MURPHY, John
John MURPHY, whose home is on section 10,
Roberts township, is a farmer whose identification with the
interests of Marshall county is both long and honorable, and the
part that he has taken in promoting its best interest has made
him one of its valued citizens. He was born in
New York city June 20, 1855, the only child of Dennis
and Mary MURPHY, natives of County Cork, Ireland.
The father crossed the Atlantic in 1855, but soon after reaching New York was stricken
with brain fever and died. He had sent money to his wife that
she might join him, but when she arrived she found that her
husband had passed from this life. Coming to
Peru, Illinois, she worked for
a short time in the family of Dr. SMITH, then secured employment
in the family of Lyman HORROM, on Ox Bow Prairie in Putnam
county. She afterward married William W. HOLMES, who was born in
Herkimer county, New York, in 1806, and was one of the
pioneers of Hennepin. He bought a farm east of Magnolia, where
his death occurred in 1882, after which his widow went to Peru, and there died in 1887. They
were both buried in Magnolia cemetery in Putnam county. Of their
five children three are living – Charlotte, wife of Robert
STUDYVIN, of Henry, Illinois, by whom she has two children,
Ralph and Rollin; Margaret, wife of Calvin STUDYVIN, of Saratoga
township, Marshall county, by whom she has four children,
Blanche, Edna, Maynard and Gladys; and Oliver, of New York. The
father of this family accumulated considerable property, and to
some extent dealt in real estate. He took quite an active
interest in politics and was a stanch republican, but always
refused office. During the civil war he was a leader in the
Union League.
Our subject was reared by his step-father,
a well educated and competent business man, and attended the
schools of Magnolia. On the 23d of January, 1884, he married
Miss Ida I. ROBERTS, a daughter of Livingston and Margaret
(DENT) ROBERTS. Her grandfather, Jesse S. ROBERTS, was the first
settler of Marshall county. He was born in Kentucky, and married Miss DAVIS, a native of South Carolina. They
removed from Smithland,
Kentucky, to Montgomery
county, Illinois, in 1827, and the three sons,
Livingston, Obed and Jesse, planted crops that year. The
grandfather selected the land on which Mrs. MURPHY is living, in
1828, and Roberts Point
became a famous place in pioneer days. He made a clearing,
erected a rude log cabin without doors or windows, and removed
his family to the new farm in 1829. They went through the usual
experiences and hardships of pioneer life. Corn ground in a
hominy block served as breadstuff, and Pekin was their nearest trading point. Jesse
ROBERTS served as a soldier in the war of 1812. His death
occurred in 1841, and his wife then went to Du Quoin. They had
six children – Mrs. Jane PHILLIPS, Obed, Jesse and Livingston,
all deceased; Mrs. Margaret WINTERS, of Du Quoin, and Mrs.
Martha GRAY, deceased.
Livingston ROBERTS was born March 24, 1812,
in Livingston county,
Kentucky, and was a youth of sixteen
when with the family he took up his residence upon the farm
which is now the home of Mrs. MURPHY, there spending his
remaining days. His wife was born in Muskingum county,
Ohio, July 18, 1814, a daughter of John DENT, who
came to Magnolia, Illinois, in 1833, and made a permanent
location. The parents of Mrs. MURPHY began housekeeping in a new
cabin, which they occupied until 1840, when it was replaced by
the present brick residence. The bricks for this house were
burned in the timber here, the lumber was hauled from
Chicago, and the sand from Starved Rock, in
La Salle county. The home was then on the
direct road between Chicago and
Peoria, and early became a stage station,
where the horses were changed and the passengers procured meals.
It was in this way that Mr. ROBERTS earned the one hundred
dollars with which he first purchased land. Roberts Point
was also the general stopping place for the many movers who
passed through this region and no one was ever turned from their
door. They furnished dinner for as many as eighty-nine persons
and during one summer the least number that sat down at their
table was twenty-seven. The hospitality of the Roberts household
was proverbial and a hearty welcome was ever extended to the
guests. Mr. ROBERTS was a peace-loving, honorable man, who was
never concerned in any lawsuit, and his word was so implicitly
trusted that, although he signed papers for the amount of one
hundred thousand dollars he was never asked for security. In the
early days he carried one end of the surveyor’s chain, laying
out the state road from Springfield
to Chicago. He was a strong, vigorous man and
tireless worker, and never failed to be present to assist his
neighbors at a house raising. He served as an officer of the
regulars, and was one of the fifty men who drove the Reeves gang
from the country. Although his home was not a regular station on
the underground railroad, he never turned a negro from his door
hungry. He served as a lieutenant during the Black Hawk war, and
during those troubles a stockade was built around the Roberts
cabin. His early political support was given the whig party, but
later he became a republican, and for many years served as
postmaster, also as school director and road commissioner.
This honored pioneer, who was so prominent
a figure in the development of
Marshall
county, died March 27, 1889, and his wife passed away January
28, 1892. On the 24th of January, 1883, they celebrated their
golden wedding, issuing seven hundred invitations. Four persons
who attended the wedding fifty years previous were present on
this occasion. Mr. and Mrs. ROBERTS had twelve children – Thomas
D. married Thene COMPTON, who died, leaving one child, and for
his second wife wedded Dora ELLSBURY, by whom he has three
children; Alonzo, deceased, married Almira STATELER, and they
had one son; Melissa J. is the deceased wife of Joseph TAGGART,
by whom she had a son and daughter; Jesse L. married Josephine
NEAL, and has five children; Zilphia L. is the wife of John
BURNS and has one son; John A. wedded Mary FINLEY and has one
daughter; William G. wedded Mary GLENN and has five children;
Elizabeth E. is the wife of Jerry TRONE; Henry died in infancy;
Riley B. married Minnie HAWS and has four children; Mrs. MURPHY
is the eleventh of the family, and Mary H., the youngest, is the
wife of Dr. J. W. EVANS, and has one daughter.
Mrs. MURPHY was born February 27, 1857, on
the farm, where her entire life has been passed and where she
yet makes her home. She was married in this house, and here was
born the only child of Mr. and Mrs. MURPHY, Olney, whose birth
occurred August 19, 1887. The farm is the oldest in
Marshall
county, and the house has stood for a half century. The place
comprises one hundred and twenty-two acres of rich land, all of
which is under a high state of cultivation. Mr. MURPHY is a
member of the Modern Woodmen of America; in politics he is a
republican and has served as road commissioner. For many years
both he and his wife have resided in this county, and are widely
known among its settlers, many of whom are numbered among their
warm friends.
Extracted April 2011 by Norma Hass from
The Biographical Record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois,
1896.
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