Frank J. Murphy Biography


	This biography appears on pages 392-393 in "History of Dakota Territory" 
	by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				FRANK J. MURPHY.  

	Frank J. Murphy, living at White Owl and filling the position of 
county auditor of Meade county, was born at. Swan Lake in Turner 
county, South Dakota, September 10, 1882, one of the nine children of 
Jeremiah and Mary A. (Hogan) Murphy, who are natives of Nova Scotia and 
Upper Canada respectively. In early life the father worked at the 
grocery and meat business in Wisconsin, to which state he removed in 
young manhood. Following the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted as a 
member of Company E, Tenth Wisconsin Regiment, in which he served as a 
private for three years. He was twice wounded in battle, but he never 
faltered when duty called and his bravery and valor made his military 
record a most creditable one. On leaving the service Mr. Murphy came to 
South Dakota and homesteaded. Later he engaged in general merchandising 
at Swan Bake and at the time of the building of the railroad he took up 
contract work in South Dakota and Minnesota, continuing in that 
business for ten years. On the expiration of that period he settled in 
Hurley, South Dakota, where he lived retired until 1900, when he 
removed to Alton, Iowa, where he and his wife now reside.

	Frank J. Murphy pursued his education in the public schools of 
Hurley and after leaving the high school continued his studies in the 
University of South Dakota, liberal educational advantages thus 
qualifying him for life's practical and responsible duties. At the age 
of eighteen years he began clerking in a grocery store during vacation 
periods. He afterward attended school in the winter, but later began 
teaching near Monroe, South Dakota, spending a year in a rural school. 
Subsequently he was employed by F. M. Slagle & Company at Alton, Iowa, 
where he handled grain and coal for ten years. He then removed to a 
ranch near White Owl, this state, and devoted some time to the 
operation of that place, being thus engaged until his election to the 
office of county auditor in November, 1914. He entered upon the duties 
of the position January 1, 1915, and is proving a capable official.  

	Mr. Murphy was united in marriage in October, 1908, to Miss 
Amanda A. Cowen, who was born in Alcester, South Dakota, a daughter of 
Robert and Martha (Sherman) Cowen. The father was born in Wisconsin in 
1857, while the mother's birth occurred in Pennsylvania, June 27, 1858. 
He always carried on farming and in 1884 removed to this state, 
settling at Alcester, where he continued to engage in general 
agricultural pursuits for a number of years. He died in August, 1912, 
while his wife survives. Mrs. Murphy was one of seven children and 
attended school at Alcester and afterward graduated from St. Joseph's 
Hospital at Sioux City in the class of 1907. She is a member of the 
State Association of Graduate Nurses of Iowa.  

	In his political views Mr. Murphy has always been a stalwart 
democrat, unfaltering in his allegiance to the party. He belongs to the 
Roman Catholic church and fraternally is connected with the Elks at 
Yankton. The greater part of his life has been passed in this state and 
as a native son he has made a creditable record by his loyalty to its 
best interests and his tangible efforts for the improvement and 
development of the district in which he lives.