Joseph S. Murdock

Infobox Person
name = Joseph Stacy Murdock


birth_date = birth date |1822|6|26
birth_place = Hamilton, New York
death_date = death date and age |1899|2|15|1822|6|26
death_place = Heber City, Utah
known_for = Mormon pioneer, Bishop, Colonizer
occupation = Farmer
religion = The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
spouse = Eunice Sweet,
Eliza Clark,
Adeline Warner,
Jane Sharp,
Elizabeth Hunter,
Pernetta
parents = Joseph Murdock,
Sally Stacy
website = http://www.jsmurdock.org

Joseph Stacy Murdock (1822-1899), A colonizer, leader, and Latter-day Saint hymnwriter. He wrote the words to "Come Listen To a Prophet's Voice".

Early Years

Joseph was born in upstate New York in 1822. While there, he married Eunice Sweet. He and his family were taught by a Latter-day Saint missionary and were baptized into that church. They had a desire to live with others of their faith and moved to Nauvoo, Illinois in 1841. [Joseph Stacy Murdock's Journal (unpublished)]

He and his wife migrated with the Mormon population to the Utah Territory in Daniel Spencer's 1847 Mormon pioneer company. [ [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/library/pioneerdetails/0,15791,4018-1-767,00.html Church Archives Database on wagon and handcart pioneers] ]

Joseph Murdock was asked by Brigham Young to enter the practice plural marriage and was sent to jail for doing so in 1889. [Andrew Jenson, "Church Chronology: A Record of Important Events Pertaining to the History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints", [http://books.google.com/books?id=Ww2Gkioh6pQC&pg=PA174&lpg=PA174&dq=%22joseph+s+murdock%22&source=web&ots=Inkoa6JzCd&sig=OPVplDtRtj9b_V4y0J_9R3g42f4 p. 174] .] He had 6 wives: Eunice Sweet, Eliza Clark, Adeline Warner, Jane Sharp, Elizabeth Hunter, and Pernetta. He also had 32 children.

Colonizer

After arrival in Utah, Brigham Young assigned Joseph the task of helping establish settlements in several areas in what is present day Utah, Arizona, and Nevada. He participated in the creation of American Fork, Utah, Heber City, Utah, Carson City, Nevada, and Muddy River (an abandoned settlement in northern Arizona). [Thompson, George, The Life and Times of Joseph Stacy Murdock, BYU Press, 1986]

Heber City

In 1860, Joseph Murdock was set apart as a bishop by Brigham Young and sent to preside over the Latter-day Saints in Heber City and vicinity. [Jenson, Andrew. "Encyclopedic History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints", (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1941) p. 328] In this capacity he served as both the ecclesiastical and political leader for this new settlement.

On August 20, 1867, he negotiated a peace treaty with Chief Tabby, the local Ute Indian Chief to end hostilities between the Ute Indians and the local settlers in Heber City. This was one of the turning points which lead to the end of the Utah Black Hawk War.

His home in Heber City is registered with the National Register of Historic Places [ [http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/UT/Wasatch/state.html| National Register of Historic Places] .]

Later Life

After working to establish cities throughout the west, Joseph settled in Heber City and worked as a farmer. He continued to serve in leadership positions in his church throughout his life. He died of pneumonia at the age of 76 on February 14, 1899. [The Wasatch Wave, February 17, 1899.]

References