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BYU Cougars
History
About Brigham Young
 Colonizer, territorial governor, and President of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Brigham Young (1801-1877)
was born in Whitingham, Vermont, on June 1, 1801, the ninth of eleven
children born to John Young and Abigail (Nabby) Howe. Following service
in the Revolutionary Army of George Washington in 1783, John Young
married and settled on a farm in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. After a brief
interlude in the Platauva District of east-central New York, the Youngs
returned to Hopkinton and then moved to southern Vermont, in Whitingham
Township, where Brigham was born. When Brigham was three the family
moved to central New York state and later to Smyrna, New York. Brigham
helped clear land for farming, trapped for fur animals, fished, built
sheds and dug cellars, and helped with planting, cultivating, and
harvesting crops. He also cared for his mother, who was seriously ill
with tuberculosis.
Brigham's mother died in 1815 when he was fourteen. Not
long after her death, in search for someone to look after his younger
children, John Young married a widow, Hannah Brown, in Steuben (now
Schuyler), county New York, who brought her own children into the
family. Brigham decided to leave his home in Tyrone Township in 1817.
Living for a period with a sister, he became an apprentice carpenter,
painter, and glazier in nearby Auburn. Over the next five years in
Auburn, he assisted in building its first marketplace, the prison, the
theological seminary, and the home of "Squire" William Brown (later
occupied by William H. Seward, a governor of New York who also served as
Lincoln's secretary of state). As a master carpenter, Brigham built door
fittings, louvered attic windows, and carved ornate mantelpieces for
many homes. Many old homes in the region to this day have chairs, desks,
staircases, doorways, and mantelpieces made by Brigham Young.
Brigham's most obvious achievements were the
product of his lifelong talent for practical decision making. He
instituted patterns of Church government that persist to this day. In
leading the Saints across Iowa, he issued detailed instructions that
were followed by the hundreds of companies that crossed the plains to
the Salt Lake Valley in succeeding years. In the Great Basin he directed
the organization of several hundred LDS settlements; set up several
hundred cooperative retail, wholesale, and manufacturing enterprises;
and initiated the construction of meetinghouses, tabernacles, and
temples. While doing all this, he carried on a running battle with the
United States government to preserve the unique LDS way of life.
The Cougar Song
Brigham Young University
Rise all loyal cougars and hurl your challenge to the foe.
You will fight, day or night, rain or snow.
Loyal, strong, and true
Wear the white and blue.
While we sing, get set to spring.
Come on Cougars it's up to you. Oh!
CHORUS:
Rise and shout, the Cougars are out
along the trail to fame and glory.
Rise and shout, our cheers will ring out
As you unfold your victr'y story.
On you go to vanquish the foe for Alma Mater's sons and daughters.
As we join in song, in praise of you, our faith is strong.
We'll raise our colors high in the blue
And cheer our Cougars of BYU.
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