thus marking the first time news media reported this human and civil rights nightmare accurately since the 1850s. The Kingston family first embraced polygamy around 1931 when, according to author Max Anderson, Charles W. Kingston helped produce a pamphlet that contained a version of Lorin C. Woolley's claims that former LDS Church President John Taylor had set aside a select group of men to carry on polygamy even as the church publicly disavowed the practice. . 75.119.192.80 They can't sit up. and Privacy Policy. . [40] In 2009, the then-Attorney General of Utah, Mark Shurtleff, claimed that child marriages within polygamous societies in Utah, such as the Latter Day Church of Christ, had "effectively stopped". . ", -Prophet John Taylor, "Millennial Star," vol. We specifically read that the law of consecration is designed to administer to the poor and the needy (D&C 42:35). . The parents said their daughter had cerebral palsy. Early polygamy was rife with incestuous and eugenic ideas and practices as well. Elden clearly claimed to hold the priesthood keys, saying, I have those keys of power.[3]. . [i]n a secret church ceremony. In the l950s, research doctors thought we were one of the few families in the world with this form of nephritis, known as Alports syndrome. Naming a father could expose the truth, unveil secrets of paternity and subject the clan to further scrutiny from those who don't approve of incest. . The girl, born to John Ortell and Isabell Johnson, was not the product of an incestuous marriage. "'One lady I know, she just cannot physically pick [her son] up anymore to get him into the bathtub,' Wyler says. . And it is my purpose to provide for my saints, for all things are mine. From the "Phoenix New Timms" article, "Forbidden Fruit: Inbreeding Among Polygamists Along the Arizona-Utah Border is Producing a Caste of Severely Retarded and Deformed Children": "Colorado City resident Isaac Wyler says FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs is trying to create the 'perfect race.'. He was kicking people out, too, who weren't obedient. However, the group reiterated its belief that "bleeding the beast" was "abhorent" and was "never a tenet" of its organization. ", (Aimee Larsen Stoddard, "Fundamentalist Latter-day Saints Genealogy and Polygamy Problems," 7 October 2010, under "Birth Defects in Mormon Fundamentalist Cult," posted by "halley, 20 February 2011, at: http://www.renewamerica.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=13723) Men and boys wore blue coverall-type suits tied with strings; women and girls wore plain blue denim dresses. [21] Over the past 25 years, many members have become college-educated and live in middle-to-upper-middle-class homes throughout their communities. He believed he had superior bloodlines.' . . Winnipeg's Bear Clan still active during pandemic, despite 'small COVID . . 'I really doubt that if we could tell them, you know, "This male has the condition and this female has the condition; you shouldn't mate," that wouldn't stop them,' he said. "What was going on in my Utah pioneer family? . The two Kingston brothers and their business partner, Lev Dermen, are in jail awaiting trial, scheduled to start in July and last six weeks. IF polygamy really is justified in increased breeding, and since MORmON Jesus did institute such a plan according to MORmON history at one time, then how come MORmON god does not follow through and have a lot more females born in such marriages as would be required mathematically to make His [19] For many years, members of the Co-operative lived in poor conditions, and those in need had no legal way to apply for assistance. . The group sought to maintain Pure Kingston Blood by arranging marriages between cousins and other close relatives, and shunning relationships that werent between white people, the lawsuit alleges. "Did this practice affect my family and other Mormon pioneer families adversely, possibly even in other momentous ways? Like any fundamentalist Mormon sect, the Kingston Clan is very hierarchal. FOX 13 Investigates: Non-profit run by polygamous Kingston group - KSTU "'I knew I would have to marry my [half-] brother ever since I was 12,' says the woman. Kingston began preaching polygamy amongst fellow members of the LDS Church and distributing pamphlets and the book he had co-written, Laman Manasseh Victorious: A Message of Salvation and Redemption to His People Israel, First to Ephraim and Manasseh. on a 1,600-acre ranch outside of Eldorado. http://www.gallup.com/poll/24388/one-four-americans-think-most-mormons-e http://www.i4m.com/think/sexuality/homosexual_ruin.htm, http://www.humanistsofutah.org/2005/UnderstandingPolygamy_July-05.html, http://human-nature.com/science-as-culture/walker.html, http://www.renewamerica.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=13723. . . "In addition, the Mormon Church touts itself as the quintessential traditional family values church . At the time this inbreeding took place these prophets preached and practiced modern eugenic science, the science of controlling the traits of future populations through selective breeding for idealized traits like blond hair, blue eyes and tall stature. . when doctors pronounced us a special and important family. 'And yet nobody wants to do anything about it. . . Polygamy would have afforded the opportunity of producing from that consecrated fatherhood and motherhood the improved type of man the world needs to reveal the highest possibilities of the race, that the day of the super man might come, and with him come also the redemption and betterment of the race.'. As bad as this past is, the mounting evidence is far worse. Members today wear normal modern clothing, although they are encouraged to be modest and keep a high standard of dress. 'He wanted to control his children and grandchildren through genetics. Accordingly, Elden became the first prophet of the Kingston Group and established the Davis County Cooperative Society. . The group also teaches its members that only those with so-called pure blood will survive the apocalypse, according to the lawsuit. [47][48] The remainder of the transactions (over 94%) were to entities associated with Lev Derman, who prosecutors allege was the mastermind of the scheme. . Because I fell down this rabbit hole and now so do you all. Consanguinity also causes rare recessive disorders to mask as dominant. 'Escaping Polygamy' is a docuseries on Lifetime which follows the work of three sisters, who were able to break free from the polygamous Kingston Clan, known as the Order. Blood Cult | Southern Poverty Law Center Since polygamy remained a hidden and illegal practice, disguised family records occurred. ". [32] He was arrested and pleaded "no contest" to the charge of child abuse and served seven months in jail. 13:1). An MRI of the brain of one fumarase deficiency child showed that more than half the brain was missing. ", "Utah investigated the polygamous Kingston Group for welfare fraud 2 years ago. For instance, Quinn writes, '[O]ver 20 General Authorities were married to such lesser known wives.' The Kingston Clan, also known as The Order is a Mormon based group that is far more like an organized crime family and cult than religious organization. "They've got this idea that their blood is pure and that they want to keep it pure.'. . During the 1940s, Ortell worked on a dairy farm owned by the Co-op at Woodscross, Davis County, Utah, where he reportedly developed theories on genetics, theories he later decided could be used to purify his own family pedigree. . 'All of a sudden [with] this one little baby, everything tightened up and she arched her back so hard her head was almost touching her toes,' Wyler says. . This seemed to apply in my own kindred because those of us who left Mormonism and married outsiders are less riddled with the deleterious genetic legacy than relatives who married within the ancestral Mormon gene pool. . Children inherit disabling illnesses. Who is the insider on Escaping Polygamy? - Monsters and Critics The Kingston sisters were able to help her escape although Ava wanted to stay with her family, she knew she couldn't give up her sense of self and continue watching the cycle of abuse continue. [6] Brooke Adams, Salt Lake Tribune, May 22, 2004. [22][23] Currently the group claims that although different skillsets bring different financial outcomes, there is no homelessness within the DCCS, and internal programs exist for those experiencing financial poverty.[2]. . . I am convinced they do. He interpreted his dream to mean that God approved of his leaving the Church. . . Brigham Young, the second Mormon leader, preached, 'The time is coming when the Lord is going to raise a holy nation . "I remembered the studies conducted on my brother and I as children at the University of Utah . . Feds move to seize homes and businesses from polygamous Kingston Group . "A Secretive Refrain: . "Another of Rugg's full sisters, Andrea Johnson, died in 1992 of complications of pre-eclampsia, a condition of pregnancy that was not treated until after the young girl, swollen with toxic fluid, was rushed to the emergency unit at University Hospital. _____, --Inbreeding for the Lord: the Mutative Aftermath of LDS-"Inspired" Polygamy Among Mormonism's Doctrinal Adherents. . . . "'You don't want to jump to the conclusion and say all of these are the result of inbreeding,' he says. While his children and wife initially resisted his new religious position, they eventually joined him in asking their names to be removed from LDS Church records. David Kingston is alleged to have married his 16-year-old niece Mary Ann Nelson, who attempted to run away but was apprehended and beaten by her father, John Daniel Kingston. . This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. Eventually, she admitted she had married her half-brother and given birth to three children. "'They are discouraging any new blood," historian Bistline says. . . "While discussing health problems at a family gathering with some of my cousins wives, we discovered astonishingly that three out of four of us, all polygamy descendants, had borne a son with a clubfoot. "Until the test is available, Tarby says, the best prevention measure remains refraining from crossing Barlows, Jessops and their relations--who make up half the population of the polygamist enclave. Then he scooted away, smiling, aboard a plastic toy car, his feet smacking the sidewalk. "A few years later [my cousin's] sister . [5] Michael Janofsky, Young Brides Stir New Outcry on Utah Polygamy, New York Times, February 27, 2003, Late EditionFinal Section A-1. 'They are functioning way below their chronological age.'. The 1996 Utah Legislature approved first-cousin marriages, only after age 65, or age 55 if the couple cannot conceive children. This is why the state and federal government enacted legislation against polygamy. Three others, including Grant, said they had to flee to escape such a fate. [T]he 'Salt Lake Tribune' . Article continues below advertisement For the sisters, escaping polygamy is really real. The stage was set for the appearance of the rare disease when their 12th child, Martha Jessop, married her second cousin, John Yeates Barlow, in 1923, according to LDS genealogy data and Colorado City historian Ben Bistline. . As found in: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Factional breakdown: Mormon fundamentalist sects, "Unlikely whistleblower helps uncover alleged half-billion tax scam by secretive polygamist sect members", "Inside 'The Order,' One Mormon Cult's Secret Empire", The Primer, Helping Victims of Domestic Violence and Child Abuse in Polygamous Communities, "Plural Marriage and Mormon Fundamentalism", "John Ortell Kingston (Elden's Brother) Leads 1948-87", "Patterns of Polygamy Davis County's Kingston clan - County's polygamy roots run deep", "Kingston pleads guilty to incest charge", "Incest could be behind probe of Kingston family", "2021 Utah Code:: Title 76 - Utah Criminal Code:: Chapter 7 - Offenses Against the Family:: Part 1 - Marital Violations:: Section 102 - Incest -- Definitions -- Penalty", "New allegations of abuse in the polygamous Kingston family", "Utah polygamist sect accused of indoctrination, rape and child marriage", "As trial nears end, critics of polygamous towns wonder whether verdict will matter", "Polygamists are urged to make public statement", "Shurtleff: Child bride polygamous marriages appear to have stopped", "No longer performing child-bride marriages? "Fast-forward . "Researchers have identified a gene on the first chromosome that causes fumarase deficiency, but no test has been developed that could be used to identify individuals carrying the malady. . . We recall that Joseph Smith made no effort to implement the law of consecration while in Nauvoo (see D&C 105:34). That means the number of cases likely will grow. . 'If you cross a Barlow and Jessop, you stand a high risk of getting this condition,' Tarby says. 'The downside is that if you don't start with good genetics, and if there is baggage in the genes of the individual, inbreeding will uncover that baggage. Had these defects clumped in my own family as it seemingly appeared to me? During the 1920s, hundreds of dissenters from the LDS Church gathered into specific groups across the Wasatch Front. 'There are people that have married their nieces, people who have married their aunts,' he said. 'I didn't dare talk about it,' she says. Through diligent money management and hard work, the Davis County Cooperative Society became very financially successful. "'I had never seen a patient with it,' Tarby says. . The brother missionaries have been in the habit of picking out the prettiest women for themselves before they get here, and bringing on the ugly ones for us; hereafter you have to bring them all here before taking any of them, and let us all have a fair shake. . In recent years, former members have lobbied for law enforcement to take action against the sect. 'Most of what you print is lies, lies, lies.' "Now 16, Rugg's sister was married to and subsequently left one of her half-brother's sons. As people age the chances of children inheriting mutant genes increases. . "Warren Jeffs, like Joseph Smith before him, has emphasized the importance of obedience among members of the church. . The suit was filed against the groups leader Paul Eldon Kingston and 21 other members. I owe my children and all children who risk becoming the next unwitting victims of this tragic genetic legacy the best information regarding the prevention of this lethal family inheritance that I can find. "Recovery from Mormonism - www.exmormon.org", http://www.lds-mormon.com/quinn_polygamy.shtml, http://www.i4m.com/think/polygamy/polygamy_summary.htm. . "There is no doubt in the mind of any expert interviewed by 'New Times' that the practice of polygamy combined with inbreeding has fostered the spread of fumarase deficiency. Wyler's ex-wife's sister has had two babies afflicted with fumarase deficiency. on the history of the fundamentalist community. "Goodman soon made a startling discovery: Tarby's young patient was afflicted with an extremely rare disease called fumarase deficiency. . Women and girls, after theyre married, submit to their husbands and men answer to higher-ranked men, the suit alleges. [Mormon] [h]istorian B. H. Roberts, notes an eugenic attitude regarding polygamy: "'It was in the name of a divinely-ordered species of eugenics that Latter-day Saints accepted the revelation which included a plurality of wives. . What Happened to 'Escaping Polygamy' Star Ava AKA - Distractify Supposedly, these sacrifices are part of the united order. "In the FLDS community, marriages with cousins and other relatives are common, Bistline said. . The baby survived, but has cerebral palsy. Half and full siblings are marrying in religious ceremonies. . "For Colorado City and Hildale to avoid more fumarase, polygamist leaders must use their authority to make sure that those potentially carrying the fumarase gene are not allowed to marry, says geneticist Aleck. "In 1996, the now 31-year-old Kingston mother of two slow-growing children sought explanations at Primary Children's Medical Center. July 1, 2020. ', "The ultimate goal of the breeding program, Wyler says, is to create the perfect race. and councilmen.' Only the FLDS prophet can arrange and perform polygamous marriages, and those marriages are taking place in a community in which almost everybody is related. The suit includes ten former members alleging the organization used marriages to "unlawfully make girls and their children religious martyrs and traffic them for sexual and labor purposes". David Kingston is alleged to have married his 16-year-old niece Mary Ann Nelson, who attempted to run away but was apprehended and beaten by her father, John Daniel Kingston. . "It is important that Mormons fight the tendency to discount history and the actions of their leaders in favor of a faith- promoting history while neglecting important facts. "Dr. Theodore Tarby has treated many of the children at clinics in Arizona under contracts with the state. . The notoriety will just make them zoo specimens. These babies usually do not leave the hospital and die as infants. . Unfortunately, there are also numerous reports of members who lived in squalor in order to advance the monetary gains of the Co-op. . [10], According to his autobiography, Charles W. Kingston became disenchanted with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in 1926 because it abandoned plural marriage. This is why those laws need to be enforced. "There is no cure for the disease, which impedes the body's ability to process food at the cellular level. present a troubling scenario for law enforcement: these are crimes of a sexual nature committed in private in a closed society. "Her half-brother is still married to another half-sister (whose parents also were half-sister and brother) and are still members of the Kingston's order. . . The Kingston Group is not affiliated with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) based on the Utah-Arizona line that is run by imprisoned leader Warren Jeffs, who. Three of their children suffer from serious inherited disorders. states that '[t]he [Utah] state legislature is consistently 90% Mormon . In fact, the leaders of the Co-op just seem to be getting richer and the poor get essentially ignored. Wyler says he once saw a fumarase deficiency child suffer a seizure while she was sitting with her mother and two other children also suffering from the disorder. Over the past decades, the Kingston Group has maintained extreme secrecy while developing an extensive cooperative system, with wealth in at least 50 corporations in Utah and scattered across the West. Tarby. Arrow Real Estate and Property Compliance, Fountain of Youth Health and Athletic Club. "[44] Members claim they have been broadly and unfairly targeted by authorities for the negative actions of a small few. . The children live in the twin polygamist communities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. From an "Associated Press" news report, "Doctor: Birth Defects Increase in Polygamy Community": "A rare, severe birth defect is on the rise in an inbred polygamous community on the Arizona-Utah border, according to a doctor who has treated many of the children. Below are further horrific details of the Kingston clan's "God-given genetic calamity, brought to you courtesy of Joseph Smith's Mormonism, as reported in the "Salt Lake Tribune" article, "When Incest Becomes a Religious Tenet": ". During a recent interview with the Intelligence Report, Jessica Kingston, a former member of the secretive, Salt Lake City-based cult and a star of the A&E reality series "Escaping Polygamy," remembered, when she was 12, her Sunday school teacher coming into class with a bucket of water and a vial of black food coloring. "'My guess is this man had used some of these inbreeding practices in his herd so he was probably in the camp that believed superior genetics could be propagated in a particular line,' Green says. Inside 'The Order,' One Mormon Cult's Secret Empire "Roughly one in four Americans say 'most Mormons' support the practice of polygamy . The founders of that ancient empire were robbers and women-stealers, and made laws favoring monogamy in consequence of the scarcity of women among them, and hence this monogamic system which now prevails throughout Christendom, and which had been so fruitful a source of prostitution and whoredom throughout all the Christian monogamic cities of the Old and New World, until rottenness and decay are at the root of their institutions both national and religious. . Family members attribute the defects to the advanced ages of the mother and father -- he was 64, she was 45. Mormon Church presidents and "prophet"-leaders have blamed monogamy a host of terminal afflictions that have been delivered upon the world. Branches of the polygamist mans family left out of the genealogy will change the incidence of common ancestors and potentially mask the true disease risk and incidence in the community. But [FLDS members] don't think of it as sexual predation. And her ex-husband's parents, Merlin and Carolyn Kingston, were uncle and niece. However, the law of consecration has a purpose beyond self-sacrifice. "Fumarase deficiency is caused by a lack of the fumarase enzyme, an essential component in a biological process called the Krebs cycle, which converts food into energy within each cell. "Although it is a felony under Utah law for close relatives to have sex, only one Kingston--John and LaDonna's fifth son, David Ortell--has been criminally charged with incest. . David Kingston was released from prison in 2003. . "In polygamy . It is these discredited ideas that foster this genetic legacy. When you pair up those undesirable genes, something strange will pop out.'. . [28][29], During the first years of the Davis County Cooperative Society, Elden Kingston and his followers wore unique blue denim outer garments that led to people referring to them as "blue-coats." They can't do anything by themselves. ", ("Mormon Polygamy: Frequently Asked Questions," at: http://www.i4m.com/think/polygamy/polygamy_summary.htm). lifted the covers on the many crimes committed in polygamy, . . . Convinced they are breeding a pure white master race, they blame the mother if a deformed baby is born then preach she was unrighteous or unclean. Articles of Incorporation of the Davis County Cooperative Society, 7 February 1941. "'This problem is going to get worse and worse and worse,' predicts . [7] Some members of the church are also believed to practice consanguineous marriage, or marriage to relatives within the group. . Where Are Escaping Polygamy Cast Members Now? - The Cinemaholic The enzyme irregularity causes severe mental retardation, epileptic seizures and other effects that often leaves children unable to take care of themselves. And the Genealogy Department advises genealogists to follow only their direct line; in this instance meaning only the wife who is their mother, not other wives of their father. ("Doctrine & Covenants," Section 132, verses 55, 62-63), "Joseph Smith also testified an angel with a sword came to him many times and commanded him to practice polygamy or else he would lose his life.
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