Phineas Howe Young (also found as Phinehas) (February 16, 1799 – October 10, 1879) was a prominent early convert in the Latter Day Saint movement and was later a Mormon pioneer and a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Phineas Young was an older brother of Brigham Young, who was the president of the LDS Church and the first governor of the Territory of Utah.

Life

Young was born in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, the seventh child of John Young and Abigail Howe. Early in his life, Phineas was a Methodist preacher. In 1830, Young was contacted by Samuel H. Smith, a missionary in the recently established Latter Day Saint movement. Smith sold Young a copy of the '' Book of Mormon'' and told him that it had been translated from

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by his brother Joseph Smith. Young undertook a careful study of the book and eventually passed it on to others in his family, including his brothers Brigham, Joseph and John. Brigham Young and his brothers

On April 15, 1832, Young and his brother John were

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into the Latter Day Saint

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. His brother Joseph was baptized the next day and Brigham Young was baptized approximately one week later. Phineas' wife Clarissa was also baptized about this same time. Shortly after their baptisms, Phineas Young and Joseph Young became ordained elders in the church began preaching as missionaries in

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and Upper Canada. While not on missions, Young lived with the

Latter Day Saint 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 ...

s in Kirtland, Ohio and

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, Missouri. In 1835, the Three Witnesses selected Young as one of the inaugural members of the

Quorum of the Twelve In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Quorum of the Twelve (also known as the Council of the Twelve, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Council of the Twelve Apostles, or the Twelve) is one of the governing bodies or ( quorums) of the church hie ...

. However, church president Joseph Smith insisted that his brother William Smith be selected in place of Young. In 1840, Young moved to Scott County, Illinois when the Latter Day Saints were expelled from Missouri. By 1841 he had relocated to Nauvoo. Later in 1841, Young served a mission to Cincinnati and its environs with Franklin D. Richards. Young was married to Lucy, the half-sister of Oliver Cowdery. After Cowdery was excommunicated from the church in 1838, Young wrote him several letters pleading with him to come back into the church. Young was present in Richmond, Missouri when Cowdery died. Young testified that Cowdery's last statements were on the truth of Mormonism as revealed through Joseph Smith. After Joseph Smith was killed in 1844, Young joined the majority of Latter Day Saints in accepting the leadership of Brigham Young and the

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...

. Phineas Young was among the first Mormon pioneer company to reach 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 ...

in July 1847. In this company, Young served as a captain of ten. Young settled in Salt Lake City. He went on to become a missionary in England. In 1853, he became the second counselor to

David Fullmer David Fullmer (July 7, 1803 – October 21, 1879) was an American politician, church leader, and farmer, born in Chillisquaque, Pennsylvania. He was the older brother of John S. Fullmer, another politician. Fullmer was a person of some importa ...

in the presidency of the Salt Lake

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of the church. In 1855, he was elected to a term in the House of Representatives of 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 ...

. From 1864 through 1871 Young served as the bishop of the Salt Lake City 2nd Ward. In Utah Territory, Young worked as a printer, saddler and contractor.Jenson. ''LDS Biographical Encyclopedia'', vol. 4, p. 725 Young died in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory at the age of 80.

Notes

References

* Arnold K. Garr,

Donald Q. Cannon Donald Quayle Cannon (born 1936) is a retired professor at Brigham Young University who specializes in Latter-day Saint history, particularly early Latter-day Saint history and international Latter-day Saint history. As a young man, Cannon was a ...

Richard O. Cowan Richard Olsen Cowan (born 1934) is a historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and a former professor in the Church History Department of Brigham Young University (BYU). He was one of the longest-serving BYU faculty a ...

(eds.) (2000). ''Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History'' (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book) p. 1383 *Mackay, Eleanor White
Phineas Howe Young Biograph
y. MSS SC 1073; Phineas Howe Young biography; 20th Century Western and Mormon Manuscripts; L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Phineas 1799 births 1879 deaths 19th-century Mormon missionaries American Mormon missionaries in Canada American Mormon missionaries in England American Mormon missionaries in the United States American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Burials at Salt Lake City Cemetery Converts to Mormonism from Methodism Latter Day Saints from Illinois Latter Day Saints from Massachusetts Latter Day Saints from New York (state) Latter Day Saints from Ohio Latter Day Saints from Utah Members of the Utah Territorial Legislature Mormon pioneers Religious leaders from Massachusetts Richards–Young family