The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 215

WILLIAM P. MURPHY.

William P. Murphy, serving as sheriff of Yakima county, was born in Washington
county, Illinois, on the 28th of March, 1877, a son of John F. and Martha
(Gilbert) Murphy, who after residing for many years in the middle west came to
Washington about 1908 and are now living on the home farm near Fairview.

William P. Murphy obtained his education in the public schools of his native
state and through the period of his boyhood and youth assisted in the work of
the home farm, early becoming familiar with the best methods of tilling the soil
and caring for the crops. He made his way to the Puget Sound country in 1901 and
the following year arrived in Yakima, since which time he has made his home in
this section of the state. For a considerable period he engaged in the life
insurance business after having spent four years as an organizer all over
southeastern Washington for the Modern Woodmen of America. He established
during that period many of the lodges in the state. He then concentrated his
energies upon life insurance, in which continued until 1911, after which he
occupied the position of chief deputy sheriff for two years. He next became
superintendent of the jute warehouse mill at the state penitentiary and he was
also steward at the state reformatory in the years 1913 and 1914. In the latter
year he was again called to public service in his election to the office of
sheriff of Yakima county, at which time he received the largest majority ever
given to a candidate for that position. He made a most excellent record in the
office and was then reelected in 1917 with three times the majority that had
been given him before, and moreover he has the distinction of being the first
sheriff to be re-elected in more than ten years. This fact is indicative of hi,
personal popularity and the confidence and trust reposed in him. All recognize
in him a most faithful custodian of public interests. Fie stands for law and
order and his name brings a sense of safety to all law-abiding people and
carries with it a menace to those who do not hold themselves amenable to law. He
is prompt in the execution of his duties and he has served as president of the
State Sheriffs' Association.

On the 15th of July, 1896 Mr. Murphy was united in marriage to Miss Martha Rhine
of Washington county, Illinois, and to them have been born five children:
Lavata, eighteen years of age; Lawson, aged fifteen; Zenas, a youth of fourteen;
Norma, six years of age; and Wilbur, aged three.

Mr. Murphy is a well known member of the Masonic fraternity and exemplifies in
his life the beneficent spirit of the craft. He belongs to Yakima Lodge No. 24,
F. & A. M. He is also a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge No. 22 and of the Modern
Woodmen Camp of Yakima and in the latter has filled all of the offices. In
politics he is a republican, stalwart in his support of the principles of the
party and doing everything in his power to secure their adoption and to win
success for the party candidates. He was deeply and helpfully interested in war
work and served as chairman of the local exemption board. He stands for those
things which are of vital worth to the city, the commonwealth and the country
and his aid and influence are always given on the side of right, progress and
improvement. Washington gained a substantial and worthy citizen when he left his
native sate and cast in his fortunes with those of the northwest.

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Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.