Discussion
Genevieve Hurley is referred to as "the darling of Jefferson County" in an article that was published in The Topeka Capital-Journal on September 11, 1997, in connection with a book then in the works that was to be about the tragedy that occurred at the T.A. Hurley farmhouse southeast of Meriden on May 14, 1923. Ironically, by then (September 11, 1997), the name Darling had already figured prominently in two post-tragedy accounts of the fire that destroyed the farmhouse, leaving three charred bodies in its wake, and the ensuing investigation into the fire and the events that may have immediately preceded it. What we do know for sure, as documented by a short story in the May 9, 1919, issue of The Meriden Ledger, is that Genevieve Hurley left the world (whenever she left the world) having written the lyrics to a lovely song, "When The Roses Bloom In May", the words for which can be found on the historical society's Facebook page. The song was copyrighted under Genevieve Hurley's name in 1919, and maybe one of these days those of us who don't play the piano or sing so well will be able to hear it performed somewhere here in Jefferson County. Just a thought.
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