Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Murphy, Everett J 
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Author: Past & Present Will County IL 1907

Everett J. Murphy, warden of the Illinois state prison at Joliet and recently 
honored with the presidency of the National Prison Congress for the year 1906-
7, was born in Nashville, Washington county, Illinois, July 24, 1852. He is a 
son of William P. and Mary J. (Fresh) Murphy, the former a native of Tennessee 
and the latter of Ohio. William P. Murphy was an attorney at law and during 
the greater part of his life engaged actively and successfully in practice at 
Sparta, Illinois. He was judge of the court of common pleas of Randolph county 
and was recognized as one of the able representatives of the profession in 
that part of the state. He died in 1884 and was survived for eight years by 
his wife, who passed away in 1892. Of their family of nine children three yet 
survive: Philip F., of Springfield, Illinois; Clarinda J., of Chicago; and 
Everett J., of this review. The last named acquired his literary education in 
the public and high schools of Sparta and when he put aside his text-books to 
enter the field of business life became connected with mercantile interests in 
that city, there remaining until 1882, when he was elected sheriff of Randolph 
county. It was during his incumbency in that office that his attention was 
directed to prison service, in which he has since become a distinguished 
factor as a champion of various reforms which indicate the strong humanitarian 
spirit of the man and have been a most helpful factor in prison life. In the 
meantime, however, other political offices and honors came to Mr. Murphy, for 
in 1886 he was elected to represent his district in the state legislature. In 
the meantime he owned farming lands and engaged in general agricultural 
pursuits. In 1889, however, he was apointed warden of the penitentiary at 
Chester, Illinois, but the change in the political rule of the state in 1893, 
when John P. Altgeld was elected governor,caused him to resign. In that year 
he removed to East St. Louis and was elected member of congress from the 
eighteenth district in 1894, serving for one term. In 1897 he was appointed on 
the board of pardons by Governor Tanner and in 1899 was transferred from this 
board to the position of warden of the prison at Joliet, in which capacity he 
has since remained, covering a period of seven years. He has made a close 
study of penal institutions, their government and the policy that is followed 
in different states in the care of the criminal class, and has made for 
himself a name honored throughout the country as one of the most successful 
prison executives. His efforts have always been along the line of reformation 
for the men under his control and largely through his exertions the Joliet 
penitentiary is now considered one of the model institutions of its kind. It 
is said that he has done a greater work along humane lines than any previous 
incumbent. His idea has been to improve conditions wherever possible and he 
has succeeded. Among the most notable reforms that he has inaugurated have 
been in the line of giving greater liberties to the inmates, who are now 
permitted to receive daily papers, may have their hair cut in any style 
desired and are fed in a well arranged, lighted and ventilated dining room. 
The lockstep, too, has been abolished. In speaking of these changes in the old 
time customs Mr. Murphy said: "I regard the installation of the dining room, 
the hair cutting privileges and the abolishment of the lockstep as three 
important changes. When you show the men that you are doing for them all that 
can be done and are seeking to improve their conditions it is an incentive for 
them to be more strict in complying with the rules of the institution. 
Discipline is something that we must have, but it is for the protection of the 
men themselves and not for the officers of the institution. Lax order would be 
dangerous to their welfare and safety because there are always those who will 
resort to mischief. Discipline is in the interest of the inmates." Such are 
the views of Mr. Murphy, and the practical beneficial results are being 
demonstrated. He believes in inaugurating methods that will arouse any dormant 
spirit of manhood in the criminal class, helping to make them better men and 
perhaps good citizens after their time of servitude shall have expired. A 
difficult proposition and one which he is capably solving came to him in the 
abolishment of the contract system, which threw practically the entire number 
of inmates (sixteen hundred) out of employment. It is almost a Herculean task 
to provide such a large force with work but this Mr. Murphy has done, 
arranging the work in different departments with as little loss of time as 
possible. Altogether his service has been satisfactory to the state at large 
and that his methods have received the endorsement of those throughout the 
country who are closely connected with and have made a study of penal 
institutions and their government is shown by the fact that in September, 
1906, he was elected president of the National Prison Congress, the membership 
consisting of prison wardens and anyone interested in penal institutions 
throughout the United States and Canada. Mr. Murphy is a member of the Elks 
lodge and the Modern Woodmen camp at Joliet. In November, 1875, he married 
Miss Elizabeth C. Wilson, of Sparta, Illinois, and they have two children: 
Mary Alice, the wife of H. J. Sawyer of Joliet; and William A., a graduate of 
Cornell University and of the law department of the Chicago University and now 
practicing law in Joliet. Mr. Murphy is a man of fine personal appearance, 
well fitted for leadership by reason of a commanding presence, of strong 
mentality and by a breadth of humanitarianism that recognizes the 
possibilities for improvement in every individual. Calm and self-poised, with 
a mind judicial in its cast, enabling him to look at a question from every 
possible standpoint, he arrives at conclusions which are just and logical and 
in working toward the ideal presents none of the qualities of the theorist but 
on the contrary uses the means at hand to accomplish practical but improved 
results. 

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907

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