Francis B. Murdoch | |
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| Born | Francis Butter Murdoch March 21, 1805 Cumberland, Maryland, United States |
| Died | May 10, 1882 (aged 77) San Jose, California, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Attorney Newspaper publisher |
| Known for | Freedom suits attorney Founder of San Jose Telegraph |
Francis Butter Murdoch (March 21, 1805 – May 10, 1882) was an American attorney and newspaper publisher. As a lawyer, he practiced law in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois and Missouri, and initiated freedom suits for Dred Scott and Harriet Robinson Scott in 1846. Between 1840 and 1847, Murdoch filed nearly one-third of all freedom suits in St. Louis, and secured freedom for many of his clients who had been enslaved, including Polly Berry and her daughter, Lucy A. Delaney. Before that, Murdoch was the city attorney in Alton, Illinois, where he unsuccessfully prosecuted rioters who killed Elijah Parish Lovejoy, an anti-slavery newspaper publisher, in 1837.
After moving to California in 1852, Murdoch became a newspaper publisher and editor of the San Jose Telegraph, which later became The Mercury News, and founded the San Jose Patriot.