how many wives did brigham young have
Brigham Young is generally credited with having around 55–56 wives , depending on how “wife” is defined in the context of 19th‑century Mormon plural marriage.
Quick Scoop
- Many historians count 55 women he married or was “sealed” to during his lifetime.
- Some church‑focused summaries say he had 56 wives , reflecting a slightly different way of counting sealings.
- Only 16 of those women bore him children , and they had 57 children with him.
- At his death in 1877, 23 wives survived him , but only 17 received shares of his estate, which often marks who functioned as full conjugal or residential wives.
Why the number is debated
- Mormon records distinguish between:
- “Time only” marriages (for life) vs. “eternity” sealings (for the afterlife).
* Conjugal wives vs. women sealed to him more symbolically (some older women he described more as **mothers** than spouses).
- Because of that, historians, church writers, and critics can cite slightly different totals—usually in the mid‑50s —while still relying on the same underlying records.
Snapshot table
| Measure | Number | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Total wives often cited | 55–56 | Varies by whether all sealings are counted as “wives”. | [1][7][10]
| Women bearing his children | 16 | They had 57 children with him. | [3][10]
| Children | 57 | From those 16 wives. | [10][3]
| Marriages at his death | 56 married over life | 19 predeceased him, 10 divorced, 23 survived, 4 unaccounted. | [10]
| Wives in his estate | 17 | Surviving wives who shared his estate. | [3][10]
In short, when people ask “how many wives did Brigham Young have?” , historians usually answer: about 55–56, depending on how you define “wife.”
TL;DR: Brigham Young had on the order of mid‑50s wives , but only about 16 were both plural wives and mothers to his children, which is why different sources give slightly different counts.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.