Dr. Richard Murphy: Helping Frame Early Lake County

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Dr. Richard Murphy: Helping Frame Early Lake County

Gravestone of Richard Murphy, 1806-1869, buried alongside his sister and brother-in-law, Mary and William Dwyer. Murphy never married and resided with his sister at the Dwyer homestead.

Dr. Richard Murphy, a well-educated Irishman and the brother of Mary Dwyer, left Ireland in the 1820s with William and Mary Dwyer, settling first in New York and then Canada and arriving in the area now known as Lake Bluff in 1837. As one of the community’s most learned people, Murphy acquired a high reputation as a debater and skilled physician.In 1837, Dr. Murphy was named Justice of the Oak Magistrate district, the area containing the Dwyer Settlement. On November 30, 1837, Murphy performed the sixth marriage in the county when David Welsh wed Matilda Shields.He was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1838 and served three terms, during which time he worked with Stephen A. Douglas, James Shields and future President Abraham Lincoln. Murphy served as Chairman of the Finance Committee, drafting the first Illinois Public School law and securing protection for homesteaders from predatory land speculators. In June of 1840, Murphy was appointed deputy to the Federal Marshal of Illinois. In this role, he oversaw the first Lake County census. A Catholic and a Democrat like many in the area, Murphy gave public lectures in favor of abolition.