Brigham Young
Contents
Brigham Young--American Moses
Brigham Young, second President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormon Church, ranks among the most influential and important historical figures not just in Mormon, but also in American history.
Biography of Brigham Young
Early Life
Brigham Young was born on June 1, 1801 in Whitingham, Vermont to John and Abigail Young. His father was a revolutionary war veteran. After marrying Abigail, John Young settled in Massachusetts and then moved to Vermont shortly before Brigham Young was born. The ninth of twelve children, Brigham was born into a life full of work. He later commented that his early life was filled with toil and work which left him no opportunities for education. While he had only eleven days of formal schooling, his parents taught him to read and Young maintained that love all his life.
His family moved to central New York when he was a boy and in 1815 his mother, Abigail, who had long suffered from tuberculosis, died. John Young remarried some time later a widow named Hannah Brown. Brigham, however, decided that he needed to work for his own livelihood now and moved out at age 15. He moved to Auburn, New York where he became an apprentice, and later master, carpenter, painter, and glazier.
In 1823, Young moved to Port Byron, New York where he worked as a painter and carpenter and where on October 5, 1824, he married Miriam Work. The couple then joined a local Methodist congregation. After four years, Young moved his new family to Oswego, New York on Lake Ontario where he joined a group of religious seekers, a movement in nineteenth-century America of men and women searching the Bible themselves in study groups trying to discover the truth. Later that year they moved again to Mendon, New York. Miriam gave birth soon after the move and contracted tuberculosis. She became a virtual invalid and Young was required to take total control of the household, not only working as a carpenter and painter, but also caring for his wife and children. He made a rocking chair for his wife and every morning he carried her to it where she could look outside. Later he would carry her back to bed.
Conversion to Mormonism
During his time in Mendon, Brigham Young worked hard at his trade and even today, many items built by Brigham Young, including houses, remain in Mendon. In 1830, a young man named Samuel Smith, brother to Joseph Smith, came to Mendon to preach about the newly founded Church, the Church of Christ, or Mormon Church. Smith left a copy of the Book of Mormon with Brigham’s brother, Phineas, who read it, passed it to his father, John Young, who gave it to his daughter, who finally gave it to Brigham. Brigham was intrigued, but cautious. He had grown disillusioned with the denominations of his day and continued to read the Bible on his own. For two years he carefully studied the Book of Mormon and put it to ever test he could find. He studied the Bible as well. Finally, in early 1832, a young Mormon missionary gave a humble testimony of the Book of Mormon in Brigham’s presence. Brigham later said that this humble testimony entered like fire into his bones and he knew the truth. He and his family, including his brothers, were baptized in spring of 1832. Abigail was baptized, too, but died several months thereafter from tuberculosis.
Brigham immediately began preaching the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ in the regions around Mendon. He left his children in the care of Heber C. Kimball, a fellow convert in Mendon, during these missionary excursions.
After Abigail’s death in September 1832, Brigham went to Kirtland, Ohio, to meet Joseph Smith, the Prophet. In that first encounter, he prayed with gathered Mormons in Kirtland and was the first person in the Mormon Church to speak in tongues. Brigham was assigned to go on a mission to Canada early in 1833 and upon his return he learned that Joseph Smith was asking the Mormons to gather together. Brigham was asked to lead the Mormons living in and around Mendon to Kirtland. He did so and was reunited with his family. During this gathering, he met Mary Ann Angell, a convert from New York who had joined the Church in Rhode Island. On February 14, 1834, the pair were married in Kirtland.
Rise to Leadership
In the summer of 1834, Brigham Young and Joseph Young, one of his brothers, participated in Zion's Camp, the march to help the driven and oppressed Mormons living in Missouri. Though the expedition was unable to do anything more than comfort them, Brigham later said that this experience was among the greatest learning experiences of his life. Shortly after the return of Zion’s Camp, Brigham Young was called to be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Over the next few summers, Brigham Young alternated his time between summers going on missions throughout the United States and Canada, and the rest of year where he helped with constructing the Kirtland Temple. As a glazier and carpenter, he was particularly responsible for the windows of the temple.
His rise in prominence among the leaders of the Church caused him some problems when in 1836 and 1837, some in the Church rebelled against Joseph Smith and denounced him as a fallen prophet. Brigham’s loyalty to Joseph Smith caused some to threaten his life, too, and he was forced to flee from Kirtland. When the Church moved to Missouri, Young went too, and helped lead the Mormons to Caldwell County, Missouri where the Mormons were settling. This new home did not last long as conflict erupted between the Mormons and their neighbors who viewed them as a threat, a belief which many Mormons unfortunately stoked by banding together for protection and forming militias.
The governor issued the infamous “Extermination Order” in October 1838, and the Mormons were forced out on pain of death. Joseph and other leaders were imprisoned leaving Brigham Young temporarily in charge. He organized the several thousand Mormons and drafted the “Missouri Covenant” which pledged everyone to assist each other until the last Mormon was safely out. They succeeded and by early 1839, the Mormons were getting established in their new home, Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph was released from prison in April of 1839 and helped select the new city.
In 1839, Brigham Young began his new house in Nauvoo, but soon left on another mission, this time to England. He left, even though many, including himself and members of his family, were sick. This mission of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was the first foreign mission of the Mormon Church. Traveling was difficult because of illness, but they at last reached England in April of 1840. Before his return, nearly 8,000 people would be baptized in England while Brigham Young presided. He oversaw the printing of the Book of Mormon in England, as well as hymnals, thousands of tracts, and a newspaper, The Millennial Star. He also established an organization that would help Mormons emigrate to America.
Upon his return, a revelation was given through the Prophet Joseph Smith concerning Brigham. It said:
- Dear and well-beloved brother, Brigham Young, verily thus saith the Lord unto you: My servant Brigham, it is no more required at your hand to leave your family as in times past, for your offering is acceptable to me. I have seen your labor and toil in journeyings for my name. I therefore command you to send my word abroad, and take especial care of your family from this time, henceforth and forever. Amen.
- D
