Seba Murphy (July 25, 1788 – November 16, 1856) was an

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businessman and politician. Murphy was born in

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, on July 25, 1788. He went into the mercantile business in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

, and was there associated with the merchant house of DeGraff, Walton & Co.. He was sent to Canada in 1812 to manage a branch house there, but was forced to flee on the outbreak of the

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. With a group of other Americans, he attempted to cross the ice from

Bath, New Brunswick Bath is a former village on the Saint John River in Carleton County, New Brunswick, Canada. It held village status prior to 2023 and is now part of the town of Carleton North. Bath is famous for the annual "Bath Fall Fair" which took place e ...

to Cape Vincent, but a severe snowstorm caused the group to lose their way, and Murphy fell into the ice. He was rescued by a British picket guard, who took him as a prisoner of war to

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, Ontario where, his feet having frozen and become gangrenous, both were amputated. He remained in British custody until Ben Jonson, a prominent

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known as "The Lake Pirate", rescued him with the help of members of the

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order of Bath, who concealed him in the bottom of a sleigh filled with bags of oats and drove him thus to Prescott, and then overnight across the river to Ogdensburg. Murphy returned to Schenectady until the Spring of 1818, when he moved to

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, Seneca County, where he entered business with Colonel Philip R. Tull and for two consecutive terms held the office of county clerk. While there he joined the

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, of which he remained a devout member for the rest of his life. In 1835, he moved to

Monroe, Michigan Monroe is the largest city in Monroe County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The population was 20,462 at the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the south by Monroe Charter Township, but the two are administered autonomously. M ...

, where he served as a county commissioner, register of deeds, and county treasurer. For many years he was the financial agent in Monroe of the Michigan Southern Railway Company. He was appointed to the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan following the resignation of Robert McClelland on December 1, 1837, and served until his own resignation on July 1, 1839. He was also a member of the

Michigan State Senate The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Constitution of Michigan, Mi ...

from 1840 to 1841. He married Margaret Davy, with whom he had one son, William Walton Murphy, and four daughters. He died in Monroe on November 16, 1856.

References

1788 births 1856 deaths Regents of the University of Michigan Michigan state senators 19th-century members of the Michigan Legislature {{Michigan-stub