Santa Clara County Biographies


This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm


 
 
JAMES MURPHY
 
the second son of Martin Murphy, Sr., was born in County Wexford, Ireland, 
September 19, 1809, and was eleven years of age when his father removed to 
Canada.  At that time he was a bright, intelligent boy, with stout muscles and 
an active brain.  He was of great assistance to his father in establishing their 
new home, where he remained until he attained man�s estate.  He early developed 
a taste for the lumber business, and when twenty-four years of age, made a 
journey to Maine in this interest.  He remained there but a short time, however, 
soon returning to Canada, where he went into business for himself, which he 
conducted successfully for nine years. During this time he met Miss Ann Martin, 
a beautiful and intelligent young lady, who had come over from Ireland in 1929, 
with her parents, and settled in the neighborhood of the Murphys, who had 
preceded them about eight years.  Miss Martin was born at Thomastown, in King�s 
County. She was only seven years of age when her parents came to America, and 
therefore her husband was acquainted with her from childhood, and knew her many 
sterling qualities.  Two children were born to them in Canada, the eldest being 
a son, whom they named Martin, from his grandfather, and who died while still in 
Canada.  The other child was a daughter, whom they named Mary, and who 
afterwards married B. S. Machado, and is now living near  Gilroy, in Santa Clara 
County.  In 1842 Mr. Murphy, with his brother Martin, joined the other members 
of the Murphy family in Holt County, Missouri, on the Platte Purchase, as it was 
then called.  The history of this journey will be found in the general history 
of the Murphy family [see The Murphy (Donner) Party].  During their residence in 
Missouri, the subject of this sketch visited the lumber regions in the vicinity 
of St. Joseph, where he was engaged in business for a short time.  He 
accompanied the family in their memorable journey through the wilderness to 
California, and took his full share of the trials and dangers of that historic 
expedition.  After arriving in California, he was one of the first to offer his 
services in the defense of the Government in the Micheltorena war.  After the 
battle of Chauvenga he returned to Sutter�s and then chose a location for his 
family in Marin County.  Here he engaged in the lumber business and furnished 
the timbers for Leidesdorff wharf, the first wharf built in San Francisco, then 
Yerba Buena.
            On the discovery of gold every person who could get there, went to 
the mines, leaving the fields untilled and the mills idle.  Not being able to 
procure labor, Mr. Murphy�s lumber operations came to a halt.  Not desiring to 
remain idle, he determined to go to the gold fields.  He visited Sutter�s Mill, 
where gold was first discovered, and from there to Placerville, then called 
�Hangtown,� and visited all the diggings in that vicinity.  He came to the 
conclusion that, for a man who had a family, mining was too precarious a 
business.  Therefore, in the fall of 1848, he came to Santa Clara, and, with his 
brother Daniel, purchased the Rancho de las Llagas, near Gilroy.  He remained 
here, prospering by agricultural pursuits, until after the survey of the famous 
five-hundred-acre lots.  He purchased a number of these lots, lying north of San 
Jose, and, having built a house for his family, took possession of his new home 
in 1849.  Here he lived until his death, which occurred January 13, 1878.
            The �Ringwood Farm,� the homestead of James Murphy, is one of the 
landmarks of Santa Clara County.  From the time he took possession of it in 
1849, it was carefully and intelligently tilled, and notwithstanding, the 
open-handed liberality of its owner, was very profitable.  In 1872 he erected a 
magnificent mansion at a cost of forty thousand dollars, and surrounded it with 
beautiful grounds.  He planted one of the first olive orchards in the county, 
and demonstrated that this valuable fruit could be profitably grown in Santa 
Clara County.  At the time of his death, he had accumulated property valued at 
about $300,000.  His death was much regretted by the entire community, which 
followed him as mourners to his last resting-place.  His widow, a bright and 
intelligent lady of seventy-six years, still occupies the homestead, which is 
managed by the youngest son, Daniel J., a worthy son of a good father.  They 
have had nine children, as follows:  Martin, born and died in Canada; Mary F., 
born in Canada, February 4, 1842; Martin D., born at Sutter�s Fort, February 6, 
1845; Helen E., born at Corte Madera, December 18, 1847, deceased.  The other 
children were born at Ringwood Farm, and are:  Wm. B., August 21, 1850; Lizzie 
A., July 8, 1853; Julia A., January 6, 1853; Helen, April 18, 1860, died in 
infancy; Daniel J., April 25, 1861.
 
Pen Pictures From The Garden of the World or Santa Clara County, California, 
Illustrated. - Edited by H. S. Foote.- Chicago:  The Lewis Publishing Company, 
1888. p. 55-56
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler