James H. Murphy

Mr. Murphy’s store.

There are resilient people in every community and in every time. Hardship brings out the best in some people. James H. Murphy of North Easton was one of these people. James H. Murphy was born in Easton in 1858. He was the son of Irish parents. When he was 43 and she was 39, he married Margaret A. Carroll. In 1905 they adopted a six year old boy. James Murphy died in 1916 and is buried in the Immaculate Conception Cemetery on Canton Street. By trade he was a shopkeeper, running a small store on Mechanic Street.
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His childhood was likely typical, but when he was about 7 years old, he went blind. According to an article in the Boston Daily Globe (Feb. 13, 1910) Mr. Murphy had a complete map of North Easton ingrained on his mind. So thorough was his memory that he could give detailed street directions to sighted people. He could describe architectural styles, the color of houses, names of streets etc. All remembered from before his blindness. He appeared to have an eidetic or ‘photographic’ memory and if he’d seen something or heard something he remembered it. This was equally true of music. James Murphy sang with the choir in the Immaculate Conception Church where he was a tenor soloist. Once he heard a song a couple of times, he remembered both the music and the words.

Headline from Globe article.

​Two women in front of the store.

When Mr. Murphy and his wife were in their forties they adopted a six year old boy from Boston who had been placed for adoption after the death of his own mother. The boy and the Murphy's were Catholic. "As was the practice with Catholic adoptions, Daddy [Joe] was brought to various parishes on Sundays, stood in the back of the church with the nuns and was looked over by prospective adopters. He was not selected for several Sundays. Finally one hot summer Sunday in 1905, he was chosen by James and Margaret Murphy at the Immaculate Conception Church in North Easton.” (Joe Connolly, Joe Murphy's son,  writing in Reminiscences.) Young Joe Murphy was smart, athletic, and a son the Murphy's could be proud of. He went on to marry Julia Lyons of Lincoln Street and established a family home on Sheridan Street. Upon his marriage Joe Murphy took back his birth father's last name, Connolly. His children were Mary, Claire, Rose, Joan, and Joe Connolly. All were bright, successful adults. 


Thanks to James and Margaret, an abandoned boy was able to flourish. In fact a room at the Easton Town Offices is named in honor of Joe's daughter Mary P. Connolly, who served the town for decades. The Globe article describes Murphy as “gentle, sociable and entertaining.” He was also kind and giving. It seems Mr. Murphy was able to carve out a full life for himself even with a serious disability.

Anne Wooster Drury

Sources:
Globe article
Ancestry.com
Reminiscences, 2010