THE WIVES OF BRIGHAM YOUNG:—THEIR HISTORY AND THEIR DAILY LIFE.
The wives of Brigham Young have always been subjects of interest to
Gentiles who visited Zion; and having spoken of their husband, I think it
is only fair that I should say a few words about them.
For many years I have known personally all the Prophet’s wives who reside
in Salt Lake City, and I wish to speak of them with kindness and respect.
They are women whom any one would esteem—conscientious, good, earnest
women; faithful, true-hearted wives, who have devoted their lives to the
carrying out of what they believe is the revealed will of God.
When I first knew Brother Brigham, poor man, he had _only_ sixteen living
with him in Salt Lake City; and even now he has no more than nineteen!
Perhaps I ought to say eighteen, since Eliza-Ann has run away from him,
and left the poor old gentleman desolate and forlorn. The three whom he
took after I came to Utah, were Amelia Folsom, Mary Van Cott Cobb, and
Eliza-Ann. But the reader will perhaps be interested in hearing about
them all, and so I will state the names and order of the ladies as they
at present stand—according to the date of their marriage; making mention
of the proxy wives last of all, for the sake of convenience and without
reference to date. Of course Brother Brigham has _had_ many more than
nineteen wives, but the following are the living ladies; others are dead
or have strayed away, no one knew whither, and perhaps, as Brother Heber
once said to me, nobody cared.
[Illustration: AMELIA FOLSOM YOUNG, BRIGHAM’S FAVORITE WIFE.
“ELIZA ANN,” BRIGHAM’S NINETEENTH WIFE.
BROTHER BRIGHAM’S LAST BABY.
MISS ELIZA R. SNOW, MORMON POETESS AND HIGH PRIESTESS.
MRS. JOHN W. YOUNG, WIFE OF BRIGHAM’S APOSTATE SON.
_To face p. 168._]
Allow me to introduce _the_ Mrs. Young.
MRS. MARY ANN ANGELL YOUNG.
[Number One.]
First in order is Mrs. Mary Ann Angell Young, but she is not the first
wife that Brother Brigham ever had. Once upon a time, Brother Brigham
was a Methodist; but after listening to the preaching of the Mormon
Missionaries he became a vile apostate—as he loves to call those who
leave his present faith—and he forsook Methodism. In those days, before
he apostatised, and long before he ever dreamed of Polygamy, he had but
_one_ wife—one only! It must seem strange to the Prophet to look back
to that period of solitary existence. His second wife was Mrs. Angell
Young; and I call her his first wife because she is the first of those
living now. As she was married to him after the death of his first wife,
she is, of course, his legal wife, and would be recognized as such in
any civilized country. She is a very fine-looking old lady and very much
devoted to her unfaithful lord and master, firmly believing in his divine
mission. She lives by herself and is seldom troubled with a visit from
her affectionate spouse. Once in a while Brigham brings her out to a
party when he has invited any Gentiles, just for appearance sake. Quite
a number of persons in Utah believe that she is dead, so very little
is seen and known of her. She lives in the White House—Brigham’s first
residence in Salt Lake City—and is much thought of by those who do know
her. Her children are greatly attached to her, and show her a great
deal of attention, making up in this way, to a certain extent, for her
husband’s neglect; her three sons, Joseph A. Brigham—who it is expected
will succeed his father as President of the Church—and John W., as well
as her two daughters, Alice and Luna, are all in Polygamy. Each of the
sons has three wives; and each of the daughters has a half-sister as
a partner in her husband’s affections. Brigham has not the slightest
objection to giving two of his daughters to the same husband.
LUCY DECKER SEELY YOUNG.
[Number Two.]
Lucy Decker Seely Young was his first wife in Polygamy. Her former
husband was a Mr. Seely. She is short and stout, a very excellent mother
and a devoted wife.
CLARA DECKER YOUNG.
[Number Three.]
Clara Decker Young is the third wife. She is a sister of Lucy Seely, and
like her is short and stout, but otherwise good-looking. She is more
than twenty years younger than her lord, with whom she was once quite a
favourite, but like many others, she has “had her day”—to use Brigham’s
own expression—and is now, as a matter of course, neglected.
HARRIET COOK YOUNG.
[Number Four.]
Harriet Cook Young is tall, with light hair and blue eyes, and is an
intelligent but not at all a refined woman. She is said to have given a
great deal of trouble to Brother Brigham, of whom she has frequently said
very hard things. In times past she had the reputation of being a good
deal more than a match for her husband when she had any cause of offence
against him, but in her quiet moments she is a very sincere Mormon. She
has only one son—Oscar Young—now about twenty-five years of age. When
he was born, Brigham kindly announced to her that because she was not
obedient she should have no more children, and during more than a quarter
of a century he has kept his word. Why she has remained with him so long
is a mystery, for she makes no secret of her feelings towards him.
LUCY BIGELOW YOUNG.
[Number Five.]
Lucy Bigelow Young is quite a fine-looking woman—tall and fair, and still
quite young. She has three pretty daughters. Brigham has recently sent
her to live in southern Utah.
MRS. TWISS YOUNG.
[Number Six.]
Mrs. Twiss Young has no children, but she is a very good housewife, and
Brigham appreciates her accordingly, and has given her the position of
housekeeper in the Lion House. Women have two great privileges in the
Mormon Church—they may ask a man to marry them, if they chance to fancy
him, and if they don’t like him afterwards they are able to obtain a
divorce for the moderate sum of ten dollars, which sum the husband is
expected to pay. Mrs. Twiss exercised the first privilege in reference
to Brother Brigham, but has not yet availed herself of the last. There
are other ladies who thought it would be a great honour to be called the
wives of the Prophet, and they have requested him to allow them to be
called by his name. This he has done, but he has never troubled them with
his society.
MARTHA BOWKER YOUNG.
[Number Seven.]
Martha Bowker Young is a quiet little body, with piercing dark eyes,
and very retiring. Brother Brigham acts towards her as if he had quite
forgotten that he had ever married her, and she lives in all the
loneliness of married spinsterhood.
HARRIET BARNEY SEAGERS YOUNG.
[Number Eight.]
Harriet Barney Seagers Young, the eighth wife, is a tall, fine-looking
woman. She was another man’s wife when Brigham made love to her. It is
not supposed to be the correct thing for a Saint to court his neighbour’s
wife, but the Prophet did so in the case of Harriet Barney, and in
several other cases too. Harriet was married to a respectable young
Mormon gentleman, but after she had lived with him some time and had
borne three children to him, the Prophet persuaded her to join his ranks,
and she did so, believing that the word of the Prophet was the revelation
of the Lord to her, but she has since had bitter cause to repent of her
folly. To a Gentile mind such an infatuation must appear very strange,
but the Mormon people personally understand the powerful influence which
their religion exercises over them, and to them there is nothing very
singular in all this.
ELIZA BURGESS YOUNG.
[Number Nine.]
Eliza Burgess Young is the only English wife that Brigham has. She fell
in love with the Prophet, wanted him to marry her, and even offered to
wait, like Jacob, for seven years if she might be his at last. So she
served in the family of her lord for the appointed time, and he finally
took her to wife as a recompense for her faithfulness. She has added one
son to the Prophet’s kingdom.
SUSAN SNIVELY YOUNG.
[Number Ten.]
The tenth wife on my list is Susan Snively Young. She is a German
woman—smart, active, and industrious. She has no children, but has been
quite a help-meet to her husband in making butter and cheese, in which
she excels. Smart Mormons have always had an eye to business, and while
living up to their privileges have not invariably sought for wives who
were only fair and pleasant to look upon, but have frequently taken them
for their own intrinsic worth: one as a good dairymaid, another as a
good cook, a third as a good laundress, and a fourth as a lady to grace
the parlour—perhaps even two or three of this last kind, if the Saint
were wealthy. There is a good deal of practical wisdom in this. Brother
Brigham has gathered of all sorts into his net, and has then sorted them
out, placing each lady in the position where he considered she would be
most useful and profitable to himself.
MARGARET PIERCE YOUNG.
[Number Eleven.]
Margaret Pierce Young is very lady-like, tall, and genteel. She has the
appearance of being very unhappy, and it is certain that she has been
very much neglected, but not more so than many of the other wives. She
has one son.
EMMELINE FREE YOUNG.
[Number Twelve.]
When first I went to Utah, Emmeline Free Young was the reigning
favourite, and she was really the handsomest of Brigham’s wives—tall and
graceful, with curling hair, beautiful eyes, and fair complexion. Brigham
was as fond of her, at the time, as a man of his nature, with such a low
estimate of woman, could be. But a younger, though not a handsomer, rival
soon captivated his fickle heart, and he left poor Emmeline to mourn in
sorrow. She has never been herself since then, and probably never will
be—she is a broken-hearted woman. She is the mother of quite a numerous
family, and doubtless, as she had been the favourite for so long a time,
she had come to believe that her husband would never seek another love.
But, if this was so, she sadly miscalculated Brigham, for when his
licentious fancy was attracted to another object of affection he cast off
Emmeline as ruthlessly as he would an old garment. What decent person
could refrain from loathing such a man! How often has my heart gone out
in sympathy towards that poor, wrecked woman whom he had forsaken; what a
pity I deemed it that so much love should be wasted upon a creature who
could never understand or appreciate it. And yet Emmeline’s fate has been
no worse than that of the others; but I was more with her, and saw how
keenly she suffered, and I sympathized with her when her sorrows brought
her nearly to the point of death.
AMELIA FOLSOM YOUNG.
[Number Thirteen.]
Amelia Folsom Young is now the favourite, and it is supposed that she
will continue to be so, for at last poor Brother Brigham has found a
woman of whom he stands in dread. It is doubtful whether he loves her,
but nobody in Zion doubts that he fears her. It is said that the Prophet
has confided so many of his secrets to Amelia that he is obliged to
submit to her tyranny, for fear of her leaving him, and exposing some of
his little ways which would not bear the light. Be that as it may, it is
generally believed that after all his matrimonial alliances he has at
last found his _master_ in the person of Amelia. Even good Saints—friends
of the Prophet—secretly enjoy the idea of him being at last brought under
petticoat government, for it is believed that Brigham used unfair means
to obtain her, and that at last he only gained his object by deluding
her into the belief that the Lord had revealed to him that it was her
duty to become his wife. One thing is very certain—he was as crazy over
her as a silly boy over his first love, much to the disgust of his more
sober brethren, who felt rather ashamed of the folly of their leader. At
the theatre a seat was reserved for her at his side, and in the ball-room
the same special attention was shown to her. He would open the ball, and,
after dancing with each of his other wives who might be present—simply
for appearance sake—the remainder of the evening was devoted to her. For
all that, his inconstant heart could not remain faithful to her, and old
habits and feelings, to all appearance, have come over him again, and he
has gone astray.
Julia Dean, the actress, was the first to draw him from Amelia’s side,
and it would have been a sorry day for Amelia if Julia had favoured the
Prophet’s suit. Then the charms of Mary Van Cott touched his sensitive
heart, to say nothing of Eliza-Ann, his last but yet not his best-beloved.
With all this experience, and the constant evidences of the fickleness
of Brother Brigham’s heart before her eyes, there is no wonder that poor
Amelia feels compelled to hold tight the reins, now that they are in
her own hands, for, if it is not much to be known as Brigham’s wife, it
is a great deal to be known as his favourite. As for the future, it is
whispered that Brother Brigham has lately been “setting his house in
order,” and in the ordinary course of nature, Amelia is almost certain
to outlive for many years her aged lord, she, therefore, can afford to
wait for the good time coming. But Amelia knows that she would sink into
oblivion if he were to cast her off for another before his death.
MARY VAN COTT COBB YOUNG.
[Number Fourteen.]
Mary Van Cott Cobb—who became Brigham’s wife after his marriage to
Amelia—is a very handsome woman, about twenty-eight years of age. She
is tall, slender, and graceful, and has been married to the Prophet
about six years. At first he appeared to be very devoted to her, but
Amelia soon put a stop to that. Nevertheless, she has since her marriage
presented a little daughter to her lord, greatly to the annoyance of
Amelia, who has no children. She is said to be very unhappy, and though
Brigham has provided her with a fine house and every comfort, yet she
seldom sees him—not perhaps more than once in three months, or so—though
it is generally believed that his spirit is willing, but Amelia won’t
allow it.
ELIZA-ANN WEBB DEE YOUNG.
[Number Fifteen.]
Eliza-Ann Webb Dee Young, commonly known as his “runaway wife,” is his
last wedded and nineteenth living wife. If his deceased wives were taken
into consideration she would probably be his thirtieth. In this list I
have put all the living wives who are sealed to Brigham for eternity
first, and thus I count Eliza-Ann fifteen, but had I placed the proxy
wives—who are only Brigham’s “for time,” in the list, she would, of
course, be the “nineteenth,” as she is generally called.
“MISS” ELIZA R. SNOW.
[Number Sixteen.]
“Miss” Eliza R. Snow I mention here as I have not followed the order of
date. She and the three ladies whose names I shall presently give, are
the proxy wives of Brigham, living with him.
ZINA D. HUNTINGTON JACOBS YOUNG.
[Number Seventeen.]
Zina D. Huntington Jacobs Young is another proxy wife, and a widow of
the Prophet Joseph. She, too, will have to be handed over in the day of
reckoning. She has one grown up daughter, of whom I shall presently speak
under rather interesting circumstances.
EMILY PARTRIDGE YOUNG.
[Number Eighteen.]
Emily Partridge Young is a tall, dark-eyed, handsome woman, and she also
is a “proxy” wife—a relict of Joseph. When Joseph died, Brigham told his
wives that they were at liberty to choose whom they would for husbands;
and some of them showed their appreciation of his generosity by choosing
him himself. Thus it was that Emily Partridge became Brigham’s wife. The
Prophet has dealt kindly to his brother Joseph Smith, through her, for
she has quite a family of children to be handed over with her. She was
young and handsome when the Prophet died, but perhaps it would be wrong
to suppose that that had anything to do with Brigham’s generosity to his
brother, for it is generally believed that he took all those wives of
Joseph, from pure principle.
AUGUSTA COBB YOUNG.
[Number Nineteen.]
Augusta Cobb Young is a very fine-looking woman, and must have been quite
handsome in her youthful days. As I before stated, she formerly lived in
Boston, but hearing Brigham preach, she fell in love with him, abandoned
her home, children, and husband, and, taking her youngest child with her,
went to Salt Lake City, and was married to the Prophet. It was she who,
when Brigham began to neglect her, wanted to be sealed to Christ, but was
ultimately added to the kingdom of Joseph Smith.
Now these are the Prophet’s wives—his real, living wives—nineteen in
all. How many spiritual wives he has had it would be impossible to say.
Probably he himself does not know their number.
In his habits and mode of living, Brigham Young is very simple, or at
least was so until recently. When I first knew him he dressed in plain,
home-spun, home-made, and every article about his person and his houses
was as plain and unostentatious as could possibly be. But the importation
of Gentiles and Gentile goods, since the opening of the railway, has
worked a great change. His wives, who once carried simplicity of dress
almost to the verge of dowdyism, have now acquired a taste for Eastern
fashions.
The Prophet’s first home in Utah was a little cottage which is now known
as the White House.—The same house, I believe, which was valued at sixty
thousand dollars, and which Brother Tenant supposed he bought:—a more
scandalous and barefaced robbery never was perpetrated.
This is on the hill-side, north of the Eagle Gate, and is now the
residence of his first wife, Mrs. Angell Young. The Bee-Hive House is the
official residence of Brother Brigham. There he used to reign supreme as
“Governor” Young; and thence he now issues secular and ecclesiastical
edicts to all who acknowledge his sway. There is one lady resident in
this house—Mrs. Lucy Decker Young—and no one else is permitted to intrude
upon its privacy. Here the prophet has his own private bedroom, and here
he breakfasts when he has been at home over night.
The Lion House is what ought to be the home of the Prophet, for here
nearly all his wives reside. (He has, however, many other houses in the
city.) On the basement floor is the dining-room, kitchen, pantry, and
other general offices. The first floor is divided by a long passage with
doors on each side. On the right hand, about half-a-dozen wives with
small families find accommodation. On the left, at the entrance, is
the parlour, and the other rooms on that side are occupied by mothers
with larger families, and ladies who have a little more than ordinary
attention. The upper floor is divided into twenty square bedrooms.
There is no extravagance in the furniture or apparel of these wives, but
they are comfortable and are kept neat and clean. Again and again, the
Prophet has declared that the ten-dollar fees which are obtained from the
divorces provide his wives with pin-money. I do not believe a word of
this, as the amount thus obtained is far more than the avaricious soul of
the Prophet would allow to pass out of his hands for feminine vanities.
But I know of another source of income which is open to the wives.
They are allowed all the fruit—peaches especially—which they or their
children, can gather or dry. This, in fact, is pretty nearly their only
“pin-money” their “lord” is not a generous man, and they have to make the
most of trifles.
The Prophet usually dines in the Lion House at three in the afternoon.
Mrs. Twiss Young, as I mentioned before, acts the part of housekeeper,
and she acts it well. At three punctually the bell rings, and the
mothers with their children move down to the dining-room. They are all
seated at a very long table which is lengthened by turning round at the
end of the room. Each mother has her children around her. Brigham sits
at the head of the table, with his favourite—when at home—_vis à vis_,
or on his left, and if a visitor is present he sits at the Prophet’s
right hand. The repast is frugal but ample, for Brigham is a sober and
exceedingly economical man. This is the first time he sees his family. In
the evening at seven o’clock the bell again rings, and the mothers and
the children again fill the sides and end of the parlour. When they are
all seated, the patriarch enters, takes his seat at the table and chats
quietly with those who chance to go in with him to prayers. When all the
members of the family are assembled, the door is closed. All kneel down
and the Prophet prays, invoking special blessings upon Zion and “the
kingdom.” This is the last that his family see of him for the day, unless
they have occasion to seek him privately.
With his family Brother Brigham is said to be kind; but it is supposed
to be more the awe which his position as Prophet inspires, than the love
which they bear him as a man which renders him successful in managing
them. At the same time, that sweet familiarity is destroyed which
should exist between husband and wife, father and children. With such
a number of wives, he cannot possibly wait upon them in visiting, and
in the ball-room, and other places of amusement. With the exception of
his reigning favourite, whoever for the time she may happen to be, no
one expects his attentions. At the theatre a full number of seats are
reserved, and his wives attend, or remain at home, as they please. They
sit in the body of the parquette, among the rest of the people; but one
of the two proscenium boxes is reserved for him, and beside him is a
chair for the favourite Amelia.
When he goes to the ball, the same special attention is shown. He dances
first with the favourite, and, if half-a-dozen more of his wives have
accompanied them, he will dance with each of them once in the course of
the evening; but with the favourite he dances as frequently as any youth
in the ball-room with his first maiden love. The Apostles and leading men
of the community, who dance attendance on him and desire his favour, are
sure to seek the pleasure of her hand and place her in the same cotillion
with Brigham, who is thus able all the evening to enjoy her company.
Some of the Apostles and Elders look with pain upon this boyishness of
the Prophet, and deplore it. Many of them are attached to their first
wives, and have shown them consideration and attention which has not
always pleased Brother Brigham. I have heard more than one of them,
express a wish that the Prophet had been a little more attentive to his
own first wife.