Joseph Royal Murdock (August 11, 1858 – May 26, 1931) was a member of the

Utah State Senate The Utah State Senate is the upper house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The Utah Senate is composed of 29 elected members representing an equal number of senate districts. Each senate district is ...

. Murdock was the son of Nymphas Coridon Murdock and his wife Sarah Melissa Barney. He was born and raised in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, until he moved to

Charleston, Utah Charleston is a town in Wasatch County, Utah, United States. The population was 415 at the 2010 census. The community was named after Charles Shelton, a first settler. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total ...

at age 13. He attended Brigham Young Academy (the predecessor of

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

) in its inaugural year. In 1878 he married Margaret Ashbridge Wright (1860–1948). They became the parents of 10 children. From 1880 to 1882 Murdock served a mission for the LDS Church, primarily in Michigan. He was a delegate to the Utah constitutional convention in 1895 that led to statehood, then served in the first two sessions of the State House of Representatives. He was elected to the Utah State Senate in 1900. Murdock died at the age of 72 in Salt Lake City and his funeral was held in

Heber City, Utah Heber City is a city and county seat of Wasatch County, Utah, Wasatch County, Utah, United States. The population was 11,362 at the time of the 2010 census. It is located 43 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. History Heber City was first sett ...

.''The Daily Herald''
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Sources

Andrew Jenson Andrew Jenson, born Anders Jensen, (December 11, 1850 – November 18, 1941) was a Danish immigrant to the United States who acted as an Assistant Church Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for much of the ea ...

. ''LDS Biographical Encyclopedia''. Vol. 1, p. 361. {{DEFAULTSORT:Murdock, Joseph Royal 1858 births 1931 deaths Politicians from Salt Lake City Latter Day Saints from Utah American Mormon missionaries in the United States Brigham Young Academy alumni Utah state senators People from Wasatch County, Utah