John Willard Young

Activity in western territories In 1869 Young opened the "Salt Lake City Museum and Menagerie," which was the predecessor of the Deseret Museum. He was also involved with the construction of a railroad in Arizona Territory.

LDS Church service

First Presidency On April 8, 1873, Brigham Young added John, Brigham Jr., George Q. Cannon, Lorenzo Snow, and Albert Carrington as additional counselors to him in the First Presidency. After Young's first counselor, George A. Smith, died in September 1875, John Willard Young was called as first counselor to his father on October 8, 1876. Young served in this capacity until the First Presidency was dissolved by his father's death less than a year later on August 29, 1877. During his time in the First Presidency, John Willard Young never spent much time in Salt Lake City attending to church leadership duties; since 1863 he had preferred living in New York City, where he was engaged in a number of business ventures that ultimately failed and resulted in him assuming a large amount of debt.

Counselor to the Twelve Apostles Having never been a member of the Quorum of the Twelve but holding the priesthood office of apostle, Young was called as a counselor to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on October 6, 1877. However, Young's business practices and practice of living in New York City soon brought him into conflict with other church authorities. At a church general conference on April 6, 1881, Young's name was withheld from the names of general authorities who were presented for sustaining.

Young resigned from his position on October 3, 1891; Young was aware that on that date the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were again discussing possible release from his position. Snow was 85 years old and in poor health, while Young was only 55 years old; it therefore appeared to many that Young would be the next president of the church.

However, many of the general authorities disliked Young and felt that his succession to the presidency would be a disaster for the church. The new president of the church would no longer be the person who had been an ordained apostle the longest; rather, the new president of the church would be the person who had been a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for the longest period of time.

On October 10, 1901, Snow died. Five days later, Young arrived in Salt Lake City from New York City, possibly with the intent of assuming the presidency of the church. However, due to the new policy, Joseph F. Smith was ordained the new church president on October 17, 1901. John Willard Young continued to attend a branch of the LDS Church in the city for the rest of his life, and he died of cancer in New York City at the age of 79.