Postcard and Portrait of Brigham Young. ca. 1916, BORN JUNE 1, 1801, WHITINGHAM, VT. DIED AUG. 29, 1877. SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. BRIGHAM YOUNG. Brigham Young was born June 1, 1801 in Whitingham, Vt. He succeeded Joseph Smith as President of the Mormon Church when the latter was martyred in Carthage, Ill. in 1844. He led a small band of pioneers into the great unknown West in 1847 and established Salt Lake City where he proved himself to be the greatest colonizer of his time. He died in Salt Lake C