List of Brigham Young's wives

Mormonism and polygamy
Portrait of five caucasian Latter-day Saints, married to each other in nineteenth-century Latter-day Saint polygamy, against the backdrop of what may be a hedge. All seem to be posing; none face the camera. Leftmost is a woman, seated, her hair done in a high, braided bun, wearing a dress with buttons down the middle; in her hands are an open book. Center-left, standing furthest to the back (though still very much with the portraited group) is a woman, her hair done up but resting low, in a polka-dotted top and a scarf or ascot around her neck and a skirt. She carries a hat, held to her waist. Center is a woman, sort of kneeling or seated (perhaps there is an unseen stool she's sitting on?). She wears a white dress, her hair is done up in a high and large bun and she wears a headband. In her right arm she holds a hat, over her knees; her left arm rests on the lap of the man sitting center right. She may be leaning against his legs. Center-right is a man, wearing a suit jacket of some kind and a high-collared shirt. He is balded and bearded. His left hand is placed over the left arm of the center woman. Rightmost is a woman, her hair done up but resting low, sitting in a visibly wooden (likely handcrafted) chair. She wears a dress with buttons going down the middle. She holds a hat, which looks very like center's hat, over her knees.
A Mormon "Saint" and Wives by Charles Weitfle (c. 1878–1885)
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Related articles
Celestial marriage • Freedom of religion in the US • Legal status of polygamy • List of practitioners  • Polygamy czar • Polygamy in Christianity • Polygamy in North America • Timeline of civil marriage in the United States
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Brigham Young (1801–1877), second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), was perhaps the most famous polygamist of the early Latter Day Saint movement, marrying 56 wives during his lifetime.[1][2] He stated that upon being taught about plural marriage by Joseph Smith, "It was the first time in my life that I desired the grave."[3] By the time of his death, Young had 57 children by 16 of his wives; 46 of his children reached adulthood.[4] In 1902, only 25 years after Young's death, The New York Times established that Young's direct descendants numbered more than 1,000.[5]

  1. ^ Johnson, Jeffery Ogden (1987). "Determining and Defining 'Wife': The Brigham Young Households" (PDF). Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. 20 (3): 57–70. doi:10.2307/45225560. JSTOR 45225560. S2CID 254339939.
  2. ^ Jessee, Dean C. (2001). ""A Man of God and a Good Kind Father": Brigham Young at Home". Brigham Young University Studies. 40 (2): 23–53. ISSN 0007-0106. JSTOR 43042842.
  3. ^ "Polygamy and the Church: A History". The Mormons: People & Events. WGBH Educational Foundation. 2007-04-30. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
  4. ^ Young, Brigham (2021). Smith, George D. (ed.). Brigham Young, colonizer of the American West : diaries and office journals, 1832-1871 (First ed.). Salt Lake City: Signature Books. ISBN 978-1-56085-274-2. OCLC 1204268147.
  5. ^ "Descendants of Brigham Young to Hold Annual Mass Meetings" (PDF). The New York Times. 22 June 1902.