Luke Murrin
{{short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Luke Murrin
| image =
| caption =
| office = 2nd Mayor of Cheyenne
| term_start = January 30, 1868{{Cite news |url=https://archive.org/stream/annalsofwyom13141941wyom/annalsofwyom13141941wyom_djvu.txt |title=Full text of "Annals of Wyoming"}}
| term_end = January, 1869
| predecessor = H. M. Hook
| successor = W. W. Slaughter
| birth_name =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = County Sligo, Ireland
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = Democratic
| otherparty =
| father =
| mother =
| spouse =
| children =
| relatives =
| signature =
| allegiance = {{flag|United States|1865}}
| branch = Union Army
| serviceyears = 1861–1865
| rank = Major
| unit = Company K, 10th Ohio Infantry
193rd Ohio Infantry
| battles =
| mawards =
}}
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.
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.{{Cite book |last=Watrous |first=Ansel |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MJo-AAAAYAAJ&q=luke+murrin+mayor+of+cheyenne&pg=PA551 |title=History of Wyoming, Volume 1 |publisher=S. J. Clarke Publishing Company |year=1918 |page=552 |chapter=A New Chapter |via=Google Books}}
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.{{Cite news |url=http://civilwardata.com/active/hdsquery.dll?SoldierHistory?U.&319077 |title=Luke Murrin Soldier History}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51099902/cincinnati-daily-press/ |title=Patriotic Official |date=June 4, 1861 |work=Cincinnati Daily Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515125804/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51099902/cincinnati-daily-press/ |archive-date=May 15, 2020 |url-status=live |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com}}
=Mayor=
On August 10, 1867, a provisional municipal government was organized in Cheyenne, Dakota Territory, with H. M. Hook as mayor.{{Cite book |last=Triggs |first=J. H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mM5JAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA18 |title=History of Cheyenne and Northern Wyoming: Embracing the Gold Fields of the Black Hills |publisher=Herald Steam Book and Job Printing House |year=1876 |location=Omaha, Nebraska |page=18 |via=Google Books}} On December 24, the Dakota territorial legislature approved an act incorporating Cheyenne and was later approved by territorial Governor Andrew Jackson Faulk.
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.{{Cite book |last=Larson |first=T. A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9zVKYtdsUDEC&q=Luke+Murrin&pg=PA74 |title=History of Wyoming |publisher=U of Nebraska Press |date=August 1, 1990 |page=47 |isbn=0803279361 |via=Google Books|edition=Second }}
On August 31, 1868, he placed guards around Cheyenne to prevent attacks from Native Americans.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51098629/casper-star-tribune/ |title=Native American Attacks |date=June 9, 1939 |work=Casper Star-Tribune |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515123948/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51098629/casper-star-tribune/ |archive-date=May 15, 2020 |url-status=live |page=7 |via=Newspapers.com}} 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.{{Cite book |last=Hall |first=Frank |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zptQAAAAYAAJ&q=luke+murrin+mayor+of+cheyenne&pg=PA434 |title=History of the State of Colorado, Embracing Accounts of the Pre-historic Races and Their Remains |publisher=Blakely Printing Company |year=1889 |page=434 |via=Google Books}} When Murrin left office in January, 1869, Cheyenne was $9,965.47 in debt.{{Cite book |last=Larson |first=T. A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9zVKYtdsUDEC&q=Luke+Murrin&pg=PA74 |title=History of Wyoming |publisher=U of Nebraska Press |date=August 1, 1990 |page=50 |isbn=0803279361 |via=Google Books|edition=Second }}
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. In 1880, he was selected to serve as a delegate from Wyoming to the Democratic national convention in Cincinnati, Ohio.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51100402/oakland-tribune/ |title=Democratic Delegate |date=June 18, 1880 |work=Oakland Tribune |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515130344/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51100402/oakland-tribune/ |archive-date=May 15, 2020 |url-status=live |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com}} In 1885, he was selected to serve as the chairman of the Wyoming Territorial Democratic Committee.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51099919/the-san-francisco-examiner/ |title=Wyoming Territory |date=November 24, 1885 |work=The San Francisco Examiner |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515130532/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51099919/the-san-francisco-examiner/ |archive-date=May 15, 2020 |url-status=live |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Mayor of Cheyenne, Wyoming}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murrin, Luke}}
Category:19th-century mayors of places in Wyoming
Category:Irish emigrants to the United States
Category:People of Ohio in the American Civil War