Mary Van Cott

1844–1884

Sealed to Brigham Young 8 Jan 1865 — she was 21, he was 64.

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

Twenty-three; he was sixty-three. He moved her and her mother into a house he bought in Provo, partly meaning to spend more time there himself. In 1870 she bore him his LAST CHILD - which Turner numbers the FIFTY-EIGHTH (p. 375) while Johnson counts fifty-seven children in total. The disagreement is one child and is unresolved; this table sums to Johnson's 57. She did not rival Amelia Folsom in his affections, but he took her on a tour of southern Utah in 1869.

Key dates

1865 Sealed to him 8 Jan 1865 A sealing, not a marriage in law: plural marriage had no legal standing.
1884 Died 1884

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 known of her own. Endowment House records.

'Salt Lake Endowment House Records'

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: 1844
Died: 1884
Died at: Not established here
Outlived Brigham Young?: Yes
Marriage or sealing: 8 Jan 1865
Her age at the marriage: 21
His age at the marriage: 64
Age gap: 43 years
Phase of his life: Utah, 1860s
Type of sealing: Time & eternity ?
Already married to another man?: No - separated from Cobb first ?
Her other husbands: (1) James T. Cobb
Widow of Joseph Smith?: No
Sexual relationship?: Yes - children
Children by Brigham Young: 1
Lived with him?: Yes - a home bought for her in Provo
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 and p. 62; Turner p. 375. TOTAL-CHILDREN COUNT CONTESTED: Turner 58, Johnson 57; Quinn App. 6 ('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.