Seymour B. Young
Born: 3 October 1837
Called to Presidency of Seventy: 14 October 1882
Died: 15 December 1924
Called to Presidency of Seventy: 14 October 1882
Died: 15 December 1924
Conference TalksApr 1857
Oct 1885 Apr 1886 Apr 1886 Apr 1888 Oct 1888 Oct 1889 Apr 1891 Oct 1892 Apr 1893 Oct 1893 Apr 1894 Oct 1894 Oct 1895 Apr 1896 Apr 1897 Oct 1897 - A visit to the Irrigation Congress—Old landmarks— The Missionary field Apr 1898 Oct 1899 Oct 1901 - Comfort for the sick and afflicted—The Gospel to the nations Apr 1902 - The work of training prospective missionaries Apr 1903 - Manual training should be embodied in educational system Apr 1904 Oct 1904 Apr 1905 Apr 1906 Apr 1906 Oct 1906 Apr 1907 Oct 1907 Oct 1908 Apr 1910 Oct 1910 Apr 1911 Oct 1911 Oct 1912 Apr 1913 Apr 1914 Oct 1914 Apr 1915 Oct 1915 Oct 1916 - Civil War veterans Image source: Juvenile Instructor, January 1925
Image source: Improvement Era, February 1925
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Image source: Improvement Era, April 1911
Image source: Juvenile Instructor, April 1901
Image source: Young Women's Journal, October 1902
Image source: Young Women's Journal, July 1904
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Biographical Articles
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 1
Juvenile Instructor, 15 April 1901, Lives of Our Leaders - Presidency of the Seventy: Seymour B. Young
Young Woman's Journal, October 1902, Correspondence
Improvement Era, January 1925, President Seymour B. Young
Juvenile Instructor, January 1925, President Seymour B. Young
Juvenile Instructor, April 1925, Tribute to President Seymour B. Young
Juvenile Instructor, 15 April 1901, Lives of Our Leaders - Presidency of the Seventy: Seymour B. Young
Young Woman's Journal, October 1902, Correspondence
Improvement Era, January 1925, President Seymour B. Young
Juvenile Instructor, January 1925, President Seymour B. Young
Juvenile Instructor, April 1925, Tribute to President Seymour B. Young
Jenson, Andrew. "Young, Seymour Bicknell." Biographical Encyclopedia. Volume 1. pg. 200-202.
YOUNG, Seymour Bicknell, one of the First Seven Presidents of all the Seventies since 1882, is the son of Joseph Young and Jane A. Bicknell. and was born in Kirtland, Geuaga (now Lake) county, Ohio, Oct. 3, 1837. He was carried through a rain of bullets in his mother's arms at the massacre at Haun's Mill, Missouri in 1838. He came to Nauvoo in 1839, and remained in that city until June, 1846, when, with his father's family, he started for- the West. Brother Seymour well remembers being lifted up in the arms of his mother to obtain a view of Joseph and Hyrum as they passed some fifty rods away on the road to their martyrdom, June 24, 1844. On the morning of the 28th. at five o'clock, their neighbor, the late Pres. Jacob Gates, awakened his mother and her family of little children, and told them that the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum had been murdered the evening before in Carthage jail. Seymour well remembers the sorrow of the Latter-day Saints at the awful event, and the scenes of grief at the funeral and burial of these two great leaders. During the month of February, 1846, Presidents Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball and others, with their families, left the city of Nauvoo, crossed the Mississippi river on the ice, and started west, bidding adieu to their loved city and Temple, well knowing they would never see them again. As soon as his father could complete his arrangements, which was not until the 13th of June following, he, with his family, took up their line of march towards Winter Quarters, arriving there late in the fall, and overtaking Pres. Young and brethren who had preceded them. Here the Saints remained until the following spring (1847), when Pres. Brigham Young and his pioneer band went to Great Salt Lake valley. Seymour B. Young's father and family, not having the means necessary to emigrate in 1847, and not obtaining sufficient until three years later, remained in Winter Quarters until the spring of 1848, when, with the rest of the people who were unable to take up their long journey to the mountains, they recrossed the Missouri river into the State of Iowa. Winter Quarters was then in the Indian Territory and reservation, and hence the Saints were compelled to vacate this temporary abiding place and seek new homes in the State of Iowa. During the stay of his father's family for the three intervening years. Brother Seymour was baptized in 1848, at Carterville, Iowa, by Ezekiel Lee: he also gained his first experience as a cowboy, and like others of his brethren was exposed to the raids of hostile Indians and white cattle thieves. About the middle of June his father's family bid good-bye to their home in Pottawattamie county, Iowa, and started for the Valley. Un the Platte river the camp was stricken with that terrible scourge, the Asiatic cholera, and within twenty-four hours two of the strongest men lay dead and a third was down writhing and screaming with pain from the awful spasms and cramps of the disease. At this time was witnessed the power of God in restoring this third victim of the disease, for by his request Pres. Joseph Young administered to him, and he was instantly healed. The family arrived in Salt Lake City, Sept. 29, 1850, and were warmly welcomed by Pres. Young and his brethren. In the fall of 1854 Brother Seymour B. went with a party of men sent out by Pres. Brigham Young under the direction of Elder Bryant Stringham and settled Cache valley; he helped to build the first house and establish the first colony in that region. He was ordained a Seventy Feb. 18, 1857, by Edmund Ellsworth. In 1857 Pres. Young called seventy-two missionaries for Europe, the United States and Canada, with the request that this company of missionaries should travel with hand carts from Salt Lake City to the Missouri river. This they did, not having any teams or wagons in the company, but drawing their carts, laden with their provisions, bedding, etc., over the mountains and across the plains to Old Winter Quarters, now Florence. Nebraska, a distance of 105a miles. Brother Seymour B. was one of these missionaries, and the youngest member of the company. Brother Young proceeded with others to Great Britain, where he labored as a missionary in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire until the spring of 1858, when he, with other missionaries, was called home on account of the "Utah war." In 1862 Pres. Abraham Lincoln telegraphed to Pres. Brigham Young to furnish a battalion of one hundred and five men to enlist as United States soldiers in the service of the United States, to be sent east on the plains to protect the overland mail and telegraph lines between the Missouri river on the east and San Francisco on the west. Elder Young was in this battalion and remained in the service until March, 1863, when the company was honorably discharged and paid in greenbacks at par, when they were only worth forty cents on the dollar. When the Black Hawk war broke out in Sanpete county and on the Sevier river, Pres. Young sent many small companies to assist the brethren and protect them from the rifle and scalping knife of the Indians. The subject of this sketch was in this service during 1866. In 1868 he engaged in railroad building, working on a contract of Brigham Young, jun., and George Crismon, in procuring ties and bridge timber for the Union Pacific Railroad Company. In 1869 he contracted with the Utah Central Railway Company and built a mile of grade and furnished ties therefor, near the Hot Springs, north of Salt Lake City. In 1870 he was called by Pres. Brigham Young to take a second mission to Great Britain, this time to accompany his father, the late Pres. Joseph Young, to that field of labor, in conformity with a prediction made to him by the Prophet Joseph Smith at the time that Elders Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball were called to their first mission to England, that at some time in the future Brother Joseph Young should take a mission to Great Britain. This visit to- the British Mission occupied about six months, and during their absence the conferences throughout England and Scotland were visited, and visits were also made through portions of New York State and Ohio; Brother Joseph Young visiting relatives and familiar places of many years previous. In 1871, after having studied the theory and practice of medicine and surgery for ten years with Dr. W. F. Anderson first, then with the Doctors Benedict, he matriculated in October of that year at the University Medical College of New York, and in March, 1874, received his diploma as a medical and surgical graduate from that famous institution. He returned home early in the spring of 1874. hung out his sign of M. D. in front of the old Seventies' Hall on State Street, on the spot where the new building of the Co-op. Wagon & Machine Company now stands. Soon after he became quarantine and city physician of Salt Lake City, and a little later, by invitation of Pres. Brigham Young, became his physician and medical adviser, which position he held until Pres. Young's death, August 29, 1877. Elder Young continued in active practice as surgeon and physician until 1882. On October 14th of that year he was called by revelation through Pres. John Taylor to be one of the First Seven Presidents of Seventies; and in eleven years from that time, by reason of the death or promotion to the Council of the Apostles of his seniors in that quorum, be became, in 1893, the senior president of that council. Since his call to this responsible position, his time has been spent visiting as a teacher and missionary nearly all the Stakes of Zion, generally in company with some of the Twelve and occasionally with the First Presidency, and sometimes alone, going far and near to all the conferences to which he has been appointed by his presiding officers; on these visits he has often ministered to the sick, the wounded and the afflicted, not only in the ordinances of the gospel, but surgically and medically, bringing relief to numerous sufferers, to which many have testified. In connection with the above named labors, he was called to be an aid to the Deseret Sunday School Union Board, and finally, a few months since, he was chosen a member of that Board. (See also "Juvenile Instructor,” Vol. 37, p. 225.)
YOUNG, Seymour Bicknell, one of the First Seven Presidents of all the Seventies since 1882, is the son of Joseph Young and Jane A. Bicknell. and was born in Kirtland, Geuaga (now Lake) county, Ohio, Oct. 3, 1837. He was carried through a rain of bullets in his mother's arms at the massacre at Haun's Mill, Missouri in 1838. He came to Nauvoo in 1839, and remained in that city until June, 1846, when, with his father's family, he started for- the West. Brother Seymour well remembers being lifted up in the arms of his mother to obtain a view of Joseph and Hyrum as they passed some fifty rods away on the road to their martyrdom, June 24, 1844. On the morning of the 28th. at five o'clock, their neighbor, the late Pres. Jacob Gates, awakened his mother and her family of little children, and told them that the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum had been murdered the evening before in Carthage jail. Seymour well remembers the sorrow of the Latter-day Saints at the awful event, and the scenes of grief at the funeral and burial of these two great leaders. During the month of February, 1846, Presidents Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball and others, with their families, left the city of Nauvoo, crossed the Mississippi river on the ice, and started west, bidding adieu to their loved city and Temple, well knowing they would never see them again. As soon as his father could complete his arrangements, which was not until the 13th of June following, he, with his family, took up their line of march towards Winter Quarters, arriving there late in the fall, and overtaking Pres. Young and brethren who had preceded them. Here the Saints remained until the following spring (1847), when Pres. Brigham Young and his pioneer band went to Great Salt Lake valley. Seymour B. Young's father and family, not having the means necessary to emigrate in 1847, and not obtaining sufficient until three years later, remained in Winter Quarters until the spring of 1848, when, with the rest of the people who were unable to take up their long journey to the mountains, they recrossed the Missouri river into the State of Iowa. Winter Quarters was then in the Indian Territory and reservation, and hence the Saints were compelled to vacate this temporary abiding place and seek new homes in the State of Iowa. During the stay of his father's family for the three intervening years. Brother Seymour was baptized in 1848, at Carterville, Iowa, by Ezekiel Lee: he also gained his first experience as a cowboy, and like others of his brethren was exposed to the raids of hostile Indians and white cattle thieves. About the middle of June his father's family bid good-bye to their home in Pottawattamie county, Iowa, and started for the Valley. Un the Platte river the camp was stricken with that terrible scourge, the Asiatic cholera, and within twenty-four hours two of the strongest men lay dead and a third was down writhing and screaming with pain from the awful spasms and cramps of the disease. At this time was witnessed the power of God in restoring this third victim of the disease, for by his request Pres. Joseph Young administered to him, and he was instantly healed. The family arrived in Salt Lake City, Sept. 29, 1850, and were warmly welcomed by Pres. Young and his brethren. In the fall of 1854 Brother Seymour B. went with a party of men sent out by Pres. Brigham Young under the direction of Elder Bryant Stringham and settled Cache valley; he helped to build the first house and establish the first colony in that region. He was ordained a Seventy Feb. 18, 1857, by Edmund Ellsworth. In 1857 Pres. Young called seventy-two missionaries for Europe, the United States and Canada, with the request that this company of missionaries should travel with hand carts from Salt Lake City to the Missouri river. This they did, not having any teams or wagons in the company, but drawing their carts, laden with their provisions, bedding, etc., over the mountains and across the plains to Old Winter Quarters, now Florence. Nebraska, a distance of 105a miles. Brother Seymour B. was one of these missionaries, and the youngest member of the company. Brother Young proceeded with others to Great Britain, where he labored as a missionary in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire until the spring of 1858, when he, with other missionaries, was called home on account of the "Utah war." In 1862 Pres. Abraham Lincoln telegraphed to Pres. Brigham Young to furnish a battalion of one hundred and five men to enlist as United States soldiers in the service of the United States, to be sent east on the plains to protect the overland mail and telegraph lines between the Missouri river on the east and San Francisco on the west. Elder Young was in this battalion and remained in the service until March, 1863, when the company was honorably discharged and paid in greenbacks at par, when they were only worth forty cents on the dollar. When the Black Hawk war broke out in Sanpete county and on the Sevier river, Pres. Young sent many small companies to assist the brethren and protect them from the rifle and scalping knife of the Indians. The subject of this sketch was in this service during 1866. In 1868 he engaged in railroad building, working on a contract of Brigham Young, jun., and George Crismon, in procuring ties and bridge timber for the Union Pacific Railroad Company. In 1869 he contracted with the Utah Central Railway Company and built a mile of grade and furnished ties therefor, near the Hot Springs, north of Salt Lake City. In 1870 he was called by Pres. Brigham Young to take a second mission to Great Britain, this time to accompany his father, the late Pres. Joseph Young, to that field of labor, in conformity with a prediction made to him by the Prophet Joseph Smith at the time that Elders Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball were called to their first mission to England, that at some time in the future Brother Joseph Young should take a mission to Great Britain. This visit to- the British Mission occupied about six months, and during their absence the conferences throughout England and Scotland were visited, and visits were also made through portions of New York State and Ohio; Brother Joseph Young visiting relatives and familiar places of many years previous. In 1871, after having studied the theory and practice of medicine and surgery for ten years with Dr. W. F. Anderson first, then with the Doctors Benedict, he matriculated in October of that year at the University Medical College of New York, and in March, 1874, received his diploma as a medical and surgical graduate from that famous institution. He returned home early in the spring of 1874. hung out his sign of M. D. in front of the old Seventies' Hall on State Street, on the spot where the new building of the Co-op. Wagon & Machine Company now stands. Soon after he became quarantine and city physician of Salt Lake City, and a little later, by invitation of Pres. Brigham Young, became his physician and medical adviser, which position he held until Pres. Young's death, August 29, 1877. Elder Young continued in active practice as surgeon and physician until 1882. On October 14th of that year he was called by revelation through Pres. John Taylor to be one of the First Seven Presidents of Seventies; and in eleven years from that time, by reason of the death or promotion to the Council of the Apostles of his seniors in that quorum, be became, in 1893, the senior president of that council. Since his call to this responsible position, his time has been spent visiting as a teacher and missionary nearly all the Stakes of Zion, generally in company with some of the Twelve and occasionally with the First Presidency, and sometimes alone, going far and near to all the conferences to which he has been appointed by his presiding officers; on these visits he has often ministered to the sick, the wounded and the afflicted, not only in the ordinances of the gospel, but surgically and medically, bringing relief to numerous sufferers, to which many have testified. In connection with the above named labors, he was called to be an aid to the Deseret Sunday School Union Board, and finally, a few months since, he was chosen a member of that Board. (See also "Juvenile Instructor,” Vol. 37, p. 225.)
"Lives of Our Leaders - Presidency of the Seventy: Seymour B. Young." Juvenile Instructor. 15 April 1901. pg. 224-227.
LIVES OF OUR LEADERS.—THE FIRST COUNCIL OF THE SEVENTY.
PRESIDENT SEYMOUR B. YOUNG.
THE subject of this sketch, Dr. Seymour B. Young, was born October 3rd, 1837, in the town of Kirtland, Lake County, Ohio; his father being President Joseph Young (an elder brother of President Brigham Young,) and his mother, Sister Jane A. Bicknell Young. He was carried through a rain of bullets in his mother's arms at the massacre at Haun's Mill, Missouri, 1838.
He came to Nauvoo, the beautiful city founded by the Prophet Joseph Smith, in 1839, and remained in that city until June, 1846, when, with his father's family, he started for the west.
During his stay in Nauvoo the suppression of the Nauvoo Expositor occurred by order of the mayor and city council of that city. The Prophet Joseph was tried, with others of his brethren, for riot in destroying this paper, first before Esquire Daniel H. Wells, and by him acquitted; but the enemies of the Saints insisted that the trial should take place in the city of Carthage, and accordingly the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum started for that place June 24th, 1844. Brother Seymour well remembers being lifted up in the arms of his mother to obtain a view of these illustrious men as they passed some fifty rods away on the road to their martyrdom.
On the morning of June 28th, at five o'clock, their neighbor, the late President Jacob Gates, awakened his mother and her family of little children, and told them that the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum had been cruelly murdered the evening before at Carthage jail.
The writer well remembers the sorrow of the Latter-day Saints at the awful event, and the scenes of grief at the funeral and burial of these two great leaders of latter day Israel.
During the month of February, 1846, Presidents Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball and others, with their families, left the city of Nauvoo, crossed the Mississippi River on the ice, by which it may be known that these poor exiles had no summer picnic, and started west, bidding adieu to their loved city and temple, well knowing they would never see them again.
As soon as his father could complete his arrangements, which was not until the 13th of June following, he with his family, took up their line of march towards the setting sun, arriving at Winter Quarters late in the fall, and there overtaking President Young and brethren who had preceded them in the month of February.
Here the Saints remained until the following spring, 1847, when President Young and his pioneer band came to Salt Lake Valley.
Brother Young's father and family not having the means necessary to emigrate with the pioneers of 1847, and not obtaining sufficient until three years later, remained in Winter Quarters until the spring of 1848, when with the rest of the people who were unable to take up their long journey to the mountains, re- crossed the Missouri River into the State of Iowa, for Winter Quarters was then in the Indian territory and reservation, and hence the Saints were compelled to vacate this temporary abiding place and seek new homes in the State of Iowa.
During the stay of his father's family for the three intervening years, Brother Young gained his first experience as a cowboy, and like others of his brethren was exposed to the raids of hostile Indians and white cattle thieves. About the middle of June his father's family bid good-bye to their home in Pottawatomie County, Iowa, and started for Salt Lake Valley. On the Platte River the camp was stricken with that terrible scourge, the Asiatic cholera, and within twenty-four hours two of the strongest men lay dead before the scythe of this dreadful reaper, and a third man was down writhing and screaming with pain from the awful spasms and cramps of the disease. At this time was witnessed the power of God in restoring this third victim of the disease, for by his request President Joseph Young administered to him, and he was instantly healed. The family arrived in Salt Lake City, September 29th, 1850, and were warmly welcomed by President Young and his brethren, who had preceded them three years before.
In the fall of 1854 Brother Seymour B. went with a party of men sent out by President Brigham Young under the direction of Elder Bryant Stringam and settled Cache Valley, he helped to build the first house and establish the first colony in that region.
In 1857, President Young called seventy-two missionaries for Europe, the United States and Canada, with the request that this company of missionaries should travel with hand carts from Salt Lake City to the Missouri River. This they did, not having any teams or wagons in the company, but drawing their carts, laden with their provisions, bedding, etc., over the mountains and across the plains to old Winter Quarters, now Florence, Nebraska, a distance of 1050 miles. Brother Seymour B. was one of these missionaries, indeed, the youngest member of the company.
Brother Young proceeded with others to Great Britain, where he labored as a missionary in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire until the spring of 1858, when he, with other missionaries, was called home on account of the Mormon or Utah war, instituted by James Buchanan, then President of the United States, who sent three thousand United States soldiers under Col. A. S. Johnston to destroy the Mormons.
In 1862 President Abraham Lincoln telegraphed to President Brigham Young to furnish a battalion of one hundred and five men to enlist as United States soldiers in the service of the United States, to be sent east on the plains to protect the overland mail and telegraph lines between the Missouri River on the east and San Francisco on the west. Elder Young was in this battalion and remained in the service until March, 1863, when the company was honorably discharged and paid in greenbacks at par, when they were only worth forty cents on the dollar.
When the Black Hawk war broke out in Sanpete County and on the Sevier River, President Young sent many small companies to assist the brethren and protect them from the rifle and scalping knife of the Indians. The subject of this sketch was in this service during 1866.
In 1868 he engaged in railroad building ; working on a contract of Brigham Young Jr. and George Crismon, in procuring ties and bridge timber for the Union Pacific Railroad Company.
In 1869 he contracted with the Utah Central Railway Company and built a mile of grade and furnished ties therefor, it lying near the Hot Springs, north of Salt Lake City.
The following fall found him near the point of the mountain in Utah County, engaged in another contract for the Utah Southern Railroad, as it was then called. This contract was finished in 1869, and in 1870 he was called by President Brigham Young to take a second mission to Great Britain, this time to accompany his father, the late President Joseph Young, to that field of labor, in conformity with a prediction made to him by the Prophet Joseph Smith at the time that Elders Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball were called to their first mission to England, that at some time in the future Brother Joseph Young should take a mission to Great Britain.
This visit to the British Mission occupied about six months, and during their absence the conferences throughout England and Scotland were visited, and visits were also made through portions of New York State and Ohio; Brother Joseph Young visiting relatives and the familiar places of many years previous.
In 1871, after having studied the theory and practice of medicine and surgery for ten years with Dr. W. F. Anderson first, then with the Doctors Benedict, he matriculated in October of that year at the University Medical College of New York, and in March, 1874, received his diploma as a medical and surgical graduate from that famous institution. He returned home early in the spring of 1874, hung out his sign of M. D. in front of the old Seventies' Hall on State Street, on the spot where the new building of the Co-op. Wagon & Machine Company now stands.
Soon after he became quarantine and city physician of Salt Lake City, and a little later, by invitation of President Brigham Young, became his physician and medical adviser, which 'position was held by him until President Young's death on August 29, 1877.
He continued in active practice as surgeon and physician until 1882. On October 14th, of that year he was called by revelation through President John Taylor to be one of the Seven Presidents of the Seventies; and in the eleven years from that time, by reason of the death or promotion to the Council of the Apostles of his seniors in that quorum, he became, in 1893, the senior president of that council. Since his call to this responsible position, his time has been spent visiting as a teacher and missionary nearly all the stakes of Zion, generally in company with some of the Twelve and occasionally with the First_ Presidency, and sometimes alone, going far and near to all the conferences to which he has been appointed by his presiding officers: on these visits often ministering to the sick, the wounded and the afflicted, not only in the ordinances of the Gospel, but surgically and medically, bringing relief to numerous sufferers, to which many have testified.
In connection with the above named labors, he was called some two years ago to be an aid to the Deseret Sunday School Union Board, and finally, a few months since, to be a member of that Board.
LIVES OF OUR LEADERS.—THE FIRST COUNCIL OF THE SEVENTY.
PRESIDENT SEYMOUR B. YOUNG.
THE subject of this sketch, Dr. Seymour B. Young, was born October 3rd, 1837, in the town of Kirtland, Lake County, Ohio; his father being President Joseph Young (an elder brother of President Brigham Young,) and his mother, Sister Jane A. Bicknell Young. He was carried through a rain of bullets in his mother's arms at the massacre at Haun's Mill, Missouri, 1838.
He came to Nauvoo, the beautiful city founded by the Prophet Joseph Smith, in 1839, and remained in that city until June, 1846, when, with his father's family, he started for the west.
During his stay in Nauvoo the suppression of the Nauvoo Expositor occurred by order of the mayor and city council of that city. The Prophet Joseph was tried, with others of his brethren, for riot in destroying this paper, first before Esquire Daniel H. Wells, and by him acquitted; but the enemies of the Saints insisted that the trial should take place in the city of Carthage, and accordingly the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum started for that place June 24th, 1844. Brother Seymour well remembers being lifted up in the arms of his mother to obtain a view of these illustrious men as they passed some fifty rods away on the road to their martyrdom.
On the morning of June 28th, at five o'clock, their neighbor, the late President Jacob Gates, awakened his mother and her family of little children, and told them that the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum had been cruelly murdered the evening before at Carthage jail.
The writer well remembers the sorrow of the Latter-day Saints at the awful event, and the scenes of grief at the funeral and burial of these two great leaders of latter day Israel.
During the month of February, 1846, Presidents Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball and others, with their families, left the city of Nauvoo, crossed the Mississippi River on the ice, by which it may be known that these poor exiles had no summer picnic, and started west, bidding adieu to their loved city and temple, well knowing they would never see them again.
As soon as his father could complete his arrangements, which was not until the 13th of June following, he with his family, took up their line of march towards the setting sun, arriving at Winter Quarters late in the fall, and there overtaking President Young and brethren who had preceded them in the month of February.
Here the Saints remained until the following spring, 1847, when President Young and his pioneer band came to Salt Lake Valley.
Brother Young's father and family not having the means necessary to emigrate with the pioneers of 1847, and not obtaining sufficient until three years later, remained in Winter Quarters until the spring of 1848, when with the rest of the people who were unable to take up their long journey to the mountains, re- crossed the Missouri River into the State of Iowa, for Winter Quarters was then in the Indian territory and reservation, and hence the Saints were compelled to vacate this temporary abiding place and seek new homes in the State of Iowa.
During the stay of his father's family for the three intervening years, Brother Young gained his first experience as a cowboy, and like others of his brethren was exposed to the raids of hostile Indians and white cattle thieves. About the middle of June his father's family bid good-bye to their home in Pottawatomie County, Iowa, and started for Salt Lake Valley. On the Platte River the camp was stricken with that terrible scourge, the Asiatic cholera, and within twenty-four hours two of the strongest men lay dead before the scythe of this dreadful reaper, and a third man was down writhing and screaming with pain from the awful spasms and cramps of the disease. At this time was witnessed the power of God in restoring this third victim of the disease, for by his request President Joseph Young administered to him, and he was instantly healed. The family arrived in Salt Lake City, September 29th, 1850, and were warmly welcomed by President Young and his brethren, who had preceded them three years before.
In the fall of 1854 Brother Seymour B. went with a party of men sent out by President Brigham Young under the direction of Elder Bryant Stringam and settled Cache Valley, he helped to build the first house and establish the first colony in that region.
In 1857, President Young called seventy-two missionaries for Europe, the United States and Canada, with the request that this company of missionaries should travel with hand carts from Salt Lake City to the Missouri River. This they did, not having any teams or wagons in the company, but drawing their carts, laden with their provisions, bedding, etc., over the mountains and across the plains to old Winter Quarters, now Florence, Nebraska, a distance of 1050 miles. Brother Seymour B. was one of these missionaries, indeed, the youngest member of the company.
Brother Young proceeded with others to Great Britain, where he labored as a missionary in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire until the spring of 1858, when he, with other missionaries, was called home on account of the Mormon or Utah war, instituted by James Buchanan, then President of the United States, who sent three thousand United States soldiers under Col. A. S. Johnston to destroy the Mormons.
In 1862 President Abraham Lincoln telegraphed to President Brigham Young to furnish a battalion of one hundred and five men to enlist as United States soldiers in the service of the United States, to be sent east on the plains to protect the overland mail and telegraph lines between the Missouri River on the east and San Francisco on the west. Elder Young was in this battalion and remained in the service until March, 1863, when the company was honorably discharged and paid in greenbacks at par, when they were only worth forty cents on the dollar.
When the Black Hawk war broke out in Sanpete County and on the Sevier River, President Young sent many small companies to assist the brethren and protect them from the rifle and scalping knife of the Indians. The subject of this sketch was in this service during 1866.
In 1868 he engaged in railroad building ; working on a contract of Brigham Young Jr. and George Crismon, in procuring ties and bridge timber for the Union Pacific Railroad Company.
In 1869 he contracted with the Utah Central Railway Company and built a mile of grade and furnished ties therefor, it lying near the Hot Springs, north of Salt Lake City.
The following fall found him near the point of the mountain in Utah County, engaged in another contract for the Utah Southern Railroad, as it was then called. This contract was finished in 1869, and in 1870 he was called by President Brigham Young to take a second mission to Great Britain, this time to accompany his father, the late President Joseph Young, to that field of labor, in conformity with a prediction made to him by the Prophet Joseph Smith at the time that Elders Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball were called to their first mission to England, that at some time in the future Brother Joseph Young should take a mission to Great Britain.
This visit to the British Mission occupied about six months, and during their absence the conferences throughout England and Scotland were visited, and visits were also made through portions of New York State and Ohio; Brother Joseph Young visiting relatives and the familiar places of many years previous.
In 1871, after having studied the theory and practice of medicine and surgery for ten years with Dr. W. F. Anderson first, then with the Doctors Benedict, he matriculated in October of that year at the University Medical College of New York, and in March, 1874, received his diploma as a medical and surgical graduate from that famous institution. He returned home early in the spring of 1874, hung out his sign of M. D. in front of the old Seventies' Hall on State Street, on the spot where the new building of the Co-op. Wagon & Machine Company now stands.
Soon after he became quarantine and city physician of Salt Lake City, and a little later, by invitation of President Brigham Young, became his physician and medical adviser, which 'position was held by him until President Young's death on August 29, 1877.
He continued in active practice as surgeon and physician until 1882. On October 14th, of that year he was called by revelation through President John Taylor to be one of the Seven Presidents of the Seventies; and in the eleven years from that time, by reason of the death or promotion to the Council of the Apostles of his seniors in that quorum, he became, in 1893, the senior president of that council. Since his call to this responsible position, his time has been spent visiting as a teacher and missionary nearly all the stakes of Zion, generally in company with some of the Twelve and occasionally with the First_ Presidency, and sometimes alone, going far and near to all the conferences to which he has been appointed by his presiding officers: on these visits often ministering to the sick, the wounded and the afflicted, not only in the ordinances of the Gospel, but surgically and medically, bringing relief to numerous sufferers, to which many have testified.
In connection with the above named labors, he was called some two years ago to be an aid to the Deseret Sunday School Union Board, and finally, a few months since, to be a member of that Board.
Brinton, Emily M. "Correspondence." Young Woman's Journal. October 1902. pg. 465.
CORRESPONDENCE. 34 Kearsley Road, Sheffield, England, July 17th, 1902. Dear Journal:-- Having spent nearly two years in England laboring for the spread of the Gospel, and never having acknowledged receipt of the Journal, so kindly sent me, I take this opportunity of thanking you and say God bless the Journal and the girls that it represents,—-all the daughters of Zion. It has proven most excellent in making friends, and in opening the eyes of the people to the true intellectual powers of "those illiterate Mormons.” The Journals have been eagerly read by all who would read our literature at all, and the greatest difficulty has been that there were not more. Our labors have been both pleasurable and painful. Among the pleasant events was a visit to Grimsby in September, 1900, where we met Sister Jane Charlton, then in the eightieth year of her age. She has since departed this life. Though at times isolated from the Elders and Saints, she always remained true to her covenants. She chatted lovingly of her early experiences in the Church and, turning to a little box, yellow with age, she took therefrom a picture of an Elder Hatch and President Seymour B. Young, taken on glass in 1856. With the tears trickling down her dear old face, as she recalled the past, she related how these two Elders had, on one occasion, lost their wav, and returning in the middle of the night, after she and her husband had retired, had stood under the window and sung the hymn beginning, "A poor wayfaring man of Grief.” Her husband had smilingly hastened to let them in. This is only one among the bright spots and it gives me pleasure to send to you a copy of the old photograph, hoping it may prove interesting. This is indeed a day of gleaning and it really looks at times as though the labor were in vain. But here and there we meet with one who is earnestly seeking to find the straight and narrow path that leads to life eternal. Then we praise the Lord, and go forward with renewed energy. Verily a little gleam of sunshine in the life of a missionary will chase away the blackest clouds. Hoping the Journal may reach the homes of many honest souls, very sincerely your sister in the cause of truth, Emily M. Brinton. |
ELDER HATCH. SEYMOUR B. YOUNG.
Grimsby 1856. Re-printed June 1902 |
"President Seymour B. Young." Improvement Era. January 1925. pg. 295-296.
President Seymour B. Young
In the passing of Dr. Seymour B. Young, the community loses a loveable character, a noble man, a kind and considerate leader among his people, a loving father, and a patriotic and exemplary citizen. He was a genuine gentleman, full of patience, with a smile and kindly greeting for all. In his time, the Church has practically been established. He is one of the old guard, whose early life was interwoven with many a thrilling incident of the persecutions, and pioneer hardships of his people. His mother fled with him in her arms, at the terrible massacre of Haun's Mill. He was one of the very few among us who have any recollection of the prophet Joseph and Nauvoo. With his family he had his chances with the driven remnants of Nauvoo, and participated in the dark days of Winterquarters, followed by years of trying experiences on the plains, pioneering in the west for years before the family entered the Salt Lake Valley. His active life in our mountain valleys for nearly three-quarters of a century as pioneer, soldier, physician, and Church official, is one glorious round of service, rendered in cheerful patience, always with the good of his fellows and the growth and welfare of the Church and his people uppermost in his heart and mind. As one of the rare and early physicians he gained a well deserved reputation, and eased much pain and suffering. As a participant in the Black Hawk Indian war, as one of the company who was entrusted by our Government to guard the mail route and telegraph line, as a pioneer in Cache Valley, as a railroad builder, and missionary, he toiled enthusiastically, cheerfully and with honor. In his office as member and President in the First Council of-Seventy he rendered faithful service and was true to every duty. He was thoroughly imbued with faith in God and a knowledge of the gospel, a true Latter-day Saint; and his loyalty to country and flag, and the principles of liberty for which they stand, made him a staunch patriot and devoted citizen. Thousands to whom his words of wisdom and encouragement have come in all parts of the Church, will revere and do honor to his noble life. The whole community of the intermountain west join in extending sympathy and love to those who are immediately bereaved, and bless and honor the memory of Dr. Seymour B. Young.—A.
President Seymour B. Young
In the passing of Dr. Seymour B. Young, the community loses a loveable character, a noble man, a kind and considerate leader among his people, a loving father, and a patriotic and exemplary citizen. He was a genuine gentleman, full of patience, with a smile and kindly greeting for all. In his time, the Church has practically been established. He is one of the old guard, whose early life was interwoven with many a thrilling incident of the persecutions, and pioneer hardships of his people. His mother fled with him in her arms, at the terrible massacre of Haun's Mill. He was one of the very few among us who have any recollection of the prophet Joseph and Nauvoo. With his family he had his chances with the driven remnants of Nauvoo, and participated in the dark days of Winterquarters, followed by years of trying experiences on the plains, pioneering in the west for years before the family entered the Salt Lake Valley. His active life in our mountain valleys for nearly three-quarters of a century as pioneer, soldier, physician, and Church official, is one glorious round of service, rendered in cheerful patience, always with the good of his fellows and the growth and welfare of the Church and his people uppermost in his heart and mind. As one of the rare and early physicians he gained a well deserved reputation, and eased much pain and suffering. As a participant in the Black Hawk Indian war, as one of the company who was entrusted by our Government to guard the mail route and telegraph line, as a pioneer in Cache Valley, as a railroad builder, and missionary, he toiled enthusiastically, cheerfully and with honor. In his office as member and President in the First Council of-Seventy he rendered faithful service and was true to every duty. He was thoroughly imbued with faith in God and a knowledge of the gospel, a true Latter-day Saint; and his loyalty to country and flag, and the principles of liberty for which they stand, made him a staunch patriot and devoted citizen. Thousands to whom his words of wisdom and encouragement have come in all parts of the Church, will revere and do honor to his noble life. The whole community of the intermountain west join in extending sympathy and love to those who are immediately bereaved, and bless and honor the memory of Dr. Seymour B. Young.—A.
"President Seymour B. Young." Juvenile Instructor. January 1925. pg. 11.
President Seymour B. Young
In the death of President Seymour B. Young, which occurred on the 15th of December, 1924, the Deseret Sunday School Union Board was deprived of the association of one of its oldest members both in years and service. At the funeral which occurred at the Assembly Hall, December 19, the following letter was read. It expresses in but a small degree the feelings of the General Board in parting from their dear old friend and brother :
Dec. 18, 1924.
To the Family of President Seymour B. Young,
Salt Lake City, Utah.
Dear Friends:
At a meeting of the Deseret Sunday School Union Board, held Tuesday afternoon last, official announcement was made of the departure from this life of your beloved husband and father. A shade of sadness fell over the assembly for we all realized the great loss that we, as well as the Church in general, have sustained. Doctor Young was associated with our Board for twenty-six years. His willing and ready response to every call of duty drew forth our admiration. We felt highly honored in having as one of our number a man who had personally known the Prophet Joseph Smith and who had in his soul a burning testimony that he was a Messenger of the Most High.
We recognized in President Seymour B. Young a man who has taken a large part in the development of our Intermountain Country as the record of his life will attest. His readiness to answer his Country's call in times of need, his activity in the early Indian troubles of this territory, and his willingness to serve in many other ways place him in a distinct and honored class of patriotic citizens.
His sincere love for young people, and especially little children among whom it is our privilege to work, was always inspiring and his interest in their physical as well as their spiritual comfort was manifested in real service. His uniform courtesy in all his associations of life; his high regard for the opinions and feelings of his fellows; his love of music, art and all things beautiful—these and numerous other qualities of mind and heart greatly endeared him to the members of our Board as they must have impressed all with whom he came in contact.
We take this means of expressing to you our sincere appreciation of the faithful services of your dear, departed husband and father, with the assurance that he will be held in long and loving remembrance by us.
We invoke the blessings of the Lord upon you—that He may speak peace to your soul in this hour of trouble and buoy you up with the assurance of a happy and everlasting re-union with him who has gone before to "prepare a place for you."
Sincerely your brethren,
Deseret Sunday School Union Board,
Stephen L. Richards,
George D. Pyper,
Of the General Superintendency.
President Seymour B. Young
In the death of President Seymour B. Young, which occurred on the 15th of December, 1924, the Deseret Sunday School Union Board was deprived of the association of one of its oldest members both in years and service. At the funeral which occurred at the Assembly Hall, December 19, the following letter was read. It expresses in but a small degree the feelings of the General Board in parting from their dear old friend and brother :
Dec. 18, 1924.
To the Family of President Seymour B. Young,
Salt Lake City, Utah.
Dear Friends:
At a meeting of the Deseret Sunday School Union Board, held Tuesday afternoon last, official announcement was made of the departure from this life of your beloved husband and father. A shade of sadness fell over the assembly for we all realized the great loss that we, as well as the Church in general, have sustained. Doctor Young was associated with our Board for twenty-six years. His willing and ready response to every call of duty drew forth our admiration. We felt highly honored in having as one of our number a man who had personally known the Prophet Joseph Smith and who had in his soul a burning testimony that he was a Messenger of the Most High.
We recognized in President Seymour B. Young a man who has taken a large part in the development of our Intermountain Country as the record of his life will attest. His readiness to answer his Country's call in times of need, his activity in the early Indian troubles of this territory, and his willingness to serve in many other ways place him in a distinct and honored class of patriotic citizens.
His sincere love for young people, and especially little children among whom it is our privilege to work, was always inspiring and his interest in their physical as well as their spiritual comfort was manifested in real service. His uniform courtesy in all his associations of life; his high regard for the opinions and feelings of his fellows; his love of music, art and all things beautiful—these and numerous other qualities of mind and heart greatly endeared him to the members of our Board as they must have impressed all with whom he came in contact.
We take this means of expressing to you our sincere appreciation of the faithful services of your dear, departed husband and father, with the assurance that he will be held in long and loving remembrance by us.
We invoke the blessings of the Lord upon you—that He may speak peace to your soul in this hour of trouble and buoy you up with the assurance of a happy and everlasting re-union with him who has gone before to "prepare a place for you."
Sincerely your brethren,
Deseret Sunday School Union Board,
Stephen L. Richards,
George D. Pyper,
Of the General Superintendency.
Richards, Lula Greene. "Tribute to President Seymour B. Young." Juvenile Instructor. April 1925. pg. 178-179.
Tribute to the Late President Seymour B. Young
By Lula Greene Richards
As one who has been intimately acquainted with Seymour Bicknell Young for nearly seventy years, I feel a dutiful desire to offer a loving tribute testifying to the excellency of his character.
Being a first cousin to both my father and mother, Seymour was always an esteemed and welcome visitor in our home. In 1858, the year of the move south, in the history of the Pioneer Latter-day Saints, Seymour B. and John R. Young, James A. Little and others of the cousins used to visit us in Provo where we lived that season. Perhaps their visits were more frequent because their two beloved and revered aunts. Nancy Young Kent, my mother's mother, and Fanny Young Murray lived with us a portion of the time. Seymour's genial, pleasant words and ways, his unfailing charity and kindness of heart towards all made him a favorite with little children especially, but with older people also. I remember with what heroic pathos he related to my mother and his aunts details of the death and funeral of his older brother. Joseph, which had occurred a short time before the family moved south. Later in the year, when our people generally returned to their homes in the northern portions of the territory, William G. Young and my father settled with their families at Grantsville where the former was made Bishop. This arrangement was by the appointment and counsel of President Brigham Young, and by like assignment for several years Seymour B. spent considerable time at Grantsville in the interest of some affairs of the Church there. Cousin Harriet Young Brown, the Bishop's sister, used also to visit us at Grantsville. With memory's eyes I can still see Seymour and Harriet in one of our country dances taking lead in a square quadrille and answering—figuratively—to the calls, "First couple balance—Swing in the center and six circle 'round—All promenade," etc. Both were modest, graceful dancers, good to watch, leaving pleasing remembrances. At that time I believe Seymour B. and his brother Le Grande might have been counted among the "sweet singers" in Zion as their father Joseph and their uncle Brigham were designated at an earlier period of the Church. Some of the favorites they sang for us then were "When the Spring-time Comes, gentle Annie;" "Bell Brandon;" "My Josephine," and "Maggie Dear." And for father and mother more particularly, "O my Father !", "Come, Come ye Saints," and "O ye mountains high I" My mother's baby boy, Edwin, laid personal claim to Seymour, always speaking to him or of him as "My Seymour." "Do you think my Seymour will come this evening, mother?' he would say, "because he ought to know that Flavius is going away." Or, "I want my Seymour to come so I can tell him about Doll and her little colt."
My brothers have always felt that Seymour B. was about the same to them that they were to each other. This dear family and ours were ever much like one. One afternoon, eleven years ago, now, when my husband, Levi W. Richards was lying ill with the malady which soon after closed his earthly career, his cousin Franklin S. Richards and Seymour B. Young happened both to visit him at the same time. During a cheerful and an appropriate conversation at the side of the sick bed Judge Richards was led to make the following declaration to Dr. Young: "I never come into your presence or hear you speak that I do not feel myself uplifted and made better by the occurrence." Being a silent though animated listener to that honest and generous expression, the face of the sick man lighted up with a smile of satisfaction. And he afterward referred to it with grateful appreciation.
Thousands who have known Seymour B. Young familiarly could bear a like testimony concerning the helpfulness and exhilarating influence of his refined and superior personality. But that not costly yet precious little "bouquet" gracefully handed from one large hearted, great souled man to another of the same sort at a suitable moment while both were yet astir in this mortality, instead of its being held by one to be placed on the other's bier, seemed to me something worthy of being remembered and recorded. And here it is, friends! Let us pass it on and benefit ourselves and others by emphasizing the noble example it affords. And may the memory of President Seymour B. Young's good words and works help us to follow with renewed diligence the appointed way which leads to Life Eternal.
Tribute to the Late President Seymour B. Young
By Lula Greene Richards
As one who has been intimately acquainted with Seymour Bicknell Young for nearly seventy years, I feel a dutiful desire to offer a loving tribute testifying to the excellency of his character.
Being a first cousin to both my father and mother, Seymour was always an esteemed and welcome visitor in our home. In 1858, the year of the move south, in the history of the Pioneer Latter-day Saints, Seymour B. and John R. Young, James A. Little and others of the cousins used to visit us in Provo where we lived that season. Perhaps their visits were more frequent because their two beloved and revered aunts. Nancy Young Kent, my mother's mother, and Fanny Young Murray lived with us a portion of the time. Seymour's genial, pleasant words and ways, his unfailing charity and kindness of heart towards all made him a favorite with little children especially, but with older people also. I remember with what heroic pathos he related to my mother and his aunts details of the death and funeral of his older brother. Joseph, which had occurred a short time before the family moved south. Later in the year, when our people generally returned to their homes in the northern portions of the territory, William G. Young and my father settled with their families at Grantsville where the former was made Bishop. This arrangement was by the appointment and counsel of President Brigham Young, and by like assignment for several years Seymour B. spent considerable time at Grantsville in the interest of some affairs of the Church there. Cousin Harriet Young Brown, the Bishop's sister, used also to visit us at Grantsville. With memory's eyes I can still see Seymour and Harriet in one of our country dances taking lead in a square quadrille and answering—figuratively—to the calls, "First couple balance—Swing in the center and six circle 'round—All promenade," etc. Both were modest, graceful dancers, good to watch, leaving pleasing remembrances. At that time I believe Seymour B. and his brother Le Grande might have been counted among the "sweet singers" in Zion as their father Joseph and their uncle Brigham were designated at an earlier period of the Church. Some of the favorites they sang for us then were "When the Spring-time Comes, gentle Annie;" "Bell Brandon;" "My Josephine," and "Maggie Dear." And for father and mother more particularly, "O my Father !", "Come, Come ye Saints," and "O ye mountains high I" My mother's baby boy, Edwin, laid personal claim to Seymour, always speaking to him or of him as "My Seymour." "Do you think my Seymour will come this evening, mother?' he would say, "because he ought to know that Flavius is going away." Or, "I want my Seymour to come so I can tell him about Doll and her little colt."
My brothers have always felt that Seymour B. was about the same to them that they were to each other. This dear family and ours were ever much like one. One afternoon, eleven years ago, now, when my husband, Levi W. Richards was lying ill with the malady which soon after closed his earthly career, his cousin Franklin S. Richards and Seymour B. Young happened both to visit him at the same time. During a cheerful and an appropriate conversation at the side of the sick bed Judge Richards was led to make the following declaration to Dr. Young: "I never come into your presence or hear you speak that I do not feel myself uplifted and made better by the occurrence." Being a silent though animated listener to that honest and generous expression, the face of the sick man lighted up with a smile of satisfaction. And he afterward referred to it with grateful appreciation.
Thousands who have known Seymour B. Young familiarly could bear a like testimony concerning the helpfulness and exhilarating influence of his refined and superior personality. But that not costly yet precious little "bouquet" gracefully handed from one large hearted, great souled man to another of the same sort at a suitable moment while both were yet astir in this mortality, instead of its being held by one to be placed on the other's bier, seemed to me something worthy of being remembered and recorded. And here it is, friends! Let us pass it on and benefit ourselves and others by emphasizing the noble example it affords. And may the memory of President Seymour B. Young's good words and works help us to follow with renewed diligence the appointed way which leads to Life Eternal.