Descendants of Brigham Young
c. 1870
Brigham Young (June 1, 1801 – August 29, 1877) was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until his death in 1877. He founded Salt Lake City and he served as the first governor of the Utah Territory. Young also led the foundings of the precursors to the University of Utah and Brigham Young University. Young was a polygamist, marrying a total of 55 wives, 54 of them after he converted to Mormonism.[1] The policy was difficult for many in the church. Young stated that upon being taught about plural marriage, "It was the first time in my life that I desired the grave."[2] By the time of his death, Young had 56 children by 16 of his wives; 46 of his children reached adulthood.[3] In 1902, 25 years after Young's death, The New York Times established that Young's direct descendants numbered more than 1,000.[4] In 2016 Young was estimated to have around 30,000 descendants.[5]
Notable descendants
The following are notable descendants of Brigham Young.
| Name | Relationship to Brigham Young |
Wife of Brigham Young descended from |
Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Emma Lucy Gates Bowen 1911B.jpg | Emma L.G. Bowen | Granddaughter | Lucy Bigelow | An opera singer and later the wife of Albert E. Bowen, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. She was often referred to as Lucy Gates and after her marriage as Lucy Gates Bowen or Lucy Bowen. |
| File:Zina Young Card Brown.jpg | Zina C. Brown | Granddaughter | Zina D. H. Young | Wife of Hugh B. Brown, a member of the LDS Church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and First Presidency and a Canadian military officer. |
| Zola G. Brown | Great-granddaughter | Zina D. H. Young | Daughter of Hugh B. Brown and Zina Card Brown. Zola was the first wife of FLDS Church president Rulon Jeffs | |
| File:Orson Scott Card at BYU Symposium 20080216 closeup.jpg | Orson S. Card[6] | great-great-grandson | Zina D. H. Young | Novelist, critic, public speaker, essayist and columnist. He writes in several genres but is known best for the science fiction novel Ender's Game (1985). |
| File:Zina Young Card.jpg | Zina Y. Card | Daughter | Zina D. H. Young | Wife of Charles O. Card who founded the first Mormon settlement in Canada - Cardston, Alberta - and who was referred to as "Canada's Brigham Young." |
| John Willard Clawson | Grandson[7] | Mary Ann Angell | Portrait painter | |
| File:Hugh W. Dougall.jpg | Hugh W. Dougall | Grandson | Clarissa Ross | Hymnwriter; Among hymns by Dougall are "Jesus of Nazareth, Savior and King" and the music to "Come Unto Him" and "The Bridge Builder." |
| File:Maria Young Dougall.jpg | Maria Y. Dougall | Daughter | Clarissa Ross | Became First Counselor in the general presidency of the Young Women |
| File:Susa Young Gates.jpg | Susa Y. Gates | Daughter | Lucy Bigelow | A prominent women's rights activist in Utah.[8][9] |
| File:Charles Ellis Johnson ca 1885.jpg | Charles E. Johnson | Son-in-law | Emmeline Free | Mormon photographer, married Ruth Young. |
| Sandra Tanner | great-great-granddaughter | Mary Ann Angell[10] | Mormon critic | |
| Sally Young Kanosh | Adopted daughter | Clarissa Caroline Decker | Bannock slave bought by Young's brother-in-law and given to the Young family. Worked in the Lion House to feed her adopted family. Later married Kanosh to form an alliance between Young and Kanosh. | |
| Leah D. Widtsoe | Granddaughter | Lucy Bigelow | A leading expert in home economics and wife of apostle John A. Widtsoe.[8][9] | |
| File:Brigham Morris Young2.jpg | B. Morris Young | Son | Margaret Pierce |
- ↑ Johnson, Jeffrey Odgen (Fall 1987), "Determining and Defining 'Wife' — The Brigham Young Households", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, 20 (3): 57–70, doi:10.2307/45225560, JSTOR 45225560, S2CID 254339939, archived from the original on 2012-05-09, retrieved 2015-04-17
- ↑ "Polygamy and the Church: A History", The Mormons, People & Events, PBS, April 30, 2007, retrieved 2013-09-19
- ↑ "Brigham Young Biography: Facts of Faith", Y Facts (yfacts.byu.edu), BYU, archived from the original on 2013-09-20
- ↑ "Descendants of Brigham Young to Hold Annual Mass Meetings", The New York Times, 1902-06-22.
- ↑ "Descendants, including General Authority, Observe Brigham Young's Birthday at His Grave Site - Church News and Events". The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
- ↑ "Who Is Orson Scott Card?". Hatrack River. Hatrack River Enterprises Inc. 2009. Retrieved August 25, 2009. paragraph 9
- ↑ "John W. Clawson". Utah Artists Project. J. Willard Marriott Library. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Gates, Susa Young Gates; Leah D. Widtsoe (1930). Life Story of Brigham Young. New York: Macmillan. p. 388. ISBN 0-8369-5886-1.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Cracroft, R. Paul (1951), Susa Young Gates: Her Life and Literary Work. (Master's thesis), Department of English, University of Utah, OCLC 30597464
- ↑ About : Sandra Tanner