Murphy's Coon Suppers
Barbecue Coon
Dressing
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Slaw
Charlie’s Coldwater Rolls
Sweetened Iced Tea
Dressing
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Slaw
Charlie’s Coldwater Rolls
Sweetened Iced Tea
Murphy Funeral Home sits on a lovely hill in Martin, Tennessee looking toward the east. Doug Murphy passed the ownership of the business to his son, David. Hundreds of stories have passed these men’s lips and ears. Here is one.
David Murphy remembers Coon Suppers taking place from 1965 to 1975 on the Friday night after Thanksgiving. At that time, David had returned from serving in the military and his father, Doug Murphy, hosted a supper so that David could see family and friends. Doug owned Murphy Funeral Home in Martin and knew the whole town, so he made the event rather relaxed and easy to handle.
First, he set the menu. Doug chose coon as the entrée for three reasons: it was wild, cheap, a little different, accessible, and most of all, there was a source! Two animals were under consideration: beaver and raccoon. Mr. Wipps Vaughan caught a beaver and Doug hired John Royster of the American Café (a famed Greasy Spoon on Lindell Street) to cook the trial beaver, which turned out to be a rich, dark, black meat that tasted horrible! That left raccoon as the entrée because squirrels were pretty commonplace to eat. Doug Murphy contracted with John Earl Hazlewood who, over the course of the year, killed, skinned, dressed and froze about 250 raccoons in two deep freezers on his back porch.
Then Doug hired Charlie Moore, who was the Cook and later Head Cook for the Martin Elementary School Cafeteria from about 1950 to at least 1990. Charlie coordinated the coon barbecuing and food preparation. Doug was Mayor of Martin from 1962 to 1966 and a prominent citizen, and he easily wrangled his way to using the Martin Elementary Cafeteria for this non-civic occasion. Mr. Charlie came to his familiar turf with his own staff - the school lunchroom ladies who prepared the side dishes and then served the food to the guests for the Coon Supper. Charlie barbecued the coon himself, but a recipe is not available. Sorry. Coldwater Rolls , as the Murphy men call them, are the same as Charlie’s Yeast Rolls. Charlie’s staff worked for tips and the guests could be very generous, especially if they had enjoyed a nip or two of whiskey before coming to the Coon Supper.
Once, an un-named guest was a little hesitant about eating raccoon. The Murphy men told him to have a drink of whiskey before coming to the Coon Supper and it would taste just fine. So the guest followed their instructions, maybe even repeating them a time or two, and arrived at the supper in fine form and ate a plate of Barbecue Coon with all the trimmings. On his way out the door, he stopped to thank David and tell him that he had actually enjoyed the meal. David responded to him with a poker face, “Surely you didn’t eat that stuff!”
Some men would even ask Mr. Charlie for filled plates to take home to the wife, who was waiting anxiously for her coon eatin’ husband to return! The guest list included a wide cross section of the City of Martin; in fact, David says that the guests could do most anything “from saving your soul to picking your pocket”! No wonder the wives were anxious at home! Male Bonding at its finest! The last year Doug hosted the Coon Supper was in about 1975 when nearly 650 guests attended. That year a man from Mayfield, Kentucky, heard about the supper and arrived with his wife in tow. It was the one and only time a female attended the Coon Supper! And seemingly ended the tradition!
Memories still prevail. Very recently Dr. Pope, a former preacher of the Martin First Baptist Church, had a medical procedure with a bit of anesthesia in the process. At its completion, his middle-aged son, Jerry who had accompanied him, offered to take him out for some lunch. Dr. Pope responded, “Son, I think I want some coon!” Jerry didn’t know where to find any coon, but Dr. Pope remembered, “Just drive on over to Martin. Doug Murphy will have some!”
David Murphy remembers Coon Suppers taking place from 1965 to 1975 on the Friday night after Thanksgiving. At that time, David had returned from serving in the military and his father, Doug Murphy, hosted a supper so that David could see family and friends. Doug owned Murphy Funeral Home in Martin and knew the whole town, so he made the event rather relaxed and easy to handle.
First, he set the menu. Doug chose coon as the entrée for three reasons: it was wild, cheap, a little different, accessible, and most of all, there was a source! Two animals were under consideration: beaver and raccoon. Mr. Wipps Vaughan caught a beaver and Doug hired John Royster of the American Café (a famed Greasy Spoon on Lindell Street) to cook the trial beaver, which turned out to be a rich, dark, black meat that tasted horrible! That left raccoon as the entrée because squirrels were pretty commonplace to eat. Doug Murphy contracted with John Earl Hazlewood who, over the course of the year, killed, skinned, dressed and froze about 250 raccoons in two deep freezers on his back porch.
Then Doug hired Charlie Moore, who was the Cook and later Head Cook for the Martin Elementary School Cafeteria from about 1950 to at least 1990. Charlie coordinated the coon barbecuing and food preparation. Doug was Mayor of Martin from 1962 to 1966 and a prominent citizen, and he easily wrangled his way to using the Martin Elementary Cafeteria for this non-civic occasion. Mr. Charlie came to his familiar turf with his own staff - the school lunchroom ladies who prepared the side dishes and then served the food to the guests for the Coon Supper. Charlie barbecued the coon himself, but a recipe is not available. Sorry. Coldwater Rolls , as the Murphy men call them, are the same as Charlie’s Yeast Rolls. Charlie’s staff worked for tips and the guests could be very generous, especially if they had enjoyed a nip or two of whiskey before coming to the Coon Supper.
Once, an un-named guest was a little hesitant about eating raccoon. The Murphy men told him to have a drink of whiskey before coming to the Coon Supper and it would taste just fine. So the guest followed their instructions, maybe even repeating them a time or two, and arrived at the supper in fine form and ate a plate of Barbecue Coon with all the trimmings. On his way out the door, he stopped to thank David and tell him that he had actually enjoyed the meal. David responded to him with a poker face, “Surely you didn’t eat that stuff!”
Some men would even ask Mr. Charlie for filled plates to take home to the wife, who was waiting anxiously for her coon eatin’ husband to return! The guest list included a wide cross section of the City of Martin; in fact, David says that the guests could do most anything “from saving your soul to picking your pocket”! No wonder the wives were anxious at home! Male Bonding at its finest! The last year Doug hosted the Coon Supper was in about 1975 when nearly 650 guests attended. That year a man from Mayfield, Kentucky, heard about the supper and arrived with his wife in tow. It was the one and only time a female attended the Coon Supper! And seemingly ended the tradition!
Memories still prevail. Very recently Dr. Pope, a former preacher of the Martin First Baptist Church, had a medical procedure with a bit of anesthesia in the process. At its completion, his middle-aged son, Jerry who had accompanied him, offered to take him out for some lunch. Dr. Pope responded, “Son, I think I want some coon!” Jerry didn’t know where to find any coon, but Dr. Pope remembered, “Just drive on over to Martin. Doug Murphy will have some!”
~From Neese's Pieces, A Family Collection of Recipes and Remembrances, Compiled by Nancy Neese Culver in 2004