Description

Feramorz Young

Feramorz Little Young was an exceptional young man. He was born September 16, 1856 in Salt Lake City to Brigham and Lucy Decker Young. He was the sixth of seven children and grew up in the Beehive House. He attended school at the University of Deseret and then at age 16 he entered the United States Naval Academy. By age 21 he had graduated from the Troy Polytechnic Institute. As a student he excelled.

As a Latter-day Saint he was a stripling son of courage, defended the faith constantly during his time in the east. Then November 16, 1880, Fera Young left Salt Lake City to serve as a missionary in Mexico City. His diary is filled with those entries typical of any young man serving as a missionary.

Towards the end of his mission he began to feel unwell. Along with Elder Moses Thatcher, Elder Young began his journey for home. While at sea Fera grew worse and began to sense that he was not going to live. Finally, September 27, 1881, just off the coast of Havana, Cuba, Elder Feramorz Young passed away and was buried at sea.

His passing was a great trial to Elder Thatcher, and also to his family and friends. How could such a pure and intelligent young man, capable of doing so much good be called home? What a terrible loss. His mother would say of him that she “could not remember a word, thought or act of his life that would bring her the least sorrow or uneasiness.” Fera’s closest boyhood friend, would later say of him, “if ever there was a clean, sweet, absolutely pure young man upon the earth he was that young man.”

And in most instances, the story, tragically, ends there, but not this time.

Years later a woman, not a Latter-day Saint, a stranger, came to the home of Lucy Decker Young, Fera’s mother and related the following story.

“Now Mrs. Young, I do not believe a thing of what I am going to tell you. This girl friend of mine was one of the noblest, finest, choicest kind of girls and young women that ever lived. She has come to me in this city of Salt Lake on three separate occasions at night in dreams, and has given me this information: the date of her birth, the date of her death, and all that is necessary, she says, for a record in the Temple: and she has told me that your son, Feramorz L. Young has converted her and that in addition to converting her he has proposed marriage to her.”

The young woman then commanded her doubting friend to go to Sister Young and tell her the story and vouch for her virtue and integrity. This young woman had not grown up in Salt Lake City and this woman was the only one who knew her and could vouch for the uprightness of her life. The young woman requested that her work be done and that she be married by proxy to Fera.

The woman said again to Mother Young, “I do not believe a word of it,” but then she seemed to plead for Sister Young to do something because she said. “The last time this young woman came to me she said, “You might just as well go to Mrs. Young and give her this information, because I am going to come and come and come until you do it.”

The woman then said, “I just cannot bear to have her come again.”

“This beautiful girl was sealed to Brother Young, and I am convinced that my dear friend lost nothing by dying in his youth.” So said, President Heber J. Grant in February 1931.

Sources:

https://archive.org/stream/improvementera3404unse#page/n6/mode/1up

https://lib.byu.edu/collections/mormon-missionary-diaries/about/diarists/feramorz-little-young/