THE WILHELM ADVENTURES
  • Family Life
  • Our Missionary
  • Travel/Recipes
  • Photography
  • Family History

St. George Trip . Day 7 . Brigham Young's House

11/28/2014

 
Today we ventured downtown to take a tour of Brigham Young's winter home.  Brigham Young, as the locals say, was St. George's first snowbird.  As he aged he began suffering from arthritis and found that the warm, dry and snowless winters eased his discomfort.  The original portion of his home was begun in 1869 and completed in 1871.  The front addition to the house was completed in 1873.  One of the things that struck me from the outside appearance of the house was the bright green trim.  Apparently when the paint was ordered for the temple it came as the wrong color.  Instead of wasting the paint Brigham Young decided to use the paint as trim for the house.  
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
At the beginning of the tour we learned a little about the history of St. George and how it was founded as a cotton mission.  The settlement was named after George A. Smith who was apparently bald but wore a wig.   He wore that wig whichever way he wanted and most of the time he looked like he just slapped it on his head sideways.  He was humorously known for sometimes removing his wig to wipe his brow while preaching. After seeing Smith remove his hair, glasses, and false teeth, the natives gave him the name Non-choko-wicher meaning,  "takes himself apart."  
Picture
Walking into the home was like walking into a totally different world.  The chairs in the entry hall were replicas of Thomas Cotton's work.  Thomas Cotton  was one of the early furniture makers in the area.  The tour guide had the kids count the chairs during the tour to see who could get all of them.  There ended up being  32 chairs.  The kids came pretty close, minus one chair I think.  All of the furnishings in the home were either replicas or period antiques.   Most of the wood furniture was made out of pine since that was they had available at the time.  Brigham Young hired craftsmen to paint the pine to look like other kinds of wood.  It was really fascinating to see something that looked like mahogany only to be told that it was indeed pine.  
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Brigham Young owned the eight sided table in the parlor.  It was made of pine and grained to look like crotch mahogany.  Also in the parlor, the box piano was a replica of what they had in the house.  The photo above the fireplace of Brigham Young was given to him as a Christmas gift by the people in town.  He was very touched to receive it.  The letter table in the parlor was also a replica and was pine that was painted to look like mahogany.  

In the dining room there were a few things that were authentic.  The dishes on the table in the dining room with the "BY" monogram had been ordered and but didn't arrive until after Brigham's death.  The ruby colored vase on the top shelf of the dining room cabinet was an original artifact and was used in the home by Brigham and his family.  The photos on both sides of the dining room cabinet were also originals that were in Brigham Young's home.  

In the kitchen the kids were able to pick up and see just how heavy the iron was.  Emma was grateful that we didn't have to iron our clothes with something quite that heavy.  Upstairs in the bedrooms we learned what a chamber pot was.  The kids were again grateful that they didn't have to have a bathroom duty like that.  

All the beds upstairs belonged to Brigham Young as well as the dresser with the numbers on it that he used as his traveling wardrobe.  The cane and the hat on the bed also belonged to Brigham Young.  
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    February 2009

    Categories

    All
    14ers
    4th Of July
    Abby
    Andrew
    Aquarium
    Arizona
    Beach
    Beaver Creek
    Biking
    Birthdays
    Bowling
    Boys Trip
    Breckenridge
    BYU
    BYU Idaho
    California
    Camps
    Cello
    Challenger MS
    Christmas
    Church
    Climbing
    College Life
    Colorado
    Concerts
    COVID19
    Crested Butte
    Cross Country
    CrossFit
    Disney
    Eagle Project
    Easter
    Emma
    Fall Leaves
    Family Albums
    Family Fun
    Family Photos
    Family Reunions
    Fathers Day
    Field Day
    First Day Of School
    Flowers
    Flying
    Flying Horse
    Funerals
    Garden Of The Gods
    Garmin Running Lane
    Georgia
    Girls Weekend
    Graduations
    Grandparents
    Halloween
    Hawaii
    Hiking
    Homecoming
    Home-projects
    Horseback Riding
    Hospital
    Iceland
    Italy
    Japan
    Kokopelli
    Lake-fun
    Madeline
    Mike
    Mission
    Mothers Day
    Mountain View ES
    Myisha
    Nike Regionals
    Parties
    Peter
    Peter's Mission
    Pikes Peak
    Pine Creek HS
    Prom
    Pumpkin Patch
    Races
    Reserve Duty
    Running
    Running Camp
    Sara
    School Banquets
    School Dances
    School Honor Society
    School Parties
    School Performances
    Scouting
    Seattle
    Service
    Shooting
    Skiing
    Slices Of Life
    Snow Days
    Snowshoeing
    Spring Break
    Steamboat Springs
    St. George
    Swimming
    Swim Team
    Switzerland
    Taiwan
    Temple
    Thanksgiving
    Track Season
    TREK
    Triathlon
    Universal Studios
    University Of Utah
    Utah
    Vacation
    Weekend Getaways
    XTERRA
    Youth Activity
    Zoo

Proudly powered by Weebly