Francis B. Murdoch | |
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| Born | Francis Butter Murdoch (1805-03-21)March 21, 1805 Cumberland, Maryland, United States |
| Died | May 10, 1882(1882-05-10) (aged 77) San Jose, California, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Attorney Newspaper publisher |
| Known for | Freedom suits attorney Founder ofSan Jose Telegraph |
Francis Butter Murdoch (March 21, 1805 – May 10, 1882) was an American attorney and newspaper publisher. As a lawyer, he practiced law in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois and Missouri, and initiated freedom suits forDred Scott andHarriet Robinson Scott in 1846. Between 1840 and 1847, Murdoch filed nearly one-third of allfreedom suits in St. Louis, and secured freedom for many of his clients who had been enslaved, includingPolly Berry and her daughter,Lucy A. Delaney. Before that, Murdoch was the city attorney inAlton, Illinois, where he unsuccessfully prosecuted rioters who killedElijah Parish Lovejoy, an anti-slavery newspaper publisher, in 1837.
After moving to California in 1852, Murdoch became a newspaper publisher and editor of theSan Jose Telegraph, which later becameThe Mercury News, and founded theSan Jose Patriot.
Murdoch was born on March 21, 1805, inCumberland,Allegany County, Maryland. He attended an academy inBedford, Pennsylvania, at the age of 19. Heread law under JudgeAlexander Thomson and was admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania.[1] Francis Murdoch and Eliza Kimmel were members of the Presbyterian Church at Bedford, where they were married in 1828.[2]
In 1830, Murdoch moved with his wife Eliza's family to Michigan, where he co-founded and laid out the city ofBerrien Springs, Michigan, later the county seat forBerrien County.[1][3] Aside from establishing a homestead there, Murdoch worked as an attorney.[3] He was the county's first lawyer.[4] His two-story cabin was one of the first such residences in Michigan, and is now among the oldest surviving buildings in the state.[3]
After the death of his wife Eliza in 1835,[3] he practiced law inMadison County, Illinois.[1] As theAlton city attorney, Murdochprosecuted members of proslavery and antislavery mobs that destroyed property and killed several people, includingElijah P. Lovejoy, during the 1837 Alton riot.[5][6] According to historical accounts, Murdoch was "fair and impartial" and applied the law equally on both sides, although he clearly sympathized with opponents of slavery.[5] Despite his efforts, Murdoch was unable to convince a jury to convict anyone.[7] Disillusioned, he resigned and closed his law practice in Illinois.[7]
Murdoch moved to St. Louis, where he practiced law with two other lawyers, Ferdinand Risque and Gustavus Bird.[7] He was also admitted to theUnited States District Court for Missouri.[1] Murdoch, Risque and senior partner Bird sometimes worked together on freedom suits, but also worked individually.[8]
Francis B. Murdoch has been called "one of the most important slave attorneys in the history of the St. Louis freedom suits."[9] He filed roughly one-third of all known freedom suits between 1840 and 1847, always on behalf of the enslaved plaintiffs.[9]
Murdoch representedPolly Berry and her daughterLucy A. Delaney, together with lawyerEdward Bates.[9] In Delaney's autobiography,From the Darkness Cometh the Light, he is referred to as "Mr. Murdock."[9] He also representedDiana Cephas and her son Josiah.[10] Murdoch helped many of his clients establish their freedom, but in doing so, angered and annoyed slaveholders and proslavery groups.[7] On one occasion in 1843, he found it necessary to seek aninjunction to prevent a group of prominent citizens from interfering with a client.[7]
On April 6, 1846, Murdoch filed the initial papers forDred Scott v. Irene Emerson, as well asHarriet v. Irene Emerson in the Circuit Court for St. Louis County.[7] In doing so, the Scotts became the first and only married couple to file freedom suits in tandem.[7] Murdoch also posted the bonds for the Scott family, taking responsibility for their legal costs.[6] Historians have suggested that Murdoch may have been introduced to the Scotts through Reverend John R. Anderson of theSecond African Baptist Church, whereHarriet Scott was a member.[5] Anderson had also lived in Alton, Illinois, where he worked as a typesetter for Elijah Lovejoy's abolitionist newspaper.[5]
The Scotts' freedom suits were the last ones he filed in St. Louis, and Murdoch was unable to personally take their cases to trial.[7] Later that year, his mortgage was foreclosed, and his house was sold by the sheriff.[7] His creditor, former JudgeBryan Mullanphy, had had a long-running dispute with one of his law partners.[7] Murdoch abruptly left town with his wife and nearly all of his children, taking them to one of his brothers in Michigan,[7] before eventually settling in California.[6][11] One of his daughters stayed behind in St. Louis, in the care of his father-in-law.[7]
Murdoch headed to the West Coast in May 1852, settling inSan Jose, California, in September of that year. He was admitted to the bar ofSanta Clara County and the District Court in San Francisco.[1]
In 1853, Murdoch took over theSanta Clara Register from John C. Emerson and changed its name to theSan Jose Telegraph.[1] TheTelegraph offices were above a saloon between First and Market Street in San Jose.[12] Previously aWhig newspaper, theTelegraph becameRepublican in 1854, in opposition to theKansas–Nebraska Act.[13]
As editor of theSan Jose Telegraph, Murdoch covered the Dred Scott case without disclosing that he once represented the Scott family. On April 28, 1857, he wrote of the frustrations of representing enslaved litigants in court:[7]
The advocate who pleads against slavery wastes his voice in its vaulted roof, and upon ears stuffed sixty years with cotton. His case is judged before it’s argued, and his client condemned before he is heard.[7]
Writing for theTelegraph, F. B. Murdoch came to be regarded as "among the best known political writers in the State."[14] He supported Republican Party beliefs opposing slavery and advocated forCalifornia Territory to befree.[1]
In April 1856, prior to theRepublican National Convention, theTelegraph endorsed GeneralJohn C. Frémont for President andFrancis Preston Blair for Vice President.[1][15]
He ran theSan Jose Weekly Telegraph until the fall of 1860, when he sold it to William Neill Slocum.[1] In 1861, the paper was merged into theSan Jose Weekly Mercury, which continues today asThe Mercury News.[16]
In 1863, Francis B. Murdoch bought out theSan Jose Tribune and renamed it as theSan Jose Weekly Patriot, which became a daily paper after a few years. He ran theSan Jose Daily Patriot and theDaily Evening Patriot until 1875.[1] After Murdoch sold the paper, it became known as theSan Jose Daily Herald.[1]
By 1829, Murdoch was married to Eliza Kimmel, and their son George was born on August 29 of that year inBedford, Pennsylvania.[17] They also had another child. The Murdochs moved toBerrien County, Michigan, in 1830. His father-in-law gave Eliza and her siblings each several acres of the 10,000 acres that he owned to establish their own homesteads.[3]
The cabin in which they lived was one of the first two-story cabins built in the state of Michigan and, now located at Courthouse Square in Berrien Springs, it is also one of the oldest surviving structures in the state.[3]
In 1835, the Murdochs left Michigan, headed forNew Orleans, for a better climate for Eliza's health. She died along the way of consumption (tuberculosis) and was buried in Ohio[1][3] at the Oak Dale Cemetery in the town ofUrbana.
Murdoch married Mary Johnson in 1838 in St. Louis, Missouri.[18] She was the daughter of ColonelJohn W. Johnson, a former mayor of St. Louis, and Tapissee, the daughter of theSauk ChiefKeokuk.[7] In 1839, Murdoch became active in theSwedenborgian Church and hosted occasional meetings in his home.[7]
In 1844, Murdoch married Mary E. Graham (1827–1870), the daughter of Mary Kimmel and John Graham.[19] Their first child was born in 1842.[3] They also had six children born between 1847 and 1864: Graham, Francis W., Ella H., Maria E., Henry P., Grace, and Robert. Mary Graham Murdoch died in 1870.[19][20][21]
Francis B. Murdoch died on May 10, 1882, after a severe stroke which had paralyzed him.[14][22] He was buried next to his wife, Mary Elizabeth Murdoch, in theOak Hill Memorial Park in San Jose.
At least two of Murdoch's sons, George and Francis, moved to Berrien Springs and established their own careers as newspapermen.[3]