Brigham Young
James Packey
Brigham Young Biographical info
Brigham young was born on June 1st, 1801 in Whitingham, Vermont. He was born into a poor farming family and was the 9th out of eleven children. When he was three his family moved to New York but he left his family at the age of 16. Brigham Young was religious and in 1823 he converted to Methodism. Seven years later he encountered the book of Mormon which would impact his life forever. He had a strong interest in this book so in 1832 he was baptized into the Mormon church. After his baptism Young dedicated the rest of his life to service the Mormon church.
The Movement
Originally after he was baptized Young traveled the country to trying to convert people to the Mormon faith. At the time the church was headed by Joseph Smith who decided to move the church to Ohio and being a faithful follower Brigham Young moved to Ohio. After a short time in Ohio the church moved to Missouri to help there fellow Mormons who were getting beaten and terrorized because of their faith. In Missouri Smith and other major leaders were arrested leaving Young as one of the only major leaders of the Mormons. As being one of the only leaders left he was in charge of over twelve thousand people and he decided to move them to Illinois. Eventually Smith escaped prison and tried to run for president which ended up getting him assassinated. This then made Brigham Young the leader of the Mormons who he would lead for over three decades. To help escape persecution Young moved the group west to Salt Lake City, Utah. In Salt Lake Young was able to permanently establish the Mormons in the west because they created there own city with an irrigation system. They also had treaties of peace with the local Native Americans. Young was successful in his movement because he moved the Mormons west to escape persecution and established a city.