Descendant of one of Brigham Young’s plural wives seeks historical truth

The Brigham Young Winter Home where the pioneer spent winters with his wife Harriet Amelia Folsom Young is open to public, St. George, Utah, unspecified date | Photo courtesy of the Brigham Young Winter Home Facebook page, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Trying to showcase Harriet Amelia Folsom Young’s authentic voice and clearing up myths about one of Brigham Young’s plural wives is the passion of one of her great-nieces. Lila Moss, a resident of Springdale, has spent 20 years and has volumes of research on her ancestor. Young had 55 wives in the 1800s.

Harriet Amelia Folsom Young one of Brigham Young’s plural wives, unspecified location and date | Photo courtesy of the Utah State Historical Society Classified Photo Collection, St. George News

Folsom was a pioneer and an early member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Moss said she was also a cultural and political figure in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“I was mostly interested in Folsom from a very young age because of the Gardo house, which she did not get the credit for designing, which she deserved,” Moss said. “This the place where Brigham Young entertained the dignitaries coming to the Salt Lake Valley. And he had this wonderful hostess in Folsom. And the place was finely decorated and it was very prominently built.”

One of the facts Moss would like people to understand is that Folsom helped build the famous Gardo House in Salt Lake City. Folsom had grown up with a father who was an architect, and she watched him throughout her childhood. So when the creation of the Gardo House was in full swing, she decided that she wanted a hand in building it.

“She never really got credit for helping build the Gardo House, which I think is wrong. But in those days, women didn’t get credit for things,” Moss said.

Some historians nicknamed the Gardo House ‘Amelia’s Palace.’ The building was later torn down.

Moss said writing the history of Folsom is a challenge since she did not keep a diary like many other Mormon women of that era did. Plus, Folsom had no children.

“A lot of her story is just bits and pieces of other people’s memories of her,” Moss said.

Harriet Amelia Folsom Young was one of Brigham Young’s plural wives, unspecified location and date | Photo courtesy of the Utah State Historical Society Classified Photo Collection, St. George News

Another misconception Moss would like to clear up is that Young’s home in St. George was not built for Folsom, as some historians claim.

“It was not built with the idea of her coming and staying there,” Moss said.

Folsom came to St. George from Salt Lake with Young when he would make his twice-yearly trips to southern Utah. Moss said Young wasn’t very healthy. He was overweight and had many health problems and Folsom cared for him on his journeys.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t want his flock to see him as not well. She was the one who took care of him,” Moss said. “It could take two weeks to come from Salt Lake City to Southern Utah because they would stop at all the little towns along the way.”

Moss said people would want to greet them, feed them and perhaps have a parade. Moss said Folsom was expected to accompany him on these trips.

But according to the ‘Landmarks & Historical Sites’ by the City of St. George Historic Preservation, Young promised Folsom, when he asked for her hand in marriage, that she would not have to live with his other wives. When he decided to spend his winters in St. George, he asked her to accompany him.

The book states Young already owned a home on St. George Boulevard where one of his wives lived. He built a new home for Folsom. This house was close to Lucy Bigelow Young, another plural wife of Young, so that he could conveniently drop by. The Brigham Young Winter Home is at 155 W. 200 North in St. George. The home is open to public and online virtual tours.

Young conducted church business in an office he built next to his new St. George home. The office provided privacy for him to meet with selected Church leaders to reinstate temple ordinances that had not been performed in a temple since the Saints left Nauvoo, Illinois, according to the ‘Landmarks & Historical Sites’ book.

But Moss noted that Folsom was only married to Young for around 17 years. And he had many wives that probably traveled to St. George with him. Moss said Folsom also traveled to Europe and the east coast and was gone for extended periods. She was a well-educated woman.

Moss’s grandmother on her father’s side, Nina Folsom Moss, visited Folsom while she was still alive. After Young died, Folsom built a home in Salt Lake City. Moss said Amelia taught young women piano lessons. Her grandmother talked about how Amelia would also let them play with her jewelry and how she taught them to be more refined.

Moss’s grandmother worked on a book about her grandfather, ‘The History of William H. Folsom’ the father of Folsom. Folsom was born in Buffalo, New York, on Aug. 23, 1838. Her mother was Zerviah Eliza Clark, and Folsom was the oldest of eight children. According to Wikipedia, her father worked as a church-employed architect. He designed many historic buildings in Utah, including the Salt Lake City Council Hall, the Provo Tabernacle, and the Manti Utah Temple.

Folsom and her family joined the church in 1841 and moved to Nauvoo, Illinois. Later the Folsom family migrated to the Utah Territory with the Joseph W. Young pioneer company, arriving on Oct. 3, 1860.

Young often welcomed the wagon trains arriving in the Salt Lake Valley and became acquainted with Folsom. They married on Jan. 24, 1863, when Young was 59 years old and Amelia was 22.

Gardo House as Amelia’s Palace in Salt Lake City where she and Brigham Young entertained guests, Salt Lake City, Utah, unspecified date | Photo courtesy of Utah State Historical Society Classified Photo Collection, St. George News

Historians said Folsom became Young’s most prominent female companion and remained so throughout the rest of his life. She often accompanied Young on his tours of other Mormon settlements, as well as to events and gatherings in Salt Lake City.

Folsom was active in society and politics. She was involved in the women’s suffrage movement. She was one of fourteen women to sign a letter in 1870 to Stephen A. Mann, Utah territorial governor, thanking him for granting Utah women the right to vote.

Moss said Folsom attended the wedding reception of her relative Frances Folsom to President Grover Cleveland in 1886. Folsom died on Dec. 12, 1910, in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the age of 72.

Moss said she is still gathering information to put together a full family history of Folsom. She also is involved in the historical society of Springdale.

“Lila Moss served as a wealth of information about the history of Springdale,” Loren Webb, Washington County Historical Society member, said. “I believe those who attended a Washington County Historical Society field trip earlier this year appreciated her expertise and passion.”

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