Joseph Angell Young
Joseph Angell Young (October 14, 1834 – August 5, 1875) was an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Young is one of the few Latter-day Saints in history to have been ordained to the office of apostle without ever becoming a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles or the First Presidency of the Church.[1]
Young was born in Kirtland, Ohio, the eldest child of Brigham Young and Mary Ann Angell. He was baptized into the Church in Kirtland by his father at the age of eight. In 1847, Young traveled with his family and a group of Mormon pioneers from Nauvoo, Illinois, to the Utah Territory.
Young was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ in England from 1854 to 1856, working in Liverpool, Manchester, and Bradford. Upon his return to Utah Territory, Young married Margaret Whitehead, a native of England.
In 1864, Brigham Young ordained three of his sons to the priesthood office of apostle—Brigham Young, Jr., John Willard Young, and Joseph Angell. Unlike his two brothers, Joseph Angell would never become a member of the First Presidency nor, like Brigham Jr., a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Joseph Angell was active in territorial politics and was a member of the Utah Territory's House of Representatives in its 6th, 11th, and 12th sessions and was a member of the territory's senate in its 14th through 19th sessions.
In 1872, Young was called to preside over the Sevier District of the Church in present-day central Utah. He became the first president of the Sevier Stake when it was organized in 1874. Young served only a few months before dying unexpectedly in Manti, Utah Territory, at the age of forty.
Elder Young is the father of Richard W. Young, who was an Associate Justice of the U.S. Territory of the Philippines Supreme Court between 1899 and 1901.
Notes
- ↑ David Whitmer was an ordained apostle but was never a member of either quorum. Some have also suggested that Martin Harris was an ordained apostle. See Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 6:320 and Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses 6:29.
References
- Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Company, 1901.
- Warnock, Irvin, and Lexia Warnock, eds. Our Own Sevier. Richfield, Utah: Sevier County Commissioners, 1965.
- Young, Brigham. Letters of Brigham Young to His Sons. Edited and with an introduction by Dean C. Jessee. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1974.
