[2] He was appointed by the Woodrow Wilson Administration to serve as collector of internal revenue for Iowa from 1913 to 1920.

[3] A chief plank of Murphy's platform was the restoration, as an agricultural relief measure, of the legality of beer.

[2] Murphy served from March 4, 1933, until his death in an automobile accident near Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, on July 16, 1936.

[1] He was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery, in Key West, Iowa (a suburb of Dubuque).

[6][7] At the time of the accident, Mr. and Mrs. Murphy were the parents of five children—Mary, Elinor Ann, Imelda, Ellen and Charles.