THOMAS MARSHALL
Thomas Marshall was a descendant of one of the oldest families in
Kentucky. He was a nephew of Chief Justice John Marshall, the great
interpreter of the Constitution, and came from a long line of lawyers
and distinguished men. He was born August 25, 1834 in Mason County,
Kentucky. He studied the ancient languages with his uncle, Dr. Louis
Marshall, with whom he remained for four years. He then went to Kenyon
College, Gambier, Ohio, and left that institution in his junior year,
returning to Mason County, where he was in the County Clerk's office
for one year, at the same time reading law. His next change took him to
St. Louis, where he entered the office of Leslie, Williams &
Barrett, as clerk. He returned to Kentucky and continued the study of
law with Judge T. A. Marshall. In 1855 he returned to St. Louis and
became a partner in the firm of Williams & Barrett. Then the fever
for speculation took him and he rapidly made a large fortune, which was
as quickly lost. Desiring to seek a new field for his labors, he moved
to Montana, where he remained until 1866 when he moved to Salt Lake
City.
In 1872 he was admitted to the bar of the U. S. Supreme Court. In the
same year the firm of Marshall & Royle was formed, which continued
until his death, October 13, 1906. Mr. Marshall was the first Gentile
to be elected to a place in the Territorial council. While he was a
consistent Democrat, and took a keen interest in political affairs, he
gave but little time to his own political advancement, preferring to
care for the large practice, which he had built up. He acted, however,
in an advisory capacity, for many leading Democratic politicians of the
State.
Mr. Marshall was married November 27, 1855 to a daughter of James M.
Hughes of Missouri. Mr. Marshall was recognized as one of the greatest
authorities in the west on mining law. His knowledge of history,
political economy, philosophy, languages and the sciences was unusual,
and his profound judgment and perfect understanding of the fundamental
principles of legal science coupled with his keenly analytical mind and
his deep logic, made him a barrister of remarkable depth and power. He
was a forceful speaker and his summaries of cases was considered
powerful and convincing,
[Source: History of the bench
and bar of Utah; By Interstate Press Association; Publ. 1913;
Transcribed and submitted by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
FRANK W. MATTHEWS
Frank W. Matthews is a well known commercial artist of Ogden, engaged
in illustration work, card writing and other forms of commercial art.
He established his present business in the fall of 1914 and has the
only independent business of the kind in Ogden. The excellence of his
work insures him a liberal patronage which is constantly growing.
Mr. Matthews is a native of Salt Lake City, having been born in the
Sixteenth ward on the 5th of September, 1887. He is a son of Thomas W.
Matthews, also a native of Salt Lake City, his father having been
Thomas Matthews, one of the pioneers of Salt Lake, who conducted an
extensive business as a stock raiser, raising horses for the government
and also selling to others. He likewise conducted a freighting business
from the Missouri river to various points in the west prior to the
building of the railroad. He was a native of Swansea, Wales, and came
to America with his father, when but a young lad. Joseph Matthews was a
stonemason and architect and was the first to follow that profession in
Utah. Thomas W. Matthews, the father of Frank W. Matthews, was reared
and educated in Salt Lake City and followed commercial and professional
pursuits.
He filled the office of deputy United States marshal and various other
public positions, the duties of which he discharged with marked
promptness and fidelity. He married Annie Gray, a native of Salt Lake
City and a daughter of John Gray, one of the pioneers of Utah, who for
many years was employed in the shoe manufacturing department of the
Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution at Salt Lake. He was a very
devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and
active in its councils. He died in 1890 at the very venerable age of
eighty-nine years. His daughter, Mrs. Matthews, is still living and
with her husband makes her home in California. They have four children,
of whom Frank W. is the eldest, the second being Maude, the wife of J.
D. Tinsmans, a resident of Canton, Ohio. Thomas G., the third member of
the family, is living in Salt Lake, and Lester J., the youngest, is the
mustering sergeant at Camp Lewis, Washington.
Frank W. Matthews was educated in the schools of his native city and in
the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and in the Art Institute of Chicago,
where he developed the talent with which nature has endowed him. He
applied himself unremittingly to his studies and on completing his
course in Chicago he entered upon his present business in Salt Lake,
thoroughly trained for the work which he had undertaken. He conducted a
successful business in the capital city for a year and then removed to
Ogden, where he has since made his home, and through the intervening
period has built up an excellent business as a commercial artist, doing
card writing, illustrating and all forms of commercial art.
In August, 1911, at Farmington, Utah, Mr. Matthews was married to Miss
Irene E. Ellison, a native of Evansville, Indiana, and a daughter of
William H. and Mary E. (Teague) Ellison, representatives of an old and
prominent Indiana family. Mr. and Mrs. Matthews have become parents of
a son, Franklin W. Jr., who was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1912.
They reside at No. 2648 Van Buren avenue, in Ogden, where Mr. Matthews
owns his home. Mrs. Matthews is a representative of an old Georgia
family. Her father was a native of Atlanta, Georgia, served as a
soldier in the Confederate army and died in 1915.
In politics Mr. Matthews maintains an independent course. Fraternally
he is connected with the Loyal Order of Moose and is now holding the
position of vice chairman in the South Moose. He belongs to the
University Club and his strongly marked characteristics are such as
make for personal popularity among his many friends.
[Source: Utah since Statehood:
Historical and Biographical Volume 2; By Noble Warrum; Publ. 1919;
Transcribed and submitted by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
HARLEN STERLING McCANN
Harlen sterling McCann, auditor of Salt Lake City, was born in
Jacksonville, Missouri, in 1866, his parents being John Wade and Sarah
A. (Coulter) McCann. The father was a farmer of Scotch descent
and devoted his life to the development of farm property at
Jacksonville, where his son, Harlen S. attended the graded schools,
while later he continued his education in the State Normal School at
Kirksville, Missouri, and afterward entered Smith’s Business
College. Following his gradation from that institution he took up
bookkeeping as a profession and made his way to Gunnison, Colorado,
where he became bookkeeper for the La Veta Hotel Company. In 1890
he removed to Utah and with other Colorado friends invested in real
estate at Nephi, but the venture proved unprofitable and he then turned
his attention to the bakery and confectionery business in Nephi.
Two years later he returned to Salt Lake and accepted a position in the
office of the city treasurer, there continuing for two years, when he
resigned to become the secretary and manager of the Fraternal Order of
Eagles. His ability as an accountant being recognized, he was
tendered the important post of auditor of Salt Lake Cit and accepted
that position, entering upon the duties of the office on the 5th of
January, 1920.
Mr. McCann was married in 1889 to Miss Mary Bannan, daughter of James
Bannan, a well known railroad man of Virginia, Illinois. To this
marriage was born a son, Walter S., who was graduated from the
University of Utah in 1915 with the degree of Civil Engineer.
Upon completing his university course he became connected with the
engineering department of the Oregon Short Line Railroad and late he
was employed by the Interstate Commerce Railway Commission in
connection with revaluation service. At America’s entrance into
the World was he offered his services to his country and after
attending an officers’ training camp was made a lieutenant in the
Engineers corps and ordered to serve at Camp Humphries. Later his
corps received orders to embark for Russia and ad reached the Pacific
coast, where they were awaiting transit, when the armistice was signed
and the order was recalled. Lieutenant McCann was then sent to
San Diego, California, where he became ill of diphtheria, passing away
February 24, 1918. Te ending of this life so full of promise was
a crushing blow to the devoted parents, whose only consolation is that
he died in his country’s service.
Mr. McCann has become well known in Salt Lake, where he has many
friends. His appointment to the position of city auditor has met
with uniform satisfaction. His well known ability as an
accountant and his sterling character as a citizen are a guarantee that
he will administer the duties of the office in accord with the
interests of the public.
[Source: Utah since Statehood: Historical and Biographical Volume 2; By Noble Warrum; Publ. 1919; Transcribed by Richard Ramos]
JUDGE WILLIAM MURDOCK McCARTY
Honored and respected by all, there is no name that is enrolled higher
on the judicial records of the state of Utah than that of William
Murdock McCarty, who for sixteen years served upon the supreme court
bench. His colleagues characterized him as an ideal jurist by reason of
his close conformity to the highest ethics of the profession and his
comprehensive knowledge of the law. Judge McCarty was born at Alpine,
Utah, May 15, 1859, a son of James Hardwick and Lydia Margaret (Cragun)
McCarty. The father, a native of Kentucky, removed to Indiana in
boyhood and was reared to manhood in the Hoosier state. Leaving the
Mississippi valley in 1854, he removed to Utah, where he was united in
marriage to Miss Lydia Margaret Cragun, who was born in Nauvoo,
Illinois, and had come to this state in 1852.
Spending his youthful days under the parental roof, the future jurist
attended the Brigham Young Academy in 1881 and 1882, after mastering
the branches of learning taught in the public schools. He was afterward
employed in driving a freighting team between points in Utah and the
mines of Nevada, carrying products of the farm to the miners at Pioche.
Bristol and other places. At night, as the members of the wagon train
camped out along the way by the side of the old road in the Escalante
desert, Mr. McCarty would pore over a law book while the other
freighters would play cards or in some other way provide entertainment
for the evening. It was in this way that he gained his initial
knowledge of the law and, actuated by a laudable ambition, he continued
his studies until he could pass the required examination which secured
him admission to the bar of the district court at Beaver, Utah, on the
17th of September, 1887. He was admitted to practice in the supreme
court of the state in 1890 and later in the United States district and
supreme courts. He first opened a law office in Beaver, Utah, where for
a period he was in partnership with O. A. Murdock, under the firm name
of McCarty & Murdock. He was afterward appointed assistant United
States district attorney for the territory of Utah and continuously
filled that position save for a brief period until Utah was admitted to
the Union in 1896. In the meantime he served for two terms, from 1892
until 1896 as county attorney of Sevier county.
In 1894 he entered into partnership relations with Samuel R. Thurman,
under the firm style of Thurman & McCarty, and they thus engaged in
practice until the following year, when Mr. McCarty was elected judge
of the sixth judicial district of Utah and by reason of his very
capable service on the bench was reelected to the office in 1900. His
service on the district bench recommended him for higher judicial
honors and in 1902 he was elected justice of the supreme court of Utah
for a term of six years and reelected in 1908 for a similar period. A
third election came to him in 1914. During his service upon the supreme
court bench he twice acted as chief justice for a period of two years
and would for a third time have assumed the duties of that position in
1919 had death not claimed him. In 1914 it was written of him in Men of
Affairs in Utah: "As chief justice of the supreme court of Utah,
William M. McCarty holds a position which is peculiarly exacting and
which makes peculiarly trying demands upon him. The judicial mind must
not be swayed by personal opinion and the law is the only foundation
upon which opinions of the supreme court can be based.
Justice McCarty on the bench divorces himself from every personal tie
and thinks only as a judge, without fear or favor. Off the bench he
displays another side of a remarkable personality. Amiable, a
delightful conversationalist, possessing wit that sparkles and
philosophy that sobers, Chief Justice McCarty has thousands of friends
who admire him and cherish his good esteem."
In 1893 Judge McCarty was united in marriage to Miss Lovina L. Murray
and to them were born the following named: Murray W. and Ray S., who at
the time of their father's death were in the service of their country,
the former an officer in France with a bombing squadron and the latter
a member of one of the gun crews of the United States transport Great
Northern; Frank E. H.; and Mrs. Margaret M. Magor.
Judge McCarty was a valued member of Salt Lake Lodge, No. 85, B. P. O.
E., also of the Knights of Pythias and the Loyal Order of Moose. It is
worthy of note that after Judge McCarty's election to the supreme court
bench he became the associate of S. R. Thurman and E. E. Corfman, who
were his colleagues in the supreme court and with whom he had formerly
engaged in law practice in territorial days, having been the associate
of Judge Thurman at Beaver and of Judge Corfman at Provo. The death of
Judge McCarty occurred on the 19th of December, 1918. He was a man of
fine personal appearance and his broad brow, his keen eye, his firm but
mobile mouth were indicative of the strong spirit within. His political
allegiance was always given to the republican party and he never
faltered in his support of any cause which he espoused. His mind was
always open to conviction and he closely studied every question which
came to him for settlement as a judge or as a citizen. Elected a
justice of the supreme court for the third term, he would have
continued in the office for eighteen years had death spared him to
complete the term to which he was last elected. However, Utah benefited
by his wise decisions for sixteen years and his epitaph, as written by
his colleagues of the supreme court, is that "he was a man of stern
integrity, of most excellent morals and led a clean and blameless
life." In a memorial prepared by a committee appointed for the purpose,
it was said:
"Judge McCarty was what is commonly called a self-made man. Much of his
learning was acquired at the hearth and in the cabin. As a law student
he had few books, but those he read diligently. He was a good advocate
at the bar and an able and conscientious judge on the bench. He was
learned in the law, but he was not, nor did he pretend to be, a classic
or a logician of the law, nor had he, nor did he claim to have, a mind
richly stored with legal lore and technical knowledge, as compared with
more Renowned jurists of the country. His mind, however, was well
stored with fundamentals of the law and with much general and practical
knowledge, coupled with strong intuitions which at times outranked his
power of expression. He reached just and correct conclusions from
complicated facts and intricate questions of law with at times a
seeming inaptness to give the best reasons for them, or to concretely
state the propositions involved, even to his own satisfaction. His
judicial opinions are put in plain language and with certainty as to
what was intended and decided.
"In reviewing a record he was influenced more by what he regarded the
inherent justice of the cause than by the niceties and technicalities
of the law, but not in disregard of its fundamentals, nor by
substituting for them what he thought the law ought to be. He had
proper respect for legislative authority, but was ever vigilant to ward
off encroachments upon the constitution or upon the courts.
"In his discharge of his duties he was faithful and impartial. Neither
politics nor religion, nor rank or wealth of litigants, but only the
facts and the law of the cause, influenced him in reaching a result.
Friend and foe alike received at his hands the same consideration. He
was of most positive character, firm and independent, fearless in his
convictions, strong in his likes and dislikes, yet ever willing to
redress a wrong and to enforce right.
"There was not anything diplomatic or politic about him. He was plain
and outspoken and usually called things by their right name. Fawn and
flattery were foreign to his nature. His whole life was modest and
simple and free from ostentation. He was of stern integrity, of most
excellent morals and lived a clean and blameless life. He was domestic
in his habits, affectionate and devoted to his family, and cheerfully
made whatever sacrifices were necessary for their comfort and welfare.
Undemonstrative and reserved of manner, yet he was most warm-hearted
and a genial and an interesting companion, full of anecdote and
reminiscences. As a citizen he was public-spirited, of undoubted
loyalty and ready and willing to aid any cause he thought just.
"No time was wasted by him in doubts and fears as to the future. All
that he saw and understood taught him to trust a high power for what he
did not see or understand. To him death was a natural event. He met it
in firmness and with confidence that a proper performance of duties of
this life is the best preparation for the life that follows."
[Source: Utah since Statehood:
Historical and Biographical Volume 2; By Noble Warrum; Publ. 1919;
Transcribed and submitted by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
AURELIUS MINER
Aurelius Miner was born at Woodbury, Litchfield County, Conn., on the
11th of January, 1832. He was the son of David and Sally Lavilla (Hyde)
Miner. In 1854 he moved to Utah and two years later, on the 30th of
May, he married Laura M. Hyde (deceased). Married, June 13th, 1879, to
Annie E. Adams. He was a graduate of the State and National College of
New York with degrees of L.L. B. and A. B. in 1852.
He was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Ohio, January
19, 1853; Supreme Court of Iowa, April 15, 1854; Supreme Court,
Territory of Utah, January 16, 1855, and later to the Supreme Court of
the United States.
Mr. Miner was for many years Magistrate for Salt Lake City and County
and held the office of Prosecuting Attorney of Salt Lake City for eight
years. He was also Deputy Attorney General for the Territory of Utah
and Chief Deputy District Attorney for the United States for the same
Territory. He was a member of the Central Committee on the first
organization of the Democratic party in Utah, delegate to and one of
the Vice Presidents of the Baltimore Convention which nominated Greely
for President.
[Source: History of the bench
and bar of Utah; By Interstate Press Association; Publ. 1913;
Transcribed and submitted by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
JAMES A. MINER
Judge Miner was born at Marshall, Mich., on September 9, 1842 and died
in Salt Lake City, May 22, 1907. At an early age he was admitted to the
bar and soon acquired a profitable and prominent practice to which he
devoted all of his energy and ability until the possibility of a more
extended field of usefulness and honor in the far West induced him to
leave his native state and move to Utah.
On July 2, 1890, he was commissioned an Associate Justice of the
Supreme Court of that Territory by President Harrison and was assigned
to preside in the District Court of what was then the First Judicial
District, composed of the Counties of Rich, Morgan. Davis, Box Elder,
Weber and Cache, the terms of court being held at Ogden. On the 1st of
November following he took his seat on the bench of the Supreme Court
of the Territory and continued a member of the Court until the
expiration of his term of four years. After his retirement from the
Territorial Bench he engaged in the active practice of the profession
in partnership with the Hon. Ogden Hiles until November 1895, when he
was elected a Judge of the Supreme Court of Utah. Under the provisions
of the Constitution, Judge Miner drew the seven year term and for the
entire period continued a member of the Court, retiring at the close
thereof on January 5, 1903, having declined to be a candidate for
re-election on account of impaired health. During the last two years of
his term he occupied the position of Chief Justice.
The result of his work and character as a Judge are perpetuated in the
records of the Supreme and District Courts and the bare testimony to
the patience, fidelity and learning which he brought to the fulfillment
of his duties. Judge Miner was gifted to a marked degree with the
capacity of taking pains and at all times on the bench and in the
consultation room gave to the consideration of the cases brought before
him the most careful and patient examination. The work of the Court
during the period of seven years after its organization necessarily
involved the decision of many momentous questions and to the
determination of all such, Judge Miner contributed his full measure of
labor and learning. As a private citizen he was distinguished by his
quiet, dignified demeanor and exemplary life. He was always interested
in the welfare and upbuilding of the community and was a man of
influence, commanding the respect of all and his death is a distinct
loss.
Judge Miner had already achieved distinction before he came to Utah as
a Lawyer and Public Officer. Whether as Judge or acting in other
capacities of a business or professional nature, he always appeared to
be actuated by pure motives and an earnest desire to perform every duty
resting upon him to the best of his ability.
The author, the artist, the engineer, the mere worker in wood and
metal, all leave behind them something to perpetuate their memory, but
the practitioner at the bar, when we consider his influence in life and
the scope of his activities, seems to have but little left of a
tangible nature with which to keep his memory green. But to such men as
Judge Miner, who have been elected to the Appellate Bench, there come
opportunities denied to many others of the legal profession and in
their administration of justice and fairness of judgments shall be
found the monument to their memories. If Judge Miner had left other
monument to his memory than that he left behind him an atmosphere of
refreshing kindliness born of a natural sweetness of temper and love of
justice to all men, surely it were better than had he left a "Monument
of cold Grey Stone, where costly carvings sweeps. And calls aloud for
praise to him who sleeps."
[Source: History of the bench
and bar of Utah; By Interstate Press Association; Publ. 1913;
Transcribed and submitted by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
HON. JOSEPH R. MURDOCK
The name of Hon. Joseph R. Murdock, of Heber City, is synonymous with
the development of irrigation interests in the west. He has contributed
to public progress along various lines and in no field have his labors
been more far-reaching and resultant than in behalf of the reclamation
of the arid lands through the conservation and distribution of the
water supply of this section of the country. Mr. Murdock's efforts in
this connection alone entitle him to rank not only with the captains of
industry but with the benefactors of the race. The story of his life is
an interesting one— the record of earnest endeavor crowned with
successful achievement.
Mr. Murdock was born in Salt Lake City, August 11, 1858, his parents
being N. C. and Sarah M. (Barney) Murdock. The former was born at
Hamilton, Madison county, New York, May 12, 1833, and traced his
ancestry back to the highlands of Scotland, whence came the
great-great-grandfather of Joseph R. Murdock. Crossing the Atlantic to
America, he settled in Connecticut, where his son William and the
latter's son Joseph, who was the grandfather of Joseph R. Murdock, were
born. Joseph Murdock married Sally Stacy, a native of New Salem,
Massachusetts, and a daughter of Nymphas Stacy, who was a captain of
the Revolutionary war. The grandparents of Joseph R. Murdock became
converted to the faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints and in 1840 traveled by wagon to Kirtland, Ohio, whence after a
short time they removed to Nauvoo, Illinois, where they arrived in the
year of 1841. There the family remained until the exodus to Utah in
1846, but in the meantime Joseph Murdock had passed away in 1844. The
family, consisting of the mother of Nymphas Coridon Murdock and Joseph
Stacy Murdock, arrived in Winter quarters, where Council Bluffs now
stands, and there remained until the following spring, when they
started for the Salt Lake valley with a train of five or six hundred
wagons. Their fifty was under command of Captain Ira Eldredge and
theirs was the second division to arrive and. that under command of
Brigham Young preceded them with a train of one hundred and fifty
picked men. The party arrived in Salt Lake, September 22, 1847, and
settled at the fort with the other immigrants. Joseph Stacy Murdock
soon married and the care of the mother devolved upon N. C. Murdock.
The grandmother passed away in Salt Lake in 1866.
It was in 1854 that Nymphas C. Murdock was united in marriage to Sarah
M. Barney, a daughter of Royal and Sarah (Esterbrook) Barney. They had
four children: Nymphas C., Jr., who died at the age of nine years;
Sarah M., who died at the age of seven years; Betsy E., who died at the
age of four years; and Joseph R. In 1864 N. C. Murdock removed to
Charleston, Wasatch county, Utah, and in 1867 he served on a mission to
the eastern states covering eleven months. He participated in the
troubles that caused Johnston's army to visit Utah and also defended
the interests of the colonists in the early Indian troubles, serving
with the minute-men. He took a prominent part in the upbuilding of
Charleston and Wasatch county and was one of the organizers of the
Cooperative Store. He also made contribution to the fund to build the
railroad station and in various other ways prompted public progress and
improvement in his town and county. In politics he was a democrat and
for twenty-five years was postmaster of Charleston, while for fifteen
years he served as school trustee. He was also a delegate to the first
convention to form the state constitution. In the work of the church he
always remained active and was made the first bishop of Charleston,
serving for thirty years. His death occurred in 1917.
Joseph R. Murdock was reared to young manhood upon his father's farm
and was educated in the schools of Charleston, supplemented by study in
the Brigham Young Academy, now the Brigham Young University. In 1872 he
became associated with his father in farming and stock raising and
carried on the business extensively. They also established the first
creamery in Charleston, and further extending the scope of their
activities, they opened a general merchandise store in 1875. Their
trade steadily grew and developed and the business was incorporated in
1890, at which time Joseph R. Murdock was1 elected the manager of the
enterprise. In the year 1905, in connection with President W. H. Smart,
he organized the Heber Mercantile Company, and was made president,
which position he still fills. The business is located at Heber aria1
the annual sales amount to about two hundred thousand dollars. Mr.
Murdock has always continued his interest in farming and stock raising,
especially in the handling of sheep. If interrogated as to the nature
of his business he will tell you that he is a farmer and stock raiser,
and he and his sons and his sons-in-law have become leaders in this
field in the west. They are operating in both Utah and Wyoming and
their flocks are now most extensive.
The business ability of Mr. Murdock, however, has brought him
prominently forward in other connections. There is no man more widely
or favorably known as a representative of the irrigation interests of
the west. He has done more beyond a doubt to further irrigation than
any other one man in the state of Utah or perhaps in the west. He
organized the Provo Reservoir Company, of which he is the president.
This project now supplies water to ten thousand acres of land and has
sufficient water for ten thousand acres additional. The project was
developed at a cost of a million dollars. Mr. Murdock also organized
the Utah Lake Irrigation project, which waters ten thousand acres and
has water for ten thousand acres additional. This was also developed at
a cost of a million dollars. The main office of the company is in the
Knight building at Provo. Mr. Murdock is also the president of the Bank
of Heber City, which does a business amounting to a half million
dollars annually, and he is the president of the Sugar Centrifugal
Discharging Company of Salt Lake City, manufacturers of sugar machinery
and employing about thirty men.
In 1878 Mr. Murdock was married to Miss Margaret Wright, a daughter of
William and Jemima (Dands) Wright. They became parents of eleven
children. Mina M., the eldest, is now Mrs. David A. Broadbent, of
Heber. Her husband is superintendent of the Wasatch county schools and
is interested in sheep and cattle raising. They have ten living
children: J. Grant, Vida, Naomi, Leah, Margaret, Dee, Mary, Mima, Emer
and Harvey, while a daughter Clara died when but three weeks old. M.
Josephine is the wife of Sylvester Broadbent who is engaged in the
sheep industry in connection with his father-in-law and resides at
Heber.
Mr. and Mrs. Broadbent have the following children: Verl, Ben, Joseph
R., Elaine, Cloyd, Reed, Thomas, Cora and Royal J. is secretary and
treasurer of the irrigation companies promoted by his father. He
married Zina A. Chipman, of American Fork, and they have three
children, Zina, Stephen R. and Maurine, who are with their parents at
Provo. Nymphas W., a farmer and sheep and cattleman of Fruitland,
Duchesne county, Utah, married Emma Hicken, and their children are Fay,
Joseph, Fern, John and Nymphas C. Sarah E. is the wife of L. C.
Henroid, of Provo, who is manager for the Metropolitan Life Insurance
branch at that place, and their children are Maxine and Margaret. Emer
W. Murdock married Tarza Henrie. His, children are Mildred, Deen and
Emer. Emer W. Murdock is the cashier of the Bank of Heber and is
interested with his father in the sheep industry of Wyoming. Chloe M.
is the wife of Irvin H. Jacob, of Provo, chief engineer of the Provo
reservoir and the Utah lake irrigation projects. He, too, is interested
in farming and sheep raising in Utah. To Mr. and Mrs. Jacob have been
born two children, Joseph I. and Don. Cora, the next member of the
family, has recently returned from a missionary tour in the central
states. Nellie and Erma are at home. Roy J. and Nymphas W. were both
sent on missionary tours to the northwest, and Joseph R. Murdock spent
two years on a mission work in Michigan. He was also counselor while
living at Charleston to the president of the Wasatch stake, William H.
Smart.
In 1903 Mr. Murdock removed with his family to Heber and was there in
1905 called to the presidency of the Wasatch stake, which he has since
filled. In politics Mr. Murdock is a democrat and is a stanch supporter
of President Wilson and his league of nations policy. He served for
three terms as county commissioner of Wasatch county and was a member
of the constitutional convention. He was also a member of the lower
house of the Utah legislature during the first and second sessions of
the general assembly and in the fall of 1900 he was elected state
senator. During that session he was the father of the dairy bill, which
was enacted into a law, and he served on many important committees.
He gave most earnest and thoughtful consideration to all the vital
questions which came up for settlement during his legislative career
and left the impress of his individuality and ability upon the assembly
enactments. He still owns and maintains his home in Heber and also
because of his business relations there has a home in Provo, he and his
family dividing their time between the two cities. Mrs. Murdock has
reared a family of whom she may well be proud. The children have been
most carefully trained and most of them are well married and rearing
families of their own. The life record of Joseph R. Murdock is indeed a
creditable one. He was reared as a farm boy at a time and place where
educational advantages were meager but in the school of experience he
has learned many valuable lessons. From each activity of his life he
has gleaned broad knowledge, which he has put to excellent use. He has
looked ahead, seeing beyond the exigencies of the moment to the
opportunities of the future, and has labored for general development
and improvement as well as the upbuilding of his own fortune. His life
has been actuated by high purposes and earnest endeavor, productive of
splendid results, and among Utah's most useful and honored citizens
Joseph R. Murdock is named.
[Source: Utah since Statehood:
Historical and Biographical Volume 2; By Noble Warrum; Publ. 1919;
Transcribed and submitted by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
AMOS MILTON MUSSER
On the 24th day of September 1909, Hon. Amos Milton Musser,
vice-president of the Genealogical Society of Utah, who had served also
as its treasurer since the organization, he being one of the original
members, died after undergoing an operation for the relief of an
ailment which had troubled him for some time. He was in his
eightieth year, and, naturally a vigorous man, had become weakened
through several months of suffering so that he was unable to withstand
the strain. He was faithful and energetic worker in the Society
and had devoted a great deal of his time for its advancement. He
was always genial, with a kindly word and a smile for everyone even in
the midst of his suffering; always to assist in every good work, and
ever lending a helping hand to the needy and distressed.
The following is taken from a biographical sketch prepared by Elder
Orson F. Whitney, historian and poet, the greater part of which
originally appeared in Jenson’s Biographical Encyclopedia, published in
1902. 1902.
Amos Milton Musser’s name will live in the history of Utah for its
connection with some of the most important enterprises that have built
up the Territory and the State. As an advocate and promoter of
such enterprises he ahs ever stood in the front rank, laboring with his
might and means for their advancement. He was one of the
incorporators of Zion’s Savings Bank and Trust Company and of the State
Bank of Utah; a first subscriber to and promoter of the Great Western
Iron company and the Utah Eastern, Salt Lake and Fort Douglas, and
Juab, Sanpete and Sevier Valley railroads; also one of the
incorporators of the Deseret Telegraph company, and for a period of
nine years a director and the general superintendent of that
company. He introduced the telephone and subsequently the
Phonograph into Salt Lake City. For years he was prominently
connected with the Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing Society,
being a director, the secretary, treasurer and general traveling agent
of the same; he was also director, secretary and treasurer of the Utah
Silk association and president of the Deseret Bee Association.
For nearly two decades prior and up to Statehood he held the office of
Fish and Game Commissioner, and planted in the public waters of Utah
many millions of choice fish and fish fry. He is a very practical
man and has rendered valuable and substantial aid in emigration
matters, in temple, fort, and telegraph building, in colonization,
co-operation, irrigation, in the placation of savage tribes, in foreign
and home missions, in the organization of new wards and the promotion
of numerous home industries. He is an able speaker and writer,
and has employed both tongue and pen at home and abroad, in behalf of
the spiritual and material interests of the community with which he has
been so long and prominently identified.
Amos Milton Musser, traveling Bishop in the Church from 1858 to 1876,
is the son of Samuel Musser and Ann Barr, and was born in Donegal
township, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, May 20th, 1830. He was
only about two years old when his father died, leaving a widow with
four children. As soon as he was old enough he went to work to
help support the family, and was thus prevented from attending school
as mush as he desired. He had a bright mind, however, and at
every opportunity picked up useful knowledge and stored it away in his
retentive memory.
About the year 1837, the mother having married Abraham Bitner, the
family removed to Illinois and settled near Quincy. A few years
later they were again found in Pennsylvania, having returned on account
of Father Bitner’s sickness, which soon resulted in his death.
During her second widowhood, “Mormon” Elders preached in Mrs. Bitner’s
neighborhood and converted her to their faith, and in 1846 she and her
family moved to Nauvoo, only to find the city deserted by the main body
of the Saints, who had begun their western exodus. With the
remnant, who were too poor to move, the widow and her children were
driven across thee Mississippi river into Iowa by the mob.
Mr. Musser was one of the youthful defenders of Nauvoo and was within a
few feet of Captain William Anderson and his son, Augustus, at the
moment (on September 12, 1846) when they were shot down by the mob.
Young Musser, on reaching Eddyville, Iowa, found employment as clerk in
a store, and remained there until the spring of 1851, when he started
for Utah. While on the way, at Kanesville, Iowa, May 24th, 1851,
he became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
being baptized by Elder James Allred and confirmed by Apostle Orson
Hyde. He had been nominally a member for some years previous to
baptism.
He reached Salt Lake City in the fall. A few days after his
arrival here he accepted a position offered him by President Brigham
Young, as clerk and scribe in the general tithing office. The
following year he was appointed upon a mission to Hindoostan, being
blessed and set apart for it by Joseph Young, Lorenzo Snow and Wilford
Woodruff, Oct. 16, 1852. He was soon on his way with other Elders
to Calcutta, arriving there in the spring of 1853. He labored in
Calcutta about eight months and then with Elder Truman Leonard joined
Elder Hugh Findlay in Bombay. Thence he was sent to Kurrachee,
Scinde, where he remained until summoned home by President Young.
Sailing from India early in 1856, he reached London too late to
accompany the season’s emigration to Utah. He labored in England
and Wales until the spring of 1857, when he again set out to home,
reaching here in the fall. He had been absent five years and had
circumscribed the earth; traveling at the outset from Salt Lake City
via southern Utah by team to San Pedro, thence to San Francisco by
water, thence over the Pacific Ocean sighting Hawaii and Luzon, through
the China sea and the Straits of Malacca, into the Indian Ocean and Sea
of Bengal, to Calcutta, thence around Ceylon to Bombay, and over the
Arabian Sea to Karrachee, Scinde, where be labored nineteen
months. From there he returned to Calcutta via Bombay; thence
over the Indian Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope and over the South
and North Atlantic Ocean to London; thence via Liverpool to Boston; and
from there via New York, Iowa City, St. Louis and Omaha to Salt Lake
City. The long mission was performed literally, “without purse or
scrip,” this being the manner in which “Mormon” Elders were directed to
travel. Elder Musser was that at no time during the journey
around the world and his so-journ abroad, had he occasion to beg for
food, clothing, lodging or means of transportation, all of which were
seasonably furnished by friends raised up by Providence.
He again entered the General Tithing Office, where he remained until
the following year, when he was given by the First Presidency an
appointment as Traveling Bishop of the Church, which position he held
without intermission from 1858 to 1876. His duty was to visit the
various Stakes and Wards, with instructions to attend to all matters
pertaining to the collecting, forwarding and reporting of the tithes
and offerings of the Saints; to collect moneys due to the Church and
the Perpetual Emigrating Fund, and attend to other Church business
under the general direction of the First Presidency and the Presiding
Bishopric. His labors extended to all the Wards of the Church in
Utah and neighboring Territories, then numbering over three hundred.
On Dec.1, 1866, the Deseret telegraph line was opened between Salt Lake
City and Ogden, and on Jan. 18, 1867, the Deseret Telegraph Company was
incorporated. Bishop Musser was one of the ten
incorporators. About a month later he was placed in charge of the
company’s affairs as general superintendant. This position with
that of director, he held for over nine years, and under his
superintendency the company’s lines were greatly improved and extended
in many directions. In 1868 the gross receipts from tolls
amounted to $8,462.23. In 1873 they were $75,620.62; the Pioche,
Nevada, office receipts alone being $33,478.82 for that year.
Some years after retiring from the management of the Deseret Telegraph
Company, Bishop Musser introduced the telephone into Salt Lake City and
established several short circuits; still later he introduced the
phonograph.
In April, 1873, he was appointed an assistant trustee-in-trust for the
Church. Three and a half years later he was assigned a mission to
the Eastern States, his Labors being confined to his native State,
Pennsylvania, where ne visited the scenes of his boyhood, preached
wherever opportunity offered and published several gospel pamphlets.
After his return from the east, Bishop Musser was employed in the
President’s Office for a time; after which he was given an appointment
in the Church Historian’s Office, with a special commission from the
First Presidency to keep a record of all persecutive acts, and names of
the perpetrators of those acts, against the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. That he was well and faithfully performed this
duty, the well kept records of the office justify. He has written
much of the public press on practical subjects and is author of several
valuable works, mostly issued in pamphlet form. At the time of
his death he was an Assistant Historian of the Church.
Sources for Article
Biographia Scoticana, by J. Howie.
Monumental Inscriptions of Scotland, by C. Rogers.
Insc: on the Tombs of the Covenanters, by J. Gibson.
Mon: Insc: of Greyfriars, Edingburgh, by J. Brown.
London Inscriptions before the Great Fire, by Fisher & Morgan.
Epitaphs of Middlesex, by Cansick.
Works by the Archaeological, Historical, & Antiquarian Societies.
There is an association for recording church-yard inscriptions in
England: and one is Ireland for preserving the memorials of the dead,
lately formed. England, October, 1909.
(Source: The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, January 1910. Transcribed by Maggie Coleman)
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