Murphy, Edward

In 1840, Edward Murphy bought land east of the Ridge and north of Rogers Avenue near the Clark Street Tollgate.

Murphy was also a Director of the West Side Schoolhouse, which was the first school building in the area.

Murphy's house was located on the northwest corner of Rogers Avenue and Clark Street. It was built in the 1840s and torn down in the 1930s.

Evanston: It's Land and People by Viola Crouch Reeling (1928)

On page 154:

"Edward Murphy settled about one mile south-east of the Mulfords at Indian Boundary Line and the lake. His son, John, was the first white male child born in Grosse Pointe, 1841. Edward Murphy was born in 1805, a native of Kenmore, County Kerry, Ireland. He was a teacher and mathematician by profession, and was Government teacher in London, Ontario, Canada, before coming to the United States. He taught in public schools of Chicago and was generally interested in educational affairs. He was elected Deputy Sheriff and later elected Coroner of Cook County, being re-elected at the expiration of his term of office. He was the first Supervisor of Ridgeville, being elected in 1850."

On page 341:

"Among the first settlers to arrive were Major Mulford and Edward Murphy, whose opinions were regarded as authority and who were looked up to in all matters for the good of the community, their education being superior to that of their neighbors and their wide knowledge of public affairs of great benefit to the young settlement, in the government of which they took an active part."

On page 389:

"Edward Mulford living on the Ridge and what was later Mulford Street, and Edward Murphy, living at Indian Boundary Line and the lake, noting the existing conditions (swampy grounds which did not drain) decided to construct a much needed ditch; consequently in the forties "Mulford's Ditch" was constructed between the east and west ridges, and this was the first attempt to drain and redeem the swamp land."