The Brigham Young Domicile, Salt Lake City, Utah Author(S): Rickey Lynn Hendricks Source: the Public Historian, Vol

Home , Beehive house, Brigham Young Complex, Gardo House, Mary Ann Angell, Susa Young Gates, Temple Square

Landmark Architecture for a Polygamous Family: The Brigham Young Domicile, Salt Lake City, Utah Author(s): Rickey Lynn Hendricks Source: The Public Historian, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Winter, 1989), pp. 25-47 Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the National Council on Public History Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3378476 . Accessed: 17/12/2013 13:24

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LandmarkArchitecture for a PolygamousFamily: The BrighamYoung Domicile, Salt Lake City,Utah

RICKEY LYNN HENDRICKS

REGISTERED AS A NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK by the National Park Service in 1964, the nineteenth-centurydomicile of BrighamYoung in Salt Lake City, Utah, east ofTemple Square, was poorlydocumented in the publicrecord. The BrighamYoung house and officecomplex contains the Lion House and the Beehive House, connectedby Young'soffices, in a U-shaped configuration.The Beehive House and officeswere not included in the firstlandmark boundary. The Lion House was registered underthe theme"Politics and MilitaryAffairs: Manifest Destiny," for its associationwith Brigham Young as governorof Utah Territory.National Park Service recognitionof the Lion House only in regardto national politicsand westwardexpansion conformed to the "consensusmodel" of Americanhistory dominant in the 1950s.' Consensushistorians tend to

ThomasR. Carterof the Utah State HistoricalSociety gave invaluableassistance on this project.Not onlydid his dissertationon Mormonarchitecture in the SanpeteValley give me insightinto the relationshipbetween religion and Mormoncommunity-building, but he first introducedme to the "architectureof polygamy" and the networkof researchers interested in the Young household. The workof JeffreyO. Johnsonof the Utah State Archiveson Young's wives and familyorganization and Paul L. Andersonof the Museum of Church Historyand Arton the architectureof the Younghouses was criticalto myunderstanding of thehousehold. W. RandallDixon ofthe HistoricalDepartment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-daySaints was extremelyhelpful in showingme the buildings,introducing me to Bernice Casper and otherswho knew much of the historyof the houses, and leading me throughthe researchmaterial and photographsof the LDS ChurchArchives. 1. Barry Mackintosh,The Historic Sites Survey and National Historic Landmarks Program-A History(Washington, D.C.: Departmentof the Interior,National Park Ser-

The PublicHistorian, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Winter1989) ? 1989by the Regentsof the Universityof California

This content downloaded from 129.170.195.144 on Tue, 17 Dec 2013 13:24:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 26 * THE PUBLIC HISTORIAN argue thatcultural homogeneity and a commonpolitical and economic ideologyare intrinsicto nationaldevelopment. Facile use ofthis model in government-sponsoredhistory has perpetuatedcultural, ethnic, and gen- derbiases. The resulthas been omissionof large and vitalsegments of the nation'spast from the historic preservation agenda. Excessive focus on the politicallife of prominent white males such as BrighamYoung has paral- leled neglectof the socialmovements, women and thefamily, and ethnic and culturalminorities emphasized in academic scholarshipsince the New Leftmovement of the 1960s. The BrighamYoung complex has nationalhistoric significance because it standsas the materialexpression of a unique mid-nineteenth-century utopiancommunity. Viewed in this broadercontext, it reveals much about the socialbehavior and beliefsystem of that community. Brigham Youngand his architectTruman O. Angelldesigned the building complex to accommodateYoung's polygamous Mormon family and to integratehis privateand officialaffairs in a singleorganic household. It was a prototype forthe utopiansocial systemthat Church of JesusChrist of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) leaders conceivedfor a larger"City of Zion" in accordancewith the doctrineof polygamy.Yet previoushistorians have notdocumented the landmark's importance as themost highly visible and elaboratelyconceived polygamous architecture in the UnitedStates. The followingstudy makes the case forexpanding the landmarkboundary to includeall ofthe extantbuildings in the complex,and providesevidence ofthe landmark'sbroader architectural and socio-ideologicalsignificance forthe public record. Another version of this study by theauthor was the basisfor the boundary expansion proposed by the National Park Service to theNational Advisory Council on HistoricPreservation in 1988. Like othermillenarian groups in Jacksonianand pre-CivilWar America who soughtliterally to "reform"a disintegratingsocial and moralorder, the Latter-daySaints attempted to create a new model of earthlyexistence. Lawrence Foster, who examinessexual patternsin the Oneida, Shaker,and Mormoncommunities as theyreflect religious doctrine, iden- tifiescertain common characteristics of these groups. All threedepended on "a similartype of personal,charismatic leadership" and interpreted theirexperiences as having"cosmic importance." The followersin each grouphad an Anglo-Americanethnic base. Most,like the Mormons, emi- vice, HistoryDivision, 1985), 38-62, givesan overviewof the fragmentedevolution of the NationalHistoric Landmarks Program. National Park Service historians at the policylevel are recognizingthe importance of cultural pluralism in Americanhistory. In a recentpublica- tion,History and Prehistoryin theNational Park Systemand theNational Historic Land- marksProgram (Washington, D.C.: HistoryDivision, NationalPark Service, 1987), the BrighamYoung House (Lion House) is listedunder "Political and MilitaryAffairs: Manifest Destiny"(III-11), but also under "AmericanWays of Life: EthnicCommunities"(III-64). Ironically,however, it is not included under "Social and HumanitarianMovements: Communitarianismand Utopianism,"even thoughthe Nauvoo HistoricDistrict, Shaker, Oneida, BrookFarm, and otherUtopian structures and sitesare classifiedunder this head- ing(111-65).

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BrighamYoung and his "senior wife" Mary Ann Angell with theirchildren in Nauvoo, Illinois.(Utah State HistoricalSociety Photographic Collection)

gratedwestward from New Englandor westernNew York,a region"expe- riencingrapid economic growthand unstable social conditions"in the 1830s and 1840s. All three groupswere foundedon a restructuringof familyand maritallife. "They all were convinced,"Foster argues,"that the old order was radicallydiseased and corrupt,tottering inevitably towarddestruction-'the end ofthe world,'in theirterms. Rejecting the wickedworld, these groupsinstead set up theirown religiouscommuni- ties,based on theirown conceptionsof the ideal or heavenlymodel. "2 The Mormonswere mostsuccessful in termsof numberof converts,cultural cohesion,and longevityin creatinga "new order"based on communi- tarianprinciples including polygamy. Early Latter-daySaints leader JosephSmith issued his "revelation"in 1843 that the doctrineof polygamywas ordainedto him by God. The doctrinewas not officiallyproclaimed, however, until 1852 at a special churchconference after the finalMormon migration to Utah. Geographic isolationand fluidsocial boundarieson the Americanfrontier meant that this formof familystructure had over a decade of incubationbefore it came undera fullattack by thefederal government. The attackbegan with the MorrillAnti-Bigamy Act of 1862, and intensifiedwith the shiftof

2. LawrenceFoster, Religion and Sexuality:Three American Communal Experiments of theNineteenth Century (New York:Oxford University Press, 1981), 5-6.

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federalattention to the West afterthe Civil War. The doctrinewas main- tainedby the LDS Churchuntil 1890. The Mormonleadership finally capitulatedwhen the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887, imposing harsh penal- tiesfor polygamy and "unlawfulcohabitation" was ruledconstitutional by theSupreme Court.3 Prior to this,LDS leadershad resistedlegal prosecu- tionand enduredsocial discriminationfor almost five decades, claiming thatpolygamy had Biblicalprecedent and divinesanction. Procreationand "progressiontoward full godhood" were the dual ratio- nale forthe practiceof polygamy.Mormons believed that restoration of thepatriarchal authority granted by God to theancient Hebrew prophets would restorethe propersocial orderand fulfillGod's promiseto Abra- ham thathis seed would be as plentifulas the sand ofthe seashore.The purposeof marriagewas the increaseof "righteousprogeny" among the Mormonpatriarchs. Church-sanctioned marriages of these men "for eternity"reflected the "ideal or heavenlypattern" on earth.Such marriages were the meansfor both sexes to attain"the highest status and glory"in the "celestial"sphere. Ordinarysecular marriages were "fortime" only. Husbandand wifethus joined were ofthe lowliestorder in the afterlife, servingas "ministering"or servantangels, "unable to progressfurther towardgodhead.'"4 Foster explainsthe intensereligious significance of polygamousmarriage: It had to be properlysealed by thePriesthood, and would endure in heavenas wellas on earth.In heaven,men who had contracted such marriageswould be greatpatriarchs having "all power," surrounded by theirown families as wellas bythose unfortunate ministering angels who lackedwives or progeny. Through the "eternal increase" of such godlike patriarchs. . . theyeventually would move on to ruleover whole new worlds,achieving full godhead in conjunction with their wives.5 Churchauthorities granted "sealings" (LDS Church-conductedmar- riages)to morethan one livingwife only to maleswho were economically prosperousand morallyexemplary. Marriage to suchmen conferred pres- tige and statuson womenas well. A "senior,"or firstliving wife, must grantpermission for her husbandto take other"plural" wives. Sealings could be "fortime" or "fortime and eternity."If a widowwas previously sealed foreternity by thechurch, her new union would be forthe remain- der ofher earthlyexistence only. In the afterlifeshe wouldbe reunited withher first "eternal" family. There were other distinctions among forms ofplural marriage. While the vast majority of polygamists had onlyone or two pluralwives, those who had more mostlikely had both "conjugal" (sexuallyconsummated) and "nonconjugal"unions. Sexualrelations in the BrighamYoung household were not a subjectof discourse,and the officialchurch historian was instructedby Youngthat

3. Ibid., 222-25. 4. Ibid., 17, 145. 5. Ibid., 145.

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"he did notwish but littlehistory of his familygiven." Young had children by sixteenof his fifty-fivewives, the onlytrue evidence of conjugal rela- tions.He claimedsixteen wives in 1870, in a rarecomment on the topic. At least twenty-eightof the women to whom he was sealed, however, were stillliving at the time. The discrepancyin numberof wives repre- sentsa semanticaldifference between the Mormonand civildefinitions of marriage.Women classifiedby Young as "wife"apparently were those withwhom he had intimaterelations, and preferablychildren. Unconsum- mated "sealings"served a religiouspurpose only. Of the totalof thirty- nine wives who did not bear him children,twelve were over forty-five whenthey married him, and sixwere overten yearsolder than he. Thus, it is evidentthat he had nonconjugalunions with a largenumber, both in and outsidehis own household.In an 1859 interviewwith Horace Gree- ley, Young confided,"I have some aged women sealed to me upon the principleof sealing which I no morethink of making a wifeof than I would myGrand Mother.'"6 Like otherutopian sects, the Mormonswere compelledto createa new domesticarchitecture to accommodatetheir social structure.The most thoroughlyformulated utopian housing policy was the Fourieristmodel, adaptedimperfectly by the BrookFarm community. A largecommune of 1,500 people could functionmost efficiently,the eighteenth-century FrenchmanCharles Fouriertheorized, in a largesingle building called a "phalanstery"set on 5,000 acresof land. Withinthe phalanstery all domes- tic arrangementswere in commonand were organizedby specific,mea- sured tasks rotated systematicallyamong communitymembers. The Oneida convertsto "complexmarriage" likewise inhabited one largecom- munalstructure. The Oneida "MansionHouse" was a ramblingVictorian Gothicdwelling with numerous haphazard additions.7 The dualism and symmetryof Shakerarchitecture was a more likely precedentfor Mormon polygamous architecture, though it was theexpres- sionof a theologythat differed sharply from Mormon belief. Strict Shaker dualisticsimplicity was in accordancewith belief in thepolarities between the sexes and betweenthe celestialand materialspheres. Ultimately the creationof heaven on earththat the Shakerssought through meticulous reorderingof the imperfectmaterial environment was possible onlyby

6. Much of the detail on BrighamYoung's wives was graciouslyprovided the authorby JeffreyO. Johnsonin his unpublishedmanuscripts. His workis based on thoroughresearch in the Archivesof the Churchof Jesus Christ of Latter-daySaints (henceforth LDS Church Archives),Young's Journal of Discourses,diaries, and specialcollections. Johnson, "Deter- miningand Defining'Wife': The BrighamYoung Households,"unpublished manuscript, n.d., ca. 1985, 1-3; Young quoted, p. 3, fromClerk's report of BrighamYoung's interview with Horace Greeley, July13, 1859, BrighamYoung Collection,LDS ChurchArchives. 7. Foster,Religion and Sexuality,86, 222; also Dolores Hayden, SevenAmerican Uto- pias: The Architectureof CommunitarianSocialism, 1790-1975 (Cambridge:MIT Press, 1976),149-55.

This content downloaded from 129.170.195.144 on Tue, 17 Dec 2013 13:24:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 30 * THE PUBLIC HISTORIAN theirtranscendence of the material world in thepsychic imagination." For the Mormons,heavenly harmony was realizablein the materialworld throughrecreation of a celestialfamily, whose membersretained their sensual pleasures and materialcomforts. There was littleof extreme Shakerausterity in theBrigham Young household. There is ample evidence-in Mormondoctrine, the historicrecord, and survivingnineteenth-century Mormon architecture-that the Brig- hamYoung property was developedby Youngas a modelutopian dwelling. In 1839 Latter-daySaints founderJoseph Smith drew a plat for Nauvoo, Illinois as the new LDS "Jerusalem"where God's "chosen" wouldawait the Second Comingof Christ. The idealcity was anchoredby the "twinmonuments" of the NauvooTemple and the Prophet's"Nauvoo House," a largefamily dwelling also intendedto be a hotelfor immigrants to theholy city.9 BrighamYoung's two-story brick house in Nauvoo, withsingle-story wingsand steppedgables, had vernacularelements common to the east- ernUnited States. Most likely Young adapted it topolygamous family life. Younghad sixwives prior to Joseph Smith's death in 1844,and fortywives by the timethe Mormonmigration to UtahTerritory began in the winter and springof 1846. Althoughthe practiceof polygamywas kept secret amongchurch leaders, and pluralwives were secluded, it is probablethat Young's Nauvoo house served a varietyof functionsfor his expanding household. A daughterdescribed it as a "large two-storiedhouse of brick. .. admirablyadapted to house his largeand increasingfamily.'"'1 The cityof Zion in Nauvoo fellfar short of utopianintentions. Lavish expenditureon monumentalarchitecture severely depleted resources needed forindividual comforts desired by thoseoutside the LDS power structure.Community disapproval of the expenseof the Nauvoo house and the doctrineof polygamyled to Smith'smurder by his enemiesin 1844. BrighamYoung assumed the mantleof LDS leadershipas thenew Mormon"prophet." Prophet Young's mission was to establisha new Zion in the West, safelyremoved from hostile gentiles. In the starkand arid wildernessof the GreatBasin, he directedcreation of a morepermanent Jerusalemand a moreprosperous Eden. Againthe dual monumentsof the prophet'sdomicile and the Salt Lake Templewere to commandthe land-

8. ThomasCarter suggested that I examinethe architectural similarities in Mormonand Shakerbuilding. Hayden, Seven American Utopias, 71-101; Foster,Religion and Sexuality, 29-35. 9. Hayden,Seven American Utopias, 120. 10. Foster, Religionand Sexuality,158. Foster describes the seclusionof Brigham Young'splural wife Harriet Cook duringher pregnancyin Nauvoowhen she stayedat the homeof Erastus Snow; Susa YoungGates, "Chapter 14: EarlyHomes of Brigham Young," 1, unpublishedmanuscript in Susa YoungGates Collection,Utah State Historical Society, Box 12, fd. 3. Portionsof the voluminousGates typescriptswere editedfor Susa YoungGates, The Life Storyof BrighamYoung in collaborationwith Leah D. Witsoe(New York:The MacMillanCo., 1930). Due to extensivecuts and editingin theoriginal, the typescriptsare themuch more informative source.

This content downloaded from 129.170.195.144 on Tue, 17 Dec 2013 13:24:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions LANDMARK ARCHITECTURE * 31 scape in the city-buildingthat began when Great Salt Lake City was foundedin 1847.11The buildingsconveyed the revelationsof the ancient prophets.Through form and symbolthey were a materialimage of celes- tialparadise. As BrighamYoung proclaimed: I havelooked upon the community oflatter-day Saints and beheld them organizedas one greatfamily of heaven, each personperforming his severalduties in hisline of industry, working for the good of the whole morethan for individual aggrandizement; and in thisI havebeheld the mostbeautiful order that the mindof man can contemplate,and the grandestresults for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God and the spread ofrighteousness upon the earth.12 The migrationWest and the rebuildingof Latter-dayZion was conceived by the Mormonsas the literalrecreation of the Israelite Exodus and Redemption;the doctrineof polygamyre-established the Biblicalfamily structure. Earlyconditions were primitiveat GreatSalt Lake City. In accordance withSmith's plat ofthe utopiancity of Zion, the citywas laid out in ten- acre square blocks with streetseight rods (132 feet)wide. Blockswere dividedinto tracts called "inheritances"for each family,large enough for individualgardens and orchards.A fewlog houseswere builtin the city, but timberwas scarce, and clay foradobe was plentiful;110 "brethren" were appointed to make the new buildingmaterial. Young chose for himselftwo blocks (about twenty acres) adjoining City Creek and immedi- atelyeast ofthe temple.13 Housingfor his wivesand childrenwas makeshift.Female familymembers and theirchildren resided in tentswhile Young builtseveral small adobe houses on the property,and "remodeled"several wagon boxes, a barn,and a corncrib, until more substantial housing was constructed.The "Log Row"was completedin the fallof 1848 as theprimary abode forhis youngerwives. Located on a north-centralsection of the property,it was describedby a Young daughteras a "long,log house, witha big adobe dining-roomon thewest end, and a roomykitchen fitted even thenwith a wooden sinkand outsidedrain pipe. Eightor ninebedrooms stretched to the east, occupied by most of the wives. Each had a littlehome-made sheet-ironstove, with a doorand one stovehole on topto heatwater or to warmbaby's milk.The long adobe hall, whichserved as the community kitchenand diningroom, served also as the familyprayer-room.'"14 Chil- dren soon "came to complicatehouse-rooming facilities," and "thebabies crowdedout ofthe cradles."Nevertheless, senior wife Mary Ann Angell, called "MotherYoung" by the family,had firstpriority. Her firstresi- dence withthe seven childrenin her care was a corncrib, but she soon

11. Hayden, SevenAmerican Utopias, 124-31, 141-43. 12. Youngquoted in Foster,Religion and Sexuality,181. 13. JohnW. Reps, Cities of theAmerican West: A Historyof FrontierUrban Planning (Princeton:Princeton University Press, 1979),290, 306. 14. Gates, "Chapter14: EarlyHomes ofBrigham Young," 13-14.

This content downloaded from 129.170.195.144 on Tue, 17 Dec 2013 13:24:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 32 * THE PUBLIC HISTORIAN had themost elaborate building on theproperty. Brigham Young built the adobe temple-form"White House" withGreek Revival elements, on a hill just east of the Log Row in 1850-51. It was the permanenthome of his firstliving wife and her children.Until the Beehive House was builtin 1854,the White House also servedas theofficial headquarters for church and territorialgovernment. It was demolishedin themid-1920s.15 Analystsof Mormon doctrine describe practice of the faith as "experien- tial"rather than "behavioral." Ideally, Mormon converts experienced spiri- tualrebirth and knowledgeof the celestial sphere through the monumental earthlymodels establishedby churchauthority and participationin communalritual, ceremony, and building.Salt Lake Citywas uniqueas a religious"boom town," similar in itsinstant and sustainedgrowth to other citiesof the AmericanWest, yet profoundlydifferent in the motivation and patternof its settlement.The populationexploded from 1,700 four monthsafter its founding in 1847,to 5,000 withina year.From this solid base, BrighamYoung directed the planning and developmentof over 350 communitiesin the Mormonsettlement areas of the intermountain West. By 1869over 80,000 people residedin about200 townsin UtahTerritory, withSalt Lake Citythe hub of settlement.16 LDS Churchmembers were instructedin the Mormonfaith through exampleand participationin community-buildingrather than exhortation fromthe pulpit. Also there was continuingdanger of attacksby non- Mormonsand anti-polygamists.Thus therewere fewofficial pronounce- mentson thedoctrine of polygamy after Smith's revelation; nor was there an officialhousing policy like that of other utopian sects of the era. Young himselfonly urged the brethrento build good and substantialhomes, expressingsentiments toward women, the home, and familythat were verymuch withinthe intellectualmainstream of the Victorianperiod. One of his fewrecorded references to his familyas a communitymodel was at the establishmentof the YoungLadies' RetrenchmentSociety in 1869,when he declared: AllIsrael are looking to myfamily and watching the example set by my wivesand children. For this reason I desireto organize my family first intoa societyfor the promotion of habits of order, thrift, industry, and charity;and, aboveall thingsto retrenchfrom their extravagance in dress,in eating, and even in speech. The time has come when the sisters mustagree to giveup theirfollies of dress and cultivate a modest ap- parel,a meekdeportment, and to setan examplebefore the people of theworld worthy of imitation.17 This pronouncementcame six monthsafter the transcontinentalrailroad had symbolicallydestroyed the geographicand spiritualisolation of the

15. Ibid., 16-17. 16. ThomasG. Alexanderand JamesB. Allen,Mormons and Gentiles(Boulder: Pruett PublishingCo., 1984),2-3, 45. 17. Quotedin LeonardJ. Arrington, Brigham Young: American Moses (New York: Alfred A. Knopf,1985), 352.

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GreatBasin Kingdom.Prior to extensiveincursions of the gentilepopula- tion,Mormon culture achieved a solidarityand stabilitysufficient to make suchparticularistic statements unnecessary. ThomasR. Carter'sstudy of over 800 buildingsin the SanpeteValley of centralUtah, about 100 miles south of Salt Lake City, illustratesthe absence of culturaluniformity or a self-consciousutopian architecture. The housesare vernacularwith diverse stylistic details representing immi- granttradition, similar to houses in otherAmerican frontier areas. Indi- vidualsat the bottomof the LDS hierarchywere notexpected to replicate the Youngmodel on a smallermaterial scale. Carterdraws on JanShipps to explainthe "dualityof the Mormonlandscape," with its "undifferenti- ated houses"yet monumental religious architecture and carefullyplanned townsettlement pattern. The "open and expansive"folk architecture re- flectedsecurity, a well-orderedworld view, and "social boundaries"al- readyfirmly established by churchmembership. "Visible symbols" were concentratedin group-orientedand monumentalprojects, such as the townplan, the Temple Square, and the prophet'sdomicile, signifying the patriarchalorder of society based in thepolygamous family.18 The Youngfamily was at the apex ofa highlyexclusive segment of the Mormonpopulation that practiced polygamy. Susa YoungGates, the first childborn at the Lion House, recalledthat there were less thana dozen "realpatriarchal families with six to tenwomen in one household."'19Only economicallyprosperous church leaders establishedpolygamous households,usually with two or threewives. Historiansestimate that as fewas fivepercent of marriedMormon males were polygamists;yet thisgroup representedfifteen to twentypercent of prominentMormon families of the GreatBasin region.A samplingof the lattershowed that 66.3 percent "marriedonly the one extrawife considered necessary to achievehighest exaltationin the celestial kingdom."Another 21.2 percent had three wives, 6.7 percenthad four,and less thanseven percentmarried five or morewomen.20 Most polygamoushomes represented adaptation of existing, traditional architecturalforms, as previouslydescribed for Nauvoo and the Sanpete Valley. Simple double-cellor paired symmetricalforms might have dou-

18. ThomasR. Carter,"Building Zion: Folk Architecturein the MormonSettlements of Utah'sSanpete Valley, 1849-1890" (Ph.D. Thesis,Indiana University, 1984), "Abstract," 2- 3, 296-99; Carter draws on Jan Shipps, "Continuityand Change in TwentiethCentury Mormonism,"in After150 Years: The Latter-daySaints in SesquicentennialPerspective, Thomas G. Alexanderand Jessie L. Embry,eds., Charles Redd Monographsin Western History,v. 13 (Provo: Charles Redd Center, 1983), 23-24. Also, Shipps,"Brigham Young and His Times: A ContinuingForce in Mormonism,"Journal of the West 23 (January1984), 48-54. 19. Gates, "Chapter14: Early Homes ofBrigham Young," 15. 20. D. Gene Pace, "Wives of NineteenthCentury Bishops: A QuantitativeAnalysis," Journalof the West 21 (1982). Pace relies on Leonard J. Arringtonand Davis Bitton,The MormonExperience: A Historyof theLatter-day Saints (New York:Alfred A. Knopf,1979); Foster,Religion and Sexuality,210, 330n.

This content downloaded from 129.170.195.144 on Tue, 17 Dec 2013 13:24:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 34 * THE PUBLIC HISTORIAN ble entrancesor wingsto accommodatetwo wives. But dual entrances were commonplacein easternregions of the UnitedStates as a meansto achieveexterior symmetry of the facadewhen a centralpartition divided the interior.Thus the formwas not unique to polygamousarchitecture, norwas it onlyused formulti-family dwellings. The preferredmanner of polygamousfamily habitation was forwives to have separatehouses. But thiswas possibleonly as the patriarchof such familiesattained the eco- nomicmeans and materialresources on the Utah frontierto build more than one house. This was rarelyachieved. Rather,there was a wide variationof makeshift and experimentalforms and stylesadapted accord- ingto individualcircumstances.21 For example,John P. Woods added brickrooms to a simple stone cottagenorth of Willard to accommodatethree wives; at Layton,George D. Wattjoined togetherthree wood framehouses to create a kind of tripartiterow-house with equal accommodationsfor each wife.Combin- ingeconomic and domesticactivity, John C. Naeglebuilt a largerectangu- lar stonehouse withmultiple entrances in 1868 at Toquerville.It had a basementwine cellarand distillery.The uppertwo floors, though never completed,apparently were intended to house a polygamousfamily. Professionalbuilders who were polygamists sometimes built more elaboratelyconceived dwellings. The Samuel Pierce Hoythouse, builtin the 1860sin theWeber Valley, was a largetwo-and-one-half-story symmetrical T-shapedbuilding for two wives. JohnWatkins, who immigratedfrom Englandin 1852,became the bishop of the local church in Midwayand the town'sonly polygamist. His firstwife remained in a stonehouse in Midway withthree apartments, but he movedhis othertwo wives to a moreintri- catelydesigned house thathe builtin 1868,which is stillstanding. This cross-gabled,two-story building has stylisticelements popular in the Gothiccottage style of the nineteenth century. The softbrick was painted brightred, withcontrasting white stone quoins, laceybargeboards, and porchtrim. An entrancehall, parlor,and largedining room separate the twosymmetrical bedrooms on each end ofthe house; threeupstairs bed- roomseach have a largegable.22 None, however,practiced polygamy on thescale ofBrigham Young, who had fifty-fivewives over his lifetime, and fifty-sixoffspring.3 None created so elaboratea familyedifice. Constructionof the Beehive House and Young'sadjacent president's

21. Paul Goeldner,'"The Architecture of Equal Comforts:Polygamists in Utah,"Historic Preservation24, vol. 1 (1972), 14; Carter,"Building Zion," 107, 121, 186-88, 218, for housingforms and elementsadaptable for polygamous families. 22. Goeldner,'"The Architecture of Equal Comforts,"14-16. 23. JeffreyO. Johnson,unpublished typescript, "Wives of BrighamYoung," attachment to "Determiningand Defining'Wife' "; Gates Collection,unpublished typescripts "Daugh- tersof BrighamYoung" and "Sons of BrighamYoung," n.d., Susa YoungGates Collection, Box 1, fd.5; and Gates,"Lion House Memories,"2, typescript,Gates Collection, Box 12,fd. 3. Paul L. Anderson,"Brigham Young and the Lion House," unpublishedtypescript of a talk givenat the Lion House, ca. 1983).

This content downloaded from 129.170.195.144 on Tue, 17 Dec 2013 13:24:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions LANDMARK ARCHITECTURE * 35 officeat the southfront end ofhis propertybegan in 1852. His governor's officefor the administrationof civic affairs was completedin 1854. In 1855 the Beehive House became Young'sofficial residence as territorialgover- norand churchpresident, and the home ofYoung's first plural wife Lucy Ann Decker, who bore him seven children.Some otherwives resided withLucy forshort periods to help withhousekeeping and entertaining. The Lion House, at the west end of the main complex,was erected between1855 and 1856. This groupof buildings formed a U-shapedcon- figurationwith the officesseparating the dual domicile.By the timethe Lion House was completedas a privateresidence for his family,Young was "sealed" to at least thirty-sevenliving women, and had thirty-five children.24 It is unknownhow manywomen actuallyresided in the mainhousing complex at the peak of habitation.Young familymembers claim that twelvewives lived in the Lion House, alongwith nineteen daughters and eightsons. While the numberof childrenis probablyaccurate, Brigham Younghimself only numbered his conjugalwives, or thosewith children, whenhe discussedhis marriageswith outsiders. His daughterSusa Young Gates did the same in her extensiverecollections. One historianestimates thattwenty wives may have lived in the Lion House at one time. Lucy Decker and her childrenresided in the Beehive House, while MaryAnn Angell'sfamily remained at theWhite House. Othershad separatehouses outside the Young familycompound. In additionto Young's conjugal wives and offspring,the maincomplex also housed spousesand offspring of marriedchildren, older nonconjugalwives who helped runthe household,adopted children, and hiredhelp.25 The originaldomestic compound occupied twenty acres, or twofull city blocks.About thirty-five structures, in additionto the houses and offices of the landmark,were once partof the communallife of the inhabitants. Buildingsadded to the propertyin the 1850s and 1860s included the White House, the Young familyschoolhouse first built on the southeast cornerof the second block,barns, corrals, a gristmill,graineries, a store, and variousoutbuildings. None ofthese exist today. (See annotatedphoto- graphcirca 1875.) All of the originalstructures were enclosed behind a nine-foot-highrubblestone wall supportedby circularbuttresses. A gate- keeper passed visitorsand familymembers through the Eagle Gate, a wooden and rubblestonearchway surmounted by a huge carvedwooden eagle. This was located at the east end of the Beehive House at the entranceto CityCreek Canyon.From the beginning, the Young property was a semi-publicthoroughfare because it blockedcommon entry to City

24. Johnson,unpublished typescript, "Wives of Brigham Young," attachment to "Deter- miningand Defining'Wife' "; Gates, "Daughtersof Brigham Young," and "Sons ofBrigham Young." 25. Johnson,"Living . . . and Livingwith . . . thePrinciple: The BrighamYoung House- holds,"unpublished manuscript, ca. 1984, 11-12.

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Creek Canyon,the source of the citywater supply as well as the only availabletimber in the vicinity.Permission to enterthe canyonwas ob- tainedfrom the gatekeeperin exchangefor delivery of every third load of woodat Young'sdoor to be used forcommunity purposes.26 Self-taughtarchitect Truman O. Angell,who designedthe buildings in the BrighamYoung domicile, originally was a carpenter,born in 1810 in Providence,Rhode Island. He was baptized into the Mormonfaith in 1833 and migratedto Kirtland,Ohio withJoseph Smith in 1835. He helpedto completethe KirtlandTemple. This work provided the occasion forclose acquaintancewith church leaders. In 1834 BrighamYoung mar- riedAngell's older sisterMary Ann as his seniorwife; eleven years later, Angell'smother and sisterJemima were sealed to Youngas pluralwives. Angellfollowed Young to Utah as the primaryarchitect for important institutionalbuildings. In 1852 whenconstruction of the Youngcomplex began,Angell had twenty-twoofficial and churchprojects either under- wayor in theplanning stages. He beganthe structure for which he is most noted,the Salt Lake Temple,during the same period in 1853.Yet accord- ingto biographerPaul L. Anderson,Angell sought Young's "council often and usually deferredto him in cases of disagreement.""27It was the prophet,Young, not his architect,who was the basic designerof the Younghomes. Susa YoungGates recalledthat Young "would draw out on a paperhis plans,in a roughmanner necessarily, and thearchitect would shape them up into correctform and measurement.Brigham watched everydetail, however, expressing himself in everyhouse, private or public,which was erected."28 Architecturalhistorians have describedthe design of the historic buildings in the BrighamYoung complexas derivativeof the New England architectureto whichboth architect Angell and Youngwere accustomed. In factthe buildingsmore fairlyrepresent the innovativeapplication of Classical and Gothic Revival stylisticprinciples in a local context.The complexcombines older vernacularforms such as the center-passage, double-pileBeehive House and an essentiallynew designas seen in the expansiveLion House. The symmetricalgeometric block design used in the Beehive House maybe understoodin termsof the prevailingclassi- cismthat dominated the buildingtrades during much of the nineteenth

26. C. V. Waite, The MormonProphet and his Harem (Cambridge,Mass.: Riverside Press,for sale by Hurd and Houghton,New York,1867), 195-98. LDS PhotographicArchi- vistRandall Dixon providedan annotatedphotograph, ca. 1875,of the originalcompound. For the Eagle Gate and passageto CityCreek, see HistoricSites: Eagle Gate and Wall file, LDS ChurchArchives; Joseph Lundstrom, "Larger 'Golden Eagle' PerchesOver Gateway," Church,November 9, 1963. Because ofits date ofconstruction (1963), nonhistoric scale and materialof construction,and extremesite alteration,the presentEagle Gate does not contributeto thehistoric character of the landmark. 27. Paul L. Anderson,"Truman O. Angell:Architect and Saint,"in David Q. Cannonand David J. Whittaker,eds., SupportingSaints: Life Stories of Nineteenth-CenturyMormons (Provo:Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center, 1985), 133-72. 28. Gates,"Chapter 14: EarlyHomes ofBrigham Young," 19.

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View of Salt Lake Cityfrom Arsenal Hill, c. 1875. Annotationsby W. RandallDixon ofthe LDS ChurchArchives. (a) BrighamYoung storagebuilding; (b) churchblacksmith shop; (c) Lamb Barn (named forthe carved lamb over the gate); (d) HerbertKimball grist mill; (e) WhiteHouse; (f) BrighamYoung barn; (g) towerof school house; (h) cocoonery;(i) Beehive House; (j) Lion House; (k) Gardo House; (1) historian'soffice; (m) Salt Lake Theater.(LDS ChurchArchives)

This content downloaded from 129.170.195.144 on Tue, 17 Dec 2013 13:24:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 38 * THE PUBLIC HISTORIAN century.The Gothicismevident in the Lion House, however,is more innovative,and Angell'schoice of this newer, picturesque style may have been promptedby his knowledgeof the currentstylebook literature. Perhapsit also revealed the influenceof his assistantThomas Ward, a stonemasonand draftsmanwho was probablyfamiliar with the revivalof Gothicconcepts in his nativeEngland. Ward contributed the moststrik- ingelement of the facade, which is thegranite, Gothic-styled entry vestry withcorner stone buttresses and crenelatedbalcony parapet. The stone lion couchantwas placed atop the parapetthe yearthe house was completed.The fulltwo-story porch on theBeehive House, probablyadded in 1869, also is unusual. Such porchesare not commonin Utah and may reflectYoung's interest in creatinga distinctiveand trulymonumental appearancefor the territory's chief residence.29 Sculpturesfrom the animal and naturalworld also suggestthe presence of the EnglishGothic Revival influence. As used in the BrighamYoung houses,however, traditional symbols have nontraditionalmeanings. For example,the lion guardingthe entranceto the Lion House mirrored Young'sown imageas familypatriarch. Brigham Young's friends referred to himas "Lion ofthe Lord." Similarly,the eagle thatonce adornedthe Eagle Gate morelikely signified loyalty to the Mormonorder rather than loyaltyto the UnitedStates (though the Mormonsinsisted they intended its traditionalmeaning). The beehive atop the cupola on the Beehive House, the symbolof Mormondiligence in communallabor, is the most unusualuse ofsculptural symbolism. The buildingforms themselves con- veyed special meaningto the newlyfounded Mormon community. The exteriordesign of the Lion House, forexample, with its Gothic elements suggestingspirituality and twentyidentical and symmetricaldormers indi- catingthe pluralfamily structure, was uniquelysymbolic of the utopian modelcreated at theYoung residence.30 Familyharmony and efficiencywere assuredthrough spatial arrange- ment,division of labor, and the separationof the Youngdomicile into privateand officialhouseholds in the twomain houses. Despite Brigham Young'swealth, the householdoperated on theprinciples of frugality and utility.A femalefamily friend wrote in 1867of the buildings and grounds ofthe compound: Everythingbears the mark of utility and nothing is expendedfor show, ormerely to gratify taste. No expensiveflower-garden orgreen-house is 29. See WilliamH. Pierson,Jr., American Buildings and TheirArchitects: The Colonial and Neo-ClassicalStyles (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1976), 66-68; and Thomas R. Carter,"FolkDesign in Early Utah Architecture,"in Hal Cannon,ed., Utah Folk Art:A Catalog of MaterialCulture (Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1980), 36-59. For a generalview ofthe movementof picturesque ideas in Americanbuilding, see Dell Upton, "PatternBooks and Professionalism,"Winterthur Portfolio 19 (Summer-Autumn,1984), 107-50. 30. Anderson,"Truman O. Angell," 147; and Anderson,"Brigham Young and Lion House." See also Hal Cannon,The GrandBeehive (Salt Lake City:University of Utah Press, 1980).

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to be seen,and thisis perfectlycharacteristic ofthe Prophet,who is thoroughlyutilitarian inall his views and tendencies.31 In the design of the mainbuilding complex, Young and Angellsought notonly to provide"equal comforts"for Young's wives, but also paid great heed to the healthand welfareof his children.This was evidentin the arrangementof the internalliving space ofthe Lion House, in particular, and in externaladditions to the houses and officessuch as porches,con- nectingpassages, and space forrecreation on the originalgrounds of the property.For example,in 1861-62 on the west end ofthe house, Young had closed-inporches constructed, now gone, withgymnastic equipment forthe girls,especially those he thoughtmight get "round-shouldered." In the summerthe girlsdragged their beds ontothe upper porch to sleep. In winterthe enclosedporch was a "winterplayground." Patriarch Young also had passages built to connect the buildings,such as the one the childrencalled the "crookedhall" thatran behindhis officesto the Lion and Beehivehouses.32 The Lion House best illustratedYoung's carefulspatial planning to create an ideal physicalenvironment for the polygamoushousehold. Be- gun in the springof 1853, but not completeduntil 1856, the buildingis two-and-a-halfstories, built on a rectangularplan with dimensionsof approximately45 feetby 139 feet.The facadeis at the narrowend. The long gable roofis intersectedby ten high-pitched,smaller gable dormers on each longitudinalside and pierced by fourinterior chimneys, two at each gable end. The foundation,which reaches a heightof about ten feet on the west elevation,is rusticatedsandstone. On the longitudinaleast and west elevations,the ten gable dormerson each side symbolically markedtwenty small second-storybedrooms for many of Young'swives and children.Multi-paned, Tudor-style, dormer casement windows with a quarrelpattern in the transomsand capped by Gothichoodmolds are at thecenter of each ofthe twentysteeply-pitched gable dormers. The toiletson the northend of the house, one on each floor,set offon the two mainfloors by longwooden galleries,exemplified Young's practi- calityand focuson sanitation.Now replacedby an elevatoraddition, they were flagstonecemented for protection to the foundationfloor. All liquid was drainedfrom a stone rivuletinto limed receptacles.The doorswere fittedinside with wooden clasps forprivacy; yet theyprevented small childrenfrom locking themselves inside. Susa YoungGates recalled: BrighamYoung ... knewthe dangers bred by careless sanitation, and thestone-floored vaults which led bylong passage ways from the north endof the Lion House were covered with lime daily. The kitchen slops werethrown into barrels and cartedaway daily, to be fedto pigs,if nutritious,or burned,if useless. The ragswhich escaped the carpet rag bagwere religiously saved for the papermill as wellas allscraps of paper.

31. Waite, The MormonProphet and his Harem, 196. 32. Gates, untitledmanuscript, Box 12, fd. 1.

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The washhouse was stone-flagged,and thewashing suds were carted awayfor the sun to dry up in exposed corners ... The samesanitary precautions obtained in all thesurrounding barns andcorrals. The barnwas paved as wellas constructedofcobbles; the horsebarn was also cobble-paved. And the corral was cleaned and all its richnessutilized in gardensand fields.There was no waste,no want. Andthere is thereforeno marvelin thefact that there were almost no epidemicsof childish diseases, no scurges,no fevers.Nothing but the regularreturn of light measles and a rareattack of scarlet fever.33 In his focuson cleanliness,order, and the relationshipbetween these householdattributes and the moraleducation of his children,Young was in the mainstreamof American architectural theory. The domesticenvi- ronmentwas a predominantsocial focusof the era, not onlyin utopian communities,but formany American intellectuals who soughta replace- mentfor the religiousand moralinstruction provided in the traditional community.Historians term this movementa "cult of domesticity"or "domesticeconomy," whose best-known theorist was CatherineBeecher. She publishedthe popularThe AmericanWomen's Home with her sister HarrietBeecher Stowe in 1869.34The Youngfamily's unique adaptation of the domestictenets of the era was concretelydemonstrated in the tasks accomplishedat the basementlevel ofthe Lion House. Food preparation and storagewas a continualfocus in the Younghousehold, and the basementwas thecenter of this activity. On thewest elevation, and in parton the remainingelevations, the basementwas builtabove groundwith a numberof windows and entrances.Thus workthere was carriedon in an airyand brightatmosphere. Susa YoungGates lefta sketchof the base- mentlay-out that indicates the functionand arrangementof space (see illustration). One wifewas appointedby Youngto directthe "culinarydepartment." She was consideredthe "stewardess," who kept the keys and was overseer ofa hiredcook, usually male, and severalother servants. Two girlswere hiredto wash dishes and scrub,one to cook meatsand vegetables,and anotherto do the pastrycooking. Dining was methodicaland well- ordered.In the forty-footlong dining hall in the southwestcorner of the basement,each wifehad a regularseat at the tables.Those withchildren were seated at the heads of the tables in the orderthey came into the familyand had preferenceover thosewith no children.The firstplural wife,Lucy Decker, presidedat one of the long tables,while Brigham Youngalways presided at the shorttable when he ate at the Lion House. Clara Decker and her childrensat on his left,Emeline with hers on his right."This order was strictlyobserved," wrbte Susa Gates,and thepref-

33. Ibid. 34. David P. Handlin,The AmericanHome: Architecture and Society,1815-1915 (Bos- ton,Toronto: Little, Brown and Company,1979), 3-88. Also,Kathryn Kish Sklar, Catherine Beecher-A Studyin AmericanDomesticity (New York,London: W. W. Nortonand Co., 1973).

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The groundfloor plan of the Lion House as it was until1868. (From the Susa YoungGates collection,courtesy of the Utah StateHistorical Society.)

erencesdisplayed caused "muchunhappiness on thepart of the wives less favored."From fiftyto seventydiners could be accommodatedat the eveningmeal here. There were several storagecellars in the basementused forthe milk, butter,and vegetables broughtdaily fromthe Young farmfour miles away,along with fruit and otherproduce grown at the familycompound. Anothercellar room was used forweaving and as a gatheringplace where mothersand growndaughters shelled peas, pickledpeaches, and sorted strawberries.Next to the diningroom was an ample cupboardand pantry, and northof the pantrya "largeand roomy"kitchen with large cupboards and a largetin-lined sink with a wastepipethrough the outerwall to carry offdishwater. This was one ofmany examples of Young's pragmatic atten- tion to detail and "solicitudeover his wives and theircomfort." A large cookstovewas installedatop the flagstonefloor so thatcooking grease was "hygienically"cleaned. Two "immense"boilers stood beside a "great" open fireplace,and a "huge" chimneyled up throughevery story of the house. Young devised a clothesbarrel with a largewooden malletwhere the women,helped by a hiredman, pounded out the dirt.In additionto roomsfor the storageand preparationof foodstuffs, dining, weaving, and washing,the basementlevel had a long narrowschoolroom. This room was the same size as the diningroom (about fifteen by fortyfeet) and also 41

This content downloaded from 129.170.195.144 on Tue, 17 Dec 2013 13:24:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 42 * THE PUBLIC HISTORIAN was used fordancing. It servedas the schooluntil Young had a separate schoolhousebuilt on thegrounds in 1862for his children. On the mainstory of the Lion House therewas a parlor(thirty-two by sixteenfeet) at thefront southwest end, expensively furnished with mahog- anytables. This is theone roomin the house that retains much of its original historicappearance. There the familymet everymorning and evening whenYoung rang the bell forfamily prayers. The mainparlor at the Lion House also servedas theentertainment room for those of "father's girls," as Young'sdaughters called themselves,who were of"courting age." 35The "favoritewives," Emeline Free, LucyBigelow, and Clara Decker, received Mormoncallers in theirrooms on thislevel ofthe house. Gentilesusually were receivedonly at the Beehive House. Emeline firstresided at the northwestend of the Lion House, but was movedup to just behindthe prayerparlor because, as one observeralleged, "Brigham, in goingto her room,was obligedto pass severalother rooms, thus creating remark and jealousyamong the other women." In orderto preservecritical household harmony,he "thereforehad a hallconstructed leading from his office to her new room."This descriptionby a contemporarynon-Mormon observer of jealousyamong the wives in the Lion House is a rarerevelation of human disharmonyin the utopian household.36 Susa YoungGates, daughterof Lucy Bigelow,tells only of congeniality and cooperationin hercopious recollections of communal family life. But eventsin additionto thejealousy expressed toward Emeline suggest that very ordinarypassions dwelled under the surfacespiritual tranquility amongYoung's wives. Young moved some wives to outsideresidences. Susa Gatesrecalled that as thefamilies of her "aunts increased in size, the Lion House became too crowdedfor all thechildren to haveroom there." Emily Partridge,the pluralwife of JosephSmith sealed to Youngafter Smith'sdeath, was the firstLion House residentto departfor her own house nearby.Eliza Burgesslater was locatedin a house at Provo,and Lucy Bigelowand her family,including Susa, eventuallywere movedto St. George.37 AmeliaFolsom, Young's fiftieth wife and childlessfavorite in hiswaning years,lived in the Beehive House fora time,then was movedto her own cottage.In 1875, two yearsbefore his death, the patriarchbuilt her a highlyornate Victorian Italianate four-story house, whimsically called the "GardoHouse" or "Amelia'sPalace." It was builtdirectly across the street fromthe Beehive House to the south(see annotated1875 photographof familycompound). Brigham Young had a clear view fromhis first-story bedroomand office.Before its demolitionin 1926, about the time the White House also was demolished,the Gardo House stoodas a gaudy

35. Gates, untitledtypescript, Gates CollectionBox 12, fd. 1. Gates thoroughlyde- scribeslife in theYoung household. 36. Waite,The MormonProphet and his Harem,197. 37. Ibid.; Gates, untitledtypescripts, Gates Collection,Box 1, fd. 5 and Box 12, fd. 1.

This content downloaded from 129.170.195.144 on Tue, 17 Dec 2013 13:24:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions LANDMARK ARCHITECTURE * 43 contrastto the austerityof the originalfamily complex. Brigham Young called ithis "tabernacleorgan."38 Individualismwas discouraged,however, in the main houses of the Young compound.The identicalgables on the Lion House symbolized Young'sintent to provide"equal comforts"for his wives according to their child-bearingroles in thefamily. Just as the diningarrangement reflected a hierarchyrelated to propagation,the livingspaces forindividual wives revealed theirrank in the familyorder. While mostwives with children had theirbedrooms on the main floorconnected to theirsitting rooms, thosewho were childless,along with one or twohired hands and children, had identicalrooms upstairs. The governor'sand president'soffices and the Beehive House reflect fewerelements unique to polygamousarchitecture than the Lion House. But the physicalarrangement of the buildings,and theirfunctional inte- grationof working and livingspaces forefficiency and harmony,reflected Young's view of the organicMormon community in whichprivate and officialaffairs merged. The Beehive House, begun in 1853 and completedin 1855, servedas Young's officialresidence. It is a two-story,double-pile, Georgian type house with Greek Revival and otherclassical elements.The bracketed porch cornice, the ornamentalroof deck, balustrade,and the cupola toppedwith the symboliccarved beehive, perhapswere borrowedfrom the Italianatestyle. The roofdeck ironicallysuggests the "widow'swalk" fromthe New England seacoast architecture.Similar roof decks were presentin several early Salt Lake City buildings,however, and were called "observatories."They mighthave served a defensivepurpose as actuallookout points in the frontiercommunity. Besides providingformal space to offerhospitality in a moretraditional atmosphere to non-Mormon visitors,the Beehive House was Young's primarypersonal residence wherehe combinedbusiness and leisure. BrighamYoung's private office was on the firststory of the house in the southwestcorner, and was connectedto the governor'sand president's officesvia a privateentry. This officeis restoredto whatwas believed to be its originalcondition as "a plain, neat, room"over twenty-fivefeet square, and "furnishedwith a largewriting-desk and moneysafe, tables, sofas,chairs, and a 'storecarpet.' " Young'sprivate bedroom in the Bee- hive House was behind his office,"where no one could enter without special permission.If he wished the companyof one of his wives," an observerrecalled, "he notifiedher by message;when ill, he chose one of themto care forhim." In the summerhe inhabiteda largechamber in the Beehive House witha highvaulted ceiling on the east side ofthe second storyover the receptionroom, or mainparlor. In winterhe slepton the

38. Joseph Heinerman, "Amelia's Palace: Brigham Young's Grandest Residence," Montana-The Magazine of WesternHistory 24 (January1979), 54-63.

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firstfloor in a smallerchamber across from the parloron the west and behindhis privateoffice. As he sleptfairly late afterworking the quieter evenings,he ate a "quiet breakfast"in the officialresidence.39 The north end of the originalhouse containeda large kitchenand men's dining room.This wing no longerexists as it was replacedby an elaborate1890s additionby Young'sson, John W. Young.The additionretains much of its 1890s integrity,but radicallyalters the interiorspace as it was in the BrighamYoung period from the 1850sto 1877. Youngmoved his own bedroomto the Lion House fromthe Beehive House when Lucy Decker's familywas "growingup" and almostno children resided there any longer to disturbhis tranquility.The firstof Young'sfifty-six children was bornin 1825, the last in 1870.40He died in thisroom in the Lion House ofa rupturedappendix on August29, 1877, at theage ofseventy-six. The eulogyoffered upon his burialsignified the enormousimpact of his leadershipupon the Mormoncommunity. "He had been the brain,the ear, the mouthand handfor the entire people of the Church,"the eulogizerintoned, "from the greatestproblems con- nectedwith the organizationof thisChurch down to the smallestminu- tiae." Young not only organizedthe LDS church,he also directedthe settlementof Utah Territoryand the creationof its government.More- over, he institutionalizedthe doctrineof polygamyas the foundation- stonefor realization of the cityof Zion in the earthlysphere of existence. In these endeavorshe attendedto everydetail of the builtenvironment fromthe shape of the templeseats to the constructionof his own family and officialdwelling place.41 Susa YoungGates emphasizesYoung's equal commitmentto detail-both practicaland symbolic--inhome building: Homes,houses, and all thedomestic equipment of chickens, turkeys, and cows,furniture and comfortsfor his families,shared the careful mind-divisionofthe Leader, who could quietly shut up themental doors leadingto millsand citieswhile he plannedchimneys and sinks, jour- neys,wagon covers, bake-skillets and remedies for sick children .... Brighamwas essentially a home builder and a homemaker.42 DuringYoung's lifetime and forover a decade afterhis death,family structurewas themost obvious aspect of Mormon life to set theLatter-day Saintsapart from gentile intruders. It also was theprimary provocation for anti-Mormonprejudice. Attacks upon polygamy ultimately were success- ful,but the church did notdisavow the practice until 1890, thirteen years afterYoung's death. Untilthen it serveda powerfulcohesive function and gave Mormonculture a distinctionthat made it unique amongfrontier communities.

39. Waite,The MormonProphet and his Harem,197. 40. Gates, untitledmanuscript, and typescripts,"Daughters of BrighamYoung," and "Sonsof Brigham Young," Box 1, fd.5. 41. Arrington,Brigham Young, 400-401. Lawrence Foster argues thatwhile Joseph Smithestablished the doctrineof polygamy,Brigham Young institutionalizedit. Smith's geniuswas ideology,Young's was organization.See Foster,Religion and Sexuality,181-86. 42. Gates,"Chapter 14: EarlyHomes ofBrigham Young," 17-18.

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Epilogue: Dispositionand Preservationof theLandmark

The historicsite and structuresof the original compound were destroyed in the twentiethcentury. The landmarkhas littlesite integrity, other than thefact that it standsin itsoriginal location. Its perimeteris approximately 170 feetnorth and southand 174 feeteast and west,which barely encloses the buildings.It is located at a busy urbanintersection, and tall modern churchand commercialbuildings impinge upon its north, west, and south boundaries.On the northboundary a landscapedmall separates the mod- ernLDS Churchoffice building from the historic complex. The U-shapedconfiguration of the landmarkbuildings creates a court- yard at the northrear, used by the churchfor meals and other social occasions. Attractivebut nonhistoriclandscaping adorns the exteriorof the complex.A highlyornate, nonhistoric, three-foot-high wrought iron fenceruns the lengthof the buildingfacades. When adjacentstreets were widenedin the twentiethcentury, small portions of the 1850srubblestone wall were moved fromtheir historic location on the easternend of the property.These were placed alongthe entirelength of the complex at the north(rear) and west boundaries,serving to set it apartfrom the modern LDS Church-office-mallarea. One circularbuttress post remainson the southeastcorner. A rowof twenty-three granite hitching posts of four- and five-footalternating heights remains from the historicperiod and extends acrossthe front of the buildings on the southside ofthe complex. A 1967-68 rehabilitationof the Lion House exterior,based on historic photographsand description,has returnedit as nearlyas possible to its historicappearance. Exceptions are the elevatoraddition to thenorth end of the buildingand the absence of the sleepingporch and exercisegym which were part of a framestructure built in 1861 that extendedthe lengthof the west elevationof the house. The porch probablywas re- moved in 1878, the year afterYoung's death. Removal of the original stucco finishtook place before1915, and a simulatedstone veneer was later added to the adobe. This veneer was removedduring restoration. Resurfacingof the adobe brickand sandstonestructure was done accord- ingto the descriptionof the originalby Young'sdaughter Clarissa Spencer Young, as "cream plaster,which with the white woodworkand green shuttersmade a verylovely appearance."43 AfterYoung's death in 1877, radicalalterations were made to the Lion House interior.According to referencesin theLDS ChurchArchives, five or six ofhis widowsremained there until 1900 when the BrighamYoung Trustsold the president'soffice and Lion House to the church.The office buildingwas used, as it was historically,to conductthe "businessof the presidency,Bishop's Office and Historian'sOffice" and to "consolidateall

43. "ImprovementEra" (newsletter,October 1968); "Lion House" (newsclipping,n.d., n.a.), in LDS ChurchArchives, "Lion House" folder.

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Churchbusiness." In 1901and 1902the Lion House was convertedto the home economicsand otherdepartments of the new Latter-daySaints University.After the buildingwas no longerused as a school,it again was remodeled,in the late 1960s,to serveas the Lion House Social Center, whichis its presentfunction. Most of the buildingis used fordining, meetings,and social gatherings.Alterations made forthis use have re- sultedin additionaldestruction of interior architectural integrity. Historically,the firststory was dividedinto nine larger bedrooms with sittingrooms and a largeparlor at the southwestcorner for family prayer meetingsand entertaining.After the 1967-68 remodeling,the first-floor bedroomsand parlorswere convertedinto meeting, dining, and service roomsalong each side ofthe long central hall with a staircaseat each end. An elevatorreplaced Brigham Young's prized toilets at the northend. A stairwayadded to the mainfloor to facilitatepublic access now occupies the space thatwas BrighamYoung's Lion House bedroom.The twenty second-storybedrooms were described as approximatelytwelve by fifteen feetin dimension,"similarly furnished," with one doorand a Gothic-style windoweach. In the turn-of-the-centuryconversion, the partitions divid- ing these roomswere removedto createlarge classrooms, now used for privatemeetings and dining.44Hence theinterior of the Lion House, with the exceptionof the mainstory parlor, no longercontributes to the his- toriccharacter of the landmark. In the extensiveremodeling of the Beehive House by JohnYoung in 1888-91, the northwing was demolishedand a moreelaborate two-story rearaddition constructed with dimensions of approximately forty-five feet by seventy-onefeet. Carved pine and oak paneling,woodwork, balus- trades,and newelposts that replaced the simple pine trim, give the house a HighVictorian character not original to the BrighamYoung period. The mainentrance was movedto the east and enhancedby a heavyoak door. An elaboratecarved oak staircasenow leads fromthe 1888main hall to the secondfloor. In 1899the LDS Churchpurchased the house for offices and the president'sresidence. It was used in thiscapacity until 1918 whenit was convertedto use as a home forsingle Mormonworking women.45 A majorrestoration of the BeehiveHouse was undertakenin 1959by an LDS Churchrestoration committee. The committeetried to retainboth the characterof the 1855 house and the High Victorianadditions. Victo- rian elementsnow predominate,however, in the highlyornate, red- velvetedfurnishings and the goldgilt cornices over windows in thefront roomsand in therear wing. Debate continuesamong LDS Churchhistori-

44. Ibid.; "Coursesof StudyOffered by the Latter-daySaints" (pamphlet, 1901-1902), LDS ChurchArchives, "Lion House" folder. 45. Church of Jesus Christof Latter-daySaints, Journal History, Church Archives, January8, 1900; DeseretNews, February11, 1897, September1, 1899,and July28, 1904; Salt Lake CityDaily Tribune,February 1, 1897, LDS ChurchArchives; Portfolio, Bernice G. Casper and RandallDixon, BrighamYoung's Beehive House (Churchof Jesus Christ of Latter-daySaints, n.d., ca. 1985).

This content downloaded from 129.170.195.144 on Tue, 17 Dec 2013 13:24:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions LANDMARK ARCHITECTURE * 47 ans as to the authenticityof some aspectsof the restorationand how much the house stillreflects the lifestyleof the originalBrigham Young family. Confusedobjectives in the rehabilitationof buildingsby the Mormon Churchwere due partlyto a defensiveposture by earlierLDS historians towardthe doctrineof polygamy, as well as to the elevationof contempo- raryneeds over preservationof the historiclandscape. Likewise, the narrowfocus in the originalNational Park Service documentation,and omissionof much ofthe buildingcomplex in the initialNational Historic Landmarkdesignation of 1964, was the resultof conceptuallimitations and an overburdenedprofessional staff. The consensusmodel of American historywas a large,noncontroversial mold in whichto pourthe hundreds of National Historic Landmarksthat suddenlyinundated a small Park Service staffin the early 1960s. But continuedadherence to thismodel has stifledcreativity in publichistory, slighted ethnic and culturalminorities,and perpetuatedan outmodedview ofnational history for the Ameri- can public. In the past several years there has been a strongmovement by the HistoryDivision and PreservationAssistance Division of the National Park Service towardreinterpretation and betterdocumentation of the landmarksdesignated earlier. Moreover, a new emphasison culturalplu- ralismand social historyis evident in the ethnicand women's history themestudies and boundaryreview projects currently underway. Unfortu- nately,project enthusiasm and documentaryquality too oftendissipate as responsibilityfilters down to coordinatorsat the regionallevel. Withthe manypast barriers that have hinderedpreservation and documentationof the BrighamYoung landmark as polygamousarchitecture, it is remarkable thatenough of its integrityremains to classifyit as "exceptional"among thematerial remnants of national history.

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