L. G. Murphy, from a photo taken in 1861
Lawrence Gustave Murphy was born probably in County Wexford, Ireland in 1831. He enlisted in the U. S. Army at Buffalo, New York on July 21, 1851. He served many years in the amry and ended up serving at Fort Stanon, in Lincoln County, New Mexico. It was there that he was mustered out of the army in June 1866. He and his fellow former soldier Emil Fritz opened a store and brewery at Fort Stanton called L. G. Murphy & Co. The company was eventually thrown out of Fort Stanton and they opened the House in Lincoln. Fritz died in 1874, after Murphy had already taken over Lincoln County. A clerk that worked for Murphy was J. J. Dolan and after Fritz's death, Dolan became Murphy's new partner. In 1877, Murphy was diagnosed with bowel cancer and gave his business to Dolan and new partner J. H. Riley. Murphy had always been an alcoholic, but since he was diagnosed with cancer, he hardly ever put the bottle down. After the war with his old business in ruins, he died in Santa Fe on October 22, 1878.
The Leaders of the House
This photo was taken around Christmas time at Fort Stanton, New Mexico Territory in 1871. The men are, from left to right: J. J. Dolan, Emil Fritz, W. W. Martin (the clerk of the Fort Stanton store), and L. G. Murphy.
L. G. Murphy & J. J. Dolan
This photo of Murphy and Dolan was taken at Fort Stanton at the same time as the above photo.
