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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 (Latter Day Saints)|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]].
'''Brigham Young''' ([[June 1]], [[1801]] – [[August 29]], [[1877]]) was a leader in the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] and was the [[President of the Church (Latter Day Saints)|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]],"<ref>http://www.lds.org/newsroom/showpackage/0%2C15367%2C3899-31--34-2-190%2C00.html</ref> (alternatively the "Modern Moses" or the "Mormon Moses"<ref>http://overlandtrails.byu.edu/mapsessay.html</ref>) because, like the [[Bible|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 Saint]]s. 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 [[Federal government of the United States|United States government]] and his beliefs about [[black people]].
Young had a variety of nicknames, among the most popular of which is the "American [[Moses]],"<ref>http://www.lds.org/newsroom/showpackage/0%2C15367%2C3899-31--34-2-190%2C00.html</ref> (alternatively the "Modern Moses" or the "Mormon Moses"<ref>http://overlandtrails.byu.edu/mapsessay.html</ref>) because, like the [[Bible|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 Saint]]s. 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 [[Federal government of the United States|United States government]], his beliefs about [[black people]], and his practice of [[polygamy]].


== Early life until Joseph Smith's successor ==
== Early life until Joseph Smith's successor ==

Revision as of 05:50, 12 December 2007

Brigham Young
File:BrYoung.jpg
Personal details
BornBrigham Young
(1801-06-01)June 1, 1801
DiedAugust 29, 1877(1877-08-29) (aged 76)
See also: Brigham Young University

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,"[1] (alternatively the "Modern Moses" or the "Mormon Moses"[2]) 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.[3] 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.[4] 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,[5] so Young claimed that the leadership of the church fell to the Twelve Apostles.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8]

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 sent troops to depose Young. The troops passed by the bloody Kansas–Missouri war without intervening in it. When Young received word that federal troops were headed to Utah with his replacement, he organized a militia to fight the federal government. During this rebellion, now called the Utah War, Young held the U.S. Army at bay for a winter. 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,[9] 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:[10]

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,[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]

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.[11]

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.[12]

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.[13]

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.[14]

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."[15] By the time of his death, Young had 56 children by 16 of his wives.[16] 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".[17] Many of Young's wives were the widows of Joseph Smith whom he married after Smith died.[citation needed]

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.[18]

Brigham Young
  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.[citation needed]
  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[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]
  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).
Grave marker of Brigham Young.

Works

  • Young, Brigham (1952). The Best from Brigham Young: Statements from His Sermons on Religion, Education, and Community Building. selected by Alice K. Chase. Deseret Book Company.
  • —— (1980). Everett L. Cooley. (ed.). Diary of Brigham Young, 1857. Tanner Trust Fund, University of Utah Library. {{cite book}}: |author= has numeric name (help)
  • —— (1925). Discourses of Brigham Young. selected by John A. Widtsoe. Deseret Book. {{cite book}}: |author= has numeric name (help)
  • —— (1974). Dean C. Jessee. (ed.). Letters of Brigham Young to His Sons. Deseret Book Company. {{cite book}}: |author= has numeric name (help)
  • —— (1969). Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1801-1844. Eldon J. Watson. {{cite book}}: |author= has numeric name (help)
  • —— (1971). Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1846-1847. Eldon J. Watson. {{cite book}}: |author= has numeric name (help)
  • —— (1922). Teachings of President Brigham Young: Salvation for the Dead, the Spirit World, and Kindred Subjects. Seagull Press. {{cite book}}: |author= has numeric name (help)
  • —— (1997). Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. {{cite book}}: |author= has numeric name (help) 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." [19]

Notable descendents

Brigham Young has several noteworthy descendants:

See also

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.lds.org/newsroom/showpackage/0%2C15367%2C3899-31--34-2-190%2C00.html
  2. ^ http://overlandtrails.byu.edu/mapsessay.html
  3. ^ Sheret, John G.: Brigham Young: Carpenter and Cabinet Maker
  4. ^ Roberts, B. H. (ed.) History of the Church, vol. 7, ch. XVIII.
  5. ^ Doctrine and Covenants 107:23-24.
  6. ^ Roberts, B. H. (ed.) History of the Church, vol. 7, ch. XIX.
  7. ^ Harper 1996; 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 Bro[ther] 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").
  8. ^ http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761555412/Young_Brigham.html
  9. ^ Eakin, Emily (2002-10-12). "Reopening a Mormon Murder Mystery; New Accusations That Brigham Young Himself Ordered an 1857 Massacre of Pioneers". New York Times (Late Edition-Final ed.). p. Section B, Page 9, Column 2. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ Life and Confessions of John D. Lee(p. 225)
  11. ^ http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/nsh/young.cfm
  12. ^ Journal of Discourses, vol. 10, p. 110.
  13. ^ Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, p. 290.
  14. ^ Journal of Discourses, Vol.10, p. 110.
  15. ^ "Polygamy and the Church: A History". The Mormons: People & Events. WGBH Educational Foundation. 2007-04-30. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
  16. ^ "Brigham Young Biography". Brigham Young University. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  17. ^ DeHegermann-Lindencrone, Lillie. "The Sunny Side of Diplomatic Life, 1875-1912". Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 2006-07-18.
  18. ^ 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).
  19. ^ http://www.adherents.com/lit/article_Doyle.html

References

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Template:S-ecc
Political offices
Preceded by
None
 Governor of Utah Territory
1850 – 1858 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President of the LDS Church
December 27, 1847 – August 29, 1877 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
March 17, 1839 – December 27, 1847 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
February 15, 1835 – December 27, 1847 		Succeeded by
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