The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1877-09-05
acknowledgement.
P0LYGAMlA.
Brigham Young as the Head Of
a Family Of I55.
FOrly.AVe Years Of LoYe-Making
and Marrying.
hiS wives aud Their History
The GeOmetricai Progress
sion OF His Affections.

'utWHNNA wi SlnNlnuANl 'ihtNus
And Brigham Young is dead! To all
OF US this is an interesting piece OF news,
but it is only news. How little can the
Ohio Gentle realize the awful import OF
that message to the devoted saint in the
valleys Of Utah; to the elder and his flock
in the Idaho settlements; to the brethren
called on mission 10 build up the
Church in Arizona" or to the thousands
OF British, Scotch, Welsh, Scandinavian,
and other foreign saints The Church Of
Jesus Christ Of Latter Day saints, through
all her widely scattered branches, ia
strangely thrilled to day, save, perhaps,
in the remote valleys Of Scotland, amid
the mountains Of Wales or florida Of Swe.
lien and Norway, or in the South Sea IL.
lands, where the news will penetrate but
slowly. Nor will the feeling be altogelh.
tr one Of sorrow. To thousands, appar.
entity orthodox saints, the tidinga will
bring secret joy; this death will sever
knot they have long felt themselves I'm.
able to loosen, and many an "apostate
spirit" will look upon this as the day Of
his deIlveranCe. High up in the Church
there will be secret satisfaction, and,
while the honest masses mourn sincerely.
behind the grave deCorum Of more than
one apostolic face will be going onImighty
regulations as to who will or can ill
so LARGE A VACANCY.
To the 10000 Gentiles and dissenting
Mormons OF Utah the event will bring
various hopes and fears. The younger
.eItlers will look forward to the early
dissolution Of the Mormon Church, but
the old residents will know better; that
decay requires time as we'll as growth;
that such a perfect interlOck rs the Nor.
mon hierarchy can live ten years on it's
organization alone after all spiritual life
i'ontot it, and that a social system which
l,- been fifty years growing up can not
dissolve in one or two. The vast mas Of
Mormon people must cling together, sim,
ply because it is social and political dam.
nation for them il they don't. The organ.
l1cr il gone, but his work will long sur.
vIve him.
Many years have passed since | lirst
talSed with Brigham Young, noted his
manner IN the pulpit, and felt the mag
neIic,grip oil his big hand. And during
all the years in which l wAa familiar
With his appearance and studied his pol.
icy, never changed my first impression
that ninetenths Of his greatness" was
simply the result Of his immense physi.
cjll potency.
ill. eyes were Of light, grayiOh blue,
and had cold, steely glitter, which
uotycty attractive until he WAS warmed,
and then il flashed with that peculiar
magnetism which has such cEarm--for
some people. The way it affected some
women may be guessed from the fact that
one OF the hAnd4ome4t ladies' in Nauvoo
got divorced from a good man. in order to
BE- Brigham's cOnCublne, and refined,
rather intelligent Boston lady literally
followed him oil, taking along her two
Children TO be reared in M0rmOnism.
Brigham was rather kind to this one; call.
ed her Augusta" and humored her with
bi' supreme affection for
THREE WHOLE YEARS.
Brsham's physiqne was the very best
TIA! col, hardy Vermont could furnish.
lie was put up by nature to last a Centu.
ry, bat it appears that trouble, dissipa-
ton, and certain MYSTERIOUS accident Of
.'x or seven years ago have shortened his
lite wenty-four years. His youngest
ssh'!d, daughter OF MNrget Van Colt
Young, was born in 1870; his Oldest, now
the vile Of Edmund Ellsworth, must have
been born as early as 1925, Tor Brigham
vi. widOwer with two daughters when
he I1ined the Mornons; and his grand
children in this line arenow well advan.
Ced men and women. So his active par.
entail lie covered period Of forty.fiye
YEAR,, and Though have no late returns)
h'' children, grandchildren, and great
Sta'dchildren number at least 1856. Not
DAD Tor an alkNli country! Add widows,
ana 'ons-in-law, and grandsons-in-law,
anu lac number interested in the estate
SMouhts to nearly 200. aaf
The old man has outlasted
THREE GENERATIONS OF WIVES,
."i had made pretty good start on the
'9urlh, Tor he married Amelia Folsom
eleven years ago, and the last time saw
'r' she was beginning TO look like an old
"omin Brigham lost his 6rst wife quite
yonns Her daughters are both In poly.
s'Ay, hat il, their husbands have other
.%omrn" than them, and have large fam.
'''e' Their daughters also have many
children, and, counting his first and sec
'"i wives, 1t Is said by some who ought
10 Know that III igham's legitimate Of
'rElng are after all, nearly AS numerous
!" Ills illegitimaie, About the time he
was Converted he married Mary Ann
Angel. She is his present legal wife, aud
mas lived for many years in the "White
cottage on the bench" that Ia, on the hill
Just back Of Brigham's. She was Of The
same age as Brigham, and about 1913 he
began on his second lot Of wives. Jo,
Smith got his @Revelation on Celestia
Marriage July l2, 1913, and as soor
hereafter as Brigham could get authori.
y he married the Decker sisters. On,
oil them, Lucy, had been Tor some tim
married marie TO Dr.. Stely, Of Nauyoo, but thu
nnlsG Council get that marriage aside, ant
nnsh'm took her and the Doctor ant
went 10 grass"
Ills FOURTH WIPE.
NIlarriet Cook, whom he took sool
,Vc' the exodus from Nauvoo: but sh,
N "a" tebellious spirit" and at Winter
S!'t'er' (now Florence, Nebraska) 9TH,
Gy'I entered into and did possess her. !
| ,L "Po''ession,n and the plan Of relic
SsuoP'ed, see Captain Dan Jones accoun
y The llih volume Of tho NilleniOl Star
Wo traits Key 10 Theology, and o,hc,
s'o,,non works. As a result she railef
VA Va Brigham and denounced polySam,
""' ended by trying to strangle her baby