__NOTOC__Joseph Young (April 7, 1797 – July 16, 1881) was an early convert to the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...

and was a missionary and longtime general authority of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church). He was an elder brother of

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...

Early life

Young was born in

Hopkinton, Massachusetts Hopkinton is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, west of Boston. The town is best known as the starting point of the Boston Marathon, held annually on Patriots' Day each April, and as the headquarters for the Dell EMC corpo ...

on April 7, 1797, the seventh child born to John Young and Abigail Howe. In 1830, while he was a preacher for the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

, Young was introduced to the doctrine of the

Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * When used in the plural, a New Testament designation for local groups of people following the teachings of Jesus Christ: "...all the churches of Christ greet you", Romans 16:16. * The entire body of Ch ...

by his younger brother Brigham. Joseph eventually abandoned the Methodist faith and was

baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

a member of the Church of Christ by Daniel Bowen in

Columbia, Pennsylvania Columbia, formerly Wright's Ferry, is a borough (town) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 10,222. It is southeast of Harrisburg, on the east (left) bank of the Susquehanna River, ac ...

, on April 6, 1832; Brigham followed his brother and became a member of the church one week later. Later in April 1832, Joseph was ordained to the priesthood office of elder by Ezra Landon. Immediately following his ordination, Young began a

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

for the church, preaching in Canada in the spring and summer of 1832 with his brother Phineas for four months.

Missions

In the fall of 1832, Young joined the gathering of Latter Day Saints in

Kirtland, Ohio Kirtland is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 6,937 at the 2020 census. Kirtland is known for being the early headquarters of the Latter Day Saint movement from 1831 to 1837 and is the site of the movement's first t ...

, where he met

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...

, the founder of the church. Shortly after arriving in Kirtland, Smith asked Young to depart on another mission for the church to Upper Canada, which he served over the winter months of 1832 and 1833 with his brother Brigham. On February 18, 1834, Young married Jane Adeline Bicknell in

Geneseo, New York Geneseo is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Livingston County, New York, Livingston County in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, United States. It is at the south end of the five-county Rochester metropol ...

. The couple would eventually have eleven children, including daughters Jane Adeline, Julia Ann Vilate, and Chloe Eliza, as well as sons Joseph Bicknell, Seymour Bicknell, and Marcus LeGrand.

Seventy

Young accompanied Joseph Smith and others in a journey to

Independence, Missouri Independence is the fifth-largest city in Missouri and the county seat of Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson County. Independence is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metro ...

, in 1834 as part of

Zion's Camp Zion's Camp was an expedition of Latter Day Saints led by Joseph Smith, from Kirtland, Ohio, to Clay County, Missouri, during May and June 1834 in an unsuccessful attempt to regain land from which the Saints had been expelled by non-Mormon settle ...

. In 1835, Smith selected Young to be one of the leaders of the

Seventy 70 (seventy) is the natural number following 69 and preceding 71. In mathematics 70 is: * a sphenic number because it factors as 3 distinct primes. * a Pell number. * the seventh pentagonal number. * the fourth tridecagonal number. * the fif ...

of the church. Young was ordained to the Seventy on February 28. He then became a president of the First Quorum of the Seventy on March 1, 1835. After it was discovered that the senior president of the Seventy,

Hazen Aldrich Hazen Aldrich (January 10, 1797 – 1873) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. After the death of Joseph Smith, Aldrich went on to lead a small denomination of Latter Day Saints known as the '' Brewsterites''. Biography Aldric ...

, had previously been ordained to the office of

high priest The term "high priest" usually refers either to an individual who holds the office of ruler-priest, or to one who is the head of a religious caste. Ancient Egypt In ancient Egypt, a high priest was the chief priest of any of the many gods rever ...

, Aldrich surrendered his position in the quorum. As a result, Young became the senior or seventh president of the Seventy. He would retain this position in the church from 1835 until his death. As a Seventy, Young served several more missions for the church, including one to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

with Burr Riggs in 1835 and one to his relatives in the eastern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

with his brother Brigham in 1836. Young participated in many significant events in early Latter Day Saint history. He was present at the dedication of the

Kirtland Temple The Kirtland Temple is a National Historic Landmark in Kirtland, Ohio, United States, on the eastern edge of the Cleveland metropolitan area. Owned and operated by the Community of Christ, formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of La ...

in 1836 and participated in the

Kirtland Safety Society The Kirtland Safety Society (KSS) was first proposed as a bank in 1836, and eventually organized on January 2, 1837, as a joint stock company, by leaders and followers of the Church of the Latter Day Saints. According to KSS's 1837 "Articles of ...

. Young was also present at Haun's Mill, Missouri, when it was attacked by those who opposed the Mormon presence in Missouri. He left Missouri with the Latter Day Saints in consequence of the extermination order which had been issued by Lilburn W. Boggs. Young relocated

Quincy, Illinois Quincy ( ), known as Illinois's "Gem City", is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Illinois, United States, located on the Mississippi River. The 2020 census counted a population of 39,463 in the city itself, down from 40,633 in 2010. ...

for a brief time before settling in

Nauvoo, Illinois Nauvoo ( ; from the ) is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States, on the Mississippi River near Fort Madison, Iowa. The population of Nauvoo was 950 at the 2020 census. Nauvoo attracts visitors for its historic importance and its ...

in 1840, where he worked as a painter. Young also joined the

Nauvoo Legion The Nauvoo Legion was a state-authorized militia of the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, United States. With growing antagonism from surrounding settlements it came to have as its main function the defense of Nauvoo, and surrounding Latter Day Saint ...

in 1842. Young received his endowment in Nauvoo on February 3, 1844, just months before Joseph Smith was killed. He was selected by Smith as an inaugural member of the

Council of Fifty "The Council of Fifty" (also known as "the Living Constitution", "the Kingdom of God", or its name by revelation, "The Kingdom of God and His Laws with the Keys and Power thereof, and Judgment in the Hands of His Servants, Ahman Christ") was a La ...

on March 1, 1845. At the time Smith was killed, Young was campaigning on behalf of Smith's bid for the

presidency of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

. Like many early Latter Day Saints, Young practiced

plural marriage Polygamy (called plural marriage by Latter-day Saints in the 19th century or the Principle by modern fundamentalist practitioners of polygamy) was practiced by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for more tha ...

. On January 16, 1846, he was married to Lucinda Allen and Lydia Caroline Hagar, in the

Nauvoo Temple The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.''Manuscript History of the Church'', LDS Church Archives, book A-1, p. 37; reproduced in Dean C. Jessee (comp.) (1989). ''The Papers of Jose ...

. Soon to follow was Mary Ann Huntley on February 6, 1846. Later, on 7 April 1868 he married Sarah Jane Snow, and Elizabeth Stevens on November 28, 1868.Individual Record:
Joseph Young. familysearch.org Young would eventually father a total of twenty-one children.

Later life in Utah

Young and his four wives left Illinois in 1846 and settled in

Winter Quarters, Nebraska Winter Quarters was an encampment formed by approximately 2,500 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they waited during the winter of 1846–47 for better conditions for their trek westward. It followed a preliminary ten ...

, and later Carterville, Iowa. He and his wives left Carterville in 1850 to join the Latter Day Saints who had followed his brother Brigham to the

Salt Lake Valley Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably Murray, Sandy, South Jordan, West Jordan, and West Valley City; its total po ...

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state. ...

. Young arrived in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

in September 1850. The Youngs travelled in the William Snow/Joseph Young Company, with Young acting as a captain of the group. In 1870, Young served a final mission for the church to the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

. He also served in the

Utah Territorial legislature The Utah State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. It is a bicameral body, comprising the Utah House of Representatives, with 75 state representatives, and the Utah Senate, with 29 state senators. There are no term ...

. He died in

on July 16, 1881 at the age of 84. At the time of his death, Young had served as a general authority or a missionary of the church for nearly fifty years.

References

* *Flake, Lawrence R. ''Mighty Men of Zion: General Authorities of the Last Dispensation''. Salt Lake City: Karl D. Butler, 1974. *Jenson, Andrew. ''

Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia ''Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'' (abbreviated ''LDS Biographical Encyclopedia'') is a four-volume biographical dic ...

''. Vol. 1. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Company, 1901.

External links

Grampa Bill's G.A. Pages: Joseph YoungJoseph Young and Seymour B. Young Papers
L. Tom Perry Special Collections,

Harold B. Lee Library The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Gr ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...