Brigham Young's Death

Towards the end of August 1877, Brigham was ill and in pain. The doctors called his condition “cholera morbus,” but a medical historian has identified it as an infection from a ruptured appendix. Because of his pain, he was given opiates so he slept much of the time.2


Brigham was moved to a bed near an open window where he could get some fresh air, and his loved ones could gather around him. He seemed to revive a little. Brigham looked out the window and glanced toward heaven, calling, “Joseph, Joseph, Joseph,” as if he were speaking to the prophet Joseph Smith.

Shortly thereafter, the family knelt around his bed as Brigham’s brother, Joseph Young, offered a prayer. Brigham’s daughter Zina said, “I was impelled to open my eyes, and father’s face was radiant with inward glory. It seemed that a cloud of light surrounded him . . . The husband, the father, the leader, the chosen prophet of God, lay sleeping before our eyes never more on earth to give his words of counsel, of wisdom.”

The day was August 29, 1877. The Lion of the Lord was dead.

Brigham's Testimony

Brigham had a testimony of the Bible and the Book of Mormon. “Believe what is recorded in the Holy Bible concerning God and his revelations to the children of men . . . then you will know that the Book of Mormon is true.”


Joseph Smith’s influence remained with Brigham all his life. “I feel like shouting Hallelujah, all the time, when I think that I ever knew Joseph Smith, the Prophet whom the Lord raised up and ordained, and to whom he gave keys and power to build up the Kingdom of God on earth.” “The honest-in-heart ran together and gathered around him [Joseph] and loved him as they did their own lives.”

“I know that [Joseph Smith] was called of God, and this I know by the revelations of Jesus Christ to me, and by the testimony of the Holy Ghost.”

Brigham Young devoted his life to the gospel. He believed prayer would lead to a testimony of all truth. He knew that salvation depended on the Lord Jesus Christ through the Atonement. He had a strong testimony that the Bible and Book of Mormon were true. He loved the Prophet Joseph Smith and tried to follow his example of dedication to Heavenly Father.

Testimony

From the time of Brigham’s baptism, his whole life was devoted to sharing his testimony of the gospel. “Mormonism has made me all I am, and the grace, the power, and the wisdom of God will make me all that I ever will be, either in time or eternity.”


Our “first . . . duty [is] to seek the Lord until we open the path of communication from God to our own soul.” Prayer brings us a testimony of the gospel which includes “all truth in heaven and on earth.”

Brigham’s belief in Jesus Christ and the Atonement was foremost in his life. “The errand of Jesus to earth was to bring his brethren and sisters back into the presence of the Father.” Brigham said that we could be saved through the Atonement of Christ if we are faithful to God’ commandments. “He is now King of kings and Lord of lords, and the time will come when every knee will bow and every tongue confess, to the glory of God the Father, that Jesus is the Christ.”

Temple Work

After the dedication of the S t. George Temple, Brigham spent much of his time in the temple overseeing and participating in the ordinances. Brigham was sorry that his father had died before he could receive the blessings of the temple, and Brigham knew that he and his brothers and sisters were not sealed to their parents. Now the work could be done. By the time the entire temple was dedicated on April 6, 1877, Brigham had performed many of the ordinances for family members who were dead.


Brigham also dedicated temple sites in Manti, Utah, on April 25, 1877, and Logan, Utah, on May 18, 1877. He knew these would not be the only temples built on the earth. He said, “there will be hundreds of them [temples] built and dedicated to the Lord.”

Brigham told the people: “When I think upon this subject [temple blessings], I want the tongues of seven thunders to wake up the people.” “Our fathers cannot be made perfect without us; we cannot be made perfect without them.”

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St. George Temple

Brigham spent some of his winters in St. George, and Heavenly Father wanted him to build a temple there. The workers laid the foundation for the temple, but it kept sinking because there were springs of alkali (salty) water under the earth. Brigham had tons of black volcanic rocks from nearby mountains hauled in to make the foundation of the St. George Temple solid.


Brigham studied the temples in the Old Testament to make sure he was building the St. George temple as Heavenly Father wanted it. He asked his daughter, Susa Young Gates, to read to him about the tabernacle in Leviticus, and Solomon’s Temple in Chronicle and Kings. He made the baptismal font as near to the one in Solomon’s Temple as he could.7

The first level of the St. George Temple was dedicated on January 1, 1877. Brigham’s legs were so weak because of his rheumatism that he had to be carried into the room. During his speech he became so upset at the influence of Satan among the people that he struck the podium with his hickory cane, denting it so that the marks could still be seen years later. “I will never cease my preaching until Satan and his hosts are overcome,” he said.

Temple to stand through the Millennium

Brigham knew exactly how Heavenly Father wanted the Salt Lake Temple to be built because he saw it in vision. “I scarcely ever say much about revelations or visions, but


. . . I . . .see it [the temple] as plainly as if it were in reality before me.”

The granite used to build the temple was taken from Little Cottonwood canyon, twenty miles away. At first the workers used oxen and wagons to pull the blocks of stone. But some of the granite blocks were so large that took four days to drag them to the temple site. Brigham started to dig a canal so the granite could come by boat. But before the canal was finished, the railroad came to Utah so a rail line was laid to the quarry. It was much easier to bring the rock by rail car to the temple site.
Brigham was very particular about the construction of the Salt Lake Temple. When he found that the workers had put small shavings of granite in between the blocks of stone, rather than cement, he made them take it all out and start again so the building would be strong. He said, “This Temple is to stand throughout the Millennium.”

Later, Brother Truman O. Angell, the architect, told Brigham that they had forgotten to leave room to put chimneys up to heat the building. Brigham thought for a minute and then said to him, “When the time comes to heat it, there will be a way provided!”6 When the temple was finished in 1893 (40 years after it was begun), central heating had been developed, and the temple didn’t need chimneys.

Temple Building

When Brigham reached Utah, he immediately surveyed the site for the Salt Lake Temple. But the Saints struggled to survive in their new land for several years before they were actually able to begin the temple. The ground was dedicated on February 14, 1853, six years after the pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.


Brigham knew exactly how Heavenly Father wanted the temple to be built because he saw it in vision. “I scarcely ever say much about revelations or visions, but

. . . I . . .see it [the temple] as plainly as if it were in reality before me.”