Brigham Young, the second prophet of this dispensation, was a pioneer statesman admired not only by members of the Church, but also by many who were not members.
In Profiles of the Prophets, Emerson Roy West included this quote by Morris Robert Werner, a non-LDS biographer and critic of the Church:"As a statesman, Brigham Young is one of the few Americans deserving of the adjective `great.' In a situation of precariousness and importance, he showed himself a man of resourcefulness and sturdiness, and his personality contributed as much as that of any one man of the development of the western half of the United States." (Profiles of the Prophets, p. 74.)
For more than 29 years - from the time he was sustained as president of the Church on Dec. 27, 1847, until his death on Aug. 29, 1877 - Brigham Young led the Church as prophet, seer and revelator.
"Like many great men in his time of history," wrote West, "Brigham Young was a self-made man. The ninth of eleven children, he cut wood, plowed on his father's farm, and found little time for school or recreation. He later said that he had gone to school no more than eleven and a half days. However, his mother had taught him to read, his father had taught him from the Bible, and he was able to observe and relate events in the world around him."
Brigham Young's initial contact with the Church came as a result of newspaper accounts he read of the publication of the Book of Mormon. He later read a copy of the book that had been sold to his brother, Phineas. He was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church on April 14, 1832.
West wrote: "Perhaps his [Brigham Young's] greatest testimony came from his first meetings and his continued relationship with the Prophet Joseph Smith, for no man affected his life as deeply as did the Prophet, of whom he became a staunch disciple and for whom he would have given his life.
"He was Joseph Smith's most trusted lieutenant, filling several effective missions, preaching, baptizing, organizing branches, participating in the march of Zion's Camp and the exodus from Missouri to Illinois, and helping to establish Nauvoo."
It was Brigham Young who led the first company of the migration from Nauvoo, Ill., to the Salt Lake Valley. The exodus he led of 15,000 people in covered wagons across the plains is, wrote West, "an epic of human industry and endurance unexcelled in American history. Never before had such a large mass of people braved the hostile wilderness and attempted to cross the prairies and then the Rocky Mountains."
In Andrew Jenson's LDS Biographical Encyclopedia is found this summation of Brigham Young's commitment to the gospel: "From the day of Elder Young's baptism he became a most indefatigable and fearless advocate of the pure principles of the gospel revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith."
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(ADDITIONAL INFORMATION)
Interesting facts and contributions of Brigham Young
According to William H. Seward, U.S. Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln, America never produced a greater statesman than Brigham Young.
Volumes of information have been written about this second president of the Church. Following are some interesting facts about him compiled in Dictionary of American Biography:
- He became president of the Church at age 46, the second youngest next to Joseph Smith. His administration lasted 30 years, the longest in Church history.
- He not only led the saints in their great exodus from Nauvoo, but also directed the colonization of the Mountain West and brought thousands of colonists from throughout the world to settle the West.
- He established the provisional State of Deseret in 1849; it became a territory in 1850, and the State of Utah in 1896.
- He was the first governor of the Territory of Utah, serving for eight years.
- He established institutions of learning, including what later became the University of Utah and Brigham Young University.
- He built countless roads and canals, and founded numerous social, economic, and cultural institutions, and supervised the building of extensive telegraph lines and railroads.
- He planted an experimental farm to determine which crops would best flourish in Utah. His work in crop irrigation set patterns for generations to come.
- He was a benevolent man who loved his family and enjoyed dancing, singing, music and the theater. He encouraged people to enjoy themselves and improve themselves while they built up the kingdom. "The people must have amusement as well as religion," he said.
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Articles on this page may be used in conjunction with the gospel doctrine course of study.
Information compiled by Gerry Avant and Kellene Ricks
Sources: Profiles of the Presidents, by Emerson R. West; LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, by Andrew Jenson; Essentials in Church History, by Joseph Fielding Smith, and The Kingdom of God Restored, by Carter E. Grant.