Thompson Henry Murch (March 28, 1838 – December 15, 1886) was a nineteenth-century politician, stonecutter, editor, publisher and merchant from

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. He was among the first

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

ists elected to the United States Congress.

Life and career

Murch was born in

Hampden, Maine Hampden is a town on the Penobscot River estuary in Penobscot County, Maine, Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 7,709 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Hampden is part of the Bangor, Maine, Bangor metropolita ...

, the son of Mary and Thompson Henry Murch. Murch attended common schools as a child and spent his early life at sea. His father was a sea-captain who died when Murch was an infant. Murch learned the trade of stonecutting and engaged in that occupation for eighteen years, living in a rented house on Dix Island, the site of a major granite quarry. He became editor and publisher of the Granite Cutters' International Journal in 1877 and was secretary of the Granite Cutters' International Association of America in 1877 and 1878. Murch was elected a Greenbacker to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

in 1878, serving from 1879 to 1883. Murch's election, along with fellow Greenback candidate

George W. Ladd George Washington Ladd (September 28, 1818 – January 30, 1892) was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Maine. Life history Ladd was born on September 28, 1818 to Joseph and Sarah (Hamlin) Ladd in Augusta, Main ...

from nearby Bangor, greatly embarrassed the state and national Republican establishments, who'd come to consider Maine safe for the party. Murch was attacked in the ''New York Times'' and other papers as "the Communist candidate" as well as "Murch, the stonecutter". A front-page ''New York Times'' article caricatured him as "an ignorant stone-cutter who was never heard of until a few months ago, a Communist, a demagogue of the lowest type". Other sources described Murch as honest, decent, and a devoted family man. The ''Reading (Penn) Eagle'' suggested that even thousands of Republicans supported Murch as "the man who broke the Blaine, Hale, Hamlin Ring", referring to the three most prominent Republican politicians in Maine, one of whom (Hale) Murch had defeated.''Reading (Penn) Eagle'', Oct. 8, 1878, p. 2 After his defeat in the 1882 election, Murch engaged in

mercantile Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cred ...

pursuits until his death in

Danvers, Massachusetts Danvers is a New England town, town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the Danvers River near the northeastern coast of Massachusetts. The suburb is a fairly short ride from Boston and is also in close proximity to the beach ...

on December 15, 1886. He was interred in Hampden Cemetery in

References

External links

* 1838 births 1886 deaths Politicians from Hampden, Maine Greenback Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maine 19th-century American newspaper editors 19th-century American newspaper publishers (people) American male journalists 19th-century American male writers American stonemasons Trade unionists from Maine Members of the United States House of Representatives from Maine 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives {{Maine-politician-stub