Brigham Young’s Bloodstone
The Bloodstone amulet pictured above belonged to Brigham Young and was worn against the skin to protect him from harm. A bloodstone is a type of jasper stone with red flecks, traditionally believed to prevent or stop bleeding. This amulet is displayed at the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum in Salt Lake City with the following label:
“Worn by Brigham Young when traveling to unknown or dangerous places. ‘Brigham’ is engraved on the front and ‘Young’ on the back.”
More recently the label reads as follows:
Family legend recounts that this bloodstone was given by Captain Cook, the famous 18th-century English navigator and explorer, to Cook’s friend Thomas Brown, to cure Brown’s daughter of hemorrhaging blood. The stone was passed down in the Brown family until it came into possession of George D. Watt, the first English convert to Mormonism and scribe to Brigham Young. Watt, the step-grandson of Thomas Brown, lent the stone to Young, who kept this stone as his own for many years and mounted it in the gold frame. Young returned the stone to the Brown Family in 1871. The bloodstone amulet was donated to the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum, by Marion Folsom, niece of Amelia Folsom, Young’s favorite wife, suggesting that the amulet was returned to Young’s possession prior to his death.
Brigham Young appears to be wearing the bloodstone amulet in several photos. (Also note the Masonic Compass and Square)
Learn More:
- Family Search-Brown Family Records PDF
- Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum
- Amazon.com – Early Mormonism and the Magical World View
- Wikipedia – George D. Watt
- Wikipedia – Captain James Cook
Photo Credit- Exploring Mormonism.com