John J. Murphy (1890–1973) was an American politician who served as mayor of

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81, ...

and

United States Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforcem ...

for the District of Massachusetts.

Early life

Murphy was born in 1890 in Somerville. He entered the workforce at the age of 14 and continued his education at the Somerville Evening High School. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he organized a yeomans school and was later placed in charge of recruiting for the

1st Naval District The naval district was a U.S. Navy military and administrative command ashore. Apart from Naval District Washington, the Districts were disestablished and renamed Navy Regions about 1999, and are now under Commander, Naval Installations Command ...

. During this time he met his future wife, Elizabeth Tiffany, who was working as a government clerk in Boston. When Murphy was elected mayor, his wife and their 5-year-old daughter, Barbara, were residing in California while Barbara attempted to become a

child actress The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated t ...

. After the war, Murphy returned to the electrical company he had worked for as a boy. He eventually became assistant sales manager; however, the job required a lot of traveling and Murphy gave it up to focus on politics. He remained with the company as a sales agent and managed a gas station. In 1918 he graduated from

Suffolk University Law School Suffolk University Law School (also known as Suffolk Law School) is the private, non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, across the street from the Boston Common and the Freedom Trail, two block ...

Politics

Murphy was an unsuccessful candidate for the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the ...

in 1916 and the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

in 1928. He was the Democratic nominee for mayor in 1921, 1923, 1925, and 1927, losing each time. In 1929 he became the first Democrat to win the mayoralty in Somerville. He was reelected in 1931 and was preparing to run again in 1933 until he was offered the position of United States Marshal by President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

's patronage manager

James Farley James Aloysius Farley (May 30, 1888 – June 9, 1976) was an American politician and Knight of Malta who simultaneously served as chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and Postmaste ...

. Murphy resigned as US Marshal in 1939. In 1944, Murphy was a candidate for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

seat in

Massachusetts's 11th congressional district Massachusetts's 11th congressional district is an obsolete congressional district in eastern Massachusetts. It was eliminated in 1993 after the 1990 U.S. census. Its last congressman was Brian Donnelly; its most notable were John Quincy Adams ...

, but lost the Democratic nomination to incumbent

James Michael Curley James Michael Curley (November 20, 1874 – November 12, 1958) was an American Democratic politician from Boston, Massachusetts. He served four terms as mayor of Boston. He also served a single term as governor of Massachusetts, characterized ...

Later life

Elizabeth Tiffany Murphy died in 1938. Murphy later remarried Agnes L. MacAdams. With MacAdams, Murphy had one daughter and was stepfather to two sons from her first marriage. After leaving political office, Murphy spent many years as a cost accountant. He died on July 9, 1973, at his home in

Malden, Massachusetts Malden is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,263 people. History Malden, a hilly woodland area north of the Mystic River, was settled by Puritans in 1640 on la ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, John J. 1890 births 1973 deaths Massachusetts Democrats Mayors of Somerville, Massachusetts Politicians from Malden, Massachusetts Suffolk University Law School alumni United States Marshals United States Navy personnel of World War I