly realized it was a magnificent find," Stilgoe said Sunday. "These women did something no one did in that era. And they made watercolors of their island adventures the way we'd pull out a cellphone today. The illustrations in the book are beautiful."

Stilgoe quickly told the bookstore owner that Harvard would buy the journal, gave his own credit card number, and the next morning went to Harvard's librarian, who arranged to buy it.

"I was in the right place at the right time," he said.

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According to the Schorow book's publicity release: "In July 1891, four intrepid women from Lowell set off for Great Brewster Island in Boston Harbor for an adventure they would remember all their lives. Calling themselves 'The Merrie Trippers,' the women created a journal of their 17-day sojourn with entries, illustrations andphotographs – like a 19th Century Facebook page. But they did not include their names.

"When the journal was obtained by the Schlesinger Library of the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, only one writer wasidentified. In 2022 volunteers from the Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands, led by Stephanie Schorow,did a deep dive into the journal’s mysteries. They identified the women, transcribed the journal andgathered historical and cultural context of the entries.

"The result is a lavishly illustrated book that provides insight into the lives of 19th Century women and the history of the Boston Harbor Islands."

The historical society program is free. For more information, call the society at 617-773-1144 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Reach Sue Scheible at sscheible@patriotledger.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Nut Island gardener at 91; a 132-year-old island adventure journal