http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/UU_Photo_Archives&CISOPTR=47960

My family and I, who are never mo's, had the strange experience of spending a few days in SLC this summer. We are huge history buffs and love old houses. We went to "This is the Place" historic village. In Brigham Young's Forest Home house, which was moved from its former location, we saw the above family portrait. In it, a couple of kids are holding lilies, which we were told indicates they were dead. We were told that it was a portrait of Brigham and the wife he left in charge of Forest Home and their children. (I don't remember the name they said) I was impressed that they didn't try to skirt the issue of multiple wives. We were also told that
Brigham Young never spent the night at that house, but that Mark Twain had. Fast forward a couple of days. We were in Brigham's House on Temple square. Sure enough the very same portrait was there, and we were told it was the wife that lived in that house and her kids, and the ones holding the lillies had passed on. OK, we thought, which wife is it? How could two different wives allow this portrait to be hung in their houses? The guides in the Temple Square house had no explanation when we said we had seen the same painting in the Forrest Home. Hmmmmmm. T

To Mormons, history is a suggestion. They can't understand why other people fuss over details and facts.

She was his second wife, but came after his first wife died. She was legally married to him. The others were "wives" only in the PlygoMormon sense of the word.

The Church has taken great efforts in recent years to pretend as though the other wives did not exist. In the official lesson manual that came out a few years ago covering the teachings of Brigham Young, great care was taken to omit any indication that Briggy had ever had a large harem of wives.

It appears that they only want to display the portrait of his official/legal wife. What can I say? They're weird. They seem to think that they can fudge stuff like that and people won't know.

Actually, Mary Ann Angell wasn't even his favorite wife. His favorite wife was Amelia Folsom, who was 24 when she married Brigham (who was then 61). Basically, Briggy played the role of sugar daddy and Amelia figured if she had to live in the plyggy hillbilly hell that Utah was then, she may as well marry the alpha male and get a nice house out of the deal.

Is Steve Y of RfM fame in the pic? is he Smiling?

what color are those lilies in his hand?

I am a presbyterian too!