Brigham Young
From Wikinfo
- See also: Criticism of Brigham Young
Brigham Young (June 1, 1801 - August 29, 1877) took over leadership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after the death of the Church's founder, Joseph Smith. Young led the early members of the Church westward to the Salt Lake Valley in Utah to escape growing religious persecution.
On February 10, 1846, many Mormons, led by Young, began their migration west from Nauvoo, Illinois, to the Great Salt Lake.
Young was perhaps the most famous polygamist of the early church although he was preceded in the practice by Joseph Smith who introduced it. He married approximately 27 women and had 56 known children.
In addition to founding the University of Utah, Young also organized the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Brigham Young University is named after him.
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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.[1] 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.
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. 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 there could be no successor to the deceased prophet and that he should be made the "Protector" of the church.[2] Young opposed this reasoning and motion. Smith had earlier recorded a revelation which stated the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were "equal in authority and power" to the First Presidency,[3] so Young claimed that the leadership of the church fell to the Twelve Apostles.[4] 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.[5] For many in attendance at this meeting, this occurrence was accepted as a sign 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.
Governor of the Utah Territory
As colonizer and founder of Great Salt Lake City Young was appointed the territory's first governor and superintendent of Indian affairs by President Millard Fillmore. During his time as governor Young directed the establishment of settlements throughout Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Nevada and Parts of Northern Mexico. Under his direction the pioneers built roads and bridges, forts, irrigation projects, established public welfare, organized a militia and pacified the Native Americans. Young organized the first Legislature, established Fillmore as the territory's first capital. In 1856 he organized an efficient mail service. In 1858 he stepped down to his successor, Alfred Cumming.
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.
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.[6]
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."[7] Yet, Young would officially marry more than 50 women, and by the time of his death, he had 56 children by 16 of his wives, of which 46 reached adulthood.[8] 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".[9] 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.[10]
- Miriam Work - 1824 (2 children), included in his will. Miriam was the daughter of Asa Work. Some of her distant family include Henry Clay Work, Frances Work great-grandmother of the late Diana, Princess of Wales.
- Mary Ann Angell - 1834 (6 children), in will.
- Lucy A. Decker (Seeley) - 1842 (7 children), in will.
- Harriet E. Cook (Campbell) - 1843 (1 child), in will.
- 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.
- Clarissa C. Decker - 1844 (5 children), in will.
- Clarissa Ross-Chase - 1844 (4 children), in will.
- Louisa Beaman (Smith) - 1844 (5 children).
- Zina D. Huntington (Jacobs, Smith) - 1844 (1 child), in will.
- Emily D. Partridge (Smith) 1844 - (7 children), in will. (daughter of Edward Partridge)
- Eliza R. Snow (Smith) - 1844 (no children), in will.
- *Elizabeth Fairchild - 1844 (no children), divorced 1855.
- *Clarissa Blake - 1844 (no children).
- *Rebecca W. Greenleaf Holman - 1844 (no children).
- *Diana Chase - 1844 (no children), separated about 1848, remarried 1849.
- Maria Lawrence (Smith) - 1844 (no children), separated 1845, remarried 1846.
- Susannah Snively - 1844 (no children), in will.
- Olive Grey Frost (Smith) - 1844 (no children).
- *Mary A. Clark (Powers) - 1845 (no children), divorced 1851.
- *Mary Harvey Pierce - 1845 (no children).
- Margrette W. Pierce (Whitesides) - 1845 (1 child), in will.
- Emmeline Free - 1845 (10 children), in will. (former fiance of John D. Lee, her sister Louisa married Lee).
- Mary Elizabeth Rollins (Lightner, Smith) - 1845 (no children); remained with legal husband yet considered herself deserted by Brigham Young, 1846.
- Margaret Maria Alley - 1845 (2 children), in will.
- *Mary Ann Turley - 1845 (no children), divorced 1851.
- *Olive Andrews (Smith) 1846 (no children).
- *Emily Haws (Chesley, Whitmarsh) - 1846 (no children), separated 1848.
- Ellen A. V. Rockwood - 1846 (no children).
- *Abigail Marks (Works) - 1846 (no children).
- *Mary Elizabeth Nelson (Greene) - 1846 (no children).
- *Mary E. de la Montague (Woodward) - 1846 (no children); divorced and returned to legal husband, 1847; then returned to Brigham Young, 1851.
- *Amy C. Cooper - 1846 (no children).
- *Julia Foster (Hampton) - 1846 (no children), separated, 1846; married another man; returned to Brigham Young, 1855, only to leave him bitterly later.
- *Abigail Harback (Hall) - 1846 (no children), returned to legal husband, 1846.
- 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.
- *Nancy Cressy (Walker) - 1846 (no children).
- *Eliza Babcock - 1846 (no children), divorced 1853.
- *Jane Terry (Tarbox, Young) - 1847.
- Mary J. Bigelow - 1847 (no children), divorced 1851.
- Lucy Bigelow - 1847 (3 children), in will.
- *Sarah M. Guckin (Malin) - 1848 (no children).
- Eliza Burgess - 1852 (1 child), in will.
- *Mary Oldfield (Kelsey) - 1852 (no children).
- *Catherine Resse (Clawson, Egan) - 1855 (no children).
- Harriet E. Barney (Sagers) - 1856 (1 child), in will.
- Harriet Amelia Folsom - 1863 (no children), in will.
- Mary Van Cott (Cobb) - 1865 (1 child), in will. (Daughter of John Van Cott)
- 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
- *Elizabeth Jones (Lewis, Jones) - 1869 (no children).
- *Lydia Farnsworth (Mayhew) - 1870 (no children).
- *Hannah Tapfield (King) - 1872 (no children).
- *Loretta St. Clair - 1872 (no children).
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). in Everett L. Cooley.: Diary of Brigham Young, 1857. Tanner Trust Fund, University of Utah Library.
- —— (1925). Discourses of Brigham Young, selected by John A. Widtsoe, Deseret Book.
- —— (1974). in Dean C. Jessee.: Letters of Brigham Young to His Sons. Deseret Book Company.
- —— (1969). Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1801-1844. Eldon J. Watson.
- —— (1971). Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1846-1847. Eldon J. Watson.
- —— (1922). Teachings of President Brigham Young: Salvation for the Dead, the Spirit World, and Kindred Subjects. Seagull Press.
- —— (1997). Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 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 though 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." [11]
Notable descendants
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: American Moses
- Brigham Young (1940 film)
- Joseph Young
- Phineas Young
- Richards–Young family
- This Is The Place Heritage Park
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
- Cannon, Frank J.; Knapp, George L. (1913), Brigham Young and His Mormon Empire, New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., http://www.archive.org/details/brighamyoungandh003273mbp.
- Tullidge, Edward W. (1877), Life of Brigham Young: Or, Utah and Her Founders, New York: Tullidge & Crandall, http://books.google.com/books?id=mEcOAAAAIAAJ.
- Waite, C.V. (Catherine Van Valkenburg) (1868), The Mormon prophet and his harem : or, An authentic history of Brigham Young, his numerous wives and children, Chicago: J.S. Goodman & Co., http://www.archive.org/details/mormonprophetand00waitiala.
- Young, Brigham (March 2, 1856), "The Necessity of the Saints Living up to the Light Which Has Been Given Them", in Watt, G.D., Journal of Discourses Delivered by President Brigham Young, His Two Counsellors, and the Twelve Apostles, and Others, 3, Liverpool: Daniel H. Wells, 1856, pp. 221-226
External links
| Preceded by Joseph Smith, Jr. | President of the LDS Church December 27, 1847 – August 29, 1877 | Succeeded by John Taylor |
| Preceded by Thomas B. Marsh | President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles March 17, 1839 – December 27, 1847 | Succeeded by Orson Hyde |
| Preceded by David W. Patten | Quorum of the Twelve Apostles February 15, 1835 – December 27, 1847 | Succeeded by Heber C. Kimball |
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Brigham Young. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. The text of this Wikinfo article is available under the GNU Free Documentation License and the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license. |
