Born 29 June 1847 at Leigh, Lancashire, England.[1] Son of Richard Thornton Booth and Elsie Edge.[2] Emigrated from Liverpool, Lancashire, aboard the George Washington, arriving in Boston 20 April 1857.[3] Migrated to Salt Lake City with the Jesse B. Martin pioneer company, arriving 12 September 1857.[4] Baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1 October 1857.[5] Served in the Blackhawk War, August–October 1866.[6] Attended Deseret University, 1869–1870.[7] Taught at several local schools, including Brigham Young Academy, 1868–1869, 1870–1873, 1875–1881, 1886–1920.[8] Married Marie Josephine Harvey, 1 October 1873, in Salt Lake City.[9] Served as a bishop’s counselor and then as bishop in the Fourth Ward in Provo, Utah County, Utah Territory, 1875–1895.[10] Practiced law, 1875–1899.[11] Served as alderman, city attorney, and justice of the peace in Provo.[12] Participated in plural marriage.[13] Served in three sessions of the Utah territorial legislature, 1882, 1890, 1894.[14] Participated in Utah constitutional conventions, 1882, 1887.[15] Served two missions to the northern United States; served as assistant president to the mission president, 1883–1884, and as mission president, 1889–1890.[16] Mayor of Provo, 1890–1892.[17] Gave the principal address at a women’s suffrage meeting; Emmeline B. Wells presided, 3 February 1894.[18] Introduced a memorial in the Utah territorial legislature to restore women’s voting rights, 1 March 1894.[19] Served as judge in the Fourth District of Utah, 1899–1913.[20] Graduated from Brigham Young University, 1904.[21] Died 28 March 1920 in Salt Lake City.[22]
[1] Elsie Delia Adams, John Edge Booth, 1847–1920 (Art City Publishing, 1962), 22; 1851 England and Wales Census, Bedford, Lancashire, enumeration dist. 3H, p. 24.
[2] 1851 England and Wales Census, Bedford, Lancashire, enumeration dist. 3H, p. 24; Adams, John Edge Booth, 22.
[3] Emigration Records, European Mission, 1849–1885, 1899–1923, microfilm 25691, vol. 1046, pp. 12–13, 50, FamilySearch Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City (FamilySearch library hereafter cited as FSL); Adams, John Edge Booth, 23.
[4] Adams, John Edge Booth, 3, 23.
[5] Adams, John Edge Booth, 23.
[6] U.S. Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917–1940, DGS 105124164, roll 20A, pt. 2, familysearch.org; Adams, John Edge Booth, 25–26; “Booth, John Edge,” in Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, vol. 1 (Andrew Jenson History, 1901), 494.
[7] Adams, John Edge Booth, 26; “Booth, John Edge,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:494.
[8] Adams, John Edge Booth, 26–28; T. Earl Pardoe, The Sons of Brigham (Brigham Young University Alumni Association, 1969), 8–9.
[9] Adams, John Edge Booth, 27.
[10] J. E. Booth, letter, 19 July 1886, First Presidency Missionary Calls and Recommendations, 1877–1918, Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City (Church History Library hereafter CHL); Adams, John Edge Booth, 28–29; “Booth, John Edge,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:494.
[11] J. E. Booth to Wilford Woodruff, 12 June 1889, First Presidency Missionary Calls and Recommendations, CHL; “John Edge Booth,” in History of the Bench and Bar of Utah (Interstate Press Association, 1913), 115.
[12] “Local and Other Matters,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 29 Nov. 1876, 1; “General Directory,” Territorial Enquirer (Provo, Utah Territory), 7 Dec. 1881, 1; Adams, John Edge Booth, 28, 33; “Booth, John Edge,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:494.
[13] Adams, John Edge Booth, 28.
[14] “Judge John Edge Booth Died at the Home of Daughter in Salt Lake Sunday Evening,” Provo (UT) Post, 30 Mar. 1920, 1; “Our Lawmakers,” Daily Enquirer (Provo, Utah Territory), 10 Jan. 1894, 1; Adams, John Edge Booth, 30.
[15] “John Edge Booth,” in History of the Bench and Bar of Utah, 115; Adams, John Edge Booth, 30, 34.
[16] John Edge Booth entries, nos. 2900 and 154, Missionary Department, Missionary Registers, 1860–1959, book A, pp. 68, 101, CHL; Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon, and Joseph F. Smith to John E. Booth, 9 Apr. 1890, CHL; Adams, John Edge Booth, 30–35, 36; “Booth, John Edge,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:494.
[17] J. Marinus Jensen, History of Provo, Utah (By the author, 1924), 193–195, 197; “An Ordinance,” Daily Enquirer, 19 Feb. 1892, [4]; Adams, John Edge Booth, 35.
[18] Emmeline B. Wells, Diary, 3 Feb. 1894, Diaries of Emmeline B. Wells, Church Historian’s Press, churchhistorianspress.org/emmeline-b-wells; “Equal Suffrage,” Sunday Herald (Salt Lake City), 4 Feb. 1894, 8.
[19] Wells, Diary, 1 Mar. 1894.
[20] “John Edge Booth,” in History of the Bench and Bar of Utah, 115; Editorial, Vernal (UT) Express, 18 May 1899, [4]; “District Court,” Wasatch Wave (Heber City, UT), 3 Jan. 1913, [5].
[21] Adams, John Edge Booth, 67.
[22] “Booth, John Edge,” 28 Mar. 1920, file no. 828, Utah State Archives Name Indexes, Utah Department of Health, Office of Vital Records and Statistics Death Certificates, 1904–present, series 81448, Utah Division of Archives and Records Service, archives.utah.org.