“From the Archives” — Dr. Francis J. Murphy

One of the loveliest stained-glass windows in the Basilica of Saint Mary depicts “Jesus with the Little Children (Luke 18:15-17). It was donated to the parish in memory of Dr. Francis Murphy (1812-1877), a beloved Alexandria physician. He was the only son of Francis Murphy, a merchant from Queens County, Ireland, and his wife, Anne. Dr. Murphy graduated from the prestigious medical school of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1838. He was a bachelor who devoted his life to medicine and charitable works. A poet and scholar, his work was published by the Knickerbocker magazine, and he was known for his knowledge of the Bible. He treated the medical needs of everyone, regardless of a patient’s ability to pay, and rarely sent bills. He was almost penniless when he died in 1877. His tombstone in Saint Mary Cemetery reads: “He was an eminent physician and fully gave his services and his means to the poor, to whom he bequeathed all he possessed.”

His large house (formerly the Sisters of Charity school), located at the corner of Duke and Fairfax Streets, was acquired by Ms. Julia Johns, a charitable member of neighboring Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church. She organized and headed a group of women, The Lady Managers, who opened an infirmary there in 1873 in response to fears of a typhoid outbreak carried by sailors arriving in the Port of Alexandria. The infirmary became the Alexandria Hospital.

— Kitty Guy, Parish Historian