Determining and Defining'Wife':The Brigham Young
Households
Jeffery Ogden Johnson

UTAH SATIRIST AL CHURCH, among other suggestions on how to survive as agentile in Utah, offered this tip: "Ask guides at the Beehive House how many
wives Brigham Young had. (Of my last four tours, the answer has averaged21.)" (1981, 17).
The volunteer guides at the Beehive House have no corner on the confusion
market. Ann Eliza Webb, a disgruntled wife suing Brigham Young for divorce
and hefty alimony, defrayed her expenses by writing a mildly scandalous potboiler called Wife Number Nineteen (1876) in which she claimed (incorrectly) to be the last and (also incorrectly) the nineteenth. She was actuallynumber fifty-two. Stanley Hirshson's major biography of Brigham Young,
The Lion of the Lord, gives the number of wives as seventy (1969, 184—223).
The research that produced this number is unfortunately no more accurate thanthat in the rest of the book. In 1940, the Young family produced a widely usedpamphlet, "Brigham Young's Wives, Children and Grandchildren" (Sanborn
1940) that gives the number as twenty-seven, a number popularized by Irving
Wallace in his The Twenty-seventh Wife (1961), a fictionalized biography of
Ann Eliza Webb Young. Leonard J. Arrington's award-winning biography,
Brigham Young: American Moses (1985, 420-21), divides the wives into
three groups: (1) the sixteen wives who had children by Brigham Young,(2) nine others whom "Brigham Young held out to be wives" but who had nochildren by him, and (3) "some thirty women" who were sealed to him foreternity only, but whom he does not name.
This paper has three purposes: to identify the number of wives, to suggest
some reasons for the ambiguities of the term wife, and to document the wives
Brigham Young married over the course of his life. (See Table 1 at the endof this paper.)JEFFERY OGDEN JOHNSON is manager of the Reference Bureau for the Utah State
Archives. This paper was delivered at the annual meeting of the Mormon History Association, May 1986, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

58

DIALOGUE: A JOURNAL OF MORMON THOUGHT

The first purpose is the easiest: fifty-five women were sealed to Brigham
Young. Then why has it taken 109 years after Brigham's death and a great
deal of scholarly research to derive a clear number? One reason is Brigham
Young's own reluctance. His Victorian sensibilities apparently made it hardfor him to talk about so sexual a subject, and his Yankee independence bristled
at the invasion of his privacy. He himself, on one of the few public occasions
when he discussed the topic, reported in 1870 that he had sixteen wives (JD
13:173). But usually he tried to avoid the question. He gave instructions to
the Historian's Office that "he did not wish but little history of his family
given" (Historian's Office Journal, 31 Jan. 1857).
On another occasion, he complained mildly: "Ladies who come into myoffice very frequently say, 'I wonder if it would hurt his feelings if I were to ask
him how many wives he has?' . . . I would as lief they should ask me that question as any other; but I would rather see them anxious to learn about theGospel" (JD 14:162).
A second reason for the confusion is the remarkable number of variationsin the types of ecclesiastically recognized liaisons that occurred. Brigham
Young's fifty-five sealings — meaning a ceremony performed by priesthoodauthority that linked a man and a woman — could be of two types. The mostcommon — and the only one currently practiced — is a ceremony that seals a
man and woman for time (mortal life) and for eternity. A second form could
seal a woman to one man for time and another for eternity. Such ceremonies
usually occurred when a widow was sealed to her dead husband for eternity
and to a living husband for time in the same ceremony. It was understood thatany children by the second husband would be considered the progeny of thefirst husband. In the early days of the Church, these relationships were commonly called proxy marriages.
However, the two forms of sealing did not exhaust the possible relationships. In both forms of sealing, the husband and wife could either establish
a conjugal relationship or the ceremony could remain unconsummated. In
Brigham Young's case, a significant number of sealings may have been nonconjugal, since the only incontrovertible proof of cohabitation after this lapseof years is either personal documentation (none exists) or the birth of a child,and Brigham Young fathered children by only sixteen of his wives. This does
not necessarily mean that he did not have conjugal relationships with some ofthe other thirty-nine wives, but the topic of where he spent his nights wasapparently not a matter of household discussion. His daughter, Susa Young
Gates, in her recollections observes, "[Even] if I would, I could tell nothingof my father's marital relations, for they were regarded in the family as mostsacred. And no one ever knew aught about these matters which should bepreserved in the holiest silence of the human heart" (n.d., 74).
Corroborative evidence of nonconjugal status is that Brigham Young, in an1859 interview with Horace Greely, stated: "I have some aged women sealed
to me upon the principle of sealing which I no more think of making a wifeof than I would my Grand Mother" (Greeley 1859). Twelve of the thirty-nineJohnson: Determining and Defining Wife

59

were over forty-five when they married him, and six were more than ten years
older than Brigham.
A third complication was whether a sealed wife became part of Brigham
Young's households. I have considered that women members of Brigham
Young's households, if they resided with other wives, received financial support
from Brigham Young and/or were publicly recognized as a wife. Twentythree of his wives, by my count, belonged to his households. (Of course, awoman sealed to Brigham Young and living in his household would not necessarily be a conjugal wife.)
One might well ask why a woman would seek or accept sealing to a man
under some of the more unconventional circumstances I have explained. Muchof the motive lies in an understanding of the doctrines of plural marriage, atheological discussion which has been amplified elsewhere. Latter-day Saints
introduced to the doctrine of plural marriage in Nauvoo understood that it waspart of the promised "restoration of all things" that included a reestablishmentof the family structure of such ancient prophets as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob;that it was the "higher law" of the afterlife which they were being called by
God and his prophet to live in this life; and that it was an ordinance necessary
to salvation. Not only would it determine relationships with beloved kinfolk in
the next life, but, Latter-day Saints believed a priesthood sealing between
worthy partners was also essential for both men and women before they could
be saved. In an 1845 sermon, Brigham Young alluded to this doctrine in thoseterms when he assured his listeners that "no woman can be perfect withouta man to lead her . . . and I say to every man upon the face of the earth: if hewishes to be saved he cannot be saved without a woman by his side." He identified this doctrine as "Joseph Smith's spiritual wife system" ("Speech," 1845).
In addition to these persuasive doctrines, the economic realities of theAmerican frontier made it virtually obligatory for a woman to be married;
and the cultural norms of the society also reinforced the view that the institution of marriage inevitably accompanied adulthood.
Brigham Young was a married man when he encountered Mormonism,and he would, as it turned out, have two wives before he ever had a plural one.
He married his first wife, Miriam Works, on 8 October 1824 when he wastwenty-three years old and she was eighteen. They had two daughters, thenjoined the Church in April 1832. A few months later Miriam died of consumption at the age of twenty-seven. In Kirtland, Brigham met Mary Ann
Angel. They were married on 10 February 1834, four months before her
thirty-first birthday. She mothered Brigham's young daughters and, over the
next seven years, gave birth to six additional children, including a set of twins.
Brigham Young learned about plural marriage in Nauvoo from Joseph
Smith, and there is no reason to question his own report that he reacted negatively. Greeley asked him, "Is the system of your Church [plurality of wives]
acceptable to the majority of its women?" and Brigham Young answered,"They could not be more averse to it than I was when it was first revealed tous as the Divine will. I think they generally accept it, as I do, as the will ofGod" (Greeley 1859). He made similar statements on other occasions.

60

DIALOGUE: A JOURNAL OF MORMON THOUGHTWIVES SEALED TO BRIGHAM YOUNG DURING JOSEPH SMITH'S LIFETIME:
JUNE 1 8 4 2 - M A Y 1844

Between the time that Brigham Young first learned of the doctrine of plural
marriage and the time Joseph Smith died — just under two years — he wassealed to four women. All four women came West, lived as part of his household, outlived him, and shared in his estate. Three of them bore him children.
Brigham Young chose twenty-year-old Lucy Ann Decker Seeley for his
first plural wife, and they were married by Joseph Smith on 17 June 1842.
She was the daughter of Isaac Decker, a long-time friend of Brigham Youngand his father John Young. She and her two children had been abandonedin Nauvoo by her husband, William Seeley, who according to family tradition,
was a drunkard and abusive (Gates n.d., 4). In many ways, this marriage to
Lucy Ann was typical. A significant number of women sealed to Brigham
Young were from families with whom he had long-standing friendships; many
were either widows or divorcees with children.
His second plural wife was forty-one-year-old Augusta Adams Cobb, who
had left her husband and five of her children in Boston when she came to
Nauvoo with two children, one of whom died on the way (Cable 1965; Cobb
1886). The same day, Brigham also married Harriet Elizabeth Cook, anineteen-year-old convert to the Church with no relatives in Nauvoo. The
fourth wife was sixteen-year-old Clarissa Caroline Decker, Lucy's sister. They
were married 8 May 1844, one month before Joseph Smith's death.
All four of these women swore that they were married to Brigham Youngon these dates in affidavits signed in 1869 and 1870 (Smith 1:48, 50; 2:12,
16). Lucy's marriage date and sealing are also recorded in the Nauvoo Temple
records, which document confirmed sealings for the other three in the temple
in January 1846.
BEFORE THE NAUVOO TEMPLE'S COMPLETION:SEPTEMBER 1844-MAY 1845

After Joseph Smith's death but before the temple in Nauvoo was completed, Brigham Young was sealed to fifteen women in secret ceremonies.
Brigham Young recorded them in code in his diary as "M E" (marriage for
eternity) or "M T" (marriage for time) capitalized and underlined at the topof the diary pages when his marriages were performed. For example, on
10 September 1844 he wrote, "This day I visited Br. Isac Chace. Br. H.C.
Kimball was with me. Br & Sister Chase with their daughter Claricy was athome. We had a good visit . . . ." "M. E." is written on that page. Since
Heber C. Kimball was often a witness to those marriages it is instructive tocompare his diary entry for the same day. For example, he confirms Brigham
Young's marriage to Clarissa Chase on September 10: "went to . . . Br.
Cheaces. They ware sealled all wright."
Brigham Young's diary records his marriages to all fifteen wives married
during this period but Emily Dow Partridge and Mary Elizabeth Rollins
Lightner. Emily's family has dated her marriage in September 1844 (Gates
and Sanborn 1920, 127). Her son Edward Partridge Young was born theJohnson: Determining and Defining Wife

61

next year. Brigham Young's diary does not continue into May 1845, but Heber
C. Kimball's diary records "Seald B to Lite" meaning to Mary Elizabeth
Rollins Lightner on 22 May 1845. Mary Elizabeth affirms in her autobiography: "I was also sealled to B. Young as proxy for Joseph" (Lightner, n.d., 25).
Of the fifteen women, four — Emily Dow Partridge, Louisa Beaman,
Eliza R. Snow, and Olive Gray Frost — were sealed to Joseph Smith foreternity with Brigham Young standing as proxy for the murdered prophet.
A fifth, Margaret Pierce Whitesides, a young widow, was sealed to her firsthusband for eternity and to Brigham Young for life. Like Margaret, six others
had been married before. The previous marital status of Clarissa Blake, five
years older than Brigham, is unknown. So is her death date. Three of these
fifteen (Elizabeth Fairchild, Diana Chase, and Mary Ann Clark) divorced
him in the next few years. Three died before they reached Utah. Olive Gray
Frost died in October 1844 before the temple was completed. Her sealing is
the only one from this period not confirmed after the temple was open. Five of
this group bore Brigham children and seven lived in his household in Utah.
Thus, at one point in this period, the forty-three-year-old Brigham had twenty
wives ranging in age from seventeen to forty-eight and had eight children —two by Miriam Works, six by Mary Ann Angel (daughter Mary Ann had diedin 1843), and a four-month-old son by Lucy Ann Decker.
NAUVOO TEMPLE MARRIAGES:JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1846

When the temple was completed, the Saints rushed to perform sealings andendowments before leaving for the West. Often Church leaders would spend
several consecutive days in the temple. Brigham Young wrote in his diary on
12 January 1846, "I gave myself up entirely to the work of the Lord in thetemple almost night & day. I have spent [sic] not taking more than 4 hours
upon an average out of 24 to sleep & but seldom ever allowing myself the the[sic] time & opportunity of going home once in a week . . . ."In the five-week period between 7 January and 6 February 1846, Brigham
Young was married to nineteen women, and his sealings to all of his living
wives were reconfirmed. Fourteen of his nineteen new wives had been married
before and seven were significantly older, including Phebe Morton Angel, themother of Mary Ann Angel (then fifty-nine), and Abigail Marks Works (thensixty-nine), the mother of his first wife, Miriam Works.
Of this group, only two, Margaret Alley and Zina Huntington, bore him
children. Six of these women were sealed to dead husbands for eternity (three
to Joseph Smith) with Brigham Young standing proxy. Eight of these women
predeceased him, three received divorces, and the remaining three may have
either died before reaching Utah or stayed in the East.
O N THE PLAINS :FEBRUARY 1.847-APRIL

1848

Between Brigham Young's departure from Nauvoo and his permanent
arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, he was sealed to four women. The first, Jane62

DIALOGUE: A JOURNAL OF MORMON THOUGHT

Terry Young, was a widow with two young children, who requested on her
deathbed that she be sealed to Brigham Young. (Her dead husband, George
W. Young, was no relation to Brigham Young.) Four days after the sealing,
she died (Heward 1956, 73). This particular marriage was the shortest of
Brigham Young's marriages. (The longest was his union with Mary Ann
Angel. They had been married forty-three years when he died in 1877.)
Sixteen-year-old Lucy Bigelow and her nineteen-year-old sister Mary Jane
were sealed to him in Winter Quarters on 20 March 1847, just before he left
on his first expedition to Utah. According to Lucy's daughter, Susa Young
Gates, these sealings were secret even though there were almost no nonMormons in the area (n.d., 74). Brigham Young took his wife Clara Decker
to Utah, left her in Salt Lake City, returned to Iowa in the fall of 1847, and,while there, was sealed to Sarah Malin. Both Sarah and Mary Jane later left
him, Mary Jane marrying twice more. Lucy, however, lived in his Utah household and bore him three children.
SEALINGS IN UTAH :OCTOBER 1852-DECEMBER1872

On 29 August 1852, Orson Pratt expounded the principle of plural marriage in a general conference session, ending the period of secrecy. At thatpoint, Brigham Young was fifty-one years old. Of his forty-two plural wives,
seven had died and six had received divorces. The history of four is unknown.
Thirty-one children had been born; three more were conceived that year.
A few days later, Brigham Young married Eliza Burgess. She was twentyfive years old and her father had been a Church leader in England. Brigham
would marry ten more women before his death in 1877. Eight had been married before, and several brought young children into the family. Five wereolder women who seem to have been nonconjugal wives. None of the eleven
were sealed for eternity to former husbands. Three of the eleven bore him one
child each, and two received divorces.
By his death on 23 August 1877, Brigham Young had married fifty-five
wives. Nineteen had predeceased him, ten had received divorces, four areunaccounted for, and twenty-three survived him. Seventeen wives received ashare of his estate while the remaining six apparently had nonconjugal roles.
Sixteen women gave birth to Brigham Young's fifty-seven children; Emmeline Free had ten; six wives had only one child. The oldest child, Elizabeth
Young Ellsworth, was fifty-two at Brigham's death and the youngest, Fannie
Young Clayton, was seven. Eleven of the sixteen women survived him. Noneof the women who bore him children cancelled their sealings or remarried.
DIVORCES

Rather than being the political and domestic despot whose image appearedin the Eastern press, Brigham Young apparently maintained a remarkably
open attitude toward divorce. Although the circumstances of all of his divorces
are not known, what documentation exists seems to indicate amicable partings.
In many cases, these women remarried and remained in Utah, taking an active

Johnson: Determining and Defining Wife

63

part in the Church for the rest of their lives, This fact tends to dispel the mythof the horrified woman, enslaved against her will, disgusted equally with Brigham Young, the Church, and plural marriage.
The first documented divorce was from Mary Woodward on 13 December
1846, his wife of less than a year. In a brief but warm letter that day, hewrote: "In answer to your letter of yesterday, the 12 inst; I will say, you may
consider yourself discharged from me and my counsel" and added that hewould be glad to help her if she and her children were ever hungry (Brigham
Young papers).
Divorce records are sketchy for the emigration period, but two women who
had been sealed to him in the Nauvoo Temple left him then to marry othermen. Diana Chase married William Montgomery Shaw on 1 January 1849
and raised a large family in the Ogden, Utah, area. The widowed Mary Elza
Nelson Greene, who had been sealed to her first husband for eternity and to
Brigham Young for this life, was sealed to Bruce Israel Philips on 17 September
1850 by Parley P. Pratt in Salt Lake City.
On 18 June 1851 Mary Ann Clark Powers wrote from Kanesville, Iowa:"I wish you to release me from all engagements with you for time and eternity. . . ." (Brigham Young papers). This request was granted.
After the Church began recording divorces in 1851, Mary Ann Turley andMary Jane Bigelow obtained divorces in 1851, Eliza Babcock in 1853, andElizabeth Fairchild in 1855 (Divorce Certificates, Brigham Young papers).
They were under twenty when they married Brigham Young and had never
become part of his household. They all remarried; and Mary Jane, Eliza, andElizabeth remained in Utah.
Almost twenty years later in 1873, Ann Eliza Webb applied for a civil
divorce. The case came to trial in 1875, and the court ordered Brigham
to pay $500 per month allowance and $3,000 court costs. When he refused,
he was fined $25 and sentenced to a day in prison for contempt of court(Arrington 1985, 373). There is no record of application for a Church divorce,but she was excommunicated 10 October 1874 and devoted much of the restof her life to publishing her somewhat sensational memoirs and giving antiMormon lectures.
Twenty-one of Brigham Young's fifty-five wives had never been married,
six were separated or divorced from their husbands, sixteen were widows, andsix had living husbands from whom divorces had apparently not been obtained.
Marital information is unavailable for six.
From a twentieth-century perspective, the polyandrous marriages seem
most problematic. Three of these women (Mary Ann Clark Powers, Mary
Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, and Hannah Tapfield King) were married to nonMormons, which meant, according to the theological understanding of thetimes, that their salvation could not be assured. Mary Ann Clark Powers, married to Brigham Young 15 January 1845, later said she had not "bin a wife to"Powers after the sealing and expressed relief when Powers went to California.
She received a divorce from Brigham Young in 1851 (Powers to Young,
18 June 1851, Brigham Young papers).

64

DIALOGUE: A JOURNAL OF MORMON THOUGHT

Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner (n.d.), was an early and fervent member
in Kirtland and Missouri. She and her husband, Adam Lightner, gatheredwith the Saints at Nauvoo and eventually Utah. Joseph Smith prophesied(correctly) that Adam would never join the Church and explained to Mary
Elizabeth that she needed to be sealed to a worthy priesthood holder for eternity. She was sealed to Joseph before his death and the sealing was confirmedin the Nauvoo Temple, Brigham Young acting as proxy. In the same ceremony, she was sealed to Brigham Young for life, but her relationship to Adam
Lightner seems to have remained unchanged. They had ten children and bothdied in Minersville, Utah, many years later. She was never known as a wife of
Brigham Young.
Hannah Tapfield King joined the Church in England, came to Utah with
her non-Mormon husband, became known as a poet and writer, and was sealed
to Brigham Young for eternity in 1872 when she was sixty-five. This sealing
did not affect her relationship with her husband, and she never became part ofthe Brigham Young household (King, c 1864-72).
The remaining three women, however, had living husbands who wereMormons, and it is not clear why they chose not to be sealed to those husbands.
Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs had been sealed to Joseph Smith before his
death. When that sealing was confirmed in the Nauvoo Temple, Brigham
Young acted as proxy. It seems to have been the invariable custom that whena woman was sealed to one man for eternity, she was sealed to his proxy fortime. Her husband, Henry Jacobs, was present during the ceremony andapparently agreed to the sealings (Nauvoo Temple Records, 2 Feb. 1846).
Zina and her two sons by Henry became part of Brigham Young's family; shelater bore Brigham a daughter. Henry remarried and died years later in Salt
Lake City, still a member of the Church.
Mary Ellen Woodward applied to the Nauvoo High Council in about1844 for a divorce from James B. Woodward, her Mormon husband, on
grounds of physical cruelty to her and their three children. After she was sealed
to Brigham Young, James persuaded her to come back to him; and by her
request, Brigham Young granted a divorce. However, her letter to Brigham
Young on 25 February 1847 asks, "If I do all I can and after this he treatsme bad, will you let me leave him and live with my children?"
The third woman, Lydia Farnsworth Mayhew, had nine children by her
Mormon husband, Elijah Mayhew (Family group sheet, Genealogical Society). At sixty-two, she was sealed to Brigham Young for eternity on 8 May
1870. This sealing did not change her relationship with Elijah, and they lived
together until he died in 1896.
It is clear from this analysis of Brigham Young's sealings that marriage
was a more fluid relationship in nineteenth-century Mormonism than in thetwentieth century. It served multiple functions — theological, economic, andsocial. The pragmatic flexibility Brigham Young brought to these sealings,
while the source of considerable confusion, also provides a measure of thesignificance of the marital relationship as an ordering device in nineteenthcentury Utah society.

Johnson: Determining and Defining Wife

65

TABLE 1WIVES OF BRIGHAM YOUNG

Marriage Date

Name

Other Husbands

1.1824 Oct. 8

Miriam Works, 1806-32

2. 1834 Feb. 10

Mary Ann Angel, 1808-82
Married during Joseph Smith's life

3. 1842 June 14
4. 1843 Nov. 2
5. 1843 Nov. 2
6. 1844 May 8

Lucy Ann Decker, 1822-90
Augusta Adams, 1802-86
Harriet Cook, 1824-98
Clarissa Decker, 1828-89

7. 1844 Sept.
8. 1844 Sept. 10
9. 1844 Sept. 19

Emily Dow Partridge, 1824-99
Clarissa Ross, 1814-57
Louisa Beaman, 1815-50(1) William Seeley(1) Henry Cobb

Married before completion of Nauvoo Temple(1) Joseph Smith(1) Joseph Smith

Unless otherwise noted, all manuscript materials are in the Historical Department
Archives, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.
1
Miriam Works. "History of Brigham Young." Deseret News, 10 Feb. 1858, p. 385;
"Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," pp. 577, 581, Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake
City, Utah, hereafter GS.
2
Mary Ann Angel. "History of Brigham Young," Deseret News, 10 Feb. 1858, p. 385;
"Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," p. 577, GS; Eighteenth Ward, Salt Lake Stake, Record ofMembers, p. 1; Salt Lake City (Utah), Death records, 1848-1884, p. 271; Obituary, Deseret
Evening News, 28 June 1882, p. 3.
3
Lucy Ann Decker. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," pp. 577, GS; Eighteenth Ward,
Salt Lake Stake, Record of Members, p. 1; "Plural Marriage Affidavits," Book # 1 , p. 48;"Death of Lucy D. Young," Deseret Evening News, 24 Jan. 1891, p. 8.
4Augusta Adams. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," p. 577, GS; "Plural Marriage
Affidavits," Book # 1 , p. 50; Obituary, Deseret Evening News, 3 Feb. 1886, p. 2; Mary
Cable, "She Who Shall Be Nameless," American Heritage 16 (Feb. 1965) : 50-55.
5Harriet Cook. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," p. 577, GS; "Plural Marriage
Affidavits," Book # 2 , p. 12; Obituary, Journal History of the Church, 5 Nov. 1898, p. 2;
Edith Harriett Young Booth, "A Biographical Sketch of the Life of Oscar S. Young," n.d.,typescript.
6
Clarissa Decker. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," p. 577, GS; "Plural Marriage
Affidavits," Book # 2 , p. 16; Obituary, Deseret Evening News, 7 Jan. 1889, p. 2; Clara
Decker Young, "A Young Women's Experience with the Pioneer Band," 1884, Bancroft
Library, University of California, Berkeley; Orson F. Whitney, "The Three Pioneer Women,"
History of Utah, 4 vols. (Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon & Sons, 1904), 4:63-67.
7
Emily Dow Partridge. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," pp. 503, 577, GS; EighteenthWard, Salt Lake Stake, Record of Members, not paginated; Susa Young Gates and Mabel
Young Sanborn, "Brigham Young Genealogy." Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine 11 (April 1920): 127; Emily Dow Partridge Young, "What I Remember," 1884,
typescript.
8
Clarissa Ross. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," p. 577, GS; Brigham Young, Journal,
10 Sept. 1844, 10 Oct. 1857; Heber C. Kimball, Journal, 10 Sept. 1844; Phoebe McLaughlin
Welling, "History of Isaac Chase," 1964, typescript.
9
Louisa Beaman. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," pp. 503, 577, GS; Historian's
Office, Journal, 16 May 1850; Brigham Young, Journal, 19 Sept. 1844; Heber C. Kimball,
Journal, 19 Sept. 1844; "Plural Marriage Affidavits," Book # 1 , pp. 3, 38-39.

66

DIALOGUE: A JOURNAL OF MORMON THOUGHTTABLE 1WIVES OF BRIGHAM YOUNG (CONTINUED)

Marriage Date

Name

Other Husbands

10. 1844 Oct. 3
11. 1844 Oct. 3

Eliza Roxey Snow, 1804-87
Elizabeth Fairchild, 1828-1910

12. 1844 Oct. 8
13. 1844 Oct. 9
14. 1844 Oct. 10
15. 1844 Oct. 31
16. 1844 Nov. 7
17. 1845 Jan. 15
18. 1845 Jan. 16
19. 1845 Jan. 16
20. 1845 April 30

Clarissa Blake, 1796-not known
Rebecca Holman, 1824-49
Diana Chase, 1827-86
Susannah Snively, 1815-92
Olive Gray Frost, 1816-45
Mary Ann Clark, 1816-not known
Margaret Pierce, 1823-1907
Mary Pierce, 1821-47
Emmeline Free, 1826-75(1) Joseph Smith(2) James D. Lyman(3) Joseph McMurray(4) James Matthews(5) W. L. Chastain
not known(2) William M. Shaw
(1) Joseph Smith(1) Mr. Powers(1) Morris Whitesides

10
Eliza Roxey Snow. "Nauvoo Proxy Sealings, 1846," p. 67, GS; "Nauvoo Sealings andAdoptions," pp. 513-14, GS; Eighteenth Ward, Salt Lake Stake, Record of Members, p. 1;
Obituary, Deseret News, 36: (7 Dec. 1887) 744; Brigham Young, Journal, 3 Oct. 1844:
Heber C. Kimball, Journal, 3 Oct. 1844.
11
Elizabeth Fairchild. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," p. 577, GS; Brigham Young,
Journal, 3 Oct. 1844; Heber C. Kimball, Journal, 3 Oct. 1844; Divorce certificate, 2 June
1855, Brigham Young Papers; Family group sheet of William Lowery Chastain and Elizabeth
Fairchild.
12
Clarissa Blake. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," p. 577, GS; Brigham Young,
Journal, 8 Oct. 1844.
13
Rebecca Holman. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," p. 577, GS; Brigham Young,
Journal, 9 Oct. 1844; Elsie M. Williams, "Biography of Joshua Sawyer Holman," n.d.,typescript; Cutlers Park (Nebraska), Death and burial records, 1846-1849.
14
Diana Chase. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," p. 577, GS; Brigham Young,
Journal, 10 Oct. 1844; Heber C. Kimball, Journal, 27 May 1845; Olive Virginia Grey
Madsen, "Diana Chase Shaw," n.d., typescript.
15
Susannah Snively. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," p. 577, GS; Eighteenth Ward,
Salt Lake Stake, Record of Members, not paginated; Obituary, Deseret Evening News,
21 Nov. 1892, p. 5; Brigham Young, Journal, 31 Oct. 1844.
16
Olive Gray Frost. Mary Ann Frost Pratt, "Biographical Sketch of Olive Gray Frost,"
Historical Record 6 (Jan. 1887) : 234-35; Brigham Young, Journal, 7 Nov. 1844.
17
Mary Ann Clark. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," p. 577, GS; Brigham Young,
Journal, 15 Jan. 1845.
18
Margaret Pierce. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," pp. 31, 577, GS; EighteenthWard, Salt Lake Stake, Record of Members, p. 1; "Widow of President Brigham Young who
died last night . . ." Deseret Evening News, 17 Jan. 1907, p. 10; "Autobiography of Margarette P. W. Young," n.d., holograph; "One of the Pioneers," Young Women's Journal 15:(1 Apr. 1904) 162-66.
19
Mary Pierce. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," pp. 31, 577, GS; Eliza R. Snow,
Diary, 16 March 1847; Journal History of the Church, 17 March 1847.
20

Emmeline Free. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," p. 577, G S ; Salt Lake City
( U t a h ) , Death records, p. 172, # 6 8 6 7 ; Obituary, Deseret Evening News, 19 July 1875, p. 3 ;Susa Young Gates and Mabel Young Sanborn, "Brigham Young Genealogy," Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine 11 (April 1920) : 129.

Johnson: Determining and Denning Wife
21. 1845 May 22

22. 1846 Jan. 14
23. 1846 Jan. 15
24. 1846 Jan. 15
25. 1846 Jan. 21
26. 1846 Jan. 21
27. 1846 Jan. 28
28. 1846 Jan. 28
29. 1846 Jan. 28
30. 1846 Jan. 28
31. 1846 Jan. 31
32. 1846 Jan. 31
33. 1846 Feb. 2

Mary Elizabeth Rollins, 1818-1913

67(1) Adam Lightner(2) Joseph Smith'leMarried after completion of Nauvoo Temple
Margaret Alley, 1825-52
Olive Andrews, 1818-not known(1)
Emily Haws, 1823-not known(1)
Martha Bowker, 1822-90
Ellen Rockwood, 1829-66
Jemima Angel, 1803-69(1)
Abigail Marks, 1781-1846(1)
Phebe Morton, 1776-1854(1)
Cynthia Porter, 1783-not known(1)
Mary Eliza Nelson, 1812-85(1)(3)
Rhoda Richards, 1784-1879(1)
Zina Huntington, 1821-1901(1)(2)

Joseph Smith
William Whitmarsh

Valentine Young
Asa Works
James W. AngelMr. Weston
John P. Greene
Bruce I. Philips
Joseph Smith
Henry Jacobs
Joseph Smith

21
Mary Elizabeth Rollins. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," pp. 505, 577, GS; Mary
Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, Autobiography and diary, n.d., Special Collections, Harold B. Lee
Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; Heber C. Kimball, Journal, May 1845;
Kate B. Carter, "Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner," Our Pioneer Heritage 5 (1962): 30524; Obituary, Women's Exponent 41: (January 1914) 95.
22
M a r g a r e t Alley. " N a u v o o Sealings a n d Adoptions," p . 5 7 7 , G S ; Historian's Office,J o u r n a l , 6 Nov. 1852.
23
Olive A n d r e w s . " N a u v o o Proxy Sealings, 1846," p . 7, G S ; " N a u v o o Sealings a n d
Adoptions," p p . 153, 577, G S .
24
Emily H a w s . " N a u v o o Sealings a n d Adoptions," p . 5 7 7 , G S ; Heber C. Kimball,
Journal, 15 Jan. 1846.
25
M a r t h a Bowker. " N a u v o o Sealings a n d Adoptions," p . 5 7 7 , G S ; Eighteenth W a r d ,Salt Lake Stake, R e c o r d of Members, p . 1; Obituary, Deseret Evening News, 26 Sept. 1890,
p . 3 ; H e b e r C. Kimball, J o u r n a l , 19 Dec. 1845.
26

Ellen Rockwood. " N a u v o o Sealings a n d Adoptions," p . 5 7 7 , G S .

27

J e m i m a Angel. " N a u v o o Sealings a n d Adoptions," p . 577, G S ; Marjorie McCandlessa n d U t a h n a Frantz, "History of J e m i m a Angell Young," n.d., typescript.
28
Abigail M a r k s . " N a u v o o Sealings a n d Adoptions," p . 5 7 7 , G S ; Family group sheet of
Asa Works a n d Abigail M a r k s , G S ; Heber C. Kimball, J o u r n a l , 7 J a n . 1846.
29
Phebe M o r t o n . " N a u v o o Sealings a n d Adoptions," p . 5 7 7 , G S ; Heber C. Kimball,J o u r n a l , 24 D e c . 1 8 4 5 ; J o u r n a l History of the Church , 16 Nov. 1854; T r u m a n O . Angell,
Autobiography, n.d., h o l o g r a p h ; "Bones Identified as M o t h e r ' Angell's," Salt Lake
Tribune,
26 April 1910.
30

C y n t h i a Porter.

31

M a r y Eliza Nelson. "Nauvo o Sealings a n d Adoptions," p p . 299, 5 8 1 , 7 0 1 ; Obituary,
Evening News, 29 D e c . 1885, p . 2.

Deseret" N a u v o o Sealings a n d Adoptions," p . 5 7 7 , G S .

32
R h o d a R i c h a r d s . " N a u v o o Sealings a n d Adoptions," p p . 5 1 1 - 1 2 , 5 8 1 , G S ; Obituary,
Deseret Evening News, 18 J a n . 1879, p . 3 ; E d w a rd W . Tullidge, Women of
Mormondom(New York: Tullidge and Crandall, 1877), pp. 421-22.
33
Zina Huntington. "Nauvoo Proxy Sealings, 1846," p. 61, G S ; "Nauvoo Sealings andAdoptions," p p . 511-12, 581, G S ; "Passed into the Repose of Death," Deseret Evening News,
28 Aug. 1901, p. 8; Emmeline B. Wells, "Zina D. H. Young — A Character Sketch," Improvement Era 5 (November 1901): 4 3 - 4 8 ; "Zina D . H. Young: A Brief Sketch of Her
Life and Labors," Deseret Evening News, 25 Jan. 1896, p. 5.

68

DIALOGUE: A JOURNAL OF MORMON THOUGHTTABLE 1WIVES OF BRIGHAM YOUNG (CONTINUED)

Marriage Date
34. 1846 Feb. 3
35. 1846 Feb. 3
36. 1846Feb.3
37. 1846 Feb. 3
38. 1846 Feb. 3
39. 1846 Feb. 6
40. 1846 Feb. 6
41. 1847 Feb. 10

Name
Other Husbands
Amy Cecilia Cooper, 1804—not known
not known
Mary Ellen de la Montague, 1803-not known(1) James B. Woodward
Julia Foster, 1811-91(1) Jonathan Hampton(3) Thomas Cole
Abigail Harback, 1790-1849(1) Mr. Hall
Mary Ann Turley, 1827-1904(2) John CookNaamah Carter, 1821-1909(1) John S. Twiss
Nancy Cressy, 1780-1872(1) Mr. Walker
Married while crossing the plains
Jane Terry, 1819-47(1) George T a r b o x(2) George W. Y o u n g

42. 1847 March 20 LucyBigelow, 1830-1905
43. 1847 March 20 Mary Jane Bigelow, 1827-68
44. 1848 April 18

Sarah Malin, 1804-58
Married in Utah: 1850s

45. 1852 Oct. 3

Eliza Burgess, 1827-1915(2) H o r a ce Roberts(3) Philander Bell34

Amy Cecilia Cooper. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," p . 577, GS .

35

Mary de la Montague. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," p. 577, GS.

36

J u l i a Foster. " N a u v o o Proxy Sealings, 1846," p p . 6 6 - 6 7 , G S ; " N a u v o o Sealings a n dA d o p t i o n s , " p p . 327—28, 5 8 1 , G S ; B r i g h a m Y o u n g H a m p t o n , D i a r y , h o l o g r a p h ; O b i t u a r y ,Deseret Evening News, 17 J a n . 1 8 9 1 , p . 8.
37

Abigail H a r b a c k . " N a u v o o Sealings a n d A d o p t i o n s , " p . 5 7 7 , G S .

38Mary Ann Turley. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," p. 577, GS; Heber C. Kimball,
Journal, 20 Dec. 1845; Divorce certificate, 15 Jan. 1851, Brigham Young Papers.
39
Naamah Carter. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," pp. 533-34, 581, GS; EighteenthWard, Salt Lake Stake, Record of Members, p. 1; Obituary, Deseret Evening News, 6 Aug.
1909, p. 1.
40
N a n c y Cressy. " N a u v o o Sealings a n d A d o p t i o n s , " p . 5 5 9 , G S ; " I n d e x to N a u v o oEndowments," GS.

41

Jane Terry. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," p. 799, GS; "Pre-Endowment Houseand Endowment House Sealings," Book E, p. 321; Elizabeth Terry Heward, Autobiography,
in Parshall Terry Family History. Salt Lake City: Mr. and Mrs. Terry Lund, 1956,
pp. 66-78.
42
L u c y Bigelow. " N a u v o o Sealings a n d A d o p t i o n s , " p . 7 8 3 , G S ; E i g h t e e n t h W a r d , Salt
Lake Stake, R e c o r d of M e m b e r s , p . 1; O b i t u a r y , Deseret Evening News, 4 F e b . 1905, p . 3 ;Susa Young Gates, "Lucy Bigelow Young," n.d. Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake
City; E. B. Wells, "Lucy Bigelow Young," Young Women's Journal 3 (Jan. 1892) : 145-47.
43
M a r y J a n e Bigelow. " N a u v o o Sealings a n d A d o p t i o n s , " p . 7 8 3 , G S ; Susa Y o u n g
Gates, "Lucy Bigelow Young," n.d., U t a h State Historical Society, Salt Lake C i t y ; Divorce
certificate, 3 Sept. 1851, Brigham Young Papers.
44
Sarah Malin. "Nauvoo Sealings and Adoptions," p . 783, G S ; Salt Lake City ( U t a h )D e a t h records, p . 22, # 8 6 3 .
45

Eliza Burgess. Eighteenth Ward, Salt Lake Stake, Record of Members, p . 1; "PreEndowment House and Endowmen t House Sealings," Book A, # 8 0 6 ; "Eliza B. Young Dies
at Son's H o m e , " Deseret Evening News, 21 Aug. 1915, p . 16.

Johnson: Determining and Defining Wife
46. 1852 Dec. 16

Mary Oldfield, 1793-1875(1)

47. before 1853

Eliza Babcock, 1828-68(2) Dominicus Carter

69

EliKelsey(3) John Groves
48. 1855 June 10(1) Zepheniah Clawson

Catherine Reese, 1804-60(1) W. H. H. Sagers

49. 1856 March 14 Harriet Barney, 1830-1911
Married in Utah:
50. 1863 Jan. 24

1860sAmelia Folsom, 1838-1910

51. 1865 J a n . 8

Mary V a n Cott, 1844-84(1) James T . C o b b

52. 1868 April 7

Ann Eliza Webb, 1844-not known(1) James L. Dee

53. 1869 July 3

Elizabeth Jones, 1814-95(3) Moses R. Deming(1) David T. Lewis(2) D a n Jones
Married in Utah:

1870s

54. 1870 May 8

Lydia Farnsworth, 1808-97(1) Elijah Mayhew

55. 1872 Dec. 8

H a n n a h Tapfield, 1807-86(1) Thomas O. King

46
Mary Oldfield. "Pre-Endowment House and Endowment House Sealings," Book A,# 9 5 3 and Book D, p . 93, # 4 9 4 7 .
47
Eliza Babcock. N a u v o o T e m p l e E n d o w m e n t Register, 10 J a n u a r y 1846, G S ; Divorce
Certificate, 4 Sept. 1853, B r i g h a m Y o u n g P a p e r s ; Family g r o u p sheet of A d o l p h u s Babcock
a n d J e r u s h a Rowley, G S .
48
C a t h e r i n e Reese. " N a u v o o Sealings a n d Adoptions," p . 4 9 , G S ; Family group sheet
for Z e p h e n i a h Clawson a n d C a t h e r i ne Reese, G S .
49

H a r r i e t Barney. " P r e - E n d o w m e n t House a n d E n d o w m e n t House Sealings," Book B,
p . 4 9 , G S ; O b i t u a r y , Deseret Evening News, 11 F e b . 1911, p . 2 ; W a y n e D . Stout, "William
H a n r y H a r r i s on Sagers," History of Tooele County (Tooele : Tooele County D a u g h t e rs of
U t a h Pioneers, 1 9 6 1 ) , p . 5 7 0 .
50
Amelia Folsom. "Salt Lake E n d o w m e nt House Records," 2 M a r c h 1861 , G S ;O b i t u a r y , Deseret Evening News, 12 D e c . 1910, p . 1; " D e a t h Beckons to Mrs. Y o u n g , " Salt
Lake Tribune, 12 D e c . 1910.
51

M a r y V a n Cott. "Salt Lake E n d o w m e n t House Records," 18 April 1856, G S ; " D e a t hof M a r y V . Y o u n g , " Deseret Evening News, 5 J a n . 1884, p . 5 ; Salt Lake City ( U t a h ) D e a t hrecords 1848-1884, p . 297 .
52
A n n Eliza W e b b . "Salt Lake E n d o w m e n t House Records," Book E, p . 126; A n n Eliza
Young, Wife Number 19; or, The Story of a Life in Bondage, Being a Complete Expose of
Mormonism
and Revealing
the Sorrows, Sacrifices and Sufferings of Women in Polygamy(Hartford, Conn.: Dustin, Gilman, 1876); Irving Wallace, The Twenty-seventh Wife (NewYork: Simon Schuster, 1961).
53
Elizabeth Jones. "Salt Lake Endowment House Records," Book E, p. 308; "Death of
Sister Jones," Deseret Evening News, 6 May 1895, pp. 1, 5; Edward W. Tullidge, Womenof Mormondom (New York: Tullidge and Crandall, 1877) p. 460; Rex LeRoy Christensen,"The Life and Contributions of Captain Dan Jones," Logan, Utah: M.A. thesis, Utah State
University, 1977.
54
L y d i a F a r n s w o r t h . " S a lt L a k e E n d o w m e n t House R e c o r d s , " Book F , p . 1 7 2 ; O b i t u a r y ,Deseret Evening News, 6 F e b . 1897, p . 8 ; Family group sheet of Elijah M a y h e w a n d Lydia
Farnsworth, GS.
55
Hannah Tapfield. "Salt Lake Endowment House Records," Book H, p. 353; Obituary,
Deseret Evening News, 27 Sept. 1886, p. 3; Kate B. Carter, ed., "My Story — Hannah T.
King," Our Pioneer Heritage 6 (1963) : 45-48; Family group sheet of Thomas Owen Kingand Hannah Tapfield, GS.

70

DIALOGUE: A JOURNAL OF MORMON THOUGHT

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Unless otherwise noted, all manuscript materials are in the Historical Department
Archives, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. The Church
Historian's Office Journal, Brigham Young Papers, and Heber C. Kimball Diary are all usedby permission of the Copyright and Permissions office.
Arrington, Leonard J. Brigham Young: American Moses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
1985.
Cable, Mary. "She Who Shall Be Nameless." American Heritage 16 (Feb. 1965): 50-55.
Church, Al. "Stalking the Wild Gentile." Network 5 (Sept. 1981) : 17-18.
Cobb, Augusta Adams. "Obituary." Deseret News 35 (1886): 64.
Gates, Susa Young. "Recollections." n.d. Typescript. Utah State Historical Society, Salt
Lake City.
, and Mabel Young Sanborn. "Brigham Young Genealogy." The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine 11 (April 1920) : 127.
Greeley, Horace. Clerk's report of Brigham Young's interview with Horace Greeley, 13 July
1859. Brigham Young Collection.
Heward, Elizabeth Terry. Autobiography. In Parshall Terry Family History. Salt Lake
City: Mr. and Mrs. Terry Lund, 1956, pp. 66-78.
Hirshson, Stanley P. The Lion of the Lord: A Biography of Brigham Young. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 1969.
JD. Journal of Discourses. 27 vols. Liverpool and London: LDS Booksellers, 1855-86.
Kimball, Heber C. Diary. 1844.
King, Hannah Tapfield. Autobiography. cl864-1872.
Lightner, Mary Elizabeth Rollins. Autobiography and Diary, n.d. Special Collections, Lee
Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
Nauvoo Temple Records. Microfilm. Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City.
Sanborn, Mabel Young, comp. Brigham Young's Wives, Children and Grandchildren. Salt
Lake City: Gaylen S. Young, 1940.
Smith, Joseph F. Plural Marriage Affidavit Books. 2 vols. Holograph.
"Speech, 6 April 1845." Times and Seasons 6 (1 July 1845) : 955.
Wallace, Irving. The Twenty-seventh Wife. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1961.
Young, Ann Eliza. Wife Number 19; or, The Story of a Life in Bondage, Being a Complete
Expose of Mormonism, and Revealing the Sorrows, Sacrifices and Sufferings of Womenin Polygamy. Hartford, Conn.: Dustin, Gilman, 1876.
Young, Brigham. Diary. 1844.
. Papers. Correspondence Catalogued alphabetically by year.