Eager to hear news of Ireland, he listened as I told him the sad story of famine and death which had desolated his native land; tear-dimmed eyes and quivering lips told his deep emotion. When I ceased, the venerable patriarch bowed his head, murmuring, “O my unhappy Country! will your suffering and sorrow never end.” But if he loved Ireland much, he loved freedom with the devotion of his race, and longed for a clime where right, not might, held sway. The Canadian colonies offered an opportunity to settlers of obtaining homes by purchase, homes free from the tyranny of a landlord’s whim, and thither Mr. Murphy resolved to emigrate. Disposing of his leasehold, whose tenure extended for the term of his life, he embarked for the New World, reaching Quebec in 1820. He purchased land in the township of Frampton, 30 miles from the quaint old city which has since given its name to the province. “It was the forest primeval,” but he bravely set to work at the labor incidental to the building up of a home in the northern wilderness, the clearing of the land of its dense growth of timber before the plow could penetrate its rich virgin soil. The long, cold winters with their mountainous snowdrifts and cutting blasts, and the countless inconveniences of frontier life to which he and his gentle wife were so unaccustomed, were borne with cheerful Christian patience. Soon many of his old friends and neighbors joined him, and a thriving Irish settlement grew up around him. His home was the center to which all new comers self-exiled from Erin turned while seeking a haven for themselves. There they found the whole-souled welcome of truly hospitable hearts, and kindly care when overtaken by sickness. Prior to the erection of a church and the formation of a parish, zealous priests at his request visited the settlement to celebrate Mass, administer the sacraments and instruct the children, thus keeping aglow the light of Faith in the hearts of the exiles. But the desire for more perfect freedom remained in Mr. Murphy’s heart, and although past the golden milestone of life he prepared to seek a new country. In 1840 he bade farewell to his friends, and taking with him his wife and his unmarried children, set out upon his westward journey to Missouri. He made his home in Holt County, then known as the Platte Purchase, since divided into Holt and Atchison counties. There he was joined later by his sons Martin and James with their families, and his daughter Mary, Mrs. James Miller, with her husband and babes. His eldest daughter, Margaret, Mrs. Thomas Kell, with her husband and family, came subsequently from Upper Canada, whither they had emigrated in 1838. Many of those who had cast their lot with him in Canada followed him to Missouri, and formed the prosperous settlement known as Irish Grove. Among these were the Sullivans, Enrights, Corcorans, Jordans, Walshes and Whites, names since familiar as pioneers of California.