Murphy, John F. X. (Francis Xavier), 1876-1954

John F.X. Murphy was born on January 2, 1876 in Nashua, New Hampshire, to a family of Irish descent. Murphy entered the Society of Jesus, attending the Novitiate and Juniorate in Frederick, Maryland, from 1893 to 1898. Following studies at Woodstock College and John Hopkins University in Maryland, Murphy began teaching Latin, Greek, United States history, civics, and mathematics at Boston College High School in 1902.

Murphy completed his theological training at Woodstock College between 1906 and 1910, and was ordained in 1909. He taught history at St Joseph’s College in Pennsylvania from 1910 to 1911, and at College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts from 1911 to 1912. Murphy spent a year in Ireland between 1912 and 1913, completing his Tertianship, before returning to the United States, where he began teaching history and religion at Fordham University in New York. Murphy also ministered at Ward’s Island Prison during this time.

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