Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: Lou Donkle
Taken: May 5, 2023
Caption: History of the Murdoch family. Posted inside the log cabin.
Additional Description: In 1830, Francis and Eliza Murdoch arrived in the area to take up a plot of land given to the couple by Eliza's father, landowner George Kimmel. The couple arrived with their year old son, George, in tow.

Francis was one of three men who platted Berrien Springs the following year and by the time the Murdochs left the area in 1835, the town was bustling. It was reported the now-family of four was heading south to tend to Eliza's health, but they made it no farther than Ohio, where she died that same year.

Francis eventually remarried and had several more children, moving first to St. Louis and then to San Jose, where it seems he gave up law to run a newspaper. He died in 1882.

It is alleged that Francis was the first lawyer to help Dred Scott file his now famous case and while research cannot 100% confirm it, the likelihood of two Francis B. Murdoch/Murdocks practicing law in St. Louis at the same time is incredibly slim.
Submitted: June 23, 2023, by Lou Donkle of Valparaiso, Indiana.
Database Locator Identification Number: p732057
File Size: 3.625 Megabytes

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