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The Life and Pre-Gubernatorial Career of Isaac Murphy, 1799-1864" (2018)

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The Life and Pre-Gubernatorial Career of Isaac Murphy, 1799-1864 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ScholarWorks@UARK Theses and Dissertations 12-2018 Forging with Embers: The Life and Pre- gubernatorial Career of Isaac Murphy, 1799-1864 Keith Joshua Lee Todd University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd Part of the Political History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Todd, Keith Joshua Lee, "Forging with Embers: The Life and Pre-gubernatorial Career of Isaac Murphy, 1799-1864" (2018). Theses and Dissertations. 3065. https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/3065 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Forging with Embers: The Life and Pre-gubernatorial Career of Isaac Murphy, 1799-1864 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History by Keith J. L. Todd Missouri Southern State University Bachelor of Science in Education, 2008 December 2018 University of Arkansas This thesis is approved for recommendation to the Graduate Council. Patrick G. Williams, Ph.D. Thesis Director Daniel E. Sutherland, Ph.D. Committee Member Michael C. Pierce, Ph.D. Committee Member Abstract The gubernatorial administration of Isaac Murphy from 1864-1868, as Arkansas began emerging from the Civil War into Reconstruction, has had a thorough, if dated, examination in Arkansas historiography. However, Murphy’s life and pre-gubernatorial career, including his early political activities—being the first treasurer of Washington County, Arkansas (1836-1838), serving three terms in the Arkansas General Assembly (two in the House, 1846-1849, and one in the Senate, 1856-1857), and the totality of his action during both sessions of Arkansas’s Secession Convention (1861)—have been largely neglected. This thesis will additionally provide a biographical interpretation of Murphy necessary to fully understand his political actions—his life, personality, his much-vaunted sense of morality, and how his experiences informed his politics and decisions. © 2018 by Keith J. L. Todd All Rights Reserved Acknowledgments I am greatly obliged to many in the completion of this thesis. I apologize for any inadvertent omission, as many are responsible for any success that I can hope to claim. The research room staff at the Arkansas Historical Commission, particularly Mary Dunn and Elizabeth Freeman, were wonderfully kind, helpful, and patient. Likewise, the research staff at the University of Arkansas Special Collections deserve thanks, as they were always very kind and eager to answer any questions, and even to help decipher some particularly difficult handwriting. Thanks also go to Dr. David Ware, Capitol Historian in the Arkansas Secretary of State's Office, and Gregory Cash and Linda Nevlin of Lewis and Clark Community College and the Monticello Foundation in Godfrey, Illinois, for responding to my e-mail research requests and for providing their perspectives. Also to Wally Waits, who performed a great deal of research on Isaac Murphy in the 1980s and was willing to share some of his research and conclusions with an intrepid and eager young researcher. My well-deserved thanks and respect is also conveyed to my research committee, Professors Patrick G. Williams, Daniel E. Sutherland, and Michael Pierce, for their patient readings, constructive feedback, and advice, and for continuing to support me and being willing to work with me over my prolonged research and writing experience. In addition, to all of the faculty in the History Department who expected the best from me, particularly Professors Calvin White, Jeannie Whayne, Tricia Starks, Lynda Coon, Elizabeth Markham, and Rembrandt Wolpert. To my former supervisors, Ali Sadeghi, Rita Boydstun, and Pamela Ramsfield, at the University of Arkansas Bookstore for supporting my academic pursuits and providing me with the flexibility I needed to complete my coursework. Lastly, but certainly not least, to my God, family, friends, and those that occupy the hallowed space in between; whose encouragement, faith, and dedication sustained me and never let me stop believing in myself. Particularly, my mother, Ruth A. Todd, my neighbor and second father, Bill Ralph, my dear friend and brother, Kevin L. Hatfield, and my wife, Shelley Todd, whose contributions are ineffable. Note on Citation At the time of my research at the Arkansas History Commission (now the Arkansas State Archives), it was discovered that the organization as described in the finding aid for the Murphy/Berry Family Collection: 1845-1930 did not match its actual physical organization. After several conversations with the archival staff, it was decided that future researchers would also rely on the finding aid as their starting point, as there was no plan to construct a new one for the collection or to reorganize its physical organization. As such, the finding aid citations are given over those found in the actual boxes and folders of the collection. Abbreviations ACSL Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands AHC Arkansas History Commission/Arkansas State Archives ALP Abraham Lincoln Papers CALOC Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ FS Family Search, www.familysearch.com GB Genealogy Bank, www.genealogybank.com GNCN Gale Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers, www.gale.com/c/19th-century-us- newspapers JISP John I. Smith Papers, Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville KOP Kie Oldham Papers, Arkansas History Commission and State Archives MFBC Murphy/Berry Family Collection: 1845-1930, Arkansas History Commission and State Archives NA newspapers.com by Ancestry, www.newspapers.com SCUAF Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville VF Isaac Murphy Vertical File, Arkansas History Commission and State Archives WCAA Washington County, Arkansas Archives, Fayetteville, Arkansas WR The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies Table of Contents Historiographic Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Birth to Arrival in Arkansas, 1799-1834 ....................................................................... 22 Chapter 2: Speculation, Education, and Politics, 1834-1849 ......................................................... 35 Chapter 3: Entering State Politics, 1844-1849 ............................................................................... 62 Chapter 4: Gold Rush, Resignation, 1849-1854 ............................................................................ 93 Chapter 5: A Modest Return to Politics: A Term in the Arkansas Senate, 1854-1857 .................. 109 Chapter 6: The Rise of Disunion, 1857-1861 .............................................................................. 127 Chapter 7: Murphy’s Civil War ................................................................................................... 177 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 215 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 220 Historiographic Introduction With the words, "I have cast my vote after mature reflection, and have duly considered the consequences, and I cannot conscientiously change it. I therefore vote ‘no’," at the second session of Arkansas’s Secession Convention, Isaac Murphy set himself a place in the drama of Arkansas’s secession, and it is perhaps for his refusal to vote for secession that he is best known.1 A lawyer, teacher, farmer, and politician, then residing in the county seat of Madison County in Northwest Arkansas, Murphy would become Arkansas’s restoration governor in 1864, as a devastated and rebellious state was led and driven back toward the Union it spurned three years earlier. The initial Reconstruction years between 1864 and 1868 have been frequently studied, but the analysis of Murphy and his administration have often been considered in a vacuum with little analysis of his earlier life or political career. Given his life’s history, it is certain that he would never have become governor without his participation in Arkansas’s Secession Convention. Exactly what might have inspired his Unionism and his refusal to back away from his “no” vote has also not been earnestly considered. Rather, the scene is usually used to add drama to a narrative, and then moved on from without much further consideration. Such a consideration is admittedly difficult due to how little of Murphy’s voice has survived. He did not leave behind a diary or memoir and his letters are few, making Murphy the governor, much less Murphy the man, difficult to discover. A smattering of remembrances, a handful of letters and speeches, and the journals of the Arkansas General Assembly and of the Secession Convention are all that remain, as many of the papers 1 Jesse N. Cypert, ”Secession Convention, Part II,” in Publications of the Arkansas Historical Association, ed. John Hugh Reynolds (Fayetteville, AR: Arkansas Historical Association, 1906), 315, accessed February 12, 2016, http://archive.org/details/publications01arka. 1 pertaining
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