Eli Houston Murray (February 10, 1843 – November 18, 1896) was Governor of

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state ...

between 1880 and 1886. The city of

Murray, Utah Murray () is a city situated on the Wasatch Front in the core of Salt Lake Valley in the U.S. state of Utah. Named for territorial governor Eli Houston Murray, Eli Murray, it is the state's fourteenth largest city. According to the 2020 census, M ...

was named for him. Murray had served in the

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during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

as colonel of the 3rd Kentucky Cavalry Regiment. He was

brevetted In many of the world's military establishments, a brevet ( or ) was a warrant giving a commissioned officer a higher rank title as a reward for gallantry or meritorious conduct but may not confer the authority, precedence, or pay of real rank. ...

to the rank of brigadier general when the war ended. In the next year he was appointed U.S. Marshal for Kentucky and stayed on that post for 10 years; afterwards managing a Kentucky newspaper. Murray was appointed Governor of Utah Territory in 1880. The newly appointed anti-Mormon territorial governor openly supported the Liberal Party of Utah. Thus, the 1880 territory-wide election for a congressional delegate unexpectedly proved the closest that the Liberal Party got to sending a representative to Washington, D.C. The Liberal candidate, Allen G. Campbell – with 1357 votes – lost resoundingly to Mormon General Authority George Q. Cannon who had 18,567 votes. However, before Governor Murray certified the election, a protest on behalf of Campbell was filed. The protest listed a dozen claims, chiefly that Cannon, born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, England, was an un- naturalized

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. The protest also claimed that Cannon's practice of

polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is ...

was incompatible with the law and a delegate's oath of office. Murray agreed and issued certification to Campbell in spite of his poor showing. Cannon, in Washington at the time, argued that only

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

could decide on a member's qualifications. He furthermore received a certificate from sympathetic territorial election officials which stated he had received the most votes. This document convinced the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

clerk to enter Cannon's name on the roll, so Cannon began drawing delegate's salary. Both Murray and Campbell traveled to Washington to dispute the seat. Each side battled over the position for over a year, even through the assassination and eventual death of

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James Garfield. On February 25, 1882, the House of Representatives finally rejected both candidates. The House refused Cannon his seat not for his dubious citizenship, but for his practice of

. The entire ordeal brought unfavorable national attention to Utah regarding the "Mormon Question" (polygamy). Murray and his wife Eva Neale Murray (1852–1938) are buried at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

.Burial Detail: Murray, Eva N
– ANC Explorer

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Eli Houston Governors of Utah Territory Mormonism-related controversies 1843 births 1896 deaths Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Liberal Party (Utah) politicians 19th-century American politicians Union Army colonels People from Breckinridge County, Kentucky