George Singleton visited the secluded grave of former Alabama governor John Murphy at Gosport in 1975

Headstone on ex-Gov., ex-Congressman Murphy’s grave.

(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Murphy devoted to fellow man” was originally published in the Dec. 11, 1975 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

Of the many great men who have passed through Monroe County at one time or another, few have done as much for their fellow man as John Murphy. Few have reached the height of respect and elegance that this man reached during his short 55-year life, of which a great part was spent in this area.

On Sunday afternoon, as my youngest son and I stood beside the granite marker on the grave of this man, I thought of the many hours of devoted service he had given to his fellow man and his country.

John Murphy, fourth governor of Alabama, was born in North Carolina in 1786. He moved at age 32 to Monroe County, where he became interested in local politics and was elected to the state Legislature. Here he served from 1820 to 1822.

His political career included a four-year term as governor from 1825 to 1829. After stepping down from the highest office in the state, he continued his political life in the U.S. Congress from 1833 to 1835, serving only one two-year term.

This man was one who loved the country. He would return to this area on every occasion that presented itself.

During the high point of his political life, he knew that one day he would have to step down to make room for the young and impatient men who sought, too, the high offices of the land that was growing by leaps and bounds.

So, with great care and patience, he selected the place where he would settle down and retire, returning to the land he loved so much.

The place that Gov. Murphy chose for his home was near what is now Gosport. He named his beloved plantation Murphy’s Hill. The plantation lands covered both the flat lands along the Alabama river and a part of the rolling pine ridges to the west.

Here atop these pine- and cedar-covered ridges, Murphy rested. He watched the seasons come and go for six short years. Then on the morning of Sept. 21, 1841, just when the countryside was beginning to put on the cloak of Indian summer, John Murphy made his final appointment – his appointment with the Everlasting.

In selecting his final resting place prior to his death, he chose the side of a sloping hill on his beloved plantation. A hill that would protect his place of sleep from the cold winter winds, but be where the summer sun could warm the pine and cedar trees that grow nearby.

So beneath these trees, a past governor of our state sleeps – beneath the soil that he loved so dearly. Here he sleeps while the gentle winds whisper across the ridges, and the Indian summers come and go.

(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand, lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964 and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He also helped organize the Monroe County Museum and Historical Society and was also a past president of that organization. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)