In April 1853, John married Sarah C. Jacobus. It was a ‘runaway marriage’ or elopement, so the young couple married in Essex County, New Jersey, where they were not known.
The Murphys had five children: Jane, Sarah Elizabeth, Mary, Jerome Franklin, and Loretta. The federal census of 1860 recorded the Murphys living in Orange, Essex County, New Jersey, where John was working as a carpenter. The family seems to have been quite poor.
Notwithstanding his age, John D. Murphy volunteered to fight in the Civil War. He enlisted on May 23, 1861, and was assigned to Company F, 72nd New York Infantry. His unit fought in the Peninsular Campaign, and Murphy was reported as wounded at the Battle of Williamsburg on February 5, 1862.
After the war, Murphy was unable to work and, by 1880, he was no longer with his family. Family members say that he had developed a mania for wandering around the country. He lived for a time at the Old Soldiers Home in Dayton, Ohio, before heading out for Arizona.
Around July 1, 1897, Murphy was living in a boarding house in Phoenix when he fell ill. His landlord cared for him for four days before sending him to the County Hospital. Murphy died there on July 10, 1897, and was buried in the Salt River Cemetery. check out more of his story at the PMMP!
-story by Donna Carr
No comments:
Post a Comment