William Edwards Murdock was born on September 15, 1844, in Candia, New Hampshire, to William and Mary Murdock. His father was a minister who owned $2,500 of real estate and $2,500 of personal property by 1860. The family lived in Candia until the 1850s, when they moved to West Boylston, Massachusetts. By 1860, Murdock was working as a farmer.

 

He enlisted in the Union army on September 17, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company K of the 25^th Massachusetts Infantry. The regiment took part in the Battle of Cold Harbor and the siege of Petersburg. He mustered out on July 27, 1865.

 

Murdock settled in Boston, Massachusetts, after the war, and he earned a living as a book publisher. He married Harriett E. Marcy on November 29, 1877. They had one child, who died sometime before 1900. They lived in Boston, and they employed at least three white servants. By 1890, he was suffering from “defective I sight cause[d] [by] Sun Stroke.” He traveled abroad in 1900 with his wife and sister, and his passport described him as 5 feet, 7½ inches tall, with gray hair and brown eyes. He applied for a federal pension in March 1907 and eventually secured one. He died in Boston on January 27, 1918.

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