Emmeline Free

1826–1875

Sealed to Brigham Young 30 Apr 1845 — she was 19, he was 44.

This was a sealing, not a marriage in law — plural marriage had no legal standing. What that meant.

Nauvoo, after the martyrdom

Who she was, and what happened

THE LOYALTY TRANSACTION. In spring 1845 John D. Lee planned to marry the two Free sisters, Louisa and Emmeline. In Lee's own words: 'One day, Brigham Young saw Emeline and fell in love with her.' George D. Grant testified at an 1847 council that 'Brigham told him if he would give up Emeline to him he would uphold him in time and in eternity & he never should fall, but that he would sit at his right hand in his kingdom.' Brigham got Emmeline - not yet twenty, dark-haired, pretty. Lee got only Louisa, showed no resentment, and six weeks later let Brigham adopt him as a son. Emmeline went on to bear Brigham TEN children, more than any other wife, and was widely regarded as his favourite until Amelia Folsom displaced her.

Key dates

1845 Sealed to him 30 Apr 1845 A sealing, not a marriage in law: plural marriage had no legal standing.
no date Temple sealing confirmed Confirmed in the Nauvoo temple, Jan-Feb 1846. Documented, but Johnson gives no date
1875 Died c. 17 July 1875

Nothing here is inferred. Johnson's Table 1 has one date column, so where an event is documented but undated it is shown as "no date" rather than given a spurious one — the missing date is itself a fact about how these records were kept. Only two of the fifty-five have a civil marriage date; for the other fifty-three the single date records a sealing, because plural marriage had no standing in law.

What survives in her own words

Nothing from her, and no life of her written by anyone else.

None of her own, despite bearing ten of his children. Death record and obituary only.

Obituary, Deseret Evening News, 19 July 1875

15 of the fifty-five left words of their own. The rest are known only through other people's papers. What that silence means.

The record

Born: 1826
Died: c. 17 July 1875
Died at: Salt Lake City
Outlived Brigham Young?: No - died before him
Marriage or sealing: 30 Apr 1845
Her age at the marriage: 19
His age at the marriage: 44
Age gap: 25 years
Phase of his life: Post-martyrdom, pre-temple
Type of sealing: Time & eternity ?
Already married to another man?: No ?
Her other husbands: -
Widow of Joseph Smith?: No
Sexual relationship?: Yes - children
Children by Brigham Young: 10
Lived with him?: Yes - and reportedly his favourite for years
Divorce or separation: None recorded
Named in his will?: n/a - died 1875, two years before him
Sealed to him as an adopted daughter first?: No ?
Kin tie to him or another wife: Sister of Louisa Free
Left the church?: Remained LDS (documented)
Remarried after Brigham Young?: No - died 1875
Her later husband(s): None recorded

Source and confidence: Turner pp. 135-36; Johnson Table 1 n. 20; RSC BY Chronology (30 Apr 1845)

A blank or “not established here” means the fact was not documented in the sources behind this table. It does not mean zero, and it does not mean no. We leave it empty rather than guessing, because inventing a detail of her life would be another way of not listening to her. The size of that gap is the argument for the book she never got.