HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY                          333

    Mr. Murphy votes with the Democracy but has never sought nor
desired public office for himself. He belongs to the Roman Catholic
church and is loyal to its teachings. His life record has covered the
scriptural span of three score years and ten and in the evening of his
days he is now enjoying a rest which he has truly earned and richly mer-
its. He was for many years active in business, manifesting unabating
energy and strong purpose in carrying on his individual interests and at
the same time being just in all of his dealings with his fellowmen. He
never had occasion to regret his determination to seek a home in America,   
for here he has found the opportunities he sought, which, by the way, are
always open to ambitious, energetic men. As the years went by he pros-
pered in his undertakings and is now living retired in Brazil, respected
and esteemed by all who know him.

    MICHAEL J. MURPHY, who in January, 1907, was appointed receiver
and general manager of the Progressive Coal & Mining Company at
Brazil, was born in Bradford, England, September 16, 1866. His parents
were John and Mary Ann (Welch) Murphy. As the name indicates, the
ancestry of the family is Irish. The grandparents of our subject were
John and Mary (Gallagher) Murphy, who were natives of county Mayo,
Ireland, where they spent their entire lives, John Murphy, Sr., there fol-
lowing the occupation of farming until his death, which occurred when he
was fifty-two years of age. His wife survived him and died at the age of
sixty-nine years. He was a son of Patrick Murphy, also a farmer of
Ireland, and the family through successive generations have been com-
municants of the Roman Catholic church.

    John Murphy, father of our subject, was born in county Mayo,
Ireland, June 12, 1838, and was the eldest of a family of four children.
In early life he was an apprentice in a loom factory. In England he
wedded Mary A. Welch in the year 1859. He had left Ireland ten years
before and had taken up his abode in England at that time. On the 3d
of February, 1870, he sailed from the old world to the new, landing at
New York city on the 16th of the month. He made his way to Allegheny
county, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in mining coal, but later in the
year came to Brazil, Indiana, where he worked at mining until the early
‘80s. He then established a grocery business at Benwood, Clay county,
Indiana, where he continued until 1890. In the meantime, in 1888, he
was elected sheriff and was re-elected in 1890. After removing to Brazil
he established a harness business, which he conducted for about a year
and then again became proprietor of a grocery store, which be conducted
for three or four years, when he turned the business over to his sons.
He was then engaged in the coal trade for about two years and since the
5th of August, 1905, has lived retired. He is a Democrat in politics and
he and his wife are members of the Roman Catholic church. Twelve
children were born unto them, of whom six are now living: Thomas,
Michael, Martin, Mary, Joseph and Sarah, the last named being the wife
of Francis L. Turner, Brazil.
    In his early boyhood days Michael J. Murphy of this review worked
in his father’s grocery store and also became identified with mining inter-
ests. His education was acquired through the medium of the public
schools and in 1893, when about twenty-six years of age, he became his
father’s partner in the ownership and conduct of a grocery store. They
were thus associated for about ten years, when his father withdrew from