Murdock was born in
Orange, Ohio to
John Murdock and Julia Clapp Murdock. When he was five years old, his mother died and he was then raised in the home of Philo Judd. In Nauvoo Illinois, Murdock worked on the farm of
Joseph Smith. During the exodus from Nauvoo to the west, Murdock lived with the
Cornelius Lott family in Nauvoo; Murdock fell in love with and later married Lott's daughter Almira Henrietta Lott. The marriage of Murdock and Lott happened after the arrival in the Salt Lake Valley. Murdock later married Mary Ellen Wolfenden and May Bain as
plural wives. In 1846, Murdock joined the
Mormon Battalion and arrived in
Salt Lake City in 1847. After marrying, he settled in
Lehi,
Utah Territory, in 1851. In 1856, Murdock was one of the rescuers of the
Mormon pioneer handcart companies. In 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864, and 1864, Murdock led down-and-back companies across the plains. For a time Murdock served as the regional presiding
bishop in
Beaver County, Utah. Murdock was called to this position in 1864 and it was then that he first went to Beaver. Murdock was the first
president of the Beaver
Stake when it was organized in 1869. He served in this position until 1891. He was later ordained a
patriarch. Murdock served eight terms in the
Utah Territorial Legislature. In 1895, he was a representative to the
Utah State Constitutional Convention and was a member of the convention's apportionment and boundaries committee. Murdock also served one term as a member of the Utah State House of Representatives. This institution functioned as a branch of Brigham Young Academy, the predecessor of
Brigham Young University. Murdock died in Beaver at age 87. His is the largest grave marker in Mountain View Cemetery in Beaver. Immediately adjacent are markers for Mary Ellen Wolfenden Murdock and May Bain Murdock, two of his plural wives. At the behest of their second wife, Wolfenden, the location is some distance away from the grave of Almira Henrietta Lott Murdock (d. 1878), her bitter rival who preceded her in death. ==Notes==