How many wives did Brigham Young have when he was arrested for polygamy?

McGruff

"...President Lincoln signed the Anti-Bigamy law in 1862, and in 1871 Mormon leader Brigham Young was arrested for 'lewd and lascivious cohabitation' with his 16 wives." http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Park/6443/Polygamy/utah.html "At the time of his death on August 23, 1877, Young had married 56 women — 19 predeceased him, 10 divorced him, 23 survived him, and 4 are unaccounted for. Of the 23 who survived him, 17 received a share of his estate while the remaining 6 apparently had non conjugal roles. http://historytogo.utah.gov/bywives.html This site lists 55 wives and appears to be better researched. http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/brighamyoungswives.htm Mar 23 04, 3:01 AM

Brainyblonde

Whether he was arrested for polygamy or bigamy and how many wives he had at the time seems to depend where you look. The information from the history Channel lists three books in their bibliography. I suspect you are more likely to get a correct answer from a book rather than the Internet. The exact number of his wives-still a contested figure-and the extent of his fortune were the objects of curiosity and idle rumor nationwide. http://www.historychannel.com/perl/print_book.pl?ID=121400 In his old age, he was arrested on charges of polygamy and murder, but he was acquitted and his influence increased rather than diminished until his death. http://www.biography.com/search/article.jsp?aid=9539358&search= 1872 - Brigham Young is arrested for bigamy (25 wives). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_2 Mar 27 04, 11:11 AM