Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources: John Murdock, Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources (2025)
John Murdock, Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources (2025)
John Murdock
(1792–1871)
John Murdock, ca. 1850, photograph, Church History Library, PH 1700 2782.
John Murdock was born in Kortright, New York, in 1792. He married Julia Clapp in 1823. In November 1830, Murdock was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kirtland, Ohio, and ordained an elder. In 1831, his wife died after giving birth to twins, who were subsequently adopted by Joseph and Emma Smith. Early revelations called Murdock to serve missions (Doctrine and Covenants 52:8; 99:1). He served various missions, including in Missouri, Ohio, Virginia, and the eastern United States between 1831 and 1833; Vermont and New York in 1835 and 1836; Indiana from 1844 to 1845; and Australia between 1851 and 1853.
In 1834 Murdock marched from Ohio to Missouri as part of the Camp of Israel. He was appointed president of the Zion high council in 1836. Murdock married Amoranda Turner that year, but she died the following year. He subsequently married Electra Allen. In 1839, he moved to Illinois, and he was bishop of the Nauvoo, Illinois, Fifth Ward from 1842 to 1844. His third wife died in 1845, and he married Sarah Zufelt in 1846. In 1847 he migrated to Utah Territory, where he was a high councilman, bishop of the Salt Lake City Fourteenth Ward, and patriarch, before ultimately settling in Beaver County.
References in the Doctrine and Covenants