In the Salt Lake Tabernacle, a building he himself designed, President Brigham Young was honored June 1 on the 200th anniversary of his birth with a program of 10 musical selections from the Tabernacle Choir and an address from his modern-day successor, President Gordon B. Hinckley.
In attendance were President Hinckley's counselors, President Thomas S. Monson and President James E. Faust, and many members of the Quorum of the Twelve and the First and Second Quorums of the Seventy. President Monson conducted the program.
Thomas B. Williams, president of the Brigham Young Family Association, which sponsored the event, delivered remarks representing President Young's numerous descendants. Those descendants include his 102-year-old granddaughter Marian Morgan, who was introduced at the concert. The daughter of President Young's oldest son, Brigham Jr., she came from her home in Seal Beach, Calif., to be present for the 200th birthday festivities of her illustrious grandfather.
At least one of the choir's selections would have been very familiar to President Young. "Come, Come, Ye Saints" was performed publicly for the first time when he was sustained in December 1847 in Kanesville, Iowa, as president of the Church. Other choir selections were "High on the Mountain Top," "America the Beautiful," "Down in the Valley," "Cindy," "Climb Every Mountain," "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty," "The King of Love My Shepherd Is," "All Creatures of Our God and King" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
President Hinckley began his talk by displaying the cane President Young used when he marked the site of the Salt Lake Temple in 1847.
"It was originally owned by Oliver Cowdery and passed from his hands to Phineas Young, who passed it on to his brother Brigham," President Hinckley said, adding that its history makes it priceless.
He traced the early life of President Young, including his conversion.
President Hinckley said he stands in awe of the boldness of President Young in leading his people to the Salt Lake Valley. "He must have had a vision clear and unmistakable of this valley. No plow had ever broken its soil. He knew nothing of its fertility, nothing of its seasons, the weather, the frost, the severity of the winters, the possibility of insect plagues."
He spoke of the beginning of modern irrigation, which began in the valley under President Young's leadership, of colonization in six present-day states, of a cotton mission, and wool, silk, iron, flour, lumber, stone-quarry and sugar industries and a public works department.
"When all is said and done, I regard Brigham Young as the greatest entrepreneur this country has produced," President Hinckley declared, mentioning the establishment of the Deseret News, which has been published continuously since 1850. He added that as early as 1852, President Young and his colleagues memorialized Congress asking for construction of a transcontinental railroad, a dream that was fulfilled in May 1869.
"While all of this was going on he never lost sight of his greater mission," President Hinckley observed. "He was prophet, seer and revelator to his people. His mission was the growth and strengthening of the Church. . . . He spoke with authority and wisdom on almost any subject you can imagine, from keeping house to the magnitude and wonder of the Atonement. No aspect of life escaped his attention.
"On this, his 200th birthday, we pause to honor him. We love him. We admire him. We respect him. We testify of the divinity of his calling and of the magnificence of his accomplishment and do it all as those who look to him still for leadership in moving forward this great cause and kingdom."
E-mail: rscott@desnews.com
