Brigham Young's Homes

Appendix C: Women Sometimes Named as Young’s Wives

Various women have been listed in published accounts as wives of Brigham Young. Some could possibly have been wives, but have not been conclusively established as such. Other claims have been disproven altogether. Still others were simply allegations stated so vaguely as to defy identification . Some are downright silly. A few of those claimants are listed here alphabetically by their surnames or by the nicknames attributed to them. In some cases, only allegations about their marriages exist and no records of the women themselves have been found. In other cases a good deal of factual information can reasonably be determined. This list is certainly not conclusive; it simply contains names listed in widely circulated, published accounts. Obviously the status of any of these women could change with the discovery of heretofore unknown records. The second section of this appendix list records relating to each woman. Nancy Chamberlain Ann Eliza Young claimed that Nancy was a very old, half-crazed woman, known, I fancy, to every Mormon in the Territory, who solemnly declares that she was sealed to Brigham in Nauvoo, and that she had the promise of being promoted to the place of first wife. She lived with his family for a long time, but she grew old, and infirm, and useless, and he turned her out of the house some years ago; and now she lives as best she may, going about from house to house, and performing light work to pay for her support. She considers it her duty every little while to go and “free her mind,” as she calls it, to Brigham’s wives, telling them that they may usurp her place and defraud her of her rights in this world, but she shall be Brigham’s queen in heaven. She is an eccentric old woman, but there is no doubt, I think, about her having been sealed to the Prophet. While Ann Eliza may have had no doubts, others do. No record of a sealing between Brigham Young and Nancy Chamberlain has been found to date. Nancy Chamberlain is not mentioned in the 1860 census. Many people, however, lived in the Lion House at various times, and any individual’s being there does not necessarily indicate marriage to any member of the family. Moreover, Ann Eliza’s accusation that Brigham turned Nancy out when she became old and infirm runs counter to his behavior in every other known case of wives, children, relatives , and assorted other folks not related at all. Most importantly , the statement was made at the time when Ann Eliza was earning her livelihood by writing and lecturing against the evils of Mormonism, making her word suspect at best. Charlotte Cobb Charlotte Cobb accompanied her mother Augusta Adams Cobb to Nauvoo in 1843. Augusta became Brigham’s fourth wife, but no record has been found of a marriage between him and Charlotte. Brigham, in fact, sealed her to William S. Godbe on 7 April 1869 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. Brigham officiated in his capacity as prophet of the LDS Church, but also as Godbe’s friend and a “father of the bride,” having adopted Charlotte when he married her mother. Charlotte, an accomplished pianist and excellent conversationalist , was called the “belle of Salt Lake City,” and even territorial governor Benjamin Ferris, not one to lightly accord praise to any Mormon, described her as “handsome in face.” Charlotte’s marriage to Godbe lasted until 1879. She apparently remained faithful to him through his excommunication from the LDS Church and his ventures into other forms of Appendix C Women Sometimes Named as Young’s Wives worship. Eventually, however, describing herself as having “wobbled around in the faith,” she returned to the fold and henceforward defended it valiantly. Like her New England forebears, she sought social change. With Godbe’s other wives, she had enrolled in the National Woman Suffrage Association during the 1870s and spoke and wrote publicly about women’s rights, the evils of drink, and other significant issues. She’s an interesting woman, but not one of Brigham’s wives. Mina A. Cook, Susan Taffindor, and Eliza Y. Young Stanley P. Hirshorn claims that in the 1860 census, Brigham Young listed Mina (37), Susan (16), and Eliza Y. Young (19) as wives. They are, indeed, included in the census with Brigham’s household. However, the 1860 Utah census simply lists the people living in the house, their ages, genders, and usually but not always, place of origin; the...