Nathan Oakes Murphy (October 14, 1849 – August 22, 1908) was the tenth and fourteenth Governor of
Arizona Territory
The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...
. As well as the territory's delegate to the House of Representatives.
Born in
Jefferson, Maine
Jefferson is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,551 at the 2020 census. Damariscotta Lake State Park, a popular Mid Coast swimming, canoeing and picnic area, is located within the town limits.
History
Jefferso ...
to Benjamin F. Murphy and Lucy Oakes Murphy.
He attended the public schools.
In 1856 the family moved to Wisconsin.
From 1866 to 1869 he taught school in Wisconsin.
He went to the western frontier and finally settled in
Prescott, Arizona, in April 1883 where he engaged in mining and the real estate business.
Secretary to the Governor of Arizona Territory in 1885.
He was appointed secretary of Arizona Territory March 21, 1889.
He served as delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1892.
Governor of Arizona Territory 1892–1894.
Murphy was elected as a
Republican to the
Fifty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1897).
He was not a candidate for renomination in 1896.
Again Governor of Arizona Territory and served from 1898 to 1902, when he resigned.
He was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for election in 1900 to the
Fifty-seventh Congress.
He died in
Coronado, California
Coronado (Spanish for "Crowned") is a resort city located in San Diego County, California, United States, across the San Diego Bay from downtown San Diego. It was founded in the 1880s and incorporated in 1890. Its population was 24,697 at the ...
, August 22, 1908.
He was interred in the Masonic Cemetery,
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
but reinterred at
Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C. in December 1909.
Policies as governor
He supported the
Mormon
Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...
settlers in Arizona. He was an advocate for the statehood of Arizona. His efforts to make Arizona a more legitimate state included a territorial library in
Phoenix, increasing mining operations, and a museum at the
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory.
T ...
. He wanted the reduction on Indian reservations in Arizona. He also wanted the Prohibition of armed Indians.
Frank Murphy
Oakes's brother, Frank, was the owner of the
Congress Mine, the
Sasco smelter, and the (MEOW) builder of
Castle Hot Springs. He also worked on what is now the
Santa Fe Railroad
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and S ...
, in northern Arizona.
References
Citations
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Nathan Oakes
1849 births
1908 deaths
People from Lincoln County, Maine
Educators from Wisconsin
Delegates to the United States House of Representatives from Arizona Territory
Governors of Arizona Territory
Arizona pioneers
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona
19th-century American politicians
19th-century American educators