After guiding Mormon pioneers from Illinois to the Salt Lake Valley to escape religious persecution, Brigham Young built the Beehive House for his large family. Here are 10 things I learned about him by touring the Beehive House.

Along busy South Temple in downtown Salt Lake City, behind a beautifully-maintained entry yard, the Beehive House sits in the shadow of the Salt Lake Temple. Designed by the same architect as the temple, the Beehive House was Brigham Young’s first home in Utah. In a free, 30-minute tour led by two missionaries, I learned 10 things about the Beehive House and the famous Utahn who lived there.

Fun Fact: Truman Angell, the architect who designed the Salt Lake Temple and Beehive House, was Brigham Young’s brother-in-law.

1 – Brigham Young Was a Carpenter

Born to a farming family in Vermont in 1801, Brigham Young didn’t have much formal education. His mother died when he was 14, and Brigham Young left home to work as a traveling carpenter, blacksmith, painter, and landscape gardener. On the Beehive House tour, you’ll get to see Brigham Young’s carpentry tools with his initials stamped on the handles.

2 – He Was Methodist Before He Became Mormon

Brigham Young converted to the Methodist faith when he was 22.  But after Joseph Smith’s Book of Mormon was published in 1830, Brigham Young studied it for two years and converted to the Church of Latter Day Saints (the LDS Church or Mormon Church) when he was 31. Once joining the LDS Church, Young was a very active member.

 

3 – Brigham Young Led the Mormon Church After Joseph Smith’s Assassination

When church founder, Joseph Smith, was murdered while in police custody in Carthage, Illinois, Brigham Young was chosen to lead the Mormon Church. He served in this role until his death in 1877.

4 – He Led the Mormon Migration from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah

Brigham Young was nicknamed “The American Moses” as he led 16,000 Mormon men, women and children out of Illinois to the “promised land” of the Salt Lake Valley to escape religious persecution in the Midwest between 1846 and 1852

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5 – He Had Many Wives and Even More Children

Brigham Young married his first wife, Miriam Works, when he was 23. Tragically, Miriam died at the young age of 26. Young married Mary Anne Angell in 1834, and they had six children together. Young married his first plural wife, Lucy Ann Decker, nearly a decade later after she was abandoned by her non-Mormon husband. Brigham Young ultimately had 55 wives, fathering 59 children with 16 of them.

Pro Tip:  If you’re visiting Salt Lake City with your children, here’s a fantastic list of things to do in Salt Lake City with teens.

Fun Fact:  The Lion House that sits right next door to the Beehive House was also built by Brigham Young to house his large family.  Today the building is a restaurant, the Lion House Pantry, serving meals from recipes passed down through generations.

Pro Tip:  Here’s what is being served today at the Lion House Pantry.

 

6 – Brigham Young Was the First Governor of Utah

Once in Utah, Brigham Young worked hard to establish a community in the high desert of the Salt Lake Valley. They called the area Deseret, which means “Land of the Honey Bee.” The valley was chosen because it was fertile enough that they could farm the land and be self-sufficient but was not so desirable that other pioneers would disturb their tight-knit, religious community.

When Utah became a territory in 1851, Brigham Young served as the governor for six years while also residing as the president of the LDS Church. A hard worker himself, Young’s respect for industriousness is what inspired the name of the Beehive House.  As a symbol of a productive community, the beehive also inspired Utah’s state nickname, the Beehive State.

 

7 – He Was Also the First Superintendent of Indian Affairs

Deseret was located between two, large Native American tribes, the Ute to the south and the Shoshone to the north.  Brigham Young had a strong relationship with Native Americans. The Mormon faith teaches believers that Native Americans should be treated with respect because they are descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of ancient Israel.

In addition to these religious beliefs, Brigham Young also realized that it was cheaper to feed the Native Americans than to fight them, so Mormon settlers shared their farming knowledge with the Utes and Shoshone. The two groups — Native Americans and Mormon settlers — were united in their shared desire to keep other settlers out of the area.

 

8 – Young Was a Strong Advocate for Women’s Suffrage

Across the country, American women weren’t granted the right to vote until the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920. But the women of Utah were given the right to vote twice. In 1870, with the support of former Utah governor Brigham Young, women in the Utah territory were given the right to vote by the territorial legislature. Sadly, the US Congress revoked this right in 1887 in an attempt to eradicate the practice of polygamy. The right to vote was restored to the women of Utah in 1895 when it was written into the constitution of the new state.

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Fun Fact:  Behind the Utah Capitol stands a sculpture of Martha Hughes Cannon. A physician, suffragist, and women’s rights advocate, Dr. Cannon was the first female state senator elected in the United States. At a time when most women couldn’t even cast a vote, Dr. Cannon defeated her own husband to win her state senate seat.

 

9 – He Started the Construction of the Salt Lake Temple

Shortly after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young identified the site of the Salt Lake Temple. Construction began in 1853, with oxen hauling blocks of stone from nearby Little Cottonwood Canyon. By wagon, each trip took four days. When the Transcontinental Railroad was completed approximately 15 years into the project, things got much easier.  

It took 40 years to build the Salt Lake Temple. Unfortunately, Brigham Young died in 1877, 16 years before it was completed, so he never got to see it finished.

Fun Fact:  Brigham Young also led the construction of the Mormon Tabernacle, the home of the world-famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

 

10 – Brigham Young Founded Two Universities

While he didn’t have much formal education himself, Brigham Young believed in the importance of education. He founded Brigham Young University and the University of Deseret which is now the University of Utah.

 

To Visit the Beehive House in Salt Lake City, Utah

The Beehive House is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. Free tours are approximately 30 minutes long and offered regularly throughout the day. The last tour takes place at 5:30 pm. For the latest information, visit the Beehive House website.

Have You Visited the Beehive House in Salt Lake City?

What did you enjoy most? Share your experience in the comments section below.

 

More Information and Inspiration for Visiting Salt Lake City

• With more numbers and cardinal directions than names, it can be hard to find your way around Utah’s capital city. This secret decoder ring will help you navigate Salt Lake City street addresses.
• Now that you know how to navigate Salt Lake City street addresses, here are nine things to do in Salt Lake City.
• Start your day right by eating at one of the best restaurants for breakfast in Salt Lake City.
• Built on a hilly 40 acres, the white granite Utah state house helps define the city’s skyline. Here are ten things to note when you visit the Utah State Capitol. Explore more of the surrounding area with this interactive scavenger hunt that starts on the steps of the Utah State Capitol.
• Attracting approximately five million visitors a year, Salt Lake City’s Temple Square is the most popular destination in Utah. 
• Although it’s been several years since Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics, these nine activities will help you keep the Olympic flame burning.
• Just a short drive from Salt Lake City, Antelope Island State Park is on the Great Salt Lake’s biggest island. Visit for hikes with amazing scenery and to catch a glimpse of one of the largest and oldest publicly-owned bison herds in the country.
• Liquor laws in the Beehive State are some of the most restrictive in the country. Here’s what you need to know before drinking in Utah.

 

   

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