The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-10-25
|"SILENT CHARLEY" MURPHY'S RISE
FROM CAR DRIVER TO DICTATOR
Sketch of Career of
Tammany's New
Boss.

wv Charles Francis Murphy, the
leader of Tammany Hall, who
was chosen by the Sullivan Croker fac
ito by vote of q to 9, comes an in
creased interest in the personality OF
the man who today steps into Rich
ard Cookers shoes and begins his boss
ship of the wigwam.
One of the triumvirs, who for 6
space ruled Tammany and designated
by Big Chief Levery as sport
Charles F. Murphy, has made himself
felt in the councils of his orgaaiza-
ton. Like Richard Croker, he fought
his way up to the top from the bot
tom. Beginning as a boy in a ship
yard and later as street car driver
he is today the head of perhaps the
most powerful political organization in
the whole country.
Mr.. Murphy is one of a family of
eight children. His father, Dennis
| Murphy, died recently at the advanced
age Of IS. The elder Murphy, it is
said, took great pride in the fact that
he had never been idle day in all
his life.
| The younger Murphy, now a leader,
also believes in work. Plenty OF
work and little talk is his announced
motto as leader of Tammany Hall.
The eldest of the Murphy family was
Dennis, who became a policeman. He
is now dead. Charles was the second
son, born in 1858. The third child was
katherine, who came in time to be
known from one end of the Eighteenth
district to the other as Aunt Kate"
The fourth child was William, known
as Genial Billy" and was one of the
most popular men in the Eighteenth
district until death took him away.
Following him came Margaret. who is
now the wife of Police Captain Pat
rick Cray. John J. Murphy, formerly
a councilman. now the keeper of a
saloon at Twenty-first street and First
avenue, and Thomas Murphy, who is
dead, completed the family.
| Dennis Murphy sent his children to
school until they had acquired the
rudiments of an educa ton.
Charley Murphy went to work in
| Roacks shipyard at Ninth street and
the East river. It was his ambition to
become a first class ship caulker. The
Roach yard was then considered a
training school for many a boy who
became famous later in east side poll
| tiles
He got to the boy leadership of the
shipyard as he got to the top of Tam
many Hall-by fighting. One by one
he whipped the boys who worked with
him, and when there were no more
to whip he beat them swimming and
rowing and running foot races.
When he was II years old he organ
lied the Sylvan Social club, the nu-
cleus of the Tammany Hall organ
ization of the district as it now stands.
The members of the Sylvan club were
boys from Is to 20 years of age, and
as organizer Charles F. Murphy was
made the leader.
Out of the Sylvan club membership
Murphy organized a baseball club
called the Senators. He was catcher
and captain the best player on the
team. Another member of the team
was Edward Hagan, afterward Tam
many leader of the Eighteenth dis
trict who passed the leadership to
Murphy when he died.
Murphy was a remarkable ball play
er. Under his leadership his team beat
the best amateur teams in this section.
Crowds of 5000 to 10000 gathered on
the big lot on Sunday afternoons to
see the Senators play. The games
were generally for 500 side, and it
was seldom that the Senators lost
During the Centennial year-1S76-
Murphy took his team on a tour of the
state, playing the prominent clubs in
score of cities. The trophies won on
that trip are on exhibition to this day
in the Senate saloon, at Twentieth
street and Second avenue. Among
them is a loving cup, presented to
Murphy personally by the Syracuse
club.
The little saloon was known as
"Charley's." Street car drivers and
conductors, employees of the shipyard
and the gas works, gutta percha work.
ers, dock laborers, clerks, politicians
and business men of the neighborhood
drank at the little bar.
The street car lines of the city were
parts of the Tammany machine in
those days. District leaders bestirred
themselves to get their constituents
places as drivers and conductors, and
it came to pass that Charles F. Muir
ply, through political influence, got a
job on the front platform of a Blue
Line car, running from Twenty third
street ferry, down Avenue A, across
Eighteenth street, down Broadway and
across Fourteenth street to the Ho-
boken ferry.
1t was about that time that Murphy
became known as Silent Charley"
When other men talked he listened in
tently.
He is still "Silent Charley" for that
matter, retaining one of his early chief
characteristics to this day. He illus
trated this when he was asked about
his election to the leadership.
Il won't do much talking" he said.
1.-THE vote speaks for itself. l will be
at Tammany Hall every day, and spend
the hours between and o'clock in
the afternoon at work There is plen-
ty of work to be done, and the less
talking the better
In 1879 Charley Murphy rented a lit
tie two-story building on the north
side of Nineteenth street, a few doors
east of Avenue A. 1t had one window
and a narrow door. The bar and fix
lures were bought at second hand
Upstairs were installed the headquar-
ters of the Sylvan club and the SEN
ators' Baseball club. For 8 cents the
hustling proprietor served a glass of
fresh beer and a large bowl of soup.
Murphy had not engaged in politics
previously, save as other young men of
the district Understanding meetings
and marching in parades for Tammany
Hall.
In 1880 the realization came to the
young saloonkeeper that his Sylvan
club had grown to be a powerful or
ganization, that he had hundreds of
friends and that a life in politics was
open to him.
Maurice Power was the leader of the
County Democracy in the Eighteenth
district. Francis B. Spinola was the
Tammany leader One of his iieuten-
ants was Edward Hagan, who was
Murphy's closest friend. Murphy and
Hagan allied themselves with the Tam
many organization, to which Murphy
turned over his Sylvan Social club.
Ctr ~