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MURPHY, Daniel Thomas,
Mail Order Merchant.
For many years the seat of the Murphy
family was in County Wexford, Ireland.
It is one of the oldest families in Irish
history, and the surname is one of the
most numerous in the country. The name
itself is the anglicized form of McMor-
ough, and, as above stated, the original
seat was in the barony of Ballaghkeene
(meaning in Irish, pleasant roadway), in
the easterly part of the County of Wex-
ford, at Castle Ellis and Ouleartleagh (in
Irish, grey orchard). The county of the
Murphy family is still called Murroes.
The family belonged to the tribe of Hy-
Felimy, and Murphy, Murrough, and
Morin are anglicized forms of the name
of the original ancestor. MacMurcatha,
written also O'Murchada and O'Murchu,
are original forms of the name. In Irish
Murcatha means a sea battle, and Murchu,
a sea warrior. Dermot McMorough,
born in 1090, was King of Leinster many
years, and another famous man bearing
the name of Art McMurrough, born in
1 357- The latter was particularly noted
for his chivalry and general good quali-
ties. The records show many celebrated
men of this family, and in public affairs
and professional matters, men bearing the
name are found in prominent places.
Daniel Thomas Murphy was born Feb-
ruary 24, 1865, m Norwich, Connecticut,
and died in Norwalk, February 24, 1917.
He was a scion of the distinguished fam-
ily whose early history is given in the
preceding paragraph. He was a son of
Patrick and Mary (Donahue) Murphy,
natives of Ireland. They were married
before coming to America, and settled in
Norwich, where Mr. Murphy was a
farmer. They were the parents of nine
children, all of whom were born in Nor-
Conn—9—13
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
193
wich, and seven of these children are now
living.
Daniel T. Murphy was educated in the
public schools of Norwich, and as a young
man came to Norwalk, where he entered
the employ of the Lockwood Manufac-
turing Company, remaining about seven
years. Subsequently, he entered the employ
of the Davenport & Tracy Company,
manufacturers of piano hardware, in
Stamford. Mr. Murphy was in charge of
their nickel-plating department under
contract. In 1898 the Klondike gold fever
was raging and Mr. Murphy went there
as president of a syndicate of thirty-five
men, incorporated under the name of the
Connecticut Alaska Trading and Mining
Company. He remained there about a
year and in that short space of time lost
the savings of a lifetime of thrift and in-
dustry. But the indomitable pluck which
he had in the face of adverse circum-
stance came to his aid, and undaunted,
he returned home, retrenched his domes-
tic expenses, and began to look for an-
other opportunity to retrieve his fortune.
His family cooperated with him and gave
him their loyal support, thus giving him
courage and hope to succeed. An oppor-
tunity to enter the mail order business
presented itself, and although possessing
no knowledge of this business, Mr. Murphy
was not restrained. Having decided
to handle a line of toys and novelties, he
began to mail catalogues from a small
room in his home. For the first week his
returns amounted to seven dollars and a
half, and from this beginning the business
grew until it was necessary to move his
business quarters to the attic of his home.
In a short time he outgrew those accom-
modations, and selling his horse in order
to make room, he removed the business
to his barn.
The business had now developed to