Jessie (Jesse) Easters Murphy diary

Jessie (Jesse) Easters Murphy (1832-1916)

L. Tom Perry Special Collections is pleased to announce the availability of a new digitized collection: Jessie (Jesse) Easters Murphy diary (MSS SC 1010). In this journal, Murphy records his experiences while serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Southern States from 1867-1869.

Jessie (Jesse) Easters Murphy was born January 27, 1832, in Union, South Carolina, to Emanuel Masters Murphy and Nancy Easters. His family converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1857 Jessie married Grace Broadbent in St. Louis, Missouri, and soon after traveled to Utah. In 1860, Jesse was called as a Captain of a company to bring Saints to Utah, and he brought his father, mother, and many other family members with him. Jessie was called to serve a mission for the Church in 1867, where he served in the United States and Canada, primarily the Southern States. Jessie would later marry three more wives: Elizabeth Sproul (m. 1860), Robena Sproul (m. 1862), and Lavona (Lovonia) Ann (m. 1867). Jessie Easters Murphy died March 15, 1916, in Salt Lake City, Utah.