Brigham Young (1801-1877)

[rangerrebew]

A towering figure in Mormonism, Brigham Young (1801-1877), began his professional career as a carpenter and painter. Baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1832, he was ordained an apostle in 1835. After the assassination of Joseph Smith in 1844, Young was chosen leader of the Mormons and continued as president until his death. He directed the migration of 16,000 Mormons from Illinois to Utah from 1856 to 1852, and became governor of the territory in 1851. In addition to bolstering his community through education and the arts, Young contracted for the national expansion of telegraph and railroad lines.

Born in Whitingham, Vermont, Young was the ninth of eleven children. His family moved to New York when he was three. Shortly after his mother’s death in 1815, he left home to make his living as carpenter, joiner, glazier, painter, and landscape gardener.

https://www.history.com/topics/religion/brigham-young

[Fishrrman]

The article says that Young had only 20 wives, when in fact he married about 55 women and had 59 children (from 16 of the wives).
He has hundreds (if not thousands) of "direct descendants".

Young was autocratic and forceful, but like Joseph before him he made mistakes. But without him, the Saints would have had a much harder time surviving after Joseph's assassination in 1844, and the subsequent attempts to drive them out of Navuoo (which were ultimately successful).

[Texas Yellow Rose]

Of Young's 55 wives,
21 had never been married before;
16 were widows;
6 were divorced;
6 had living husbands; and
the marital status of 6 others are unknown.

In 1856, Young built the Lion House to accommodate his sizable family. This building remains a Salt Lake City landmark, together with the Beehive House, another Young family home.

A contemporary of Young wrote: "It was amusing to walk by Brigham Young's big house, a long rambling building with innumerable doors. Each wife has an establishment of her own, consisting of parlor, bedroom, and a front door, the key of which she keeps in her pocket."
 
At the time of Young's death, 19 of his wives had predeceased him, he was divorced from ten, and 23 survived him. The status of four was unknown.  One of his wives, Zina Huntington Young, served as the third president of the Relief Society.

In his will, Young shared his estate with the 16 surviving wives who had lived with him; the six surviving non-conjugal wives were not mentioned in the will.