Murphy Ranch House
Mathis, Live Oak County, Texas
Marker Inscription
San Patricio Chief Justice, Patrick Frances Murphy and wife, Elizabeth Mary Catherine, daughter of Empresario, James McGloin, puchased The Point at Echo in 1875. They built this Modest Greek Revival Story and a half frame house on their Nueces River's east bank ranch with imported cypress carted from Indianola by oxen. Patrick sold the Echo property to Margaret Mary Healy-Murphy, widow of his brother, Attorney John Bernard Murphy, who died in 1884 while mayor of Corpus Christi. Margaret Mary built Saint Peter Claver's Church campus in San Antonio with private funds, including convent and free school for black children. She then founded the first order of nuns in Texas using the Murphy Ranch House for retreats and training. To sustain the Mission, she sold the Ranch before her death in 1907. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2015
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1875, San Patricio chief justice Patrick Frances Murphy and his wife Elizabeth — daughter of the empresario James McGloin — bought "The Point at Echo" and built this modest Greek Revival house on the east bank of the Nueces, using cypress hauled by oxen from Indianola. The property later passed to Margaret Mary Healy-Murphy, widow of Patrick's brother, who devoted her fortune to founding a church campus in San Antonio with a convent and a free school for Black children, established what the marker calls the first order of nuns in Texas, and used this ranch house for retreats before selling it to sustain her mission.
Why it matters
The house links frontier ranching to a remarkable woman's mission of faith and education, including schooling for Black children in an era when such opportunity was rare.
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Related people
- · Patrick Frances Murphy
- · Margaret Mary Healy-Murphy
- · James McGloin
Themes & tags
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