Brigham Young was born on June 1, 1801 in Witingham, Vermont. He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1832, and moved to Kirtland, Ohio. He followed the migration of the Church from Ohio to Missouri to Nauvoo, Illinois. In February 1846 he led the Mormon exodus to the West and was sustained as the second president of the Church on December 27, 1847. Arriving in Utah he settled in Salt Lake City, and in 1849 was appointed as governor of Utah Territory. Young passed away on August 29, 1877 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Mahonri Mackintosh Young was born on August 9, 1877 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Mahonri Moriancumer Young and Agnes Mackintosh. He was a grandson of Brigham Young. He developed a deep interest in art from an early age, and quit his formal schooling to pursue art studies. He studied at the Académie Julian in Paris from 1901-1905. Due to financial troubles, he returned to Salt Lake City. He married Cecilia Sharp in 1907. They subsequently moved to New York in 1910 to further Mahonri's career opportunities. Cecilia died of cancer 1917. Mahonri would later marry Dorothy Weir in 1931.

Though he ceased being active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when he was young, Mahonri maintained a relationship with the Church, and was commissioned several times to create sculptures for them. The most famous of these are the This is the Place Monument and Seagull Monument. Primary places of residence included Salt Lake City, Utah; New York City; Paris, France; and Branchville, Connecticut. After suffering an ulcer attack coupled with pneumonia, he died on November 2, 1957 in Norwalk, Connecticut.