Brigham Young

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Brigham Young (June 1, 1801 – August 29, 1877) was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and was the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death. Young was also the first governor of the Utah Territory, United States.
 
Young had a variety of nicknames, among the most popular of which is the "American Moses,"http://www.lds.org/newsroom/showpackage/0%2C15367%2C3899-31--34-2-190%2C00.html (alternatively the "Modern Moses" or the "Mormon Moses"http://overlandtrails.byu.edu/mapsessay.html) because, like the Biblical figure, Young led his followers, the Mormon pioneers, in an exodus through a desert, to what they saw as a promised land. Young was also dubbed the "Lion of the Lord" for his bold personality, and was commonly called "Brother Brigham" by Latter-day Saints. Young's legacy is controversial, however. While having helped to organize a large religion, as well as the accession of Utah Territory to the United States, concerns persist about his role in the Utah War against the United States government, his beliefs about black people, and his practice of polygamy.

Early life until Joseph Smith's successor :

Young was born to a farming family in Vermont and worked as a traveling carpenter and blacksmith, among other trades.Sheret, John G.: Brigham Young: Carpenter and Cabinet Maker Young first married in 1824 to Miriam Angeline Works. Though he had converted to the Methodist faith in 1823, Young was drawn to Mormonism after reading the Book of Mormon shortly after its publication in 1830. He officially joined the new church in 1832 and traveled to Upper Canada as a missionary. After his first wife died in 1833, Young joined many Mormons in establishing a community in Kirtland, Ohio.
 
Young was strongly committed to his new faith. He was ordained an apostle and joined the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as one of its inaugural members on February 14, 1835. During the anti-Mormon persecutions in Missouri in the late 1830s, Young suffered the loss of all his property. In 1840 and 1841, he went to England as a missionary; many of those Young converted moved to the United States to join Mormon communities there. In the 1840s Young was among those who established the city of Nauvoo, Illinois on the Mississippi River. It became the headquarters of the church and was comparable in size to the city of Chicago at the time.
 
While in jail awaiting trial for treason charges, Joseph Smith, president of the church, was killed by an armed mob in 1844. Several claimants to the role of church President emerged during the succession crisis that ensued. Before a large meeting convened to discuss the succession in Nauvoo, Sidney Rigdon, the senior surviving member of the church's First Presidency, argued that there could be no successor to the deceased prophet and that he should be made the "Protector" of the church.Roberts, B. H. (ed.) History of the Church, vol. 7, ch. XVIII. Young opposed this reasoning and motion. Smith had earlier recorded a revelation which stated that the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were "equal in authority and power" to the First Presidency,Doctrine and Covenants 107:23-24. so Young claimed that the leadership of the church fell to the Twelve Apostles.Roberts, B. H. (ed.) History of the Church, vol. 7, ch. XIX. Many of Young's followers would later reminisce that while Young spoke to the congregation, he looked or sounded similar to Joseph Smith, to which they attributed the power of God.; Lynne Watkins Jorgensen, "The Mantle of the Prophet Joseph Smith Passes to Brother Brigham: One Hundred Twenty-one Testimonies of a Collective Spiritual Witness" in John W. Welch (ed.), 2005. Opening the Heavens: Accounts of Divine Manifestations, 1820-1844, Provo, Utah: BYU Press, pp. 374-480; Eugene English, "George Laub Nauvoo Diary," BYU Studies, 18 Winter 1978: 167 ("Now when President Young arose to address the congregation his voice was the voice of Brother Joseph and his face appeared as Joseph's face & should I have not seen his face but heard his voice I should have declared that it was Joseph"); William Burton Diary, May 1845. LDS Church Archives ("But their Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith's places were filed by others much better than I once supposed they could have been, the spirit of Joseph appeared to rest upon Brigham"); Benjamin F. Johnson, My Life's Review Independence, 1928, p. 103-104 ("But as soon as he spoke I jumped upon my feet, for in every possible degree it was Joseph's voice, and his person, in look, attitude, dress and appearance; it was Joseph himself, personified and I knew in a moment the spirit and mantle of Joseph was upon him"); Life Story of Mosiah Hancock, p. 23, BYU Library ("Although only a boy, I saw the mantle of the Prophet Joseph rest upon Brigham Young; and he arose lion-like to the occasion and led the people forth"); Wilford Woodruff, Deseret News, 15 Mar. 1892 ("If I had not seen him with my own eyes, there is no one that could have convinced me that it was not Joseph Smith"); George Q. Cannon, Juvenile Instructor, 22 29 Oct. 1870: 174-175 ("When Brigham Young spoke it was with the voice of Joseph himself; and not only was it the voice of Joseph which was heard, but it seemed in the eyes of the people as though it was the every person of Joseph which stood before them"). For many in attendance at this meeting, this occurrence was accepted as a sign that Young was to lead the church as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Rigdon became the president of a separate church organization based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and other potential successors emerged to lead what became other denominations of the movement.

Church presidency :

Initial actions as church president :

After three years of leading the church as the President of the Quorum of the Twelve, in 1847 Young reorganized a new First Presidency and was declared president of the church. Repeated conflict led Young to relocate his group of Latter-day Saints to a territory in what is now Utah, then part of Mexico. Young organized the journey that would take the faithful to Winter Quarters, Nebraska, in 1846 , then to the Salt Lake Valley. Young arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847, a date now recognized as Pioneer Day in Utah.

Conflict with U.S. government :

Shortly after the arrival of Young's pioneers, the new Mormon colonies were incorporated into the United States through Mexican Cession, Young petitioned the U.S. Congress to create the State of Deseret. The Compromise of 1850 instead carved out Utah Territory, and Young was installed as governor. As governor and church president, Young directed both religious and economic matters. He encouraged independence and self-sufficiency. Many cities and towns in Utah, and some in neighboring states, were founded under Young's direction. Young's leadership style has been viewed as autocratic.http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761555412/Young_Brigham.html
 
When federal officials received reports of widespread and systematic obfuscation of federal officials in Utah (most notably judges), U.S. President James Buchanan decided to install a non-Mormon governor. Buchanan accepted the reports of the judges without any further investigation, and the new non-sectrarian Governor who was accompanied by troops sent to garrison forts in the new territory. The troops passed by the bloody KansasMissouri war without intervening in it, as it was not open warfare and only isolated sporadic incindents. When Young received word that federal troops were headed to Utah with his replacement, he called out his militia to ambush the federal column. During this rebellion, now called the Utah War, Young held the U.S. Army at bay for a winter by russlting their cattle and burning supply wagons. Young made plans to burn Salt Lake City and move his followers to Mexico, but at the last minute he relented and agreed to step down as governor. He later received a pardon from Buchanan for his role in the episode. Relations between Young and future governors and U.S. Presidents were mixed.

Role in Mountain Meadows massacre :

A controversial issue is the extent of Young's involvement in the Mountain Meadows massacre, which took place in Washington County in 1857. Authorities in Iron County had sent a messenger to Salt Lake City, a three-day ride, seeking direction from Young. Young sent a message instructing them to leave the wagon party alone, but that message arrived too late to avert the massacre. Over 120 men, women and children were killed by local Mormon militia members and possibly their Native American allies; their bodies were stripped of clothes and valuables and left to rot in the desert. John D. Lee, the only person convicted for participation in the massacre, made the following statement:Life and Confessions of John D. Lee(p. 225)

I have always believed, since that day, that General George A. Smith was then visiting Southern Utah to prepare the people for the work of exterminating Captain Fancher's train of emigrants, and I now believe that he was sent for that purpose by the direct command of Brigham Young.

Indictment for murder :

Young was indicted on murder charges in 1872, based on the testimony of "Wild Bill" Hickman, eight of whose nine wives left him after Young had him excommunicated. Young's murder indictment was thrown out when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the process used to select grand juries in Utah was unconstitutional, as it was designed to keep Mormons off juries.

Other notable actions :

Young organized the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and in 1850 founded the University of Deseret, which is now the University of Utah. Brigham Young University, although not founded by Young, is named after him. In 1950, the state of Utah donated a marble statue of Young to the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall Collection.http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/nsh/young.cfm

Beliefs about blacks :

Young has been criticized for his beliefs about black people. As an early leader of the church, Young's beliefs and unofficial comments influenced Mormon culture and were sometimes used to explain the church policy which excluded most blacks from priesthood callings until 1978. (see Blacks and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Specific quotes by Young include:

Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so.Journal of Discourses, vol. 10, p. 110.

You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind....Cain slew his brother. Cain might have been killed, and that would have put a termination to that line of human beings. This was not to be, and the Lord put a mark upon him, which is the flat nose and black skin.Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, p. 290.

 

If the Government of the United States, in Congress assembled, had the right to pass an anti-polygamy bill, they had also the right to pass a law that slaves should not be abused as they have been; they had also a right to make a law that negroes should be used like human beings, and not worse than dumb brutes. For their abuse of that race, the whites will be cursed, unless they repent.Journal of Discourses, Vol.10, p. 110.

Family life :

Plural marriage :

Young was perhaps the most famous polygamist of the early church. He stated that upon being taught about plural marriage, "it was the first time in my life that I desired the grave." By the time of his death, Young had 56 children by 16 of his wives. In 1856, Young built the Lion House to accommodate his sizable family. This building remains a Salt Lake City landmark, together with the Beehive House, another Brigham Young family home. A contemporary of Young wrote: "It was amusing to walk by Brigham Young's big house, a long rambling building with innumerable doors. Each wife has an establishment of her own, consisting of parlor, bedroom, and a front door, the key of which she keeps in her pocket". Many of Young's wives were the widows of Joseph Smith whom he married after Smith died.

Listing of wives :

What follows is a listing of Brigham Young's wives. An asterisk indicates "a wife not recognized in traditional histories"; names in parenthesis are the surnames of previous husbands; "divorce" indicates a formal dissolution of the marriage through secular or ecclesiastical procedures; "remarried" indicates later marriage of the wife to another husband.D. Michael Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, Signature Books, Salt Lake City, 1994, 685 pages, ISBN 1-56085-056-6; Appendix 6, "Biographical Sketches of Officers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints, 1830-47" pp. 607-608).
 

1. Miriam Work - 1824 (2 children), included in his will.
2. Mary Ann Angell - 1834 (6 children), in will.
3. Lucy A. Decker (Seeley) - 1842 (7 children), in will.
4. Harriet E. Cook (Campbell) - 1843 (1 child), in will.
5. Lucy Augusta Adams (Cobb) 1843 (no children); requested cancellation of her sealing, 1846; sealed by proxy to Joseph Smith, 1848; from 1850 onward asked Brigham Young to give her to various men in civil marriage but still included in will.
6. Clarissa C. Decker - 1844 (5 children), in will.
7. Clarissa Ross-Chase - 1844 (4 children), in will.
8. Louisa Beaman (Smith) - 1844 (5 children).
9. Zina D. Huntington (Jacobs, Smith) - 1844 (1 child), in will.
10. Emily D. Partridge (Smith) 1844 - (7 children), in will. (daughter of Edward Partridge)
11. Eliza R. Snow (Smith) - 1844 (no children), in will.
12. *Elizabeth Fairchild - 1844 (no children), divorced 1855.
13. *Clarissa Blake - 1844 (no children).
14. *Rebecca W. Greenleaf Holman - 1844 (no children).
15. *Diana Chase - 1844 (no children), separated about 1848, remarried 1849.
16. Maria Lawrence (Smith) - 1844 (no children), separated 1845, remarried 1846.
17. Susannah Snively - 1844 (no children), in will.
18. Olive Grey Frost (Smith) - 1844 (no children).
19. *Mary A. Clark (Powers) - 1845 (no children), divorced 1851.
20. *Mary Harvey Pierce - 1845 (no children).
21. Margrette W. Pierce (Whitesides) - 1845 (1 child), in will.
22. Emmeline Free - 1845 (10 children), in will. (former fiance of John D. Lee, her sister Louisa married Lee).
23. Mary Elizabeth Rollins (Lightner, Smith) - 1845 (no children); remained with legal husband yet considered herself deserted by Brigham Young, 1846.
24. Margaret Maria Alley - 1845 (2 children), in will.
25. *Mary Ann Turley - 1845 (no children), divorced 1851.
26. *Olive Andrews (Smith) 1846 (no children).
27. *Emily Haws (Chesley, Whitmarsh) - 1846 (no children), separated 1848.
28. Ellen A. V. Rockwood - 1846 (no children).
29. *Abigail Marks (Works) - 1846 (no children).
30. *Mary Elizabeth Nelson (Greene) - 1846 (no children).
31. *Mary E. de la Montague (Woodward) - 1846 (no children); divorced and returned to legal husband, 1847; then returned to Brigham Young, 1851.
32. *Amy C. Cooper - 1846 (no children).
33. *Julia Foster (Hampton) - 1846 (no children), separated, 1846; married another man; returned to Brigham Young, 1855, only to leave him bitterly later.
34. *Abigail Harback (Hall) - 1846 (no children), returned to legal husband, 1846.
35. Naamah K. J. Carter (Twiss) - 1846 (no children), obtained cancellation of her sealing by 1871, anointed to deceased first husband but still included in will.
36. *Nancy Cressy (Walker) - 1846 (no children).
37. *Eliza Babcock - 1846 (no children), divorced 1853.
38. *Jane Terry (Tarbox, Young) - 1847.
39. Mary J. Bigelow - 1847 (no children), divorced 1851.
40. Lucy Bigelow - 1847 (3 children), in will.
41. *Sarah M. Guckin (Malin) - 1848 (no children).
42. Eliza Burgess - 1852 (1 child), in will.
43. *Mary Oldfield (Kelsey) - 1852 (no children).
44. *Catherine Resse (Clawson, Egan) - 1855 (no children).
45. Harriet E. Barney (Sagers) - 1856 (1 child), in will.
46. Harriet Amelia Folsom - 1863 (no children), in will.
47. Mary Van Cott (Cobb) - 1865 (1 child), in will. (Daughter of John Van Cott)
48. Ann Eliza Webb (Dee) 1868 (no children), divorced 1875; her story was the basis of Irving Wallace's 1962 biography The Twenty-Seventh Wife and of David Ebershoff's forthcoming novel, The 19th Wife
49. *Elizabeth Jones (Lewis, Jones) - 1869 (no children).
50. *Lydia Farnsworth (Mayhew) - 1870 (no children).
51. *Hannah Tapfield (King) - 1872 (no children).

 
Image:BrighamYoungGrave.jpg|right|thumb|360px|Grave marker of Brigham Young.

Works :

• LDS Church publication number 35554.

Reference in literature :

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle based his first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet, on Mormon history, mentioning Young by name. When asked to comment on the story, which had "provoked the animosity of the Mormon faithful", Conan Doyle noted, "all I said about the Danite Band and the murders is historical so I cannot withdraw that tho it is likely that in a work of fiction it is stated more luridly than in a work of history." However, Doyle's daughter stated that "You know father would be the first to admit that his first Sherlock Holmes novel was full of errors about the Mormons." http://www.adherents.com/lit/article_Doyle.html

Notable descendents :

Brigham Young has several noteworthy descendants:

• Brigham Young, Jr., LDS Church apostle
• John Willard Young, LDS Church apostle
• Joseph Angell Young, LDS Church apostle
• Leah D. Widtsoe, wife of apostle John A. Widtsoe, and a leading expert in Home Economics. She coauthored the book The Word of Wisdom: A Modern Interpretation with her husband and wrote a biography of Brigham Young with her mother, Susa Young Gates, listed below.
• Mahonri Young, sculptor/artist
• Orson Scott Card, novelist
• Richard Whitehead Young, U.S. Army general and justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
• Sandra Tanner, critic of the LDS Church
• Susa Young Gates, Utah suffragist and women's rights activist
• Steve Young, professional American football player

See also :

• Brigham Young (1940 film)
• Joseph Young
• Phineas Young
• RichardsYoung family
• This Is The Place Heritage Park

Notes :

References :

• Leonard J. Arrington, Brigham Young: American Moses; University of Illinois Press; ISBN 0-252-01296-8, (1985; Paperback, 1986).
• Hugh Nibley, Brother Brigham Challenges the Saints.
• Gary James Bergera, Conflict in the Quorum: Orson Pratt, Brigham Young, Joseph Smith
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