Skip to main content

P. L. Williams letter to Brigham Young

 Item — Folder: 1
Identifier: Vault MSS 171

Scope and Contents

Handwritten and signed letter, dated 11 May 1877, addressed to Brigham Young, second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Williams wrote to Young concerning the divorce trial between Brigham Young and Ann Eliza Young.

Dates

  • Creation: 1877 May 11

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to use material from this collection must be obtained from Reference Services at specialcollections@byu.edu.

Biographical / Historical

Brigham Young was born on June 1, 1801, in Witingham, Vermont to John Hayden Young, Sr. and Abigail Howe. Young married Miriam Works on October 8, 1824, in Aurelius, New York. Together they had two children. He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1832, and moved to Kirtland, Ohio. Young practiced polygamy. He married his second wife, Mary Ann Angell in Kirtland, Ohio on March 31, 1834. They had six children. He followed the migration of the Church from Ohio to Missouri to Nauvoo, Illinois. While in Nauvoo, Young married his third wife, Lucy Ann Decker, in Nauvoo, Illinois on June 14, 1842. Together they had seven children. He married his fourth wife, Harriet Elizabeth Cook, in Nauvoo, Illinois on November 2, 1843. They had one child. Young married fifth his wife, Augusta Adams, in Nauvoo, Illinois on November 2, 1843. He married his sixth wife, Clarissa Clara Decker, on Nauvoo, Illinois on May 8, 1844. Together they had five children. He married his seventh wife, Clarissa Ross, in Nauvoo, Illinois on September 10, 1844. Together they had four children. He then married his eighth wife, Louisa Beman, in Nauvoo, Illinois on September 19, 1844. Together they had five children. He married his ninth wife, Elizabeth Fairchild, in Nauvoo, Illinois. He married his tenth wife, Eliza Roxey Snow, in Nauvoo, Illinois on October 3, 1844. He married his eleventh wife, Clarissa Blake, in Nauvoo, Illinois on October 8, 1844. Young married his twelfth wife, Rebecca Greenleaf Holman, in Nauvoo, Illinois on October 9, 1844. He married his thirteenth wife, Diana Severance Chase, in Nauvoo, Illinois on October 10, 1844. He married his fourteenth wife, Susanna Snively, in Nauvoo, Illinois on October 31, 1844. They had one child together. He married his fifteenth wife, Emily Dow Partridge, in Nauvoo, Illinois in November 1844. They had seven children together. He married his sixteenth wife, Olive Gray Frost, in Nauvoo, Illinois on November 7, 1844. He married his seventeenth wife, Mary Harvey Pierce, in Nauvoo, Illinois on January 16, 1845. He married his eighteenth wife, Margaret Pierce, in Nauvoo, Illinois on January 16, 1845. They had one child. He married his nineteenth wife, Emeline Free, in Nauvoo, Illinois on April 30, 1845. Together they had ten children. He married his twentieth wife, Mary Elizabeth Rollins, in Nauvoo, Illinois on May 22, 1845. He married his twenty-first wife, Margaret Maria Alley, in Nauvoo, Illinois on January 14, 1846. They had two children together. He married his twenty-second wife, Olive Andrews, in Nauvoo, Illinois on January 15, 1846. He married his twenty-third wife, Ellen Rockwood, in Nauvoo, Illinois on January 21, 1846. He married his twenty-fourth wife, Martha Bowker, in Nauvoo, Illinois on January 21, 1846. Together they had one child. Young married his twenty-fifth wife, Jemima Angell, in Nauvoo, Illinois on January 28, 1846. He married his twenty-sixth wife, Phoebe Ann Morton, in Nauvoo, Illinois on January 28, 1846. He married his twenty-seventh wife, Cynthia Porter, in Nauvoo, Illinois on January 28, 1846. Young married his twenty-eighth wife, Abigail Marks, in Nauvoo, Illinois on January 28, 1846. He married his twenty-ninth wife, Mary Eliza Nelson, in Nauvoo, Illinois on January 31, 1846. He married his thirtieth wife, Rhoda Richards, in Nauvoo, Illinois on January 31, 1846. He married his thirty-first wife, Zina Diantha Huntington, in Nauvoo, Illinois on February 2, 1846. Together they had one child. He married his thirty-second wife, Julia Foster, in Nauvoo, Illinois on February 3, 1846. He married his thirty-third wife, Abigail Harbach, in Nauvoo, Illinois on February 3, 1846. Young married his thirty-fourth wife, Mary Ann Turley, in Nauvoo, Illinois on February 3, 1846. He married his thirty fifth wife, Amey Cecilia Cooper, in Nauvoo, Illinois on February 3, 1846. Young married his thirty-sixth wife, Mary Allen De La Montagnie, in Nauvoo, Illinois on February 3, 1846. He married his thirty-seventh wife, Nancy Cressy, in Nauvoo, Illinois on February 6, 1846. Young married his thirty-eighth wife, Naamah Kendel Jenkins Carter, in Nauvoo, Illinois on February 6, 1846. In February 1846, he led the "Mormon Exodus" to the West. While waiting in Winter Quarters, Nebraska, Young married his thirty-ninth wife, Jane Terry, on February 10, 1847. He married his fortieth wife, Mary Jane Bigelow, in Winter Quarters, Nebraska on March 20, 1847. He married his forty-first wife, Lucy Bigelow, in Winter Quarters, Nebraska on March 20, 1847. They had three children together. He married his forty-second wife, Sarah Malin, in Winter Quarters, Nebraska on April 18, 1848. Young was sustained as the second president of the Church on December 27, 1847. Arriving in Utah, he settled in Salt Lake City. In 1849, Young was appointed as governor of Utah Territory. He married his forty-third wife, Eliza Burgess on October 3, 1852. They had one child. He married his forty-fourth wife, Mary Oldfield, in Salt Lake City, Utah on December 16, 1852. He married his forty-fifth wife, Eliza Babcock, approximately 1853. Young married his forty-sixth wife, Catherine Reese, in Salt Lake City, Utah on June 10, 1855. He married his forty-seventh wife, Harriet Emeline Barney, in Salt Lake City, Utah on March 14, 1856. They had one child. Young married his forty-eighth wife, Harriet Amelia Folsom, in Salt Lake City, Utah on January 24, 1863. He married his forty-ninth wife, Ann Eliza Webb, in Salt Lake City, Utah on April 7, 1868. Young married his fiftieth wife, Mary Van Cott, in Salt Lake City, Utah on June 8, 1868. They had one child together. He married his fifty-first wife, Elizabeth Jones, in Salt Lake City, Utah on July 3, 1869. He married his fifty-second wife, Lydia Farnsworth, in Salt Lake City, Utah on May 8, 1870. Young passed away on August 29, 1877, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Biographical / Historical

P.L. Williams was a member of congress, a stockholder in the Utah and Nevada Railroad, and an attorney.

Extent

3 sheets ; 25 x 20 cm

Language of Materials

English

Appraisal

19th Century Western and Mormon Manuscripts.

Processing Information

Processed; Jamie Wiser; 2024.

Title
Register of P. L. Williams letter to Brigham Young
Status
Under Revision
Author
Rose Frank
Date
2011 October 4
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English in Latin script.

Repository Details

Part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Repository

Contact:
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo Utah 84602 United States