Born 23 Dec. 1852 at Lehi, Utah Co., Utah Territory.[1] Daughter of John Riggs Murdock and Almira Henrietta Lott.[2] Moved to Beaver, Beaver Co., Utah Territory, with her family, 1864.[3] Presented the featured speech for Beaver’s Pioneer Day celebration, 1870.[4] Taught school in Beaver, 1871.[5] Married Philo Taylor Farnsworth, 16 Feb. 1874, in Salt Lake City; ten children.[6] President of the Beaver Stake Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association, 1877.[7] President of the Beaver Women’s Suffrage Association, 1892.[8] Moved to Salt Lake City, by 1893.[9] With EBW, assisted in planning a reception for members of the Utah Constitutional Convention in Salt Lake City, 3 May 1895.[10] Charter member of the Utah State Society Daughters of the American Revolution with EBW; served as registrar, secretary, regent, chaplain, and historian, 1897–1917.[11] Member of the Relief Society general board, 1899–1921.[12] Charter member of Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1901; historian of Daughters of the Mormon Battalion, 1901.[13] Served on the reception committee for EBW’s eighty-seventh and eighty-ninth birthday celebrations, 1915, 1917.[14] Died 27 Dec. 1938 in Salt Lake City.[15]
[1] “Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. G, 31 Oct. 1868–Nov. 1872, p. 73, line 2, Julia Permelia Murdock, 12 Apr. 1869, microfilm 1239501, DGS 7751472 (restricted access), FHL. Genealogical Society of Utah, “Genealogical Surveys of L.D.S. Members, Autobiographies and Ancestors,” vol. 9, p. 32, Julia Permelia Murdock Farnsworth, FHL. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 22 Jan. 2019), Julia Permelia Murdock (KWVP-2JR).
[2] “Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. G, 31 Oct. 1868–Nov. 1872, p. 73, line 2, Julia Permelia Murdock, 12 Apr. 1869, microfilm 1239501, DGS 7751472 (restricted access), FHL. Genealogical Society of Utah, “Genealogical Surveys of L.D.S. Members, Autobiographies and Ancestors,” vol. 9, p. 32, Julia Permelia Murdock Farnsworth, FHL.
[3] Genealogical Society of Utah, “Genealogical Surveys of L.D.S. Members, Autobiographies and Ancestors,” vol. 9, p. 35, Julia Permelia Murdock Farnsworth, FHL. 1860 U.S. Census, Lehi, Utah Co., Utah Territory, p. 413.
[4] “Local and Other Matters,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 10 Aug. 1870, 7.
[5] “Correspondence,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 17 May 1871, 5.
[6] “Sealing of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1851–1889,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, vol. I, 5 June 1873–2 Sept. 1874, p. 281, line 3412, Philo Taylor Farnsworth and Julia Permelia Murdock, 16 Feb. 1874, microfilm 183399, DGS 5265583 (restricted access), FHL. Genealogical Society of Utah, “Genealogical Surveys of L.D.S. Members, Autobiographies and Ancestors,” vol. 9, p. 34, Julia Permelia Murdock Farnsworth, FHL.
[7] Beaver Utah Stake, Manuscript History and Historical Reports, vol. 1, 2 Dec. 1877, LR 596 2, folder 1, CHL. “Beaver Stake Conference,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 19 Dec. 1877, 2.
[8] Beaver County Woman’s Suffrage Association Papers, 19th Century Mormon and Western Manuscripts, pp. 59, 37, MSS SC 48, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, BYU. Genealogical Society of Utah, “Genealogical Surveys of L.D.S. Members, Autobiographies and Ancestors,” vol. 9, p. 35, Julia Permelia Murdock Farnsworth, FHL.
[9] Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, vol. 2 (Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History, 1914), 622–623.
[10] “A Brilliant Affair,” Salt Lake Herald-Republican, 3 May 1895, 8.
[11] EBW, Diary, 7 Dec. 1897; 30 Mar. 1898; 22–23 Feb. 1901; 16 June 1902; 3 July 1903. “New Utah Society: Daughters of the Revolution File Articles of Incorporation,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 12 Apr. 1899, 8. “Secret Societies: Daughters of the Revolution,” Salt Lake Tribune, 15 June 1903, 5. “Club Chat,” Deseret Evening News, 21 Nov. 1903, 17. “President-General and State Officers of the Daughters of the Revolution,” Salt Lake Tribune, Nov. 7, 1909, 10. “News of the Women’s Clubs,” Salt Lake Tribune, 18 Mar. 1917, 59.
[12] History of Relief Society, 1842–1966 (Salt Lake City: General Board of Relief Society, 1966), 52. “Appointments Are Announced,” Salt Lake Herald-Republican, 7 Oct. 1909, 7.
[13] Kate B. Carter, Heart Throbs of the West: A Unique Volume Treating Definite Subjects of Western History, 12 vols. (Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1949), 10:389–394. “To Erect Monument,” Inter-Mountain Republican (Salt Lake City), 10 June 1907, 21. “San Diego Pioneers Remember Mormons,” Salt Lake Telegram, 13 Nov. 1915, 6. “Society,” Salt Lake Tribune, 2 Oct. 1917, 5.
[14] “Society Notes,” Salt Lake Tribune, 27 Feb. 1915, 1. “Relief Society to Honor Mrs. Wells,” Salt Lake Tribune, 25 Feb. 1917, 20.
[15] “Utah State Archives Indexes,” database and images, Utah State Archives (https://archives.utah.gov, accessed 18 July 2019); Utah Department of Health Office of Vital Records and Statistics Death Certificates, series 81448, file no. 2199/652 (1938), Julia Murdock Farnsworth. “Julia Farnsworth Dies in Salt Lake,” Lehi (UT) Sun, 29 Dec. 1938, 9.