Daniel Martin Murphy

Daniel Martin Murphy Sr. (January 17, 1826 – October 22, 1882) was a Canadian-born American rancher, farmer, landowner and an early settler in California. He was one of the wealthiest property owners in the United States during his lifetime, with ownership of Rancho Refugio de la Laguna Seca (near present-day Morgan Hill, California), a ranch in Durango, Mexico, and a ranch in Elko, Nevada. He co-founded the mining town of Murphys, California.

Early life, and migration Daniel Martin Murphy was born on January 17, 1826, in Frampton, Quebec, Lower Canada (now Canada), to Irish parents Martin Murphy Sr. and Mary Foley from the Murphy family. He was the youngest of nine children.

In 1840, the family moved to Atchison County, Missouri to a settlement called Irish Grove. His mother died at Irish Grove, as there had been many disease.

California During the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), Murphy fought under Manuel Micheltorena. He served as a private in Company G, and later as a sergeant in Company H in the California Battalion, a volunteer company, under John C. Frémont in 1846.

After the war Daniel and his older brother John Marion Murphy earned a living as merchants, but like many others, they began prospecting when the California Gold Rush began. Their brother-in-law Carl David Maria Weber (married to sister Helen), had formed the Stockton Mining Company in Placerville, California (formerly known as Hangtown). at what they called "Murphys Old Diggings," later known as "Murphys New Diggings," "Murphy's Camp," and eventually by 1835 it was just "Murphys". The Murphy brothers made far more money as merchants than as miners. Daniel Murphy was a member of the Carson Creek Consolidated Co. (or Morgan Mine). In January 1851, Daniel Murphy married Maria Fisher Ceseña (also written as Mary Fisher, and later Mary Fisher Murphy–Colombet).

Murphy later purchased a cattle ranch in Durango, Mexico; which in turn made him the one of the wealthiest property owners in the United States.

The town of Murphys, California is named after the brothers.

The Murphys Hotel (formerly the Mitchler Hotel) in Murphys, California was named for the two brothers, and is reportedly haunted.