By Rex Jensen
[An edited version of this article first appeared in the July, 1993 Ensign and is reprinted here with edited material restored.]
THE STORY OF MARY ANN ANGELL YOUNG
"What thou biddest Unargued I obey; so God ordains, God is thy law; thou mine; to know no more is woman's happiest knowledge and her praise."
John Milton
THE PREPARATORY YEARS
The Lord has placed on earth some saints, both men and women, who are extraordinarily strong and steady, sure and unswerving. These are saints that cannot and must not be forgotten. Unaffected by the trouble, turmoil and wickedness going on around them they are shining lights to the rest of us who need direction, example, and the inspiration of true gospel living. Mary Ann Angell Young was such a woman.
Mary Ann was Brigham Young's second wife. He married her shortly after the death of his first wife, Miriam Works, who died of chronic tuberculosis on September 8, 1832. Mary Ann was married to Brigham for forty five years and demonstrated extraordinary patience, faithfulness and service throughout her life. She endured all the worst persecution of the early days of the church without murmuring or criticizing, and she never faltered.
"My people must be tried in all things," said the Lord to Brigham Young. If ever anyone understood trials and suffering, it was Mary Ann. And like Nephi, she could declare, "and I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions." (1 Nephi 18:16) And she understood from experience, the words of the Lord to Isaiah, "I have refined thee...I have chosen then in the furnace of affliction." (Isaiah 48:10) And only in the light of such truth is the sting of suffering taken away.
Her life is a testament to this one truth: faithfulness to God and his truths is sufficient reason to endure unending hardships and trials. The enticings of this world, however great, are never sufficient to abandon or compromise the great cause of Christ.
Born in Seneca, Ontario County, New York on June 8, 1803, Mary Ann was reared under the wise hand of parents and relatives who knew God. Her parents, James W. Angell and Phebe Morton Angell, had descended from Puritans. She was reared in a strong religious environment and seemed to have many positive religious experiences well before being exposed to the restored gospel. Mary Ann "became a member of the Free Will Baptists...Her study of the scriptures, especially the prophecies, so engrossed her mind, that she confidently looked for their fulfillment, in consequence of which she resolved never to marry until she should 'meet a man of God,'."1 She was described as a pious, "fine-looking, intelligent...portly and dignified"2 woman. Another, described her as "a cultured woman...tall, had dark hair...and thought before she spoke."3
She heard and believed the Gospel in Providence, Rhode Island in 1831, but "was finally baptized, along with her parents, by John P. Greene." in Avon, New York in 1832.4 It seems the Book of Mormon had a significant role in her conversion to Mormonism. She testified that when she took the Book of Mormon in her hands for the first time, "the spirit bore witness of its truth" and she never doubted its divine origin.
Mary Ann and Brigham met in Kirtland, Ohio. After hearing each other's testimonies they courted briefly and were married by Sidney Rigdon on February 18, 1834. Mary Ann now had her "man of god" for which she had waited. Mary Ann was a mature thirty years old when she married Brigham and settled in immediately to her duties as wife and mother in Kirtland.
TRIALS BEGIN IN KIRTLAND
Although both Brigham and Mary Ann had endured hardship throughout their lives, neither had yet been the object of persecution, hatred and even threats of bodily harm and death. Mary Ann hardly had time to organize her home before serious troubles with mobs were reported in Ohio and Missouri.
In late December of 1837, Joseph Smith removed "between forty and fifty" dissenters in what Brigham Young termed "a high and mighty pruning". This action brought persecution to Brigham Young who had testified against many of the dissenters and strongly defended the Prophet. His life was soon in jeopardy. Subsequently, on December 22, 1837 he fled Kirtland. Shortly thereafter Joseph and Sidney Rigdon were forced to flee Kirtland in the night of January 12, 1838.5
"Meanwhile, until friends took Mary Ann west, she and the children were terrorized by apostates who frequented their property, `pretending to believe' that Brigham was `hid up there.' They used threats and vile language that undid her emotions until her health became frail. This was...her...severest trial."6
Following Brigham's departure from Kirtland, Mary Ann was on her own. By February she loaded her children, and what few possessions the mob had left her, and while still suffering from "consumption" (tuberculosis) "went by private conveyance the first hundred miles to Wellsville, [Ohio] and the remainder of the distance by steamboats to Richmond, Mo."7 "Worn out with travel and the fatigue of having the sole care of her children, when her husband met her he was so astonished and shocked at the change in her appearance that his first exclamation was, 'You look as if you were almost in your grave.'"8
Brigham now devoted himself to Mary Ann in an attempt to restore her to good health. The Lord knew her condition and her need for relief and care. On April 17, 1838, Joseph Smith received a revelation relieving Brigham from serious church responsibilities.9 This allowed him to care primarily for his family and his ailing wife. Brigham stated that Mary Ann's life was "despaired of for a long time."10 Indeed, he would spend most of his year in Missouri tending to Mary Ann and nursing her back to health.
Tensions and hostility between Mormons and non-Mormons were seething beneath the surface before Brigham and Mary Ann arrived in Missouri. In August of 1838 violence erupted, and by the end of October the Mormons would be forced from their homes once again.
"On February 14, in the bitter winter cold, with his and Heber's families and several others, Brigham [and Mary Ann] departed Far West."11 It was mid-winter and cold, most saints walked, having had their wagons and animals confiscated by the mobs and the state.
During this exodus Brigham "would take her and her little ones a short distance, and with such help as he could get, would return and gather up the poorer and more destitute of the brethren and sisters, the widows and helpless orphans of those who had fallen victims at the hands of the mob, and help them forward upon their journey."12 He would then repeat the process, move Mary Ann forward and go back for more of the poorer saints.
The journey is described as dangerous and traumatic. "Slowly, by great exertion, and facing frostbite, illness, and threats to their lives, they made their way east."13 In this leap frog fashion, Brigham moved the saints across Missouri, arriving in Atlas, Pike County, Illinois by early March, 1839.
Through such tribulation Mary Ann demonstrated that she was one of the great, faithful and strong women of the restoration. Her character never failed her, her faith never faltered. Whatever weaknesses she may have had, they did not allow her to complain or grumble or to lose faith. She endured her hardships and her suffering with great steadiness and acceptance.
ALONE ON THE MISSISSIPPI
On September 4, 1839 Mary Ann bore her fourth child (and Brigham's sixth), Emma Alice, in Montrose in the "old army barracks". With his entire family ill at Montrose, Brigham, also very ill, left ten days later on September 14th, on a mission to England.
One commentator who looked favorably upon Mary Ann and was in awe of her strength and character admonished, "Think of this noble example of faith and devotion, ye daughters of Zion who repine and murmur when enjoying all the comforts and luxuries of the present day in the full tide of prosperity; and seek to emulate the courage and heroism maintained by Sister Young on some of these grand occasions."14
Between Nauvoo and Montrose, the Mississippi river is a mile wide, with a small island about midway. The large gentle flow at the horseshoe bend of the river rounding Nauvoo ended in rapids only two hundred yards south of Parley Street. Necessity now required Mary Ann to cross the Mississippi River to Nauvoo to obtain the "barest necessaries of life". Such a crossing was something to fear, especially considering that she would make it in a small "open skiff" (a small rowboat).
In late November of 1839, with Mary Ann still weak and suffering from the ague (malaria), her family was facing starvation. With her children crying for food, she made the decision to cross the river by herself.
It was mid-afternoon as Mary Ann tossed a tattered blanket into the boat and wrapped another around herself and Emma Alice. A winter storm had come up and a stiff northwestern wind was now sweeping across the river. She was "thinly clad", with only a cotton dress, an old shawl and the tattered wool blanket to cover her weakened frame.
As the boat moved out into the stream, the waves, whipped by the wind would rhythmically spray across the bow, soaking both herself and Emma Alice. She took courage as she crossed above Goat Island, but her arms were already weak and tired. She called upon God for strength and with her eye on the shore, sliced the oars through the November waters. Mary Ann was both weak and grateful to God that afternoon as she waded ashore at Nauvoo after more than an hour of hard rowing.
"Sister Young came into my house in Nauvoo with her baby Alice in her arms, almost fainting with cold and hunger, and dripping wet with spray from crossing the river in an open skiff. I did not question her, but made her a cup of tea immediately and gave her something to eat;...I tried to persuade her to stay, but she refused saying, 'the children at home are hungry too.'" The aged host never forgot "how she looked that day, shivering with cold and thinly clad. I kept the baby while she went to the tithing office. She came back with a few potatoes and a little flour, for which she seemed very grateful, and taking her baby with the parcels she had to carry, weak as she was from ague and fever wended her way to the river bank."15
Mary Ann once again pushed herself away from the shore and with snow falling, arched her back against the river. As she pulled Alice close and struggled to keep the flour dry, she pulled hard on the oars, and weakened as she was, began to shake from the ague. Calling upon God and upon her strong New England will, she sat back against the oars and pulled for shore.
At last, almost miraculously, she felt the boat scrape against the far shore. Snow was still falling and the river spray had frozen in her hair. Thoroughly soaked and shaking from the fever and the cold, she stumbled ashore, pulling the boat after her and walked up stream to the barracks where she knew her children were still hungry.
MORE SORROW IN NAUVOO
Sometime before Brigham returned from his mission to England, "Mary Ann...left the barracks apartment in Montrose and ...moved to an unfinished log cabin on a lot in Nauvoo that adjoined the residence of Vinson Knight,...[near] the original Nauvoo residence of Joseph Smith, and the site of the 'Mansion House,'".16
After Brigham's return from England and while living in the log cabin, Brigham became ill with what is believed to be scarlet fever. It was winter and the cabin had no door. A blanket was hung over the door but when the wind blew, the blanket had to be held. "When the fever left me on the 18th day, I was bolstered up in my chair, but was so near gone that I could not close my eyes, which were set in my head--my chin dropped down and my breath stopped. My wife [Mary Ann], seeing my situation, threw some cold water in my face, that having no effect, she dashed a handful of strong camphor into my face and eyes, which I did not feel in the least,..She then held my nostrils between her thumb and finger, and placing her mouth directly over mine, blew into my lungs until she filled them with air. This set my lungs in motion, and I again began to breathe."17
But where did Mary Ann learn the mouth to mouth technique? It is presumably a twentieth century medical development. She undoubtedly received revelation on the spot so that Brigham could be revived and live to fulfill his important mission.
Life for Mary Ann was sweet and good for only a short time. Brigham was able to build a new home in Nauvoo (now fully restored) for Mary Ann and their children, and a degree of peace and prosperity surrounded the growing city of Nauvoo. But this peace was only temporary. Mobs and political opposition soon combined to force the saints from their homes in mid-winter.
TRIALS ON THE TRAIL WEST
On February 15, 1846, Mary Ann and Brigham Young, drove their wagons down Parley Street, known as "the trail of tears", "with his family, and others proceeded to the 'Camps of Israel,' as they were styled by the saints, which waited on the west side of the river,".18
It was on February 25th, that Brigham and Mary Ann, and their company, left Sugar Creek, Iowa in a snow storm with the temperature hovering at twenty below zero. With a "sheet iron stove" burning "In most of the wagons" the company travelled to the Des Moines River, near Farmington, Iowa, and camped for the night. Brigham Young ordered out the band and their instruments and the saints sang and danced in the freezing cold. The town of Farmington heard the band and came to investigate the noise. What they saw was beyond belief. Here in the cold, and snow, the saints were singing and dancing and making themselves merry. So impressed were the town folk that the band was invited to Farmington to play.19
Mary Ann was frequently called upon to use her nursing skills. She had hardly more than arrived in Council Bluffs when Brigham asked her to nurse a sickly Thomas L. Kane back to health. She also nursed Eliza R. Snow to good health. Eliza had left Nauvoo in poor health and it was only after Mary Ann could devote some of her healing time to her and Thomas Kane that they recovered and were restored to good health.20 "Sister Young performed a noble mission; there was sickness in almost every log cabin in the settlement, and provisions were scarce and comforts there were none to speak of. Sister Young would be among the Saints inquiring into their needs and bestowing medicine and attention wherever she could. She was an angel of mercy in very deed in many instances, and hundreds of the saints have reason to cherish her memory for these acts of kindness and sweet charity."21
Mary Ann did not leave Winter Quarters for the Great Salt Lake Valley with Brigham in the spring of 1847. She would remain behind for now, caring for the children and Brigham's other wives left behind. But after only three weeks in the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham returned to Council Bluffs.
On May 26, 1848, Brigham and Mary Ann "left Winter Quarters", Brigham for the second time and the "fifth time [he] had left...home and property".22 for Salt Lake Valley. "Young travelled by carriage with Mary Ann, keeping track of both his large family and the company as a whole. Brigham Jr., then twelve years old, helped out by driving an ox team."23 Mary Ann first set foot on Salt Lake Valley soil on September 20, 1848. She and Brigham had missed the excitement caused by the invasion of millions of giant "Mormon Crickets" the previous summer and the subsequent miraculous rescue by the seagulls.
AT REST IN THE SALT LAKE VALLEY
Mary Ann "rejoiced that she was to find rest, and peace, and freedom from persecution in these mountain vales, though far remote from the borders of civilization."24 "...here after her arrival, in common with others, she passed through serious hardships...[and] baked bread to distribute among the Indians". Later "after...days of privation and scarcity...and...living in a very humble cot",25 Brigham built several small adobe houses "just east of the Temple Block." Later "Mary Ann and her family were provided a temporary residence separate from other family members in a structure known as the Corn Crib."26
But the "Corn Crib" was only temporary. In 1854 "he [Brigham] built her a more commodious residence, dubbed 'the white house', located to the west and somewhat distant from the Young family compound."27
"Sister Young was very proud of her family and well she might be; her daughters-in-law, as well as her own daughter, helped to make the 'White House on the Hill,' a popular resort for the young people of the city, as well as foreigners for many years; but this true mother's great ambition was that her children should be good Latter-day Saints; all her teaching and instruction to them was to this effect enjoining upon them, that whatever circumstances they might be placed in, they should never make a denial of their faith, but remain firm and steadfast to the gospel they had embraced."28
In 1854 Brigham Young completed the Beehive House, "a large, two-story structure...Constructed of adobe and painted a pale yellow with green shutters,...Mary Ann was the first and, until 1860, the only wife to live there. The Beehive House replaced the White House as Young's own official residence."29 The majority of Brigham's other wives lived next door in the Lion House.
THE TRIAL OF SORROW
On August 29, 1877 Brigham Young suffered a ruptured appendix and died suddenly. Mary Ann would live alone for another five years before she would pass away. But she busied herself, as always, by caring for the poor and those with special needs.
"The poor were her especial care and none were turned empty away, who appealed to her for relief or comfort.", and "Her great faith, no doubt, helped in many instances to accomplish what seemed more than human efforts could avail."
"About two years previous to her demise, Sister Young suffered considerably with bodily ailments, but was not thought dangerously ill until two or three months previous to her death. During this time she suffered severe pain which she bore with great patience and the most perfect resignation to the will of her heavenly Father."30 "Humble and unassuming in her daily life, true in friendship, and unfaltering to the principles of truth she had espoused and for which she had made such willing sacrifices, thus she continued to be until the end of her earthly pilgrimage."
This stout and sturdy woman of courage was praised by many of her contemporaries, including Emmeline B. Wells, who said of Mary Ann; "There was no assumption of power in her manner, no arrogance, she simply accepted the honors with the modesty of the old fashioned Puritan mother. All her nature and inherited ideas revolted at the thought of show, or of doing things for the sake of appearances, [she] shrank from notoriety...[she was] one who had made tremendous sacrifices for principle, and had such unbounded integrity, such implicit faith and confidence in the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his successors in office."31
The Woman's Exponent, a Utah women's publication, said of Mary Ann that, "Her life was a labor of love, rich in good deeds that can never die, whose fragrance will be ever fresh in the hearts and memories of those who loved her, and who have received blessings at her hands."32
Of testimonies of Christ, the restored gospel and the living prophets, there are none stronger than that borne by Mary Ann. She states with certainty that "she knows Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that Brigham Young is his rightful successor, by testimony upon testimony of the fulfillment of prophecies uttered by these leaders of the people. I know it for myself, and I bear this testimony to all the world, that this is the everlasting Gospel, revealed by the power of God's inspiration and the visitation of angels in the dispensation of the fullness of times;"33
Finally, while in her beloved "...White House on the Hill...to which she was fondly attached", at "9 o'clock on the evening of June 27th, 1882, at the advanced age of seventy-nine years.", she passed away. "She was buried by the side of her distinguished husband and companion," in the family cemetery a block east of state street.
Of Mary Ann's faithfulness there is no question. Of her willingness to suffer all for the gospel's sake, her life is a testimony. That she has qualified herself for the highest reward of heaven is not debatable. Mary Ann's funeral was not one filled with sorrow and mourning but was a quiet tribute to the passing of one of the greatest women of the latter-day restoration.
Many of the noblest lives have been lived in obscurity and in poverty.
Nobility and virtue are never dependent upon surroundings.
From Heroines Of Mormondom
