Son of William and Mary (Rollins) Murphy, was born Feb. 6, 1823, in Randallstown, County Antrim, Ireland. He came to this country when eleven years old. At the age of fifteen he made a public profession of his faith in the Presbyterian Church at New Hartford, N. Y. His preparatory studies were pursued in Clinton, N. Y., in the school of the Rev. Mr. Strong, and he graduated from Princeton College in 1845.
Entering the Seminary at Princeton the same year, he took the full three years’ course there, graduating in 1848. He was licensed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, Feb. 2, 1848, and ordained by the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia, Oct. 11, 1849, being at the same time installed pastor of the church in Frankford, Philadelphia. This was his only charge, from which he was released April 16, 1895, the release to take effect on May the 5th, nearly forty-six years after his coming to the church a young man fresh from the Seminary.
He took up his residence in Blawenburg, N.J., from 1895, until his death, spending his winters in Philadelphia. He died Dec. 26, 1900, in Philadelphia, of pneumonia, in the 78th year of his age. He was buried at Blawenburg. He received the degree of D.D, from Princeton College in 1872, and that of LL.D. from Washington College, Tenn., in 1891. Dr. Murphy was a commissioner to the General Assembly (0. S.), which met in Rochester, N. Y., 1860; again at Pittsburgh, 1865; at Philadelphia, 1870; at Chicago, 1871; at Saratoga, 1883, and at Philadelphia, 1888. He was a leader in the councils of his Presbytery and Synod.
He presented to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland the first paper opening the way to the formation of the Pan-Presbyterian Alliance, and was a delegate to the meeting of the Alliance in Belfast in 1873. He was an author of note, publishing ” One hundred years of the Presbyterian Church of Frankford,” ” Pastoral Theology,” used as a text book in several theological seminaries; “Message to the Seven Churches of Asia,” 1895; “People and Pastor,” 1887; “The Presbytery of the Log College,” 1889, besides numerous sermons and articles in the religious press.
Dr. Murphy was married June 15, 1848, at Blawenburg, N.J., to Miss Ann Sortor, who died July 26, 1895. A son, the Rev. Archibald A. Murphy, of New Brunswick, N. J., an alumnus of Princeton Seminary, survives him. A daughter followed him to the grave in April, 1901.
