Tombstone Tuesday ~ John McMurphy, died 1755 in Londonderry, New Hampshire "Justice of the Quorum"

This tombstone was photographed at Forest Hill Cemetery, Derry, New Hampshire

In Memory of                            In Memory of

  JOHN McMURPHY            Mrs. MARY McMURPHY

Esq. Justice of the                                Relict of       

 Quorum who                           John McMurphy

departed this life                           Esqr.  who died

Sept. ye 21st  AD  1755             Nov. ye 19th AD 1770

AEtat  73                                   AEtat 87

He represented this Town                                               

as a member of the General                                            

Court between 20 & 30 years                                          

John McMurphy was one of three brothers (John, Archibald and Alexander) who came to Londonderry, New Hampshire with their parents (James McMurphy) from Northern Ireland.  John McMurphy, Esquire, was born in 1682, married Mary Cargill and had five children.  His father was from Scotland, migrated to Northern Ireland and participated in the siege of Londonderry, Northern Ireland in 1689.  

According to Parker's The History of Londonderry, the first house built in Nutfield was for Reverend McGregor, and the second house was for John McMurphy, Esquire. 

This entry is in the Londonderry town records [according to page 20 of Parker's The History of Londonderry]

"John McMurphy, Esq., Justice of the Quorum, departed this life September 21, 1755, at Portsmouth, and was carried to Londonderry on Tuesday and buried on Wednesday, the 24th at the old burying place in this town, with an extraordinary company, aged about seventy-three years." 

I was curious about his title "Justice of the Quorum", and so I consulted with Judy G. Russell, The Legal Genealogist , who stated "Under some statutory systems, the most respected, usually best educated justices of the peace were designated as justices of the quorum and while much could be done by a single JP, other things couldn't be acted on without the presence of the required number of justices of the quorum."

The off center winged cherubs heads on this double tombstone caught my eye as I was wandering Forest Hill Cemetery last summer.  Although McMurphy lived in Londonderry, and was buried in Londonderry, and is featured in The History of Londonderry, this cemetery is now in the part of town that was named Derry after the schism in the early 1800s. 

--------------------------

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~ John McMurphy, died 1755 in Londonderry, New Hampshire, "Justice of the Quorum" ",  Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 18, 2015, http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/08/tombstone-tuesday-john-mcmurphy-died.html:  accessed [access date]). 

Tombstone Tuesday ~ John and Mary McMurphy

This double gravestone was photographed at Forest Hill Cemetery in Derry, New Hampshire.

In Memory of                                  In Memory of
JOHN McMURPHY               Mrs. MARY McMURPHY
Esq. justice of the                             Relict of  
Peace who                          John McMurphy
departed this life                           Esq. who died
Septr. ye 21st AD 1755             Nov. ye 19th AD 1770
AEtat  73                                     AEtat. 87
He represented this Town                                              
as a member of the General                                                
Court betwixt 20 & 30 years                                                

John McMurphy was born about 1682 in Northern Ireland, son of James McMurphy who was born in Scotland and died on 21 September 1755 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.   John's wife was Mary Cargill.

Last week I photographed the double gravestone of their son, Robert McMurphy and his wife, Jane Shirley.  Please click on this link to see it:
 http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/02/tombstone-tuesday-jane-and-robert.html


------------

To Cite/Link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~ John and Mary McMurphy", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 14, 2012, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/02/tombstone-tuesday-john-and-mary.html: accessed [access date]). 

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Jane and Robert McMurphy

This gravestone was photographed at Forest Hill Cemetery, Derry, New Hampshire.  There are a great number of colonial era double headstones like this one at Forest Hill, especially near "Settler's Row" where the early Scots Irish pioneers are buried.

In memory of           In memory of
MRS JANE                 ROBERT
McMURPHY            McMURPHY
wife of Robert                 ESQR    
McMURPHY          Who died
Esqr. who died       Jan. 20, 1814
Dec. 31, 1764             Aged 91
aged 84 Years           Years  

 This gravestone appears to have cracked, but was repaired with iron braces long ago.

closeup of the double urns carved above the epitaph

Robert McMurphy was the son of John McMurphy and Mary Cargill, immigrants from Northern Ireland.  He was born on 30 January 1724/5 and married Jane Shirley on 10 March 1747/8.  She was the daughter of John Shirley, born in Northern Ireland in 1688, died 1764 in Chester, New Hampshire.

-----------------------

Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo