Young, John Willard

Revision as of 12:10, 26 June 2008

John Willard Young was an Apostle (but never a member of the Quorum of the Twelve), one of the sons of Brigham Young and an active businessman in New York City for more than 20 years.

Young first came to New York City as the representative of Utah railroad ventures, seeking financing for their startup and operation. Through his activities with railroads he became quite wealthy, and spent more and more time in New York furthering his business ventures and interests.

From 1877 to 1879, while Young was in New York City, he was assisted by Rudger Clawson, who served as his secretary^[1].

By the 1890s he was well known in New York and had floated various proposed companies.

In 1899 he proposed a trust of Shipbuilding interests modeled after the Steel trust started by Andrew Carneigie and J. P. Morgan. He proposed this idea several times over the next few years, before finally succeeding in 1902. But while some of the financing came through, crucial pieces did not, and the venture was bankrupt by the end of that year, dragging down with it the underwriter of the scheme, the Trust Company of the Republic. The very public failure of the scheme tainted Young's name and resulted in lawsuits that lasted for most of the rest of the decade.

In 1902, while Young was in France trying to raise funds for the Shipbuilding Trust, his son, Hooper Young, murdered an acquaintance, Ana Pulitzer, in Young's apartment on 58th Street and 7th Avenue. The murder was the talk of the town for weeks, and resulted in negative publicity for the Church, chiefly due to Hooper Young's use of the words "Blood Atonement" in writings discovered at the murder scene.

In December, 1905, John W. Young attended the unveiling and dedication of the monument placed at the birthplace of Joseph Smith in Sharon, Vermont^[2]

1. ↑ Liahona, the Elders' Journal, v29 n21-948, March 29, 1932, pp. 489.
2. ↑ Liahona, the Elder's Journal, v3 n9 January 1, 1906 pp. 141-142.