Brigham Young

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.

Related Topics:
Vermont - Carpenter - Blacksmith - 1824

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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.

Related Topics:
Methodist - 1823 - Book of Mormon - 1830 - 1832 - Canada - Missionary - 1833 - Kirtland, Ohio

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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, Illinois.

Related Topics:
Apostle - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles - February 14 - 1835 - 1840 - 1841 - England - United States - Nauvoo - Illinois - Mississippi River - Chicago, Illinois

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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 be sustained as a new First Presidency. 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.

Related Topics:
Joseph Smith - 1844 - Church president - Succession crisis - Sidney Rigdon - First Presidency - Quorum of the Twelve - Church organization - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Latter-day Saint movement

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Prominent former football player Steve Young is a descendant of Brigham Young.

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