Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/506

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
466
MURPHY
MURPHY

body on 4 Dec, 1843, took part in the debates in favor of free-trade, and in opposition to changes in the naturalization laws and the annexation of Texas. In 1846 he attended the convention for re- vising the state constitution, and vs'as made chair- man of the com- mittee on corpo- rations. The same year he was again sent to congress. He was men- tioned as a candi- date for the presi- dency in 1852, was very active in the canvass of Frank- lin Pierce, and in that of James Bu- chanan in 1856, and on 1 June, 1857, was appoint- ed U. S. minis- ter to the Hague,

where he remained

until he was recalled by the succeeding admin- istration, leaving on 8 June, 1861. On his re- turn he was elected to the state senate, where he served six successive terras, and was instru- mental in securing the repeal of the law on eccle- siastical tenures and the establishment of isolated quarantine. During the civil war he supported the government in public speeches and contribu- tions to the press, and exerted himself to pro- mote enlistments. In 1867 he was a delegate Irom the state at large to the convention for re- modelling the state constitution. Mr. Murphy was one of the founders of the new Long Island historical society and of the Brooklyn city library, and was president of the East River bridge com- pany. He was interested during his entire life in literary and historical subjects, and especially in the period of Dutch domination in New York, which he had opportunities to study during his residence in Holland. A list of the valuable books that he collected was published under the title of "A Catalogue of an American Library, Chronologically Arranged " (1853). He translated and annotated " Voyage from Holland to America, A. D. 1632-1644," from the work of David P. De Vries (1853) ; also " Broad Advice to the New Netherlands," which appeared in the " Collec- tions " of the New York historical society, and " The First Minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in the United States," which he printed privately (The Hague, 1857); also "Henry Hud- son in Holland : An Enquiry into the Origin and Objects of the Voyage which led to the Discovery of the Hudson River" (The Hague, 1859). His "Anthology of the New Netherlands, or Trans- lations from the Early Dutch Poets of New York, with Memoirs of their Lives," was printed for the Bradford club (New York, 1865). A translation of the " Voyage to New York " of Jasper Dankers and Peter Sluyter was published by the Long Island historical society (Brooklyn, 1867). He was the author also of a monograph on " The Voyage of Verrazano" (printed privately, Albany, 1875), and of a " Memoir of Hermann Ernst Liidewig," printed in the " Memorial Biographies " of the New England historic-genealogical society. MURPHY, John, governor of Alabama, b. in Columbia, S. C., in 1786 ; d. in Clarke county, Ala., 21 Sept., 1841. He was graduated at South Carolina college in 1808, was clerk of the state senate in 1810-'17, removed to Alabama in 1818, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and soon became well known in the political contests of the state. He was governor from 1825 till 1829, and then entered into an animated canvass for a seat in congress, as a representative of Unionist principles, with Dixon H. Lewis, who was an extreme nullifier. The con- test was renewed at the next congressional election, and in the following one he was elected as a Union Democrat over James Dellet, a Whig, and served from 2 Dec. 1833, till 3 March, 1835.


MURPHY, John, publisher, b. in Omagh, County Tyrone, Ireland, 12 March, 1812; d. in Baltimore. Md., 27 May, 1880. When he was ten years old his parents emigrated to the United States and settled at New Castle, Del., where he attended a boys' school for two years, and then became a clerk in a country store. Two years later he went to Philadelphia, where, at the age of sixteen, he ap- prenticed himself to the printing business. When he attained his majority he removed to Baltimore and worked at his trade until 1835, when he opened an office of his own. which soon became noted for the excellence of his work. In 1840 he combined with his printing business a book and stationery store, to which he soon added a publishing depart- ment. Within a few years he was known as one of the chief Roman Catholic publishers in this coun- try. In 1842 he began to issue the " United States Catholic Magazine," which was continued for seven years under the editorship of the Rev. Charles I. White and Bishop Spalding, of Louisville, Ky., afterward archbishop of Baltimore. From 1853 till 1859 he published the " Metropolitan Magazine," which was not a pecuniary success. In 1855 he printed a translation of the " Definition of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception," for which Pope Pius IX. sent him a gold medal. In 1866 he issued the " Proceedings of the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore." A copy of this work was sent to Pius IX., who conferred upon the publisher the honorary title of printer to the pope, a distinc- tion that had never been bestowed on a resident of any English-speaking country. For more than a quarter of a century he printed the proceedings of the Maryland historical society, of which he was one of the early members.


MURPHY, John Francis, landscape-painter, b. in Oswego, N. Y., 11 Dec. 1853. He came to New York city in 1875 and is self-taught. He ex- hibited first at the National academy in 1876, was elected an associate in 1885 and academician in 1887. In 1885 he received the second Hallgarten prize for his painting " Tints of a Vanished Past," and he took the Webb prize at the Society of Ameiican artists in 1887. He is a member of the Water-color society and the Society of American artists. His studio is in New York city. Mr. Murphy's works include " Sunnv Slopes" (1879); "Upland Cornfield" (1880); "October"; "Late Afternoon"; "April Weather" (1881); "Wood land" (1882); "Rocky Slope" (1883); "Weedy Brook " ; " Svdtry Season " ; " Edge of a Pond " ; "After the Frosts" (1884); "The Yellow Leaf" (1885) ; " Indian Summer '" ; " Sundown " (1886) ; and " Brooks and Fields " (1887).


MURPHY, John McLeod, civil engineer, b. in Northcastle, Westchester co., N. Y., 14 Feb., 1827; d. in New York city, 1 June, 1871. He entered the U. S. navy as midshipman, 18 Feb., 1841, was promoted passed midshipman, 10 Aug., 1847, and resigned, 10 May, 1852. He served in the war with Mexico, and in 1851 was detailed as hydrographic assistant on Maj. John G. Barnard's survey of the