Luke Murrin

Luke Murrin (died after 1885) was an American politician who served as the 2nd Mayor of Cheyenne, Wyoming, and was the first following its chartering.

Luke Murrin
2nd Mayor of Cheyenne
In office
January 30, 1868[1] – January, 1869
Preceded byH. M. Hook
Succeeded byW. W. Slaughter
Personal details
BornCounty Sligo, Ireland
Political partyDemocratic
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/serviceUnion Army
Years of service1861–1865
RankMajor
UnitCompany K, 10th Ohio Infantry
193rd Ohio Infantry

Early life

Luke Murrin was born in County Sligo, Ireland, and immigrated to the United States in 1855. He attended Brown County College and a commercial college in Cincinnati.[2]

Career

On June 3, 1861, he resigned from his position at a Cincinnati post office and enlisted into the Union Army where he was given the rank of lieutenant in Company K, 10th Ohio Infantry. He was later given the rank of colonel and was promoted to major on March 13, 1865. On March 15, 1865, he was commissioned to the staff of the 193rd Ohio Infantry before being mustered out on August 4, at Winchester, Virginia.[2][3][4]

Mayor

On August 10, 1867, a provisional municipal government was organized in Cheyenne, Dakota Territory, with H. M. Hook as mayor.[5] On December 24, the Dakota territorial legislature approved an act incorporating Cheyenne and was later approved by territorial Governor Andrew Jackson Faulk.[2]

On January 23, 1868, the first local elections in Cheyenne following its chartering were held. Murrin was given the Democratic nomination for the mayoralty and defeated Republican nominee W. W. Corlett with 593 to 345 votes.[6]

On August 31, 1868, he placed guards around Cheyenne to prevent attacks from Native Americans.[7] When the Denver Pacific Telegraph line was extended to Cheyenne on January 1, 1869, he exchanged congratulatory messages with William M. Clayton, the mayor of Denver, Colorado Territory.[8] When Murrin left office in January, 1869, Cheyenne was $9,965.47 in debt.[9]

Later life

On December 15, 1877, territorial Governor John Milton Thayer appointed Murrin, Simon Durlacher, and Thomas Lanktree as a penitentiary commission to oversee prisoners in Laramie County, Wyoming.[2] In 1880, he was selected to serve as a delegate from Wyoming to the Democratic national convention in Cincinnati, Ohio.[10] In 1885, he was selected to serve as the chairman of the Wyoming Territorial Democratic Committee.[11]

References
  1. "Full text of "Annals of Wyoming"".
  2. Watrous, Ansel (1918). "A New Chapter". History of Wyoming, Volume 1. S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. p. 552 – via Google Books.
  3. "Luke Murrin Soldier History".
  4. "Patriotic Official". Cincinnati Daily Press. June 4, 1861. p. 3. Archived from the original on May 15, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Triggs, J. H. (1876). History of Cheyenne and Northern Wyoming: Embracing the Gold Fields of the Black Hills. Omaha, Nebraska: Herald Steam Book and Job Printing House. p. 18 – via Google Books.
  6. Larson, T. A. (August 1, 1990). History of Wyoming (Second ed.). U of Nebraska Press. p. 47. ISBN 0803279361 – via Google Books.
  7. "Native American Attacks". Casper Star-Tribune. June 9, 1939. p. 7. Archived from the original on May 15, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Hall, Frank (1889). History of the State of Colorado, Embracing Accounts of the Pre-historic Races and Their Remains. Blakely Printing Company. p. 434 – via Google Books.
  9. Larson, T. A. (August 1, 1990). History of Wyoming (Second ed.). U of Nebraska Press. p. 50. ISBN 0803279361 – via Google Books.
  10. "Democratic Delegate". Oakland Tribune. June 18, 1880. p. 3. Archived from the original on May 15, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Wyoming Territory". The San Francisco Examiner. November 24, 1885. p. 1. Archived from the original on May 15, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
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