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Brigham Young

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Brigham Young
Personal details
BornBrigham Young
June 1, 1801
DiedAugust 29, 1877

Brigham Young (June 1, 1801 – August 29, 1877) was a prophet and president of one of two "branches" of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints following a schizm occuring upon the death of founder Joseph Smith. The other branch was led by James Jesse Strang, who was supported as Smith's successor by Smith's own family.

Young had a variety of sobriquets, among the most popular of which is "The American Moses" [1], (sometimes "The Modern Moses" or "The Mormon Moses" [2]) because, like the biblical figure, he led his followers, the Mormon Pioneers in an often arduous "exodus" through a desert, to what they saw as a "promised land". He was also dubbed "The Lion of the Lord" for his bold personality. He was also called "Brother Brigham".

Life

Young was born to a farming family in Vermont and worked as a traveling carpenter and blacksmith, among other trades. Young first married in 1824.

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 Canada as a missionary. After his first wife died in 1833, Young joined many Mormons in establishing a community in Kirtland, Ohio.LDS Standard Works

Young was strongly committed to his new faith. He was ordained an apostle and joined the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as one of the first members on February 14, 1835. During the anti-Mormon persecutions in Missouri in the late 1830's, he suffered the loss of all his property, and other hardships. In 1840 and 1841, he went to England as a missionary for his church. 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.

While in jail awaiting trial for treason charges, church president Joseph Smith was killed by an armed mob of vigilantes in 1844. Several claimants to his role as church president emerged during the succession crisis that ensued. Sidney Rigdon, the only surviving member of the First Presidency put himself forward as "guardian of the Church," but at a meeting of a congregation in Nauvoo, Young successfully counter-argued that the Quorum of the Twelve should instead lead the Church. This motion carried and Young, as president of the quorum, became the de facto president of the church at Nauvoo. Rigdon became the president of a separate church organization based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and other potential successors emerged to lead what became separate denominations of the movement. See Latter-day Saint movement.

Actions as Church President

After three years under the Quorum of the Twelve, Young reorganized a new First Presidency and was declared President of the largest remaining schism in 1847. 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 Utah's Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847, a date now recognized as a Utah state holiday and known as Pioneer Day.

Shortly after the new Mormon colonies were brought 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. Some have accused Young of being an autocrat during his leadership in Utah [3]. Others disagree with this assessment, recognizing Young as a strong, inspiring leader during a challenging era, and further noting that his reputation and legacy are generally well-regarded.

When federal officials received reports of widespread and systematic obfuscation of federal officials in Utah (most notably judges), President Buchanan decided to install a non-mormon governor. Buchanan accepted the reports of the judges without any further investigation, and sent troops. The troops, ironically, passed by the bloody Kansas-Missouri war without intervening in it. When Young received word that federal troops led by Albert Sydney Johnston (who later would fight against the Union during the Civil War) were headed to Utah with his replacement, he directed resistance, but insisted that no blood be shed. During this episode, now called the Utah War, Young successfully held the U.S. Army at bay for a winter. He 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 President Buchanan for his role in the episode. Relations between Young and future governors and U.S. Presidents were mixed. Abraham Lincoln, at the time the transcontinental telegram wire was laid across Utah, worked together with Brigham Young rather than with the federally-appointed governor of the territory.

A recurrent question is the nature or extent of Young's involvement in murders and other illegal activities in early Utah, particularly the Mountain Meadows Massacre, which took place in Washington County in 1857. Authorities in nearby Iron County had sent a messenger to Salt Lake City seeking direction from Young, but his response—directing them to leave the wagon party alone—arrived too late to avert the massacre. According to some accounts, John D. Lee, the only person convicted for participation in the massacre, maintained Young's innocence until his death. This in spite of the fact that Lee was personally bitter toward Young for excommunicating him. According to the Life and Confessions of John D. Lee(p. 225), however, we find the conflicting statement, "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."

Young was actually indicted on murder charges in 1872, related to a separate incident. This indictment was based on the testimony of William Hickman, who also felt jilted when 8 of his 9 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, because it was designed to keep Mormons off juries.

In addition to founding the University of Utah, Young also organized the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Brigham Young University 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. For an overview of Brigham Young's philosophy and teachings, see the book "Brother Brigham Challenges the Saints," by Hugh Nibley.

Plural Wives

Caricature on Young's death

Young was perhaps the most famous polygamist of the early church. Young married some 50 women and had 57 known children. These marriages were not recognized as legally binding according to U.S. law, and in response to a suit for alimony from one of his "ex-wives", Young successfully argued in court that he owed no alimony because they were never legally married. In 1856 he built the Lion House to accommodate his sizable family. This remains a Salt Lake City landmark, together with the Beehive House, another Brigham Young Family home.

What follows is a listing of Brigham Young's wives. An asterisk indicates "a wife not recognized in traditional histories, even though there is evidence of at least one of the following: the ceremony, sexual cohabitation, or a formal divorce"; 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. See 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 G. 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. *Rhoda Richards (Smith) 1845 (no children). (she was Young's 1st cousin)
  23. Emmeline Free 1845 (10 children), in will. (former fiance of John D. Lee, her sister Louisa married Lee).
  24. Mary E. Rollins (Lightner, Smith) 1845 (no children), remained with legal husband yet considered herself deserted by Brigham Young 1846.
  25. Margaret Maria Alley 1845 (2 children), in will.
  26. *Mary Ann Turley 1845 (no children), divorced 1851.
  27. *Olive Andrews (Smith) 1846 (no children).
  28. *Emily Haws (Chesley, Whitmarsh) 1846 (no children), separated 1848.
  29. Ellen A. V. Rockwood 1846 (no children).
  30. *Abigail Marks (Works) 1846 (no children).
  31. *Mary E. Nelson (Greene) 1846 (no children).
  32. *Mary E. de la Montague (Woodward) 1846 (no children), divorced and returned to legal husband 1847, then returned to Brigham Young 1851.
  33. *Amy C. Cooper 1846 (no children).
  34. *Julia Foster (Hampton) 1846 (no children), separated 1846, married another man, returned to Brigham Young 1855 only to leave him bitterly later.
  35. *Abigail Harback (Hall) 1846 (no children), returned to legal husband 1846.
  36. 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.
  37. *Nancy Cressy (Walker) 1846 (no children).
  38. *Eliza Babcock 1846-53 (no children), divorced 1853.
  39. *Jane Terry (Tarbox, Young) 1847.
  40. Mary J. Bigelow 1847 (no children), divorced 1851.
  41. Lucy Bigelow 1847 (3 children), in will.
  42. *Sarah M. Guckin (Malin) 1848 (no children).
  43. Eliza Burgess 1852 (1 child), in will.
  44. *Mary Oldfield (Kelsey) 1852 (no children).
  45. *Catherine Resse (Clawson, Egan) 1855 (no children).
  46. Harriet E. Barney (Sagers) 1856 (1 child), in will.
  47. Harriet Amelia Folsom 1863 (no children), in will.
  48. Mary Van Cott (Cobb) 1865 (1 child), in will. (Daughter of John Van Cott)
  49. Ann Eliza Webb (Dee) 1868 (no children), divorced 1875; her story was fictionalized in Irving Wallace's 1962 novel The Twenty-Seventh Wife.
  50. *Elizabeth Jones (Lewis, Jones) 1869 (no children).
  51. *Lydia Farnsworth (Mayhew) 1870 (no children).
  52. *Hannah Tapfield (King) 1872 (no children).

Legacy

Brigham Young has several noteworthy descendents:

See also

References

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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