Brigham Young

American religious leader (1801–1877)

Brigham Young (June 1, 1801 – August 29, 1877) was the second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon church) and the first Governor of the American state of Utah. Young was born in Vermont. He became president of the Mormon church in 1847 after the death of Joseph Smith, Jr in 1844.

Brigham Young
ReligionChristian
ChurchThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
OfficePresident of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Date of birth(1801-06-01)June 1, 1801
Place of birthVermont
Date of deathAugust 29, 1877(1877-08-29) (aged 76)
Place of deathSalt Lake City
PredecessorJoseph Smith, Jr
SuccessorJohn Taylor
Known forFirst Governor of Utah

Brigham Young University is named after Young.

John Taylor replaced Young as leader of the church three years after Young died.

Western migration

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Young started a journey that would take the Mormon pioneers to Winter Quarters, Nebraska, in 1846, then to the Salt Lake Valley. Young arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847, a date now known as Pioneer Day in Utah, which is also one of its holidays. The Mormon pioneers' journey was one of the largest and one of the best organized migration to the West.[1] On August 22, 29 days after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Young started the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.[2]

In the church, Young was in some of the important positions, and after three years, he became the president of the church on December 27, 1847.

Young served 29 years in the LDS Church.

Temple building

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Young helped in building temples in his time in the LDS Church and made temple building a main purpose. When Joseph Smith was the president, Young was helping to build the Kirtland and Nauvoo temples. Only four days after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Young found the location for the Salt Lake Temple; and then started the building process on April 6, 1853.[3] During his time as the church president, Young look over the construction of the Salt Lake Tabernacle and then he announced plans to build the St. George (1871), Manti (1875), and Logan (1877) temples. He also helped fix the building the Endowment House, a "short-term temple" that began to be used in 1855 for church members to go to while they were building the Salt Lake Temple.

References

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  1. "Brigham Young". historytogo.utah.gov. Archived from the original on March 1, 2016. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  2. "Frequently Asked Questions – When was the Mormon Tabernacle Choir formed?", Mormontabernaclechoir.org, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, archived from the original on March 29, 2013
  3. Hanks, Marion Duff (1992), "Salt Lake Temple", in Ludlow, Daniel H (ed.), Encyclopedia of Mormonism, New York: Macmillan Publishing, pp. 1252–1254, ISBN 978-0-02-879602-4, OCLC 24502140