Brigham Young Biography Quotes 19 Report mistakes

19 Quotes
Occup.	Leader
From	USA
Born	June 1, 1801
Died	August 29, 1877
Aged	76 years

Early Life
Brigham Young was born on June 1, 1801, in Whitingham, Vermont, to John Young and Abigail Howe Young. Raised in a large family of modest means, he learned practical trades, including carpentry, painting, and glazing, skills that shaped his lifelong attention to workmanship and community building. His early adulthood was spent moving across upstate New York and into Ohio in search of opportunity. Religious ferment in the region exposed him to revivals and new denominations, and he read the Book of Mormon soon after its publication, discussing it with family members such as his brother Joseph Young. Practical by temperament and deliberate in judgment, he studied the new movement before affiliating with it.

Conversion and Early Ministry
Young joined the Church of Christ, later known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in 1832. He soon met Joseph Smith, whose combination of charisma and administrative drive impressed him. The early church years took Young to Kirtland, Ohio, where he labored on the temple and traveled as a missionary. In 1835, he was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, working closely with fellow apostles Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, Parley P. Pratt, John Taylor, and Wilford Woodruff. The British mission from 1839 to 1841, led by Young and Kimball with support from the Pratts, expanded the church dramatically, organizing congregations and preparing emigration for thousands of converts.

Nauvoo and Crisis of Succession
In the early 1840s, Young relocated to Nauvoo, Illinois, where Joseph Smith presided over a rapidly growing city. After Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed at Carthage Jail in 1844, a succession crisis erupted. Sidney Rigdon and James Strang each claimed leadership. Young, as president of the Quorum of the Twelve, argued that the quorum held full authority to lead. A majority of Latter-day Saints sustained the Twelve, and Young emerged as the central figure guiding the church through the upheaval. He coordinated the completion of the Nauvoo Temple endowment work and prepared the membership to depart.

Exodus and Founding of a New Center
In 1846, under pressure from escalating conflict in Illinois, the Saints began an exodus across Iowa to Winter Quarters on the Missouri River. In 1847, Young organized a vanguard company to the Rocky Mountains. Orson Pratt entered the Salt Lake Valley ahead of the main group to survey and report on the site. Young arrived in July 1847 and identified the arid valley as a place of refuge where the church could build a new society. Through subsequent companies and the Perpetual Emigrating Fund, launched in 1849, he brought thousands of converts from the United States and Europe to the Great Basin.

Territorial Leadership and Governance
President Millard Fillmore appointed Young as the first governor of Utah Territory in 1851, and he also served as superintendent of Indian affairs. He coordinated settlement across hundreds of miles, directing colonization missions to present-day Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, and parts of California. Young worked with counselors such as Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards, and later Daniel H. Wells, while apostles including John Taylor and George Q. Cannon handled civic and ecclesiastical assignments. He promoted irrigation systems, surveys, and road building, integrating church councils with territorial administration.

Conflict with the Federal Government
Tensions with Washington grew over accusations of theocratic control and polygamy. In 1857, President James Buchanan sent a federal force under Albert Sidney Johnston to install a new governor, Alfred Cumming. The Utah War featured maneuvering, supply disruptions, and the Mormon Move South evacuation, but it ended without pitched battle after mediation by Thomas L. Kane and a peaceful transfer of civil authority in 1858. The episode deepened mutual suspicion yet preserved the settlements. Later anti-polygamy laws brought investigations and court cases in the 1860s and 1870s; Young remained a lightning rod for national criticism while retaining strong local support.

Society, Worship, and Theology
Young emphasized order, collective effort, and practical religion. He spearheaded construction of the Salt Lake Tabernacle, noted for its vast roof and acoustics, and directed work on temples, including the decades-long Salt Lake Temple and the St. George Temple completed in 1877. He frequently preached on self-sufficiency, church governance, and moral discipline; his sermons, recorded by associates such as George Q. Cannon and Orson Pratt, circulated widely and sometimes drew controversy for their direct tone. He reorganized the First Presidency in 1847 and led with a firm administrative hand, expecting exacting labor from bishops, apostles, and lay members alike.

Economy and Education
Determined to insulate the community from external shocks, Young fostered home industries and cooperatives. In 1868 he helped found Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI) to centralize trade and keep profits within the territory. He sponsored experiments in textiles and sugar production and negotiated railroad grading contracts as the transcontinental line approached Utah, later supporting feeder lines like the Utah Central. Educational initiatives included the University of Deseret (a territorial institution revived after early struggles) and, in 1875, Brigham Young Academy in Provo, where he enlisted Karl G. Maeser to develop a curriculum combining secular learning with religious principle.

Family Life and Polygamy
Young practiced plural marriage, a doctrine publicly announced by the church in the 1850s. His family circle was large and complex. Mary Ann Angell, whom he married before the public emergence of plural marriage, was a central figure in his household for decades. He later married additional wives, including Eliza R. Snow, a prominent poet and leader in the Relief Society. The practice brought the community into sharp conflict with federal policy and with American norms of the era. Ann Eliza Young, who separated from him and wrote critically about plural marriage, became a national voice against the institution, adding to the public debate surrounding his leadership.

Relations with Native Peoples
As superintendent of Indian affairs, Young urged settlers to trade and provide food to nearby bands, arguing it was cheaper to feed than to fight. Nonetheless, competition over land and resources led to violence, including episodes like the Walker War and later conflicts often grouped under the Black Hawk War in Utah. The church and territorial leadership pursued treaties, farming initiatives, and missions, with uneven results. The 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre, in which emigrants were killed by southern Utah militiamen and Native allies, cast a long shadow; John D. Lee was later tried and executed. Young condemned unauthorized violence while critics questioned the environment of militancy under his rule.

Public Works and Urban Vision
Young laid out grid plans for settlements, prioritized water management, and established tithing-based public works. He oversaw meetinghouses, tabernacles, and civic buildings across the territory. The Salt Lake City temple block became the symbolic heart of the community, with the Tabernacle hosting conferences that drew Saints from across the region. He encouraged women and men to develop skills, supported relief societies, and endorsed emigration aid that tied far-flung converts to a central gathering place.

Later Years and Death
After the Civil War, Young continued to balance ecclesiastical authority with accommodation to national developments. The completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 accelerated immigration, commerce, and outside scrutiny. He promoted the United Order experiments in the 1870s to reinforce communal values amid growing market forces. Health challenges increased in his final years, but he remained active in directing temple work and settlement. Brigham Young died in Salt Lake City on August 29, 1877. The church he led had grown from a persecuted minority into a regional society with enduring institutions.

Legacy
Youngs legacy is defined by colonization, institution-building, and audacious leadership under pressure. Close collaborators such as Heber C. Kimball, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Orson Pratt, George Q. Cannon, and Daniel H. Wells helped translate his directives into action across hundreds of settlements. Allies like Thomas L. Kane provided crucial mediation at national moments of peril, while adversaries in federal office forced him to adapt. Schools, rail lines, irrigation systems, and cooperative enterprises bore his imprint, as did the controversies of polygamy and theocratic governance. The communities he founded, from the Great Salt Lake Valley to the red rock of southern Utah, remain the most visible testament to his organizational will and his vision of a gathered, self-sustaining people.

Our collection contains 19 quotes who is written by Brigham, under the main topics: Witty One-Liners - Wisdom - Love - Learning - Freedom.

Other people realated to Brigham: Charles Farrar Browne (Writer), Lorenzo Snow (Clergyman), George A. Smith (Clergyman)

Brigham Young Famous Works