MURPHY, Henry Cruse

1810–1882

Concise Biography

MURPHY, Henry Cruse, a Representative from New York; born in Brooklyn, N.Y., July 5, 1810; was graduated from Columbia College in New York City in 1830; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1833 and commenced practice in Brooklyn, N.Y.; prosecuting attorney for Kings County in 1841 and 1842; edited the Brooklyn Daily Eagle; mayor of Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1842 and 1843; delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1846; elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1843-March 3, 1845); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1844 to the Twenty-ninth Congress; elected to the Thirtieth Congress (March 4, 1847-March 3, 1849); unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1848; unsuccessful presidential candidate at the Democratic National Convention in 1852; appointed Minister Resident to the Netherlands June 1, 1857, and served until June 8, 1861; member of the State senate 1861-1873; delegate to the State constitutional convention of 1867 and 1868; owner and editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle; died in Brooklyn, N.Y., December 1, 1882; interment in Greenwood Cemetery.

View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress

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External Research Collections

Boston Public Library

Boston, MA
Papers: 4 letters.

Brooklyn Historical Society

Brooklyn, NY
Papers: 1830-1870. 19 items. Personal and official correspondence, political papers, and business documents. Finding aid in repository.
Papers: 37 letters (November 1843-November 1880) in the Teunis G. Bergen collection.

Columbia University
Rare Book and Manuscript Library

New York, NY
Papers: 1868. 2 letters. Finding aid in repository.

Litchfield Historical Society

Litchfield, CT
Papers: 1857, 1 item. A letter from James Buchanan in Bedford Springs, Pennsylvania, to N.B. Morse, Edward M. Fiske, James Humphries, C.P. Smith, Daniel Van Voorhis, and Edmond Driggs. He responds that he cannot accept an invitation to a dinner "to be given to the Honorable Henry C. Murphy by his friends at the Mansion House" "prior to his departure on his mission to Holland."
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Bibliography / Further Reading

Murphy, Henry Cruse. Henry Hudson in Holland; an inquiry into the origin and objects of the voyage which led to the discovery of the Hudson River, with bibliographical notes. Reprinted, with notes, documents, and a bibliography [by Wouter Nijhoff]. The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1909. Reprint, New York: B. Franklin, [1972].

------. Remarks of Hon. Henry C. Murphy, of Kings County, upon that portion of the message of His Excellency Governor Seymour, relating to arbitrary arrests, delivered in the Senate, March 5, 1853. Albany: Comstock & Cassidy, printers, 1863.

------. Remarks of Mr. Murphy, of New York, delivered in the House of Representatives, on the 24th of February, 1849. [N.p., 1849].

------. Speech of Hon. H. C. Murphy, of New York, on slavery in the territories. Delivered in the House of Representatives, May 17, 1848. Washington: Printed at the Congressional Globe Office, 1848.

------. The Voyage of Verrazzano: A Chapter in the Early History of Maritime Discovery in America. New York: N.p., 1875. Reprint, Whitefish, N.Y.: Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2004.

Murphy, Henry Cruse, comp. Anthology of New Netherland or Translations from Early Dutch Poetry of New York. Edited with introduction and notes. New York: N.p., 1865. Reprint, New York: Irvington Pub, 1972.

Stiles, Henry Reed. Memoir of Hon. Henry C. Murphy, LL. D., of Brooklyn, N. Y. New York: Trow's Printing and Bookbinding Co., 1883.

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