John Murphy Papers

Mss.SMs.Coll.34

Date: Circa 1852-1873 | Size: 0.25 Linear feet

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Abstract

The highlight of this small collection is a copiously illustrated notebook on railroad car wheels with specifications for manufacture created circa 1852. The notebook was kept by iron moulder John Murphy (b. 1815), of East Kensington, Philadelphia, who invented and patented improved cast iron wheels for railroad cars.

Background note

John Murphy (b. 1815), of East Kensington, Philadelphia, was an iron moulder who invented and patented improved cast iron wheels for railroad cars.

John Durbin Murphy (b. 1840), his eldest son, was a bookeeper and accountant.

Scope and content

The highlight of this small collection is a copiously illustrated notebook on railroad car wheels created by iron moulder John Murphy, circa 1852. The notebook contains more than sixty detailed in-text pencil and pen and ink mechanical drawings and diagrams and sixteen loosely inserted illustrations relating to Murphy's train wheel technology. The diagrams depict not only the wheels but also the brick furnaces and machinery with which the wheels were made. Manuscript annotations include cost estimates for the furnaces and machinery, for the buildings which were to house them, and for the wheels themselves. Murphy prefaced his highly descriptive holograph text with a two-page table of contents.

Arrangement

The loose illustrations which were originally folded in to the railroad wheel notebook have been removed and re-foldered for preservation purposes. A note has been made of where the inserts were placed in the notebook.

Collection Information

Provenance

M2001-12. Purchased from Carmen Valentino, with funds from Friends of the APS Library, February 2001

Preferred citation

Cite as: John Murphy Papers, American Philosophical Society

Processing information

Processed by Michael Miller, February 2017

Indexing Terms

Genre(s)

Notebooks.

Personal Name(s)

Murphy, John
Murphy, John D. (John Durbin)

Subject(s)

Railroad cars -- Wheels
Railroads -- Pennsylvania

Detailed Inventory


John Murphy Papers	Circa 1852-1873	5 item(s)	Request Series for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Series
Murphy, John. Railroad Car Wheels Notebook	Circa 1852	1 volume(s) 106 pages	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Copiously illustrated notebook on railroad car wheels with specifications for manufacture.
Murphy, John. Inserts between pages 78-79	Circa 1852	1 folder	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Onion-skin paper inserts removed from the Railroad Car Wheels Notebook. Six illustrations. Includes: side view of single plate wheel; side view of a spoke wheel; doublie and single plate wheel illustrations
Murphy, John. Inserts between pages 110-111	Circa 1852	1 folder	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Onion-skin paper inserts removed from the Railroad Car Wheels Notebook. Five illustrations on four pages. Includes: top view of cast iron bottom plate with 12 long holes in it; side view of a spoke wheel moulded in the flask with the flange up; bottom plate for car wheel flask; bottom plate; double and single plate wheel.
Murphy, John. Insert bewteen pages 114-115	Circa 1852	1 folder	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Onion-skin paper insert removed from the Railroad Car Wheels Notebook. Two illustrations on one page: view of plate wheel in the flank; spoke wheel basin.
Murphy, John. Inserts between pages 116-117	Circa 1852	1 folder	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Onion-skin paper inserts removed from the Railroad Car Wheels Notebook. Three illustrations on two pages. Includes: double and single plate, 33-inch railroad car wheel; and two unidentified drawings.
Murphy, John. John Murphy's Patent Trade Card	[Before 1866]	1 item(s)	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Engraved, double-sided trade card, advertising Murphy's patent for making solid hub car, truck and tender, railroad wheels. Illustrated.
Mecutchen, Samuel Miles. S. M. Mecutchen's Improvement in Rolling Mills Trade Card	[After 1867 June 18]	1 item(s)	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Trade card from the business of Samuel Miles Mecutchen. Includes manuscript note on verso: "Samuel Miles Mecutchen, his daughter Emily married John Durbin Murphy, Mar. 5, 1866, Phila."
Gutekunst, Frederick, 1831-1917. John Durbin Murphy Portrait	[Before 1873]	1 photoprint(s)	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Formal portrait. Front of photoprint is labeled: "John Durbin Murphy, 1840-19 ." On verso is written, "J. D. Murphy, eldest child of John Murphy of 410 Richmond St. or was 143 Queen St."
Applegate, J. R. (James R.), 1828-1913. John Durbin Murphy Portrait	1873 March 24	1 photoprint(s)	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Formal portrait. On front of cardbaord frame is written: "To Mary, from her papa, John D. Murphy." On verso is written: "Taken Mch 24/73, 33 yrs. old."