Some 42 different Klan groups were active in 22 . ", (Joseph Carroll, "One in Four Americans Think Most Mormons Endorse Polygamy; Only 2% Think Most Americans Support Polygamy," by Gallup News Service, Princeton, New Jersey, 7 September 2006, at: http://www.gallup.com/poll/24388/one-four-americans-think-most-mormons-e). . Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a302ff8194befb0 They do develop to some degree, but it's way behind their peers.'. Grant determined to keep marrying until he found a woman to bear him living sons. When a group inbreeds, as polygamists have, more and more lethal gene matches occur. . 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". The Latter Day Church of Christ,[1] is considered a Mormon fundamentalist denomination by some in the Latter Day Saint movement. . The Cooperative itself was established in 1935. ", -Apostle Orson Pratt, "Journal of Discourses," vol. "Dr. Theodore Tarby has treated many of the children at clinics in Arizona under contracts with the state. . While Charles W. Kingston was the first to oppose the Church, the primary mover in the Kingston Group was his son Elden. 13:1). 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. "When [my cousin] died, my childish vow surfaced and I began to look into my family history for some answers. Tarby. The group has drawn legal attention before. . [49] As part of the plea deal and restitution, the company forfeits rights to a number of assets including their bio-fuel plant in Plymouth, Utah. '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. Although the official stance of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is against polygamy, several of the women's stories reveal that LDS leaders dismiss the deviant sects and blame the women who come to them for help. . 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.'. Because the Lord introduced it to his servants in a revelation given to Joseph Smith, and the Lord's servants have always practiced it. 'We do know there are biological hazards. [8][3] There are approximately 3,500 members,[9] some of whom are known to practice polygamy. "With a well-thought-out plan," Hope After Polygamy explains, "she was successful; the judge granted her emancipation when she was 17 years old. [14] Some of their secrecy might be attributed to a fear of arrest for living in plural marriages, as had happened in 19591960 when being investigated by the Davis County Grand Jury, which some members claimed was organized by LDS Apostles Mark E. Peterson and Spencer W. . Unfortunately, there are also numerous reports of members who lived in squalor in order to advance the monetary gains of the Co-op. "In the FLDS community, marriages with cousins and other relatives are common, Bistline said. "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. Believing that Elden received lost priesthood keys in 1935 also seems to contradict an 1837 scripture given to Joseph Smith stating that the priesthood had then (in 1837) been restored for the last time: For unto you, the Twelve, and those, the First Presidency, who are appointed with you to be your counselors and your leaders, is the power of this priesthood given, for the last days and for the last time, in the which is the dispensation of the fulness of times (D&C 112:30; see also D&C 27:13). "'Warren has to be really careful that he doesn't lose his position as a god to these people,' Wyler says. ". Men make all decisions affecting her health. "The disease is not widely known about even in Colorado City, a place where even normally public events such as marriages are conducted in secret. 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). 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. "Genetics of Incest: Pre-eclampsia is a condition that can be traced genetically from one generation to the next and is prevalent among some Kingstons, Rugg says. _____, --Case Study in Mormon-Moored Mutation: Utah's Mormon Offshoot Kingston Clan. 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. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. LDS scripture teaches that in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established (D&C 6:28; 2 Cor. [27] It is not affiliated with the mainstream LDS Church. : About half of the 8,000 people living in the towns are blood relatives of two of the founding families that settled in the 1930s on the desolate high desert plateau against the base of the Vermillion Cliffs. "Gradually, I realized the practice of polygamy, especially in Mormondom, might be a prescription for genetic disease. 'And yet nobody wants to do anything about it. 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. . The trial of the man, David Ortell Kingston . All went bareheaded and barefoot. "'You don't want to jump to the conclusion and say all of these are the result of inbreeding,' he says. . [7] Some members of the church are also believed to practice consanguineous marriage, or marriage to relatives within the group. For instance, Quinn writes, '[O]ver 20 General Authorities were married to such lesser known wives.' Same family, second child, same period of life, a different fatal disease; was there a connection? 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 accusers describe a patriarchal doctrine known as The Law of One Above Another, which they claim designates everyone a rank in the groups hierarchy. 5, p. 22, "Brethren, I want you to understand that it is not to be as it has been heretofore. In the 1940s and 50s, Kingston followers designed and wore unique outer garments, the wearing of which led other people to refer to them as blue-coats. Men and boys wore a blue coverall-type suit tied with strings, while women and girls wore plain blue dresses. . People most at risk likely lived and married within the same small communities their ancestors founded. "When asked, a little boy and girl at the home acknowledged who their mother is. "'Those boys are the most moral, upstanding and wonderful people I know,' she said, clutching a grandchild to her thin hip. "Then, as generations of polygamous Kingston children have been taught, they demurred to questions about their father. . Kingston members today generally claim that keys were received anew from heavenly messengers directly to Elden in 1935, although it appears he left no formal testimony to that effect. And her ex-husband's parents, Merlin and Carolyn Kingston, were uncle and niece. Re: Polygamy's Patriarchy-Poisoned Bloodline: The Genetic Catastrophe That Has Sprung from Joseph Smith's "Divine" Breeding Program of Mormon Mutation . . They ought to be ashamed of such conduct, and the still fouler channel which flows from their practices; and it is not to be wondered at that they should envy those who so much better understand the social relations. 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 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. Most populations outbreed and so these lethal genes rarely match to cause any serious diseases. We cannot afford to neglect the possibility our ancestors practiced a form of marriage that was unhealthy and debilitating to our children, to us, and to society. . Your IP: . '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. . "'It makes you sick; it turns your stomach,' she says. The Kingston family owns an enormous amount of businesses in the Utah area which employ Kingston Clan members, and Merlin Kingston was no exception to this. The chickens are coming home to roost. They can't sit up. For 5 episodes that aired on Viewpoint on Mormonism between 9/14-18, 2020, click these: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Interview with Doris Hanson Part 1 Part 2 By Eric Johnson Summary. [37], The Kingston family and other members of the LDCC have faced two lawsuits, one in 2006[38] and another in 2022[39] accusing members and the organization as a whole of sexual abuses, including pedophilia and underaged marriages, within their membership. . Had these defects clumped in my own family as it seemingly appeared to me? Brother Elden had received a new dispensation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It takes maturity to face the truth, especially if the truth is painful and challenges the family tradition and religious belief structure. ". Paul continued to practice his fathers ideas regarding intra-family marriages. . ", (Bruce, R. McConkie,'Mormon Doctrine,' 2nd ed., under "Plural Marriage" (Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, Inc., 1966], p. 578) Now, this might well be the case, with the . The girl, born to John Ortell and Isabell Johnson, was not the product of an incestuous marriage. "Among the polygamous Kingstons, a number of children have been born with birth defects, among them one born with two vaginas and two uteruses but no vaginal or bowel opening. . LuAnn Kingston, a former member of the clan who in 1995 at age fifteen was forced to marry her first cousin, shared: The joke used to be that if you werent married by 17, you were an old maid.[5], Within the Kingston Group, the primary polygamists are the immediate Kingston family and heirs. 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. . "'Incest as a policy or routine practice is rare,' says Melvin Williams, a professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan and a leading expert in the study of kinship systems. . . This denial is hollow considering the record. Sally Kingston, a wife of one of the brothers, and. . _____, --Inbreeding for the Lord: the Mutative Aftermath of LDS-"Inspired" Polygamy Among Mormonism's Doctrinal Adherents. When asked to name his offspring by plural wife Mattingly Foster, Kingston came up with about five names before faltering, saying he was very nervous. After viewing a list of the children, he then attempted to name them but once more fell shortprompting the judge to supply the final child's name for him. 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. [w]omen do not have the freedom to consider how often she can give birth and maintain her health. [6] Brooke Adams, Salt Lake Tribune, May 22, 2004. [8], In the late 1990s, three members of the LDCJC faced scrutiny for entering into incestuous relationships. "'This problem is going to get worse and worse and worse,' predicts . This is inadequate information for purposes of establishing the true incidence of consanguinity within a family or community. Not one defect, but many. . [50][51], Davis County Cooperative leadership and members swiftly condemned the fraudulent behavior stating that "[Jacob] broke from tradition in many ways" and stressing "to members and non-members alike that this behavior is not in line with our beliefs or principles." . [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." . . Charles Zitting (one of Lorin C. Woolleys High Priest Apostles) introduced Kingston to plural marriage, causing Kingston to be cut off from the Church in 1929. "Of the Kingstons, Williams says: 'There is not much you can do about them. "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. This is why those laws need to be enforced. In recent years, former members have lobbied for law enforcement to take action against the sect. on the history of the fundamentalist community. . Because I fell down this rabbit hole and now so do you all. "Two years later, a pair of geneticists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md., flew to Utah where they hoped to stage a seminar for Kingston family members about the dangers of incest and birth defects, and, presumably, gain permission to study the clan. 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. Members today wear normal modern clothing, although they are encouraged to be modest and keep a high standard of dress. They are coming out of polygamous communities proliferating in Utah because Mormons are unable to face their history or follow sound marriage and childbirth practices. . a royal priesthood upon the Earth, and he has introduced a plurality of wives for that express purpose.'. The organized Ku Klux Klan movement saw a boost in its membership in 2017. From the article, "Mormon Polygamy: Frequently Asked Questions": "[Mormon] Church founder, Joseph Smith, said he received a revelation from God, which is still canonized Mormon scripture as Doctrine and Covenants Section 132. 'Warren Jeffs is also trying to breed a perfect race.'. . . "A few years later [my cousin's] sister . One of their daughters married another of the community's founding patriarchs and religious leaders, John Yeates Barlow. . "Other possible genetic traits include: microcephaly, a malformation of the skull in which the infant has a small head (ex-members say two children with microcephaly have died and eight others are institutionalized); blindness; spina bifida; Down syndrome; kidney disease and abnormal leg and arm joints. "This gene cluster effect happens when people with common ancestors marry and bear children. [3] Charles Elden Kingston discourse, 1940 New Years Meeting, 8:40 a.m. to 12:30 a.m., 11; emphasis in original. "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. "Yet, Aleck says, some children are more seriously affected by the disorder than others. Faced with the forced marriage to an uncle, Rugg left the Kingstons. "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. . . . [in order] to reduce competition for wives. . "The Kingstons are among a small number of family groups in the world who marry closer than first cousins on a regular basis. Some of these marriages will include parents who both are carriers of the fumarase deficiency gene, making it certain that more children will be afflicted with the disease. Consanguinity also causes rare recessive disorders to mask as dominant. "Sterility is another consequence of consanguinity and the evidence of many sterile polygamous wives is overwhelming. [46], In July 2019, Jacob Kingston, Isaiah Kingston, and two others pled guilty to participating in a fraud scheme masterminded by Lev Derman, a non-member and Armenian national. First, the truth and the priesthood keys are dispensed from heaven to a prophet on earth. The Kingston Group is believed to have a few thousand members, mostly in Utah and Idaho. Garrad's Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc. Kingston Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter, This page was last edited on 2 February 2023, at 17:32. Children inherit disabling illnesses. Duringa 2020 trialfor a California businessman accused of carrying out a nearly $500 million biodiesel fraud scheme with a member of the Kingston Group, attorneys for the businessman called the Kingstons an incestuous polygamous group that is always scheming to defraud the US government in what the group calls bleeding the beast., A spokesman for the group, Kent Johnson, called those allegations categorically false.. "During this early period, polygamy was practiced secretly by the Mormon leadership, men who covertly preached and expanded polygamy while publicly deceiving the general Mormon population about the practice. "The same right of marriage approval was wielded by John Ortell Kingston, who began the incestuous lineage. "With no other options available, more FLDS families will be faced with the difficult burden of caring for children suffering with fumarase deficiency. . . . Unfortunately, it's still the innocent who suffer due to Joseph Smith's lies. Carolyn regularly worked at and tended . Their brains, he says, 'are strangely shaped' and are frequently missing large areas of brain matter that has been replaced by water. "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. 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. . 'And their claim is they marry closely to preserve the royal bloodline, so to speak.'. Or was it true no one knew the answers, because they could not be known, because no one wanted to know? 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. "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. (KUTV) Weeks after a Kingston polygamist clan member was charged in the death of her child, former members of that group are speaking out about what they say is a much bigger problem.Carolyn .