Brigham Young Totally Explained

Everything about Brigham Young totally explained

| birthplace=Whitingham, Vermont| dead=dead| death_date=| deathplace=Salt Lake City, Utah Territory | prophet_date=| predecessor=Joseph Smith, Jr.| successor=John Taylor| president_who_called=Three Witnesses| apostledate=| ordination_reason=Initial organization of Quorum of the Twelve| end_date=| end_reason=Death| reorganization=No apostles immediately ordained| }} 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 (LDS Church) 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 being "American Moses," (alternatively the "Modern Moses" or the "Mormon Moses") 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.

Early life until Joseph Smith's successor

Young was born to a farming family in Whitingham, Vermont and worked as a traveling carpenter and blacksmith, among other trades. Young first married in 1824 to Miriam Angeline Works. Though he'd 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. 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, so Young claimed that the leadership of the church fell to the Twelve Apostles. 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. 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, and established public welfare, organized a militia, and pacified the Native Americans. Young organized the first legislature and 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.

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.
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-sectarian governor was accompanied by troops sent to garrison forts in the new territory. The troops passed by the bloody Kansas–Missouri war without intervening in it, as it wasn't open warfare and only isolated sporadic incidents. 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 the defense of Deseret, now called the Utah War, Young held the U.S. Army at bay for a winter by taking their cattle and burning supply wagons. The Mormon forces were largely successful thanks to Lot Smith, the famous Mormon commando, who outsmarted the Federal army despite being outnumbered by more than a thousand to one. 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. 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. Governor Brigham Young had promised the federal government he'd protect immigrants passing through Utah. But he'd also allegedly told local Native American leaders that they now had his permission to steal cattle from these wagon trains. Over 120 men, women and children were killed by the Mormons and, possibly, their Native American allies. It is clear that local Mormons were the principal parties having anything to do with the act.

Other notable actions

Young organized the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and in 1850 founded the University of Deseret, which is now the University of Utah. In 1875, just two years before his death, he founded Brigham Young Academy, which later became Brigham Young University. In 1950, the state of Utah donated a marble statue of Young to the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall Collection.

Beliefs about blacks

Young made statements about blacks that some modern observers find controversial.

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.

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's 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 wasn't to be, and the Lord put a mark upon him, which is the flat nose and black skin. Trace mankind down to after the flood, and then another curse is pronounced upon the same race-that they should be the "servant of servants;" and that'll be, until that curse is removed; and the Abolitionists can't help it, nor in the least alter that decree. How long is that race to endure the dreadful curse that's upon them? That curse will remain upon them, and they never can hold the Priesthood or share in it until all the other descendants of Adam have received the promises and enjoyed the blessings of the Priesthood and the keys thereof.

If the Government of the United States, in Congress assembled, had the right to pass an anti-polygamy bill, they'd also the right to pass a law that slaves shouldn't be abused as they've been; they'd 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.

Family life

Plural marriage

Young was perhaps the most famous polygamist of the early American church, marrying a total of 55 wives, 54 of them after becoming a Latter Day Saint. 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 57 children by 16 of his wives; 46 of his children reached adulthood.
Sources have varied on the number of Young's wives due to differences in what observers have considered to be a "wife".
At the time of Young's death, 19 of his wives had predeceased him, he was divorced from ten, and 23 survived him, with the status of four unknown.

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 playerFurther Information

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