--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Nibley, Preston collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 23 number: 8 published: 1920-06 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Nibley, Preston, "Boyhood and Youth of Brigham Young," *Improvement Era* 23, no. 8 (June 1920): 681–689.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera238unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera238unse start_page: 681 end_page: 689 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1920-06) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera238unse publication_year: 1920 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1920, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Boyhood and Youth of Brigham Young Boyhood and Youth of Brigham Young By Preston Nibley Brigham Young, like most Americans who have made a great name, was born in poor and humble circumstances. When he came into the world, on June 1, 1801, his father was struggling to gain a livelihood on a Vermont farm, where the principal question was to get enough to feed and clothe his family. There were already eight little children, the oldest, a girl, being fifteen. Then came the ninth, a baby boy, whom the parents named Brigham. When the little fellow was two years old his father moved away from Vermont. He had heard that farther west in the state of New York, there were more opportunities and better land; and so, loading his numerous family in his wagon, he set out in the spring of 1804 to find a new home. They journed westward about 120 miles, locating in Chenango county, where a settlement was forming, called Sherburn. Here the boy Brigham remained with his parents until he was eleven years old. I pre- sume there was never a day when he had an easy life. There was no silver spoon for his mouth. Years later, addressing the Saints in Salt Lake City, and speaking of himself and Heber C. Kimball, he said: "Brother Heber and I never went to school until we got into 'Mor- monism'; that was the first of our schooling. We never had the oppor- tunity of letters in our youth, but we had the privilege of picking up brush, chopping down trees, rolling logs, and working amongst the roots and getting our shins, feet and toes bruised. The uncle of Brother Merrell, who now sits in the congregation, made the first hat that my father ever bought me and I was then about eleven years of age. I did not go bare- headed previous to that time, neither did I call on my father to buy me a five-dollar hat every few months, as some of my boys do. My sisters would make me what was called a Jo Johnson cap for winter, and in the summer I wore a straw hat which I frequently braided for myself. I learned how to make bread, wash the dishes, milk the cows and make butter; and can make butter and beat most of the women in this com- munity at housekeeping. Those are about all the advantages I gained in my youth. I know how to economize, for my father had to do it." Jour- nal of Discourses, Vol. 5, p. 97. There you have it in a nut shell: that was the early educa- tion of President Brigham Young. For him there was "no op- portunity of letters" in his youth. His opportunity was to learn to work, and work at useful and necessary things. Somehow, somewhere, he did manage to get "eleven days' schooling," but 682 IMPROVEMENT ERA his grand university was the school of Hard Knocks, from which he graduated with the highest honors. When the boy Brigham reached his fourteenth year, a great and irreparable sorrow came into his life. His noble and splendid mother, weary and worn with the struggle which life in the frontier had forced upon her, closed her eyes in her last sleep. All honor to her name and memory! Though her struggle was hard, few women have been more fortunate than she was. She was permitted to give the world eleven splendid chil- dren. And there was Brigham, her great reward. Her soul was to shine out gloriously in him all his life. Brigham always spoke with the greatest reverence and ap- preciation of his mother. In a sermon on August 15, 1852, he said: — — "Of my mother she that bore me I can say, no better woman ever Jived in the world than she was. * * * My mother, while she lived, taught her children all the time to honor the name of the Father and Son, and to reverence the Holy Book. She said, 'Read it, observe its precepts and apply them to your lives as far as you can. Do everything that is good; do nothing that is evil; and if you see any persons in distress, ad- minister to their wants; never suffer anger to arise in your bosoms, for if you do, you may be overcome by evil.' ** If I understand the character of Brigham Young aright, I should say that that is the foundation on which he built, all his days. And so, at the age of fourteen, Brigham Young was mother- on the world to make his way as best he could. less, cast adrift But you may be assured that this boy who had been taught to work was never idle. He always found something to do, and had something to show for his labor. At the age of twenty-one we find him at Port Byron, a little town on the Erie Canal, able to call himself a "carpenter, joiner, painter, and glazier." As a boy he seems to have been as solid and substantial as he was later on, when grown to be a man. There was a strong religious strain in the family of his father, John Young. By the time Brigham had grown to manhood, his three older brothers, Joseph, John, and Phinehas, were already itinerant preachers in the Methodist Reformed church. When Brigham was twenty-two, he also allied himself with this sect, but I am unable to find that he ever became an "exhorter", as did his brothers. That he went to church meet- ings is evidenced by the following: "How many times I have attended prayer meetings among the Meth- odists inmy youthful days when perhaps one hundred men and women would be praying aloud at once. I did not then know but that it was alright." Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 42. Brigham never became very enthusiastic about the Meth- BOYHOOD OF BRIGHAM YOUNG 683 odist Reformed church. There was not sufficient power in it to stir his soul as did the gospel taught by the Prophet Joseph Smith. Also the ministers and priests of that religion never found much favor with him. On July 26, 1857, he said: "I was a Bible reader before I came into this Church, and, so far as the letter of the Book was concerned I understood it. 1 professed to be a believer in the Bible so far as I knew how; but as for understanding by the Spirit of the Lord I never did until I became a Latter-day Saint. I was well acquainted with many of the priests of the day, and I would frequently think to myself that I would get some knowledge from them. And as I became acquainted with smart, intelligent, literary priests and professors of religion, I thought, 'Now I can obtain some intelligence from this or that man,' and I would begin to ask questions on certain texts of scripture, but they would always leave me as they found me, in the dark. They were there themselves, and I knew of a surety before I heard the gospel that the priests were blind guides, leading the blind, and that there was nothing left for them only to stumble here and there and perhaps fall into a ditch. That much knowledge I had previous to my becoming acquainted with what is called 'MormonismV On October 8, 1824, in the town of Aurelius, Cayuga county, New York, Brigham married Miriam Works. He had turned twenty-three years of age the previous June, and was now fairly prosperous in his occupation as a carpenter. Two of his boy friends at this time were Henry Wells, founder of the Wells- Fargo Express Company, and Isaac Singer, inventor of the Singer Sewing machine. Mr. D. B. Smith, of Cayuga county, who knew Brigham at this time, said later: "Brigham Young was as fine a specimen of young manhood as I have ever known, and would have made his mark in whatever community his lot might have been cast." In the spring of 1829, Brigham left Cavuga county, where he had resided more than sixteen years, and moved about fifty miles westward to Mendon, Monroe county, where his father and most of his brothers and sisters resided. Mendon is only about fifteen miles from Manchester, the boyhood home of the Prophet Joseph, and about the same distance away, a little to the north is Palmyra, where, one year after Brigham set- tled in Monroe county, the Book of Mormon was printed. The publication of the Book of Mormon created a tre- mendous stir in the countryside about Palmyra. That Brig- ham knew about it is evidenced from the following, which he told the Saints in Salt Lake City, years later: "I was somewhat acquainted with the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, not only through what I read in the newspapers, but I also heard a great many stories and reports which were circulated as quick as the Book of Mormon was printed, and began to be scattered abroad." Journal of Discourses, Vol. 2, p. 249. Not only did Brigham hear stories and reports, but a few weeks after the book was printed and bound into a volume, a 634 IMPROVEMENT ERA copy came into his hands. It happened that Samuel Smith, a brother of the Prophet, who had been sent out by Joseph to circulate the book in the villages near Manchester, succeeded in placing two copies with members of the Young family. Phinehas, who resided at Victor, bought one out of curiosity, and Rhoda, Brigham's sister, was given one by Samuel, because she kindly sympathized with him in his effort to spread the truth. It was the book purchased by Phinehas that fell into Brig- ham's hands. Phinehas carried it home, read it, and was pro- foundly impressed by it. Then he gave it to his father, who remarked that "it was the greatest work and clearest of error of anything he had ever seen, the Bible not excepted." Finally it was handed on to Brigham. He was intensely interested in House at Port Byron, New York, where Brigham Young lived after his first marriage what he read. Phinehas relates that "about this time my brother, Brigham, came to see me, and very soon told me that he was convinced that there was something in 'MormonismV I presume that little did he dream what it would eventually mean to him. The excitement regarding "Mormonism" and the "Golden Bible" died away somewhat in New York when, in the spring of 1831, the Prophet Joseph, his family and most of the Saints moved away to Ohio. I am at a loss to learn whether Brig- ham, up to this time, had, or had not, ever seen and talked with BOYHOOD OF BRIGHAM YOUNG 685 a member of the Church. But as he fails to mention such an event I am inclined to the belief that no Latter-day Saint ever called at the little town of Mendon until the fall of 1831, when five elders from an isolated branch of the Church in Colum- bia, Pennsylvania, came into Brigham's neighborhood while making a short missionary tour through New York. Brigham says of this event: "In the fall of 1831, Elders Alpheus Gifford, Elial Strong, and others came to Mendon to preach the everlasting gospel, as revealed to Joseph Smith the Prophet, which I heard and believed." Millennial Star, Vol. 25, p. 424. It may seem strange to some that while Brigham had had access to the Book of Mormon for more than a year prior to his coming in contact with the elders he had not been led to make any thorough or extensive investigation of "Mormonism." But the explanation I have relied upon is this, that what profoundly influenced Brigham more than the reading of any book was his actual contact with men. The look of the eye, the shake of the hand, the sincerity of the voice, the "spirit" of the person, that, more than all else, impressed him. Speaking of his con- version, President Young once said: "If all the talent, tact, wisdom and refinement of the world had been sent to me with the Book of Mormon and had declared in the most exalted of earthly eloquence the truth of it, undertaking to prove it by learning and worldly wisdom, they would have been to me like the smoke which arises, only to vanish away. But when I saw a man without eloquence, or talents for public speaking who could only say, 'I know by the power of the Holy Ghost, that the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of the Lord,' the Holy Ghost proceeding from that individual illuminated my understanding, and light, glory and immorality were be- fore me. I was encircled by them, filled with them, and I knew for myself that the testimony was true." Journal of Discourse!: Vol. 1, p. 90. Among the young men in Mendon, at this time, was one to whom Brigham had become particularly attached. This was Heber Chase Kimball, who was engaged with his brother in the pottery business. Like Brigham, he also had shown considerable interest in "Mormonism," and was, consequently, eager to hear the message of the elders. In his autobiography Heber relates as follows: "About three weeks after I joined the Baptist Church (fall of 1831) five elders of the Church of Jesus Christ came from Pennsylvania to the house of Phinehas H. Young, in Victor. Their names were: Eleazar Miller, Elial Strong, Alpheus Gifford, Enos Curtis, and Daniel Bowen. Hearing of these men, curiosity prompted me to go and see th 686 IMPROVEMENT ERA my faith. Brigham Young and myself were constrained, by the spirit, to bear testimony of the truth, and when we did this the power of God rested upon us." Deseret News, Vol. 8, No. 4. The five elders from Pennsylvania must have been most ex- cellent and spiritually minded men. It was in their little branch at Columbia that the gift of tongues was for the first time ex- ercised in the Church. They also so thoroughly impressed Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball with the truth of their teachings that these two young men decided to pay them a re- turn visit, which they accomplished a few months later. Pres- ident Young gives an account of the trip as follows: "In January, 1832, my brother Phinehas and I accompanied Heber C. K'mbpll, who took his horses and sleigh and went to Columbia, Penn- sylvania, where there was a branch of the Church. We traveled through snow and ice, crossing rivers until we were almost discouraged; still our faith was to learn more of the principles of 'Mormonism'. "We arrived at the place where there was a small branch of the Church; we conversed with them, attended their meetings and heard them preach, and after staying about one week we returned home, being still more con- vinced of the truth of the work, and anxious to learn its principles and to learn more of Joseph Smith's mission. Millennial Star, Vol. 25, p. 424. To me it is splendid to note Brighain's anxious desire to learn more of the Church and of the divinity of Joseph Smith's mission. Here he was, traveling through snow and ice, crossing frozen rivers until "almost discouraged," to learn about what was, perhaps, the most unpopular movement that he had ever come in contact with. But he was face to face with his great- est problem; namely, that he had an eternal soul to save, and in this newly revealed religion there seemed to be the one and only solution. We may date his complete conversion from this win- ter trip to Pennylvania. From that time henceforth until the last day of his life, his constant activity was given to "building up the Church and Kingdom of God." His first missionary trip followed after his return to Men- don. He set out for Canada to impart the glad tidings to his brother Joseph who was a Methodist preacher there. He re- lates as follows: "Immediately after my return home from Pennsylvania I took my horse and sleigh and started to Canada after my brother Joseph, taking my brother-in-law, John P. Greene, who was then on his way to his circuit, Dreaching the Methodist doctrine. We rode together as far as Sacketts' Harbor. After finding my brother Joseph and explaining to him what I had learned of the gospel in its purity, his heart rejoiced, and he returned home with me where we arrived in March." Millennial Star, Vol. 25, p. 424. Following their return to Mendon. there must have been a familv council held at which it was decided that Joseph and Father John Young should now make a trip to Pennsylvania and learn more of the newly revealed gospel as Brigham and Phine- BOYHOOD OF BRIGHAM YOUNG 687 has had done. Phinehas accompanied his father and brother. They arrived at Columbia early in April and as evidence that they were all completely convinced of the truth of "Mormon- ism," Phinehas relates "In the morning of the 5th of April, 1832, I was baptized by Elder Ezra Landon, and my father, by Elder Daniel Bowen. The next morning, being April 6, 1832, my brother Joseph was baptized by the latter. April 7, my father and I started for home, a distance of 120 miles, where we arrived in health and found our friends and families rejoicing in the fulness of the gospel." Millennial Star, Vol. 25, p. 376. One of the elders from Pennsylvania must have accom- panied Father John Young and Phinehas on their return jour- ney, for we find that an important event occurred in Mendon on the 14th of April, in which Elder Eleazar Miller, of Columbia, figured. Brigham relates it "April 14, 1832, I was baptized by Eleazar Miller, who confirmed me at the water's edge. We returned home, about two miles, the weather being cold and snowy, and beforemy clothes were dry on my back he laid his hands on me and ordained me an elder, at which I marveled." Here we have Brigham baptized, made an active member of the Church, and ordained an elder the same day. Now his splendid enthusiasm for the great cause has an opportunity to show itself. He has a firm and definite object in life; he has but one desire, and that is to do his full share in the advance- ment of the Kingdom. There is a story told, and it bears great semblance to the truth, that at the time Brigham was baptized he was doing carpenter work at Mendon for a man named Hickox. He went to Hickox and said, "I am not going to work for you any longer, sir; I am going to do something better — preach the everlasting gospel." And truly, from this time on, every activity of his life was sub-ordinate to this one object. Brigham Young's explanation of the pre-eminence to which he attained in later life was always that the Lord had greatly favored him. This certainly seems to be true when one looks into the history of his early years. He was without doubt a chosen man, for from the verv beginning of his association with the Church he was abundantly blessed by the Spirit. Here is but one instance: "A few weeks after my baptism I was at Brother Kimball's house one morning, and while family prayer was being offered up, Brother Alpheus Gifford commenced speaking in tongues. Soon the Spirit came on me, and I spoke in tongues, and we thought only of the day of Pentecost, when the apostles were clothed upon with cloven tongues of fire." Millennial Star, Vol. 25, p. 439. Such a baptism by the Spirit could not soon be forgotten 688 IMPROVEMENT ERA by a man like Brigham. He-was overwhelmed by the testimony of the truth which the Lord had showered on him. It is interesting to me that the little branch in Mendon was the second place in the Charch where the gift of tongues was made manifest, and as nearly as I can learn Brigham was the first recipient of it. Few people can say that their feelings, when they entered the Church, were as Brigham expressed his: "I can leave my father, my brothers and sisters, and wife felt, yes, I and children, they will not serve the Lord and go with me.** Journal if of Discourses, Vol. 4, p. 281. Fortunately, however, Miriam Young was of the same be- lief as her husband, and early in May following, she, too, was baptized. But not long was she to partake of the joy they found in the newly espoused gospel. The fatal malady of "consump- tion" had seized her, and on the 8th of September, the same year, she died, leaving Brigham with two little daughters, Eliza- beth, born September 26, 1825, in Port Byron, and Vilate, born June 1 (Brigham's birthday also), 1830, in Mendon. "In her expiring moments," Brigham says in his autobiography, "she clapped her hands and praised the Lord and called upon Brother Kimball and all around to praise the Lord." The sad occasion of the death of his wife was probably what prompted Brigham to leave the environment of his home for a short trip. A few days after Miriam was buried, we find him setting out to visit the Prophet Joseph at Kirtland. He had never seen the Prophet, although thev had lived for years in New York within comparatively, few miles of each other. His two little girls had found a home in the family of his friend, Heber C Kimball. Brieham gave away almost everything he had; he looked forward alone to preaching the gospel. Apparently he had dedicated his life to the cause. Speaking of his early experiences he once said: "When I went to Kirtland I had not a coat in the world, for previous to this Ihad given away everything I possessed that I might be free to go forth and proclaim the plan of salvation to the inhabitants of the earth. Neither had I a shoe to my feet, and I had to borrow a pair of pants and a pair of boots." Journal of Discourses, Vol. 2, p. 128. Further describing his trip to Kirtland he says: "Brother Heber C. Kimball took his horse and wagon, brother Joseph Young and mvself accompanying him, and started for Kirtland to see the Prophet Joseph. We visited many friends on the way and some branches of the Church. We exhorted them and prayed with them and I spoke in tongues. Some pronounced it genuine and from the Lord, and others pronounced it of the devil. "We proceeded to Kirtland and stopped at John P. Greene's who had just arrived there with bis family. Werested a few minutes, took some BOYHOOD OF BRIGHAM YOUNG 689 refreshments and started to see the Prophet. We went to his father's house and learned that he was in the woods chopping. We immediately went to the woods" where we found the Prophet and two or three of his brothers, chopping and hauling wood. Here my joy was full at the privilege of shaking the hand of the Prophet of God, and received the sure testimony, by the spirit of prophecy, that he was all that any man could believe him to be, as a true prophet. He was happy to see us and bade us welcome. We soon returned to his house, he accompanying us." Millennial Star, Vol. 25, p. 439. The above describes an historic meeting. Here was a young man, destined to be the great leader of a great people, journey- ing several hundred miles in borrowed clothes, to meet the prophet of his chosen religion, and he found him "chopping and hauling wood." But when Brigham shook his hand he "re- ceived the sure testimony" that this man was indeed a prophet. Truly the Almighty does choose the weak things of this world to confound the wise. Who, in all the world, were in more humble circumstances that day than these two young men? It may be said that at the time of this meeting the Prophet Joseph was not quite 27 years of age, and Brigham a few months before had turned 31. Further describing the events of this memorable day, Brig- ham says: "In the evening a few of the brethren came in and we conversed to- gether upon the things of the Kingdorar>He [Joseph] called upon me to pray; in my prayer I spoke in tongues. As soon as we arose from our knees the brethren flocked around him, and asked his opinion concerning the gift of tongues that was upon me. He told them it was the pure Adamic language. Some said to him they expected he would condemn the gift brother Brigham had, but he said, 'No, it is of God, and the time will come when Brother Brigham Young will preside over this Church.' The latter part of this conversation was in my absence." Millennial Star, Vol. 25, p. 439. The Prophet Joseph had never heard the gift of tongues untilhe heard it from Brigham that day, and by the gift of prophecy he knew that a great man and a great leader had joined his standard. " 'Mormonism' keeps men and women young and hand- * some; and when they are full of the Spirit of God, * * they have a glow upon their countenances; and that is what keeps you and me young; for the Spirit of God is with us and within us." Brigham Young.