| Mary Ann Angell | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mary Ann Angell June 8, 1803 Seneca, New York |
| Died | June 27, 1882 (aged 79) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Resting place | Brigham Young Family Memorial Cemetery |
| Occupation | Herbalist Folk doctor |
| Spouse | Brigham Young |
| Children | Joseph A. Young Brigham Young Jr. Mary Ann Young Alice Young Luna Young John Willard Young. |
| Parents | James William Angell Phoebe Ann Morton |
Mary Ann Angell Young (June 8, 1803–June 27, 1882 (aged 79)) was the second woman married to Latter Day Saint leader Brigham Young. They were married on February 28, 1834. Young's first wife, Miriam Angeline Works, had died on September 8, 1832. With the permission of Mary, Young began practicing plural marriage in 1842 when he married Lucy Ann Decker.
The daughter of James and Phoebe Morton Angell, she was born June 8, 1803 at Seneca, Ontario, New York. When she was quite young, her parents moved to Providence, Rhode Island. Mary Ann became a Free Will Baptist and was also a Sunday School teacher. Deeply religious and studious of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, she vowed never to marry until she met "a man of God" in whom she could confide her spirituality and with whom her heart could unite in the active duties of a Christian life.
In 1830, Thomas B. Marsh loaned her a Book of Mormon and she prayerfully read it, and came to the conclusion that it too was the word of God. She and her parents went to southern New York where they were all baptized. Mary Ann then set out alone for Kirtland, Ohio, then the gathering place of the early Mormons. There she met and married Brigham Young and remained a devoted wife to him for the next 45 years. She survived him by nearly five years.
Mary Ann Angell and Brigham Young had six children.[1] One of these children was Brigham Young, Jr., who was ordained an apostle by his father in 1864, but was not placed in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints until 1868. John Willard Young, another one of her sons, was also an ordained apostle and was the first counselor in the First Presidency of the church at the end of Brigham Young's administration as church president. Another son was Joseph Angell Young, who was ordained an apostle in 1864 but never became a member of either the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles or the First Presidency.
Mary Ann was also a skilled herbalist and folk doctor. During her trek across the plains to Utah in 1848, she used these skills to treat many fellow pioneers. She also brought many seeds with her and is credited with planting the beautiful trees that grow along the eastern end of South Temple street in Salt Lake City, which was once known as Brigham Street. LDS church historian Andrew Jenson wrote of her, "She was a very gifted and intelligent woman, highly cultured, yet humble and meek, ever ready to help the poor and needy, or ease the suffering of the afflicted. She passed through great trials and privation but through it all she was a faithful wife, model mother, and Latter-day Saint, in whose heart native goodness and benevolence abounded."
Mary Ann Angell was the sister of Salt Lake Temple architect Truman Angell.