Prototype. Nobody named on this site has agreed to take part in it — what that means.
The Wives of Brigham Young 55 women, named — and given back their own words

We could not find a photograph of her. If you hold one — a descendant's album, a county archive, a gravestone portrait — it would fill this space permanently. Write to mormonstories@gmail.com.

No. 43 on Johnson's list — but this page is hers

Mary Jane Bigelow

1827–1868

Sealed to Brigham Young 20 Mar 1847 — she was 20, he was 46.

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

Crossing the plains

Who she was, and what happened

Started west with Brigham's company in 1848 and TURNED BACK. Divorced him in 1851, among the first divorces the church formally recorded, and married twice more. Her sister Lucy stayed for life. Two sisters, one ceremony, opposite outcomes - the single cleanest illustration that these marriages were not one thing.

Key dates

  1. 1847 Sealed to him 20 Mar 1847 A sealing, not a marriage in law: plural marriage had no legal standing.
  2. 1851 Divorce or separation 1851 - year only
  3. 1868 Died 1868

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. Johnson cites the biography of her SISTER Lucy.

Susa Young Gates, 'Lucy Bigelow Young,' n.d.; Divorce certificate

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
1827
Died
1868
Died at
Not established here
Outlived Brigham Young?
No - died before him
Marriage or sealing
20 Mar 1847
Her age at the marriage
20
His age at the marriage
46
Age gap
26 years
Phase of his life
Crossing the plains
Type of sealing
Not recorded ?
Already married to another man?
No ?
Her other husbands
(2) Horace Roberts (3) Philander Bell
Widow of Joseph Smith?
No
Sexual relationship?
Not documented here
Children by Brigham Young
0
Lived with him?
No - turned back on the trail
Divorce or separation
Divorced 1851
Named in his will?
Not applicable or not recorded
Sealed to him as an adopted daughter first?
No ?
Kin tie to him or another wife
Sister of Lucy Bigelow (#42)
Left the church?
Remarried and remained in Utah (Johnson p. 63); church membership not separately documented
Remarried after Brigham Young?
YES - twice, after her 1851 divorce, while Brigham was alive
Her later husband(s)
Horace Roberts; Philander Bell

Source and confidence: Johnson Table 1; Turner p. 193; Johnson p. 65

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.