John Bernard Murphy

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about John Bernard Murphy, a man whose story stretches from County Cork to the Gulf Coast of Texas. Born in 1821 in Mallow, County Cork, Ireland, John Bernard Murphy made his way across the Atlantic and arrived in the United States in 1845. His first stop was New Orleans, and he didn't linger long before finding his purpose.

He joined the United States Army as a staff reporter under General Zachary Taylor, right at the onset of war with Mexico. He earned the rank of captain before being discharged on October 4, 1846. Now, a man like Murphy wasn't the type to sit still.

He began studying law, and on May 4, 1849, near Matamoros, he married Margaret Mary Healy. Shortly after, the couple relocated to the Irish settlement of San Patricio. Texas had claimed them both.

What followed was a legal and political career that would fill several lesser men. Murphy served as chief justice and district attorney in both San Patricio and Nueces Counties. He held many positions of trust along the way, including one of the most consequential assignments of the era: delegate representing Nueces County, Thirteenth District, to the 1875 Texas constitutional convention, the gathering that wrote a new constitution after Reconstruction.

Then came Corpus Christi. First elected in 1880, Murphy became mayor of the city. And here's where the story earns its weight.

According to city records, when Murphy began his term, the city was heavily in debt with an empty treasury. Not a pretty picture. By the end of his term, the city's credit was restored and the debt repaid.

During his tenure, the city erected streetlights, dug trenches to divert water, provided means to help the poor, and served to preserve law and order. At the time of his death, Corpus Christi boasted several schools, a telephone exchange, an opera house, and a mineral well providing clean drinking water, along with beaches, hotels, sailing and fishing for tourists. But illness came for Murphy before he could see all of it through.

He resigned, and just a few weeks later, on July 4, 1884, John Bernard Murphy died. Through all of it, he and Margaret had adopted two orphans and remained active in charity work. They were charter members of the first Catholic church in Corpus Christi.

The Murphys are buried together in Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery. A man born in Mallow, who crossed an ocean, marched with an army, studied the law, and left a city better than he found it. The marker doesn't need to dress that up.

Neither do I.

What the marker says

Born in 1821, in Mallow, County Cork, Ireland, John Bernard Murphy immigrated to the United States in 1845. Upon arriving in New Orleans, Murphy joined the United States Army as a staff reporter under General Zachary Taylor at the onset of war with Mexico. Murphy earned the rank of captain before being discharged on October 4, 1846. Murphy began studying law when he married Margaret Mary Healy on May 4, 1849, near Matamoros. Shortly after, the couple relocated to the Irish settlement of San Patricio. Murphy served terms as chief justice and district attorney in both San Patrico and Nueces Counties. He held many positions of trust during his legal and political career, one being a delegate representing Nueces County, Thirteenth District, to the 1875 Texas constitutional convention which wrote a new constitution after reconstruction. First elected in 1880, Murphy became mayor of Corpus Christi. According to city records, as Murphy began his term as mayor, the city was heavily in debt with an empty treasury. By the end of his term, the city's credit was restored and debt repaid. Due to illness, John Bernard Murphy died a few weeks after his resignation, on July 4, 1884. During Murphy's tenure as mayor, the city erected streetlights, dug trenches to divert water, provided means to help the poor and served to preserve law and order. At the time of his death, Corpus Christi boasted several schools, a telephone exchange, an opera house, and a mineral well providing clean drinking water, along with beaches, hotels, sailing and fishing for tourists. John and Margaret adopted two orphants and were active in charity work as well as charter members of the first catholic church in Corpus Christi. The Murphys are buried in Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery. (2017)