The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1915-06-18
SPEECH OF HON. W. /. HENsLEY
At the Tomb Of VIM. Murphy. Au-
spices Daughters of Revolution.


We have assembled here today at
the instance and under the auspices Of
the Daughters of the Revolution, an
organization truly patriotic and
thoroughly American, whose purposes,
in the main, are to perpetuate in the
hearts and minds of the people pro-
per appreciation of and regard for
the memory Of those who so val
iantly served in that historic struggle
for liberty and humanity, namely, the
Revolutionary struggle of '76. Nor
is this all; it is the purpose of this
organization, as | understand it, to
perpetuate proper regard, yea, a
veneration for those who took part in
that great struggle for human liberty
by establishing records that cannot
be doubted and erect tablets, such as
you have seen unveiled here today,
so that generations yet unborn may
see, may read and may know where
rests the remais of the Fathers of
our Country.
At this juncture and at this time
| desire to express to Mr.. Hopkins,
on whose farm we have now assem-
bled, the sincere appreciation Of ev-
cry person present for the patriotic
spirit which prompted him in making
the preparation that was necessary
for holding this meeting here and to
say to him that this Chapter of the
Daughters of the Revolution have
heretofore given him vote of thanks
for his trouble, and their records prop
erly attest that fact.
The tablet, or marker, which you
see before you, marks the resting
place Of one William Murphy, who
was born in Virginia in 1859, his peo-
pie being among the very earliest
settlers in that state and being of
Irish origin. The service records
show that at the very beginning of the
Revolutionary War, VIM. Murphy en-
listed as soldier among the many
other patriotsy his name is found
throughout the period of the war,
serving under different commands.
In fact, the records disclose few, If
any, whose service was so continu-
GUS as that of William Murphy. So
he may properly be considered and
properly classed as one of the Fathers
of this great nation of ours. He and
his compatriots through their strug-
gle, attended by all the hardships of
that war, wrought we'll They laid
deep the foundation stones of this Re-
public and thus made it possible for a
great nation to exist and endure when
predicated upon the eternal principle
that all men are created equal and
that the Divine rights of Kings was
not necessary to the happiness of the
people and should be banished and
never again recognized within the con-
fines of this great country Of ours.
1t was the services of Williams Muir
ply in connection with this war for
human liberty that call for these ex-
ercises to which / have so briefly re-
ferred. But, my friends, cannot re-
frain from following the career Of
this gerat patriot some further. Long
after the struggle for independence
had ended we find him in the state of
Tennessee, moving westward; at one
time under the command of that great,
intrepid andN fearless frontiersman,
General Clark, fighting back the In
dians and defending the white man
against the depredations that they,
the Indians, so frequently perpetrat-
ed upon the whites. We find him
landing in the town of Ste. Genevieve
in the year of 1898 in company with
his brother, Joseph, and at time
when this territory was under Span
ish rule. 1t is said that at the time
he landed in the town Of St. Gene
We've there was not person who was
able to converse with these pioneers
and that it was necessary for them to
send for and bring person from some
distance to talk with them. Will
lam Murphy finally, by means Of a
Spanish grant, settled upon this pro-
perty where we are now standing,
while his brother, Joseph, settled
upon the property part of which
Pennington now occupies, the inn
mediate spot upon which he first
made improvements being the proper
ty now owned by Mrs. Wade, one of
the members of this organization.
After this settlement his people re-
turned to Tennessee to bring their
families here Into the very wilds Of
fhis cornttv HirfoY.x- Yaeitac fha fact