Early Life Through College
Born April 25, 1908 to Roscoe and Ethel Murrow in Polecat Creek, North Carolina, Egbert Roscoe Murrow was the fourth son (the Murrow’s first son died) in his Quaker family. His older brothers were Lacey and Dewey. The family lived in a small log cabin with no running water or electricity. Roscoe Murrow worked very hard as a farmer bringing in only a few hundred dollars a year. Even though he was relatively successful, Roscoe longed for a different life. To that end, he moved his family across the country to a small town 30 miles south of the Canadian border, in Blanchard, Washington on Samish Bay. Roscoe went to work for the railroad eventually becoming a locomotive engineer—which he loved. During this time, Egbert changed his name and started going by Edward or Ed. Blanchard was very small with a very small school but the Murrow boys excelled. While in school Ed was in the school orchestra, glee club, played baseball and basketball as well as president of the student body. As if he d