BIOGRAPHY: Dr. John MURPHY, Cambria County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by David Monahan. USGENWEB ARCHIVES (tm) NOTICE All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information are included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cambria/ ____________________________________________________________ From Wiley, Samuel T., ed. Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Cambria County, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Union Publishing Co., 1896, p. 452-3 ____________________________________________________________ Dr. John MURPHY DR. JOHN MURPHY, a physician and general practitioner of Loretto, this county, is a son of John and Lucinda (Todd) Murphy, and was born in Ebensburg, this county, September 23, 1855. The Murphy family is of Irish descent. Michael Murphy (great-grandfather) was born in Ireland, whence he emigrated to America and became one of the early settlers of Cambria county, locating in the county about the time Father Gallitzin came to Loretto. Mr. Murphy cleared a farm and engaged in agriculture. Michael Murphy (grandfather) was born in Cambria county, and, being reared a farmer-boy, adopted the avocation of his father and followed farming all his life. He married Miss Margaret Fields, and to their union four children were born, three sons and one daughter. Of this family John Murphy, father of our subject, was the youngest child. He was born in Cambria county, and died in Ebensburg in 1855, when about twenty-one years old. He was a carpenter by trade, and, like his ancestors, was a member of the Roman Catholic church. He married Lucinda Todd, a daughter of David Todd, a cabinet-maker of Ebensburg, and a descendant of the Todds, who were among the original settlers of Ebensburg. John Murphy, our subject, was the only child born of this union. He was left an orphan, his father having died before the child's birth, his mother only surviving her husband about one year. He was reared by kind friends and educated in the common school. When about sixteen years old he went to Gallitzin, where he was employed as a clerk until twenty-two years old. During this time he had saved enough money to enable him to enter St. Francis college, Loretto, where he remained two years. Having decided on a professional career, in 1879 he entered the office of Dr. James J. Oatman, of Ebensburg, and began the study of medicine. The same year he entered Hahnemann Medical college, Chicago, Illinois, from which institution he graduated in 1882. Immediately after leaving the medical college he opened an office in Gallitzin, where he practiced his chosen profession successfully for two years. In 1884 he removed to Loretto, where he has remained ever since, and where he has built up an extensive general practice. He is a member of the Roman Catholic church, and supports the principles of the Republican party. April 14, 1879, he married Miss Annie Selbitz, a daughter of Charles Selbitz, of Gallitzin. This union has been blessed in the birth of five children: Marie, Katie, deceased; Maggie, Nellie and Charles, deceased.