Shasta County
Biographies
JAMES R. MURPHEY
James R. Murphey, who for the past
decade has been capably performing a very important public service, is one of
Shasta county’s most popular citizens, being a man of sterling character and
upright life. He was born in Shasta
County on the 20th of February, 1867, and is a son of William
Valentine and Jerusha Powell (Dickenson) Murphey, the former a native of
Kentucky and the latter of Virginia.
William V. Murphey went to Missouri, locating near Independence, where
he engaged in the sheep business. In
1849 he joined the historic rush to the gold mines of California, crossing the
plains. Locating at Jimtown,
he turned his attention to mining, which he followed for some years, and then returned,
across the plains to his Missouri home.
There he met and married Miss Dickenson and started again for
California. However, this time he took
the longer route around Cape Horn and on his arrival in California located at
the old town of Shasta, near Redding, in 1856.
He there engaged in mining for a time, but later attended the ditch for
various miners for several years. From
there he moved to the Bald Hills country, where he engaged in the sheep
business, which he followed to the time of his death. To him and his wife were born eight children,
as follows: Mary; Lucy, the wife of
Alfred Duncan; Josephine, who married Irby Jordan and whose son Robert is now
one of the supervisors of Shasta County; Henry Clay, who died young; John C.,
who is engaged in the practice of law in Oakland, this state; James R., of this
review; Charles M., a stockman and farmer, and Emma, deceased, who was the wife
of Robert McKinney, a fruit rancher.
James R. Murphey is very largely
self-educated, as his early school privileges were very limited. However, he has been a close reader and a
keen observer and is a well informed man.
He learned the trade of a shoemaker, but later became a carpenter and
contractor, which business he followed for a number of years. For the past ten years he has had the job of
killing mosquitoes in the Redding district, under the state abatement law,
through action of which so much has been accomplished in various districts of
California in getting rid of the mosquito pest.
He is painstaking and thorough in everything he undertakes and has been
very efficient in his present work. Mr.
Murphey has been successful in his material affairs and is the owner of an
entire block in Redding, as well as his fine home. He also owns Echo Lake, a beautiful place in
the mountains, which he expects to improve and use for his family and many
friends.
In 1893 Mr. Murphey was united in
marriage to Miss Lucy Smith, a daughter of Michael and Margaret Smith, the
former a miner. Both Mr. and Mrs.
Michael Smith died in Shasta County.
Mrs. Murphey was born in Mendocino County, this state, and is a woman of
gracious manner and fine personal qualities, very
popular among her many friends. Mr. and
Mrs. Murphey are the parents of eight children, as follows: Jerusha, who lives in Redding; Andrew C., who
is with the Southern Pacific Railroad and lives near Truckee; Martin H., who
died in his youth; Ethel, who died in infancy; Martha R., who is in the Bank of
Italy at Redding; Orion W., of Redding, who is married and has four children; Elzy V., who is in the employ of the Pacific Gas &
Electric Company; and George Edward, who is with the same corporation. Mr. and Mrs. Murphey have reared a splendid family;
have stood consistently for those things which make for the permanent good of society,
and are numbered among the best citizens of their home community.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Wooldridge,
J. W. Major, History of the Sacramento Valley California, Vol. 3 Pages
361-362. Pioneer
Historical Publ. Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's
Shasta County Biographies