Daniel D. Murphy Daniel D. Murphy was born near New Diggings, Lafayette county, Wisconsin, August 22nd, 1862. His parents were John G. and Ellen (McCarthy) Murphy, both natives of Ireland, who came to this country when they were quite young. His boyhood was spent in working on farms in the summer time and attending school in the winter. When seventeen years of age he taught country school one winter, and entered the State Normal School at Platteville, Wisconsin, from which he was graduated in the spring of 1883. He came to Guttenberg, Iowa, in September, 1883, and was for three years superintendent of the public school at that place, during which time the same was developed into a three-year high school. During this time he attended summer schools and also read law. Entered the Law School of the University of Iowa, from which he graduated in 1887. He then returned to Guttenberg and for a few months practiced law there and worked in the Clayton County Bank, which had then just been established at Guttenberg. In 1888 he came to Elkader and has since that time resided and practiced law at Elkader, Iowa. In 1890 he was elected county attorney, and re-elected in 1892, serving four years. He served six years on the Town Council and has been a member of the Board of Education of Elkader, Iowa, for about fifteen years, of which board he has been for some years and is now president. When the State Board of Education, the managing board of our state institutions of higher learning—to-wit: the State University, the State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, the State Teachers’ College and the College for the Blind — was created by the Legislature in 1909, Mr. Murphy was appointed a member of the board, and after serving a term of four years was reappointed for a term of six years, and since January 1st, 1914, he has been and is now president of the board. He was the Democratic candidate for Congress in the Fourth District in 1910, being defeated by about 200 votes in a district in which the normal Republican majority is over 5,000. He was married in 1888 to Henrietta Johnsen of Guttenberg, Iowa. Her parents were among the pioneer settlers of Guttenberg and for many years were in the furniture and undertaking business at that place. His family consists of one son, Clarence F. Murphy, who since 1914 has been a member of the firm of D. D. Murphy & Son. Mr. Murphy was one of the organizers of the Elkader State Bank in 1892 and has been during its entire existence its vice-president. He is also connected as a stock holder or director with many of the banks in Clayton county. He is a member of the Catholic Church; also a member of the State and American Bar Associations, and has always taken an active part in the work of his profession. In 1908 he served as president of the Iowa State Bar Association. In addition to professional work he has always been active in public affairs, and especially in educational matters. source: History of Clayton
County, Iowa; From The Earliest Historical Times Down to
the Present; by Realto E. Price, Vol. II; page
291-292 |