Rare personal (holograph) writings where Brigham Young bares his soul during times of trial provide some of the best windows to his inner self. Of these, none is better than a recently available holograph letter from Brigham Young, written while he was in England, to his wife, who remained in Nauvoo. This letter—really a series of letters—was written more than a year after Brigham’s last glimpse of his wife and children and many months after he left the shores of his beloved America. It reveals an important quality of this future Church leader seldom seen in the records of his public activities—his deep concern and affection for his family and, equally important, his great empathy for the families of all those with whom he was associated. Yet, there was a promise: while he was away on the Lord’s errand, his family would be protected and provided for.
