John Murdock: He Gave His Newborn Twins to Joseph and Emma Smith After His Wife Died in Childbirth

John Murdock (1792–1871) was among the early converts in the Kirtland, Ohio area. His wife, Julia Clapp Murdock, died on May 1, 1831, shortly after giving birth to twins — a boy and a girl. Overwhelmed with grief and with five children to care for, John turned to his closest friends in the gospel.

Joseph and Emma Smith had just lost their own newborn twins that very same day. In one of the most poignant acts of charity and faith in early Church history, John Murdock approached Joseph and Emma and asked if they would adopt his twins as their own, believing 'perhaps this could assuage their grief.'

Joseph and Emma accepted the twins, naming them Joseph and Julia. Tragically, the infant Joseph Murdock Smith died on March 29, 1832 — the same night a mob dragged Joseph Smith from the home and savagely tarred and feathered him in the freezing cold. The baby caught pneumonia during the attack and died within days.

John Murdock responded to all of this with remarkable faith. He continued serving missions, laboring in the Church, and raising his remaining children in the gospel. He later served as a bishop and stake president in Utah.

His act of giving his twins to Joseph and Emma remains one of the most selfless, faith-filled gestures of early Church history — an act of pure love born of devastating mutual loss.