Brigham Young was the son of a veteran

Brigham Young was the third-youngest of the eleven children John and Abigail ("Nabby") Howe Young had between 1786 and 1807. In 1785, John, a soldier in three of George Washington's Revolutionary War campaigns, wed Nabby. The young couple made their home on a farm in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. John, a "small, quick, wiry man," took the responsibility of providing for his family, which was rapidly expanding. But he never lost sight of his religious and moral principles. He was very reserved, excellent, and religious, according to Brigham, and he belonged to the Methodist Church from a young age.

In the brutal New England winter of January 1801, John relocated his family from Hopkinton, where they had lived for sixteen years, to a log cabin outside of Whitingham, Windham County, Vermont. On June 1st, 1801, Brigham Young was born here, five months later. For almost three years, the family remained at Whitingham as John cleared forest to make the land fit for farming.

Despite John's industry and some opportunities for economic growth, the Youngs never achieved financial success. Brigham reflected that his father was a hardworking, honest, and poor man whose mind seemed to spread from east to west and north to south. Until the day of his passing, he yearned to rule the globe.