unavailable to researchers. These wives sometimes became known, sometimes not. "Marriages among first and second cousins have been common for decades in the community, where religious doctrine requires men to have at least three wives to gain eternal salvation. We've received your submission. . "What was going on in my Utah pioneer family? "Today, six sons and two daughters of John Ortell and LaDonna have married at least 20 half-sisters, nieces and first cousins, giving birth to a family tree that twists and tangles, and, at times, withers with children born of genetic deficiencies. Since the natural male-to-female ratio is roughly 50-50, the ratio must be manipulated so that there are more females than males for polygamy to work. The baby survived, but has cerebral palsy. . According to Kingston teachings, this scripture should not be taken too literally, and all of the efforts commenced through Joseph Smith came to a dead halt in 1934, thereby necessitating Elden Kingston to initiate a new dispensation. . "The discoveries and research within my own kindred so alarmed me that I studied other descendants of polygamy to see if their families also suffered from crippling illnesses. . However, the group reiterated its belief that "bleeding the beast" was "abhorent" and was "never a tenet" of its organization. 'And is that religion popular in heaven?' Latter Day Church of Christ - Wikipedia As bad as this past is, the mounting evidence is far worse. (The Church lost its authority to give covenants.) One recent morning [John Ortell's niece and third wife, Mary Gustafson] defended her complicity in arranging her daughters' marriages to their half-brothers, sons of John Ortell and LaDonna. 'They think it is a test from God,' says Wyler, who was born and raised in the FLDS before he was booted out. Because the Lord introduced it to his servants in a revelation given to Joseph Smith, and the Lord's servants have always practiced it. . Let's now examine how this supposedly "divinely-inspired" Mormon program of heavenly eugenics has actually worked in practice. Modern Polygamy and Mormon Fundamentalism, 2023 Modern Polygamy and Mormon Fundamentalism, Joseph Smith Restores the Practice of Plural Marriage, Plural Marriage Commanded, Permitted, and Not Permitted, 1920sPolygamists Coalesce into an Organization, Lorin C. Woolley and His Council of Seven Friends, Independent Polygamists and Fundamentalists. "I remembered the studies conducted on my brother and I as children at the University of Utah . "Her book . Consanguinity causes aggregate clusters of deleterious genes to collect in families, which then express themselves as rare recessive disorders like nephritis, cystic fibrosis, biliary artesia, albinism, short stature and many others. . But residents who are aware of fumarase deficiency fear that the number of children afflicted with the disease will indeed increase. "There is no cure for the disease, which impedes the body's ability to process food at the cellular level. ", "Utah investigated the polygamous Kingston Group for welfare fraud 2 years ago. . While building his polygamous empire, John Ortell raised pigeons and Holsteins, prized black-and-white milk cows. 'I try in my own, quiet way and tell them to outbreed. They have no movement. [11] On February 7, 1941, the community founded by Elden Kingston officially declared themselves the Davis County Cooperative Society Inc. One outspoken Mormon matriarch who attended the same Sunday meeting for 50 years commented about the health of the polygamous descendants versus the monogamous descendants, 'You see it in the obituaries. . "Joseph Smith Jessop and his first wife, Martha Moore Yeates, had 14 children. To date Mormons have only paid lip service to stopping polygamy. 5, p. 22, "Brethren, I want you to understand that it is not to be as it has been heretofore. "I never knew if I carried this deadly disease or if any preventative measures would halt its insidious march. "State investigators found no wrongdoing among members of the Davis County Cooperative Society, also known as the Kingston Group. . . "Wyler said it's all part of the community's religious system. "Rather than polygamy being about religion, Moore-Emmett believes that many polygamous marriages are about sex and power. . If somehow a new dispensation came through Elden Kingston in 1935, it was stillborn, because it was never dispensed to Gods children. In fact more than half of today's Klans formed in the last three years. . 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. soon . In this regard, officially-canonized LDS scripture that currently endorses polygamy is not the only image problem for the Mormon Church (thank you, Warren Jeffs). The Twelve Apostles of Mormonism then acted to increase this familial relationship by marrying other relatives until in 1877, at the end of Brigham Youngs reign as Mormon Prophet and King, the polygamous hierarchy became l00% interrelated. [7] Some members of the church are also believed to practice consanguineous marriage, or marriage to relatives within the group. "For us parents the future health and happiness of ourselves, our children and grandchildren are at stake. He was kicking people out, too, who weren't obedient. Fear began to overwhelm me, for the future, and for my own son. 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. "Some are very debilitated and some aren't," he says. he says. _____. J. Ortell Kingston aggressively pursued a financially-expansive agenda for the Davis County Cooperative Society Inc.[25] in the hopes of improving the financial condition of his followers. . "Some genes linked to conditions like microcephaly and dwarfism are 'autosomal recessive,' and are found among the 22-linked pairs of chromosomes that do not include the X and Y sex chromosomes, says Lynn Jorde of the University of Utah's Eccles Human Genetics Institute, a leading genetics research center. "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. 'Most of what you print is lies, lies, lies.' The accusers also claim that the group arranged child marriages so that girls would become pregnant and beholden to their husbands and the religious sect. Readily accepted as a problem among mothers past the age of 35, it is rarely discussed as a problem when fathers are over 35, let alone 80. This is a rare disorder and medical descriptions of trisome infants are too dreadful to describe here. "I know these people personally.'. These disturbing accounts offer a look inside the lives of some early Mormon descendants. Since most Kingston children are born in homes under the scrutiny of trusted and secretive family midwives or clan leaders, documentation of medical abnormalities is rare, but not unprecedented. Double murder in Utah: Tragedy Strikes the Cast of A&E's - reddit Winnipeg's Bear Clan still active during pandemic, despite 'small COVID . [N]ew disease classifications belong at the door of the Mormon Church leadership. '90% of the community is related to one side or the other,' said Bistline, a former member of the sect, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. "'I knew I would have to marry my [half-] brother ever since I was 12,' says the woman. When a group inbreeds, as polygamists have, more and more lethal gene matches occur. . We specifically read that the law of consecration is designed to administer to the poor and the needy (D&C 42:35). 'Right now, we are just looking at the tip of the iceberg.'. . . And in 1999, David Ortell Kingston Jeremy Kingston's uncle was sentenced to the Utah State Prison for up to 10 years for committing incest with the 16-year-old niece who became his 15th wife. Even the few highly educated people there . . Some of you may not believe this, but I not only believe it but I also know it. The Doctrine and Covenants admonishes the Saints to look to the poor and the needy, and administer to their relief that they shall not suffer (D&C 38:35). . Half and full siblings are marrying in religious ceremonies. . [23] The group claims no preference for any particular family or surname stating members join every year "from a variety of different backgrounds and surnames. The trial of the man, David Ortell Kingston . Jacob Kingston pleaded guilty to 41 charges, including conspiracy to commit mail fraud, aiding/assistance in filing a false claim, money laundering and obstruction. "Tarby says he quickly realized he was dealing with a very unusual condition that he could not diagnose. 'I know this off the top of my head," Wyler says. A small portion of the funds (less than 6%) were also used to purchase legitimate goods and services from businesses who provided them in "good faith". This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. Most populations outbreed and so these lethal genes rarely match to cause any serious diseases. "In addition, the Mormon Church touts itself as the quintessential traditional family values church . [9][34], Active members and a recent independent research article by a professor from Santa Clara University have attributed the practice to "endogamous preference and the small size of the groups population". _____, --Inbreeding for the Lord: the Mutative Aftermath of LDS-"Inspired" Polygamy Among Mormonism's Doctrinal Adherents. [4] Andrea Moore-Emmett, Gods Brothel (San Francisco: Pince-Nez, 2004), 88. As a symbol of their renunciation of worldly goods, the outer clothing contained no pockets in which possessions could be carried, although later an inside pocket was provided for the sanitary measure of carrying a handkerchief. . Even if a genetic screening test were available, Wyler says, Jeffs would have to be cautious about how he allowed it to be implemented. Jacob O. Kingston, the company's CEO, pleaded guilty Thursday to 41 charges including money laundering, fraud, conspiracy and witness tampering and obstruction of justice, according to a court. Satan will try to stop the power of the Lord and that power is where the Lord has given his covenant of consecration and that is: to the Davis County Co-op of Bountiful, Utah. [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. . The scheme included filing for $512 million in federal renewable-fuel tax credits from 2010 to 2016 through a company named Washakie Renewable Energy LLC. . . His father wrote: Brother Elden received a new covenant up on the top of the highest mountain that is east of Bountiful, Utah. This is inadequate information for purposes of establishing the true incidence of consanguinity within a family or community. Eldens solo experience of receiving the priesthood keys and authority is truly singular and contrasts the pattern previously given by the Lord for important priesthood conferrals that require more than one witness. . "'They claim to be the chosen people, the chosen few,' Bistline said. The group has drawn legal attention before. 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. "'They are in terrible shape,' says Dr. Kirk A. Aleck, director of the Pediatric Neurogenetics Center at St. Joseph's Hospital. The Lard apparently should have done genetics 101. As a symbol of their renunciation of worldly goods, the outer clothing contained no pockets in which possessions could be carried, although later an inside pocket was provided for the sanitary measure of carrying a handkerchief. "With no other options available, more FLDS families will be faced with the difficult burden of caring for children suffering with fumarase deficiency. The FLDS was formed by Mormons who refused to give up polygamy. The Kingstons represent an intriguing branch on the Mormon fundamentalist tree. The Kingstons are members of the Davis County Cooperative Society or the Kingston Order, which practices polygamy. People in plural marriages and held above those aren't. People who are members of the Kingston family by blood are held up higher than members of the Clan who are not also blood members of the Kingston family. "The Mormons, well-known for genealogical record keeping, maintain birth, marriage and death information at church libraries and now on the Internet. . 'There are people that have married their nieces, people who have married their aunts,' he said. Kingston Clan : r/FundieSnarkUncensored - reddit "Like his father-in-law, John Y. Barlow became one of the towering patriarchs of the fundamentalist Mormon community and served as FLDS prophet from 1935 until his death in 1949. . But women who are disobedient and fail to bear children including because they miscarry face ostracism, the lawsuit claims. [23][36] These relationships are defined as incestuous according to Utah's Criminal Code 76-7-102 (2021), which states: "Related person" means a person related to the provider or actor as an ancestor, descendant, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, or first cousin, and includes: (i) blood relationships of the whole or half blood without regard to legitimacy; (ii) the relationship of parent and child by adoption; and (iii) the relationship of stepparent and stepchild while the marriage creating the relationship of a stepparent and stepchild exists. Not one defect, but many. Girls in polygamous Kingston Group continue to marry as young as 15 . "All of the fumarase deficiency children Wyler has seen remain dependent on the parents or caregivers. 'A lady comes in and helps her. 100 years later, eugenics is a discredited science, yet some followers still believe. . . . 'He wanted to control his children and grandchildren through genetics. . One of the guilty pleas states they cycled fraud proceeds through a number of international partners and then back to Washakie's bank accounts, falsely claiming them as loans or profits. . . Elden received the covenant of consecration and also the plan of temporal salvation.[2]. 'And yet nobody wants to do anything about it. By 1935, his followers began to move to Bountiful, Utah, intending to live under a United Order communal program as defined by Joseph Smith in the Doctrine and Covenants. The enzyme irregularity causes severe mental retardation, epileptic seizures and other effects that often leaves children unable to take care of themselves. [in order] to reduce competition for wives. The groups, whose members believe polygamy brings exaltation in heaven, are offshoots of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Elden passed away from cancer in 1948 and was succeeded by his brother John Ortell Kingston (commonly known as Ortell). . Current scientific knowledge indicates Grants lack of sons resulted from his own genetic defect, since only men carry the male Y chromosome to make a son. This lack of information upset me as a child when to my fervent, 'Why?' The children who can't walk, the medical experts say, have most likely suffered strokes during severe seizures. . Kingston clan: Unlikely whistleblower helps uncover alleged half [32] He was arrested and pleaded "no contest" to the charge of child abuse and served seven months in jail. This story has been shared 112,868 times. "A few years later [my cousin's] sister . . . [41][42] Despite this, the latest suit alleges marriages as young as 16 within the Latter Day Church of Christ have continued. [T]he one-wife system not only degenerates the human family, both physically and intellectually, but it is entirely incompatible with philosophical notions of immortality; it is a lure to temptation, and has always proved a curse to a people. [27] It is not affiliated with the mainstream LDS Church. The SPLC estimates there are . Eventually, she admitted she had married her half-brother and given birth to three children. Such a system was commenced by the founders of the Roman empire. "It was . . It alleges sex trafficking, sexual battery and child abuse, and seeks a jury trial and unspecified damages. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Feds move to seize homes and businesses from polygamous Kingston Group Is Escaping Polygamy Real or Scripted? - The Cinemaholic The current leader of the Kingston Clan is Paul Elden Kingston, and it is reported that he has up to 27 wives (including three half-sisters) and some wives have as many as 18 children. 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.'. Kingston was able to name only nine of his thirteen children by a second woman, Rachael Ann Kingston. SALT LAKE CITY A local non-profit with ties to the polygamous Kingston group is facing multiple questions and accusations regarding its taxes. Childbirth would be fraught with despair and guilt for me and for many family members. . Women, meanwhile, allegedly gain status by being pure of blood and obedient, becoming the first wives of higher-ranking numbered men, and bearing many children. . The records of the marriages sealed at the Nauvoo Temple before the general exodus to Utah in the 1840s, may be the most important ones of all; yet, these are . We dont expect any of the claims to prevail in a court of law.. 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. restricted in some polygamous sects, including FLDS groups in Colorado City, Arizona; Hildale, Utah; and West Texas, that force some of the young males to leave the communities . . Not only were there possibly too few fathers making it easier for defects to clump in the large interrelated kindred but succeeding generations of children from these isolated rural Mormon towns married within a few kindred as well. "The widespread presence of the fumarase deficiency gene in the bloodlines of the founding families of Colorado City is going to make reaching any such goal extremely difficult. "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. The two Kingston brothers and their business partner, Lev Dermen, are in jail awaiting trial, scheduled to start in July and last six weeks. Brigham Young calling some one else a thief especially "women thieves" ABSOLUTE HILARITY ! "'It makes you sick; it turns your stomach,' she says. . "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. "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. 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. "'The kids that I have seen have terrible seizure disorders and developmental delays,' says Dr. Aleck. "The clan's other numerous incestuous couplings among consenting adults . "The children afflicted with fumarase deficiency from these three marriages include the grandchildren of Dan Barlow and his brother, the late Louis Barlow, and Merill Jessop, a top aide to fugitive prophet Warren Jeffs. . . That means the number of cases likely will grow. The Prophet Josephs priorities of missionary work, temple ordinances, proxy work for the dead, and feeding the poor appear to have been lost somewhere. . . I am convinced they do. Thanks for contacting us. . . and Privacy Policy. But rather than amassing a fortune for the sake of accumulating wealth or to simply sustain a few selected leaders, donations flow into the Church coffers and out again to provide financial support for the accomplishment of the Churchs responsibilities regarding missionary work, temple work, and providing for physical welfare needs. 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. . . "Farm Roots of Incest: Marriages in the Kingston clan must be sanctioned by [the] current head of the church . In fact, the leaders of the Co-op just seem to be getting richer and the poor get essentially ignored. "Goodman soon made a startling discovery: Tarby's young patient was afflicted with an extremely rare disease called fumarase deficiency. They have been known for systemic inbreeding, child sex abuse, physical abuse, child labor, and tax evasion. 15, p. 227, "Monogamy, or restrictions by law to one wife, is no part of the economy of heaven among men. The complaint against the Kingston Group also known as the Order was filed in Salt Lake City last week by 10 people, including Amanda Rae Grant, who starred in the A&E docu-series Escaping Polygamy.. 'If the community gets larger, the number of people with fumarase deficiency gets larger. Bearing in mind I'm not American and have only a vague knowledge of Mormonism, a video came across my youtube from a former member of the Kingston clan/the order and wow is this terrifying. One of the most devastating hereditary malformations is fumarase deficiency, a rare genetic condition marked by severe mental retardation and seizures. [I]t appears that Joseph Smith Jessop and his first wife also passed on the rare genetic disorder fumarase deficiency. The Kingston Group stopped proselytizing new converts when the cooperative became successful, and today they perform no missionary work of any kind. . refuse to accept advice from any outsider, including doctors such as Tarby, who has treated their children for years. Jeremy Kingston was sentenced to a year in prison in 2004 for taking LuAnn Kingston, his cousin and aunt, as his fourth wife in 1994; their relationship began when he was 24 and she was 15. 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. . From the previously-cited article, "Understanding Polygamy": "The polygamous Kingston family professes that their genealogy line traces back to Jesus Christ, and so they possess holy blood. And her ex-husband's parents, Merlin and Carolyn Kingston, were uncle and niece. [Andrea] Moore-Emmett [author of 'God's Brothel: The Extortion of Sex for Salvation in Contemporary Mormon and Christian Fundamentalist Polygamy and the Stories of 18 Women Who Escaped'] contends that [in polygamy] incest, statutory rape, torture, physical abuse, forced marriages, and trafficking of girls is rampant. This resulted in his excommunication from the LDS Church in 1929. If male, some of these same 'worker bees' marry only once. A member of a polygamist clan today was convicted of incest with his 16-year-old niece, who testified that she had been forced to become his 15th wife. I began to think polygamy might be a genetically unsound marriage practice. "While none of these can positively be linked to incest without DNA testing, geneticists say most of the conditions are exacerbated by incest. . "For more than 70 years, all marriages in the isolated towns have been arranged by the leader of the FLDS, a breakaway sect of the Salt Lake City-based Mormon Church. . "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. With the dawn of the twenty-first century, lawsuits and education among Kingston followers would combine to create new obstacles, as leaders perpetuate this financially spiritual hybrid organization. _____, --Case Study in Mormon-Moored Mutation: Utah's Mormon Offshoot Kingston Clan. 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. 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. Interview with the owner of Desert Tech: The son of Paul's sister Rachel herself a daughter of Ortell and LaDonna Kingston [Nick] Young was the only current member of the Kingston clan, out of the many contacted for this story, who consented to a live, on-the-record interview. Nobody, from the police to [the governor], cares that these children are abused from conception to marriage.'. . . . Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. This is the equivalent of a religious rationalization for the practice of incest. Thus this monogamic order of marriage, so esteemed by modern Christians as a holy sacrament and divine institution, is nothing but a system established by a set of robbers. One of the most controversial splinter groups of Mormonism, the Latter Day Church of Christ, has been led by members of the Kingston family since it was founded in 1935. ozpoof [45] Members allege to have been targeted for audit at a rate over 9x the published IRS average for the general population, with no pattern of fraud being found outside of a couple of bad-actors. . "With a well-thought-out plan," Hope After Polygamy explains, "she was successful; the judge granted her emancipation when she was 17 years old. "The fact that fumarase deficiency had shown up in one child was startling enough--there had only been a handful of cases reported worldwide. . Five of the women suing alleged they were coerced into marriage as minors and raped by their husbands. The parents said their daughter had cerebral palsy. 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. "Tarby says the disease could begin to show up in children at Warren Jeffs' new FLDS headquarters . This means all other covenants were of no effect through which source they can. The group also teaches its members that only those with so-called pure blood will survive the apocalypse, according to the lawsuit.