Representative Charles Murphey

Charles Murphey (May 9, 1799 – January 16, 1861) was an American lawyer and politician from the state of Georgia. He was born in Anderson, South Carolina, and spent his early years in the rural South. He attended the country schools, receiving a basic formal education that prepared him for the study of law at a time when legal training was often obtained through apprenticeship and independent reading rather than through formal law schools.

After completing his preliminary education, Murphey studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1825. That same year he moved to Decatur, Georgia, where he began the practice of law. Decatur, located in DeKalb County, became both his professional base and the center of his public life. His legal practice quickly brought him into local public affairs and laid the foundation for his later political career at the county, state, and national levels.

Murphey’s first significant public office was as clerk of the superior court of DeKalb County, Georgia, a position he held from 1825 to 1827. In this role he was responsible for maintaining court records and supporting the administration of justice in a rapidly developing county. His work in the court system, combined with his growing legal practice, enhanced his reputation and helped propel him into elective office in the state legislature.

Murphey entered state politics as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives, serving from 1839 through 1841. He then advanced to the Georgia Senate, where he served multiple, nonconsecutive terms in 1842, 1845, 1849–1850, and 1855–1856. Through these years he participated in debates over internal improvements, state governance, and the sectional issues that increasingly preoccupied Georgia and the South. His repeated elections to the state Senate reflected the confidence his constituents placed in his judgment and leadership.

At the national level, Murphey served one term in the United States House of Representatives. As a member of the Unionist Party representing Georgia, he was elected as a Unionist to the Thirty-second Congress and served from March 4, 1851, to March 3, 1853. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, in the aftermath of the Compromise of 1850, when tensions over slavery and states’ rights were intensifying. In Washington he contributed to the legislative process, participating in the democratic governance of the nation and representing the interests of his Georgia constituents while aligning with Unionist efforts to preserve the federal Union.

Upon leaving Congress in 1853, Murphey returned to Decatur and resumed the practice of law. He remained active in public affairs and party politics. In 1860 he was selected to serve as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention held in Baltimore, where the deepening sectional crisis fractured the party. Later that year he was named one of the two delegates from DeKalb County to the Georgia Ordinance of Secession convention held in Milledgeville. DeKalb County was generally in favor of preserving the Union and seeking a peaceful solution to the national crisis, and Murphey intended to vote “no” on secession when the convention’s vote was scheduled for January 18, 1861.

Murphey did not live to cast that vote. According to a speech delivered in 1922 by his grandson, Murphey had prayed not to live to see the day that Georgia seceded from the Union, and, in a tragic irony, his prayer was answered. He died on January 16, 1861, just two days before the secession vote was taken. Charles Murphey was interred in Decatur City Cemetery, leaving a legacy as a Georgia statesman identified with Unionist principles at a moment when his state moved toward disunion.

Murphey’s memory and influence continued through both military commemoration and family connections. During the Civil War, a company of Confederate troops from DeKalb County was named the “Murphey Guards” in his honor, reflecting the esteem in which he was held locally despite his Unionist stance. The company was outfitted in part by the wealthy family of Milton A. Candler, who after the war served several terms in the United States House of Representatives. Candler’s wife, Eliza Murphey Candler, was the only child of Charles Murphey. Their firstborn son was named Charles Murphy Candler in honor of his grandfather. Like his grandfather, Charles Murphy Candler went on to serve in both the House and the Senate of the Georgia General Assembly, extending the Murphey family’s involvement in Georgia public life into another generation.