Born June 1, 1801, at Whitingham, Vt., and grew up in New York state.
Worked as a carpenter, joiner, painter and glazier.
Converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1832; ordained an apostle of the church Feb. 14, 1835.
Served church missions in the eastern United States, Canada and Britain.
Became the presiding authority of the church as president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1844 following the death of Joseph Smith.
Sustained by church members as president of the church Dec. 27, 1847 (age 46).
Led the Latter-day Saints west in 1846-47 — first to temporary settlement in Winter Quarters, Neb., and then on to the Great Salt Lake Valley.
Established Salt Lake City in 1847. Expanded settlement in 1848-49 to what became Weber, Davis, Utah, Sanpete and Tooele counties.
Was elected governor of the provisional state of Deseret in 1849.
Was appointed by U.S. President Millard Fillmore in 1850 as first governor of Utah Territory and superintendent of Indian affairs. Oath of office was taken Feb. 3, 1851.
Began publication of the Deseret News as a weekly newspaper in June 1850. It became a daily in 1867.
Sent colonizers to San Bernardino, Calif., in 1851.
Established a broad range of industries and businesses to develop local resources and benefit area residents, including textiles (wool, cotton, silk), sugar (beets and sorghum cane), livestock, iron works, a bank, a branch railroad and America's first department store, Zions Cooperative Mercantile Institution.
Enjoyed and encouraged sociality and the performing arts. He built the Social Hall in 1853 and the Salt Lake Theater in 1862.
Worked to establish telegraph services in the area (1860-65). He was named president of Deseret Telegraph Co. in 1867. This line ran 1,200 miles from Franklin, Idaho, in the north to northern Arizona in the south, connecting LDS settlements.
Advocated suffrage for women. In February 1870, the territorial legislature gave women of the territory the right to vote.
Supported education. He established the University of Deseret in 1850 (later the University of Utah); Brigham Young Academy in 1875 (later Brigham Young University); and Brigham Young College in Logan in 1877, a school that closed in 1926.
Directed the establishment of 100 colonies in the West within 10 years of his arrival in Utah. By 1867, that number had increased to more than 200 and, at the time of his death in 1877, 350 to 400 settlements had been organized in what are now the states of California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Arizona and New Mexico.
Married Miriam Works in 1824 (she died in 1832); married Mary Ann Angell in 1834; married Lucy Ann Decker in 1842. By the time of his death, Brigham Young had married 20 women, 16 of whom bore him a total of 57 children.
Saw church membership triple, from nearly 35,000 to more than 115,000, during his 30 years as president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Died Aug. 29,1877, in Salt Lake City at age 76.