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Glimpses of Brigham Young

Glimpses of Brigham Young

Last updated on: July 30, 2023 at 8:56 pm by Dan Peterson

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Glimpses of Brigham Young 2023-07-30T20:56:56-06:00 Dan Peterson

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Brigham Young, in an unsourced photograph from ca. 1850
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

Earlier this year, in preparation for sitting down to interview Professor Alexander in connection with the Interpreter Foundation’s Six Days in August film project, I re-read Thomas G. Alexander, Brigham Young and the Expansion of the Mormon Faith (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2019). That interview with him — he’s been a friend of ours for many years now — will eventually figure in the docudrama portion of the Foundation’s film effort.

Here are some passages from his very good book that I marked during that re-reading:

In several previously published articles I have argued that objectivity—as scholars generally use the term—is impossible. Every person carries some cultural baggage that no amount of scholarly detachment or persistence can overcome. Historian Charles Beard called the idea of objectivity a Noble Dream. I believe that those who profess to be objective are self-deluded. I have argued and still believe that honesty is the most important virtue historians can seek to achieve. Any written history consists of a text written by weaving together evidence found in clearly fragmentary and often messy documents with prose that links the evidence together in a story or narrative. All too often, historians allow rhetoric and supposition to substitute for evidence. (Preface)

I have tried, as diligently as possible, to write an honest biography. In the text that follows, I have recognized Brigham Young’s failings, especially in his Indian policy, the Mormon Reformation, and the United Orders. Some of his doctrinal views are clearly unorthodox. At the same time, I have also tried to treat his successes as a missionary, family man, businessman, church leader, and colonizer. I would like to have known him personally. Unfortunately, the only paths available to explore his life are documents and narratives. The following text is the result of my exploration. (Preface)

I marked several passages that illustrated Brother Brigham’s sense of humor. Here are three of them:

In 1851 a woman named Elizabeth Green wrote Young asking him to remove her name from church records because she had decided to become a spiritualist. With a touch of humor, Young replied, “I have this day examined the records of baptisms for the remission of sins in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and not being able to find the name of ‘Elizabeth Green’ recorded therein I was saved the necessity of erasing your name therefrom. You may therefor consider that your sins have not been remitted you and you may consequently enjoy the benefits therefrom.” (Chapter 11)

Goodwin’s Weekly on April 4, 1914, reported that during his conversation with Tom Thumb, the little man remarked, “I cannot understand polygamy.” We see Young’s ready wit in his reply, “Neither could I when I was your size.” (Chapter 13)

Brigham lamented that “the architects of Zion [must] . . . work with such material as the Lord has provided, stupidity, wooden shoes, and cork brains thrown into the bargain” (Chapter 11).

And now for a couple of passages about Brigham Young and women, a topic that infuriates some folks at its mere mention but that should, I think, be approached more thoughtfully and with greater balance than that:

Young appreciated the support of friendly non-Mormons like Kane, but he also believed that women could assist in the church’s work, and in addition, they had an important role to play in the economic and political life of Utah Territory and the church. With Young’s encouragement, and the active lobbying by Latter-day Saint women, women in Utah achieved a degree of political power shared only by women in Wyoming at the time. At the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, women who owned property in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island could vote, but the state legislatures soon took that right from them. In 1870 Utah’s gender composition was quite different from Wyoming’s. In Utah women made up 48 percent of the population, whereas in Wyoming they made up only 20 percent. Several eastern and midwestern congressmen led by George W. Julian of Indiana had argued that if women could vote in Utah, they would overthrow Utah’s polygamous leadership. Young knew they were wrong, and he urged the legislature to grant suffrage to Utah’s women. His counselor, George Q. Cannon, published editorials in the Deseret News championing the cause of women as a progressive measure. “With women to aid in the great cause of reform,” Cannon wrote, “what wonderful changes can be effected!” Utah women—led by Charlotte Ives Godbe, Young’s stepdaughter, and Mormon women Emmeline B. Wells and Sarah Kimball—lobbied aggressively for the reform by holding rallies and urging acting governor Samuel A. Mann to sign the bill that granted women the vote after the legislature passed it. He did so on February 12, 1870, and among the first women to vote was Seraph A. Young, an attorney and Brigham Young’s grandniece. The U.S. Congress would abolish women’s suffrage in Utah seventeen years later with the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887, but, responding to the will of the people, the Utah Constitutional Convention restored woman suffrage at statehood in 1896. (Chapter 12)

Young’s attitudes and actions about women proved important in promoting their activity in the church and the larger community. Although his ideas seem antiquated today, in the nineteenth century, they were progressive. Giving women the responsibility for their own Relief Society, supporting women’s political activity, and encouraging women to study medicine, law, telegraphy, sales, and other professions was extremely important for their progress and for the health of the community. (Chapter 13)

And I like this final appraisal from Professor Alexander, who has devoted a long and productive career and post-career to studying and thinking and writing about the history of Utah and of the Latter-day Saints:

Some churches that were organized or flourished during the Second Great Awakening have survived just as the LDS church did, while others have died out or have left only vestiges of themselves. Significantly, none of these churches experienced the persistent persecution the Mormons endured during the nineteenth century. Absent the strong, gifted, and indeed, inspired leadership that Brigham Young gave the Saints, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints might well have died out as well. Faithful members loved Brigham Young, and they willingly followed him into the Indians’ land, the Mormons’ considered wilderness, to build towns. Most remained faithful despite continued persecution because they believed in his message and his leadership. (Chapter 13)

It is my hope that our Six Days in August film project will help Latter-day Saints and others to more adequately appreciate the contributions of President Brigham Young.

Posted from Park City, Utah

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