Harriet Barney

1830–1911

Sealed to Brigham Young 14 Mar 1856 — she was 26, he was 55.

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

Utah

Who she was, and what happened

Previously married to W. H. H. Sagers, himself a Nauvoo-era polygamist. She bore Brigham one son and was named in his will. Died 1911, outliving him by more than thirty years.

Key dates

1856 Sealed to him 14 Mar 1856 A sealing, not a marriage in law: plural marriage had no legal standing.
1911 Died c. 11 Feb 1911

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. Obituary, and a county history covering her first husband.

Obituary, Deseret Evening News, 11 Feb 1911; Stout, History of Tooele County (1961), p. 570

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: 1830
Died: c. 11 Feb 1911
Died at: Salt Lake City area
Outlived Brigham Young?: Yes
Marriage or sealing: 14 Mar 1856
Her age at the marriage: 26
His age at the marriage: 55
Age gap: 29 years
Phase of his life: Utah, 1850s
Type of sealing: Time & eternity ?
Already married to another man?: Unknown - prior husband's status not established ?
Her other husbands: (1) W. H. H. Sagers
Widow of Joseph Smith?: No
Sexual relationship?: Yes - children
Children by Brigham Young: 1
Lived with him?: Yes - household
Divorce or separation: None recorded
Named in his will?: Yes
Sealed to him as an adopted daughter first?: No ?
Kin tie to him or another wife: None recorded
Left the church?: Remained LDS (documented)
Remarried after Brigham Young?: No
Her later husband(s): None recorded

Source and confidence: Johnson Table 1 n. 49; Quinn App. 6 ('Harriet E. Barney (Sagers) 1856 (1 ch), in will')

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.