Descendants of Brigham Young

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.

Brigham Young
c. 1870

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 1000.[4]

Notable descendants

The following are notable descendants of Brigham Young.

	Name	Relationship to Brigham Young	Descended from which wife of Brigham Young	Notes
	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.
	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
	Orson S. Card[5]	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).
	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."
	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."
	Maria Y. Dougall	Daughter	Clarissa Ross	Became First Counselor in the general presidency of the Young Women
	Susa Y. Gates	Daughter	Lucy Bigelow	A prominent women's rights activist in Utah.[6][7]
	Charles E. Johnson	Son-in-law	Emmeline Free	Mormon photographer, married Ruth Young.
	Sandra Tanner	great-great-granddaughter	Mary Ann Angell[8]	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.[6][7]
	B. Morris Young	Son	Margaret Pierce	One of the founders of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association (YMMIA), the predecessor to the LDS Church's Young Men organization. From 1885 to the 1900s, B. Morris publicly performed as a cross-dressing singer under the pseudonym Madam Pattirini.[9][10][11]
	Bob Young[12][13]	Great-great-great-grandson	Lucy D. Young	An Emmy nominated broadcast journalist, author, and former mayor of Augusta, Georgia. He also served a presidential appointment by George W. Bush on the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. As of 2013, Young was serving as the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Southeastern Natural Sciences Academy.
	Brigham Young, Jr.	Son	Mary Ann Angell	Ordained an LDS Church apostle by his father.[14] He served as president of the LDS Church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from 1899 until his death.
	Don C. Young	Son	Emily Dow Partridge	An architect, landscape architect and designer from 1879 to circa 1935. He was the official LDS Church Architect from 1887 until 1893. After 1893, Young practiced privately, with the LDS Church as a frequent client.[15] A preponderance of his work centered on church commissions, or commissions offered him by extended Young family members, or other church members and friends.
	John W. Young	Son	Mary Ann Angell	Ordained an LDS Church apostle by his father.[14] He is one of the few Latter-day Saints in history to have been ordained to the office of apostle without ever becoming a member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles or the First Presidency.[16]
	Joseph A. Young	Son	Mary Ann Angell	Ordained an LDS Church apostle by his father.[14] He is one of the few Latter-day Saints in history to have been ordained to the office of apostle without ever becoming a member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles or the First Presidency.[16]
	Kimball Young	Grandson	Harriet Elizabeth Cook	Sociologist and president of the American Sociological Association in 1945.
	Mahonri Young	Grandson	Margaret Alley	Sculptor;[17] Two of his works, the This Is The Place Monument and the Seagull Monument are featured prominently in Salt Lake City, Utah.
	Richard W. Young	Grandson	Mary Ann Angell	U.S. Army Brigadier General and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines;[18]
	Steve Young	Great-great-great-grandson	Emily Dow Partridge	Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback,[19] Super Bowl XXIX MVP, 2x NFL MVP (1992, 1994).
	William H. Young	Grandson	Mary Ann Angell	In 1903, William was convicted of the "Pulitzer Murder" in New York City and was sentenced to life imprisonment.[20][21]

See also

• List of Brigham Young's wives

References

1. Johnson, Jeffrey Odgen (Fall 1987), "Determining and Defining 'Wife' — The Brigham Young Households", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, 20 (3): 57–70
2. "Polygamy and the Church: A History", The Mormons, People & Events, PBS, April 30, 2007, retrieved 2013-09-19
3. "Brigham Young Biography: Facts of Faith", Y Facts (yfacts.byu.edu), BYU, archived from the original on 2013-09-20
4. "Descendants of Brigham Young to Hold Annual Mass Meetings", The New York Times, 1902-06-22.
5. "Who Is Orson Scott Card?". Hatrack River. Hatrack River Enterprises Inc. 2009. Retrieved August 25, 2009. paragraph 9
6. Gates, Susa Young Gates; Leah D. Widtsoe (1930). Life Story of Brigham Young. New York: Macmillan. p. 388. ISBN 0-8369-5886-1.
7. Cracroft, R. Paul (1951), Susa Young Gates: Her Life and Literary Work. (Master's thesis), Department of English, University of Utah, OCLC 30597464
8. About : Sandra Tanner
9. Galen Snow Young, "Brief History of Brigham Morris Young", 31, Department of Archives and Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
10. Photograph of Brigham Morris Young as Madam Pattirini, photo 157, negative 3, Archives, Historical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah
11. Dean C. Jessee, "Letters from Brigham Young to His Sons", 243, Desert Book (1974), Salt Lake City, Utah
12. "Index to Politicians - Young, A to B". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
13. (September 16, 2012). "The Treasure Train, a Well-Written Historical Novel, is an Exciting Way to Commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the War Between the States". prweb.com. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
14. Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saints Biographical Encyclopedia (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book and A. Jenson Historical Co., 1901–36) 1:42, 121, and 518.
15. Westwood, P. Bradford (1994), The early life and career of Joseph Don Carlos Young (1855–1938): a study of Utah's first institutionally trained architect to 1884 (Masters thesis), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania, pp. 9, 47–49 and 77–79, retrieved February 10, 2012
16. David Whitmer was an ordained apostle but was never a member of either quorum. Some have also suggested that Martin Harris was an ordained apostle. See Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 6:320 and Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses 6:29.
17. "Publisher's description of Mahonri Young: His Life and Art by Thomas E. Toone", Signature Books, archived from the original on 2013-01-06, retrieved 2013-09-20
18. Reeve, W. Paul; Utah History to Go! (February 1995). "Captain Richard W. Young and Spanish–American War". History Blazer. State of Utah. Retrieved August 25, 2009. paragraph 2
19. "Steve Young Profile". espn.go.com. September 27, 1999. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
20. Tanner, Sandra; Jerald Tanner. "About Us". Utah Lighthouse Ministry. Retrieved August 25, 2009. paragraph 3
21. "The Pulitzer Murder Case", The Virtual Dime Museum, 2008-05-29, accessed 2009-04-30 paragraph 5

External links

• Young Family Genealogy. MSS SC 981; Young Family genealogy; 20th Century Western and Mormon Manuscripts; L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University.
• Brigham Young's Wives, Children, and Grandchildren. MSS SC 1995; 20th Century Western and Mormon Manuscripts; L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University.