Murphey the Jeweler

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Murphey the Jeweler in Smith County. Now, some stores leave a mark on a town. And some stores, well, they just become the town.

Pull up a chair, because this one goes back a ways. Archibald Michael Murphey was born in North Carolina in 1836, and if you're looking for the beginning of this story, you might reach all the way back to 1851, when young Archibald may have started learning the watchmaker's trade. The marker says possibly as an apprentice to his own father, who had come over from Ireland.

A craft passed from an Irish immigrant to his son, in a country that was still finding itself. In 1853, Archibald married Elizabeth Findley in Rusk, Texas. By 1868, the two of them had made their way to Tyler, and that January, Archibald opened his jewelry business on Ferguson and Broadway.

Watches, clocks, diamonds. And if you can believe it, the advertisements from those early years were also boasting selections of sterling silver flatware, and, now here's a detail that'll make you smile, a full line of pianos and organs. Because apparently if you were shopping for a fine timepiece in East Texas, you might as well pick up a piano on your way out.

Archibald ran that business until his sons were ready to carry it. Arch, born in 1866. Orville, born in 1868.

Pinkney H., born in 1870. One by one, they stepped in and kept the business going, just as their father had built it. Then came a younger son, George Reaves Murphey, born in 1874.

By the early years of the twentieth century, George had taken over the store. And in 1919, he moved the business to the very site where this marker stands. Four generations of Murpheys, one craft, one name on the door.

The marker calls Murphey the Jeweler one of the oldest retail establishments in East Texas, and says it has played an important role in Tyler's commercial history. And all of it, every watch set, every diamond sold, every clock that kept time for somebody's wedding or somebody's grief, carried on through the same family that started with a boy who may have learned the trade at his father's side back in 1851. Some legacies are built in stone.

This one was built in the turning of tiny gears.

What the marker says

A native of North Carolina, Archibald Michael Murphey (1836-1886) married Elizabeth Findley in Rusk, Texas, in 1853. By 1868, they had moved to Tyler. Murphey opened his jewelry business on Ferguson and Broadway in January of that year. Murphey later indicated he had begun as a watchmaker as early as 1851, possibly as an apprentice to his father, who was a native of Ireland. Murphey's sons, Arch (1866-1888), Orville (b. 1868), and Pinkney H. (1870-1925), succeeded their father as jewelers and continued to operate his business. A younger son, George Reaves Murphey (1874-1939), had taken over the jewelry store by the early years of the twentieth century. He moved the business to this site in 1919. Murphey the Jeweler has operated as a family business throughout its history. The store has always offered selections of American and Swiss watches, clocks, and diamonds. Advertisements from the early years also boasted selections of sterling silver flatware, as well as a full line of pianos and organs. As one of the oldest retail establishments in East Texas, Murphey the Jeweler has played an important role in Tyler's commercial history. (1985)