He was later named as one of the two delegates from DeKalb County to the Georgia Ordinance of Secession held in Milledgeville.
In a speech delivered in 1922, Murphey's grandson said that his grandfather had prayed not to live to see the day that Georgia seceded and ironically his prayer was answered.
[2] A company of Confederate troops from DeKalb County was named the "Murphey Guards" in his honor.
[3] The company was outfitted, in part, by the wealthy family of Milton A. Candler, who after the war served several terms in the United States House of Representatives.
[3] The couple's first born child was named after his grandfather, as Charles Murphy Candler.