Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I whanau a Murphy i Westchester County, New York, a i tohua ia hei kaitiaki kaipuke i te Akuhata 10, 1841. I mahi ia i te wā o te Pakanga ki Mexico i
Ko Vera Cruz rāua ko Tabasco i runga i te waka. I whakarerea e ia tana tuunga i te Mei 10, 1852, i muri i tana mahi whakamutunga hei kaiawhina mo te rangahau a John G. Barnard mo te Isthmus o Tehuantepec. I haere ia ki te rāngai tūmataiti, e mahi ana hei rangatira tuatahi i runga i te raina o nga kaipuke a Collins, he kaitirotiro taone mo te taone nui o New York, Kaiwhakahaere Matua o te Brooklyn Navy Yard, me te whakamutunga hei mema o te New York State Senate (4th D.) i te 1860 me te 1861.