https://news.yahoo.com/mormon-manson-family-mexican-massacre-000827660.html

Mormon polygamy in the news - new book by Denton

I watched a documentary on TV about this. I can't remember the title.

No need to read the book.

I am the resident expert on All Things Lebaron.

If you have any Lebaron questions I am here to answer them.

SOOO many books have been written about this family, and I have read every one of them.

The most thorough (so far) is The 4:00 murders.

Lois

    Lois, did I ever tell you about being a missionary in Cuautla, Morelos, Mexico, in mid-1966, and having three LeBaron boys, in their mid-20s, come preach to us about leaving phony SLC mormonism to join Ervil's true mormonism?

    There were just four missionaries in Cuautla at the time, all living in a bungalow on the chapel grounds, so we were like a captive audience for the guys.

    I can't recall the details of our interactions with these LeBaron boys, other than that they were dissatisfied with their lack of progress there in Cuautla.  And I can recall nothing of the doctrinal issues they tried to discuss with us.

    I was not the spiritual giant that I'm still not now, but I did have my penchant for trying to get a laugh.  I do recall that they did not find this trait endearing.  I may have been over the top in terms of mocking them, which makes no sense when one recalls that I have the spiritual depth of an inflatable kiddie wading pool.

    ...okay, if I hadn't already told you, I just did.

    In all the books about the LeBarons that you've read, do you recall any reference to their having met me?  Could I have been mentioned as some kind of bad example, given how cute I am?

No, you never told me that story, but I am glad you did tell it now.

Also, I am sure you are cute. I myself am drop-dead beautiful, especially considering the fact that I am 70 years old. It takes a lot of practice to be as beautiful as I am, so the older I get the more beautiful I get. You just have to work at it. Those younger ladies in their fifties and sixties can just eat their hearts out. These things take time.

I guess I will have to read that new LeBaron book after all, because it deals with the latest round of violence that the other books I read didn't talk about, because it hadn't happened yet.

No, none of the LeBaron books mentioned you, which makes it all the more important that you tell your story. The missionary story that I remember is Joel and Ervil being sent on an LDS mission after the LDS church had excommunicated their parents. NOT very nice of the LDS church, but the boys went on their mission. Ervil wasn't even into religion back then. He spent all his time playing basketball. If you ask me, he should have stuck with basketball.

Okay. Here is a list of LeBaron books I have read, at least the ones I can remember reading. There was a time I read every LeBaron book I could get my hands on, and I am good at tracking down obscure books. I get obsessed with stuff and then lose all interest. That's just the way I am.

The first book is My LIfe's Review by Benjamin Johnson. It is a very thick, very interesting book by someone who was close to JS. JS was said to have given "the mantle" to Benjamin Johnson, who in turn gave it to Dayer Lebaron, the father of the fab Four Benjamin, Floren, Ervil, Joel and Verlan. I may have left out a couple. The oldest LeBaron was named Benjamin, but after proclaiming himself The One Mighty and Strong (TOMAS) he went off the deep end and ended up in the PROVO mental hospital, where his younger brother Verlan got a job while Velan was at the BYU.

I may have gotten a few details wrong, but it's been a while and I'm not going back and digging up all my books.

ANYWAY, even tho there is not a WORD about any mantle in BJ's book, and Benjamin Johnson seems to accept the current prophet (whoever was current at the time he wrote his book) the LeBarons insist that he had "the mantle" and gave it to Dayer, and whoever has the mantle is the boss of the Mormons, so there. Benjamin Johnson wrote a six-page letter to the church historian, where he talks about his time with JS. Once again, not a word about a mantle. If you Google Benjamin Johnson, letter, you can probably pull it up.

Then there is Maude LeBaron's memoir. (Dayer's first wife, and mother of the fab four (or five). It details the family's flight from Utah so they could practice polygamy in Colonia Juarez, even tho by the time they got there the residents of Colonia Juarez were no longer practicing polygamy and more or less shunned the LeBarons, even though the LeBarons were intelligent, hard-working and good-looking. Yup, they were.

Then there is the LeBaron Story by Verlan LeBaron with help from his (First) wife Charlotte, and his sister Esther.

Then all of Irene LeBaron's books, which while she doesn't tell all, she tells a LOT, and the poverty, and the heat of Mexico, and the shanty houses and decrepit trailers, and running from Ervil, and a husband who is never there, but keeps marrying more and more wives -- that all comes through.

Then Irene's sister wife, Susan writes HER story, which more or less echoes Irene's. Polygamy is no fun. Polygamy among the LeBarons is even less fun. Poverty, where a sack of beans is supposed to feed a family of five for a month. No running water. No electricity. No fun. Amazingly all of Susan's and Irene's children make it to adulthood, no thanks to their common-law husband, that they have in common, Verlan.

Lessee. Rena Chynoweth, who murdered Dr. Allred wrote an interesting memoir. I liked it because the narrative reflected her mindset, from the time she grew up in Colonia LeBaron, to the time she thought killing Dr. Allred was a perfectly rational thing to do, to the time of her trial, during which she was pregnant, and she KNEW she wouldn't be convicted (she wasn't) because God was protecting her, to the murder of her two brothers, to her gradual horrifying realization of what she had done and what she had lived through. For what it is worth, I like Rena and I felt her book was a good study in how good people can be persuaded to do incredibly bad things.

Going forward, the daughter of Joel LeBaron and the daughter of Ervil LeBaron each wrote a memoir of their childhood. Even though they were cousins, they never met each other until after they wrote their books. They liked each other very much, and there was definitely a family resemblance.

There were other books, but, whew, that's enough for now.

I got the feeling that the LeBarons stopped practicing polygamy after all the madness of Joel and Ervil, became less zealous, and just wanted to live a quiet life in the place that had become home for them. I think there is even a Christian church in Colonia LeBaron. Maybe two.

But the violence just wouldn't go away, and I expect Sally Denham picks up in the latest go-round.

Lois

P.S. For a real wild LeBaron story, google "David Lebaron" or "David Marston," and read the incredible story of a very young man escaping the LeBaron colony, and living off the kindness of whatever Mexican resident (one was a prostitute) would take him in. Life can be crazy.

P.S. I forgot the two books written by journalists Prophet of Blood and the 4:00 murders. Both books are well written and well documented, and I expect Ms. Denham drew heavily from them.

I often wonder if the GAs ever wish to muzzle ppl like these or dis-associate themselves & ChurchCo from the wing-nuts.

Yeah, I'm sure the GAs would like to muzzle them, but this is the age of the internet, the age of information and THERE ARE NO SECRETS. That which was hidden in the darkness is now shouted from the rooftops.

So the GAs do the best they can, and say the LeBarons, the Laffertys, the Kingstons and all the rest are not REAL Mormons.

Yeah, right.

These groups take their mandate from JS, and they know LDS history better than any of the GAs, and they are practicing True Mormonism the best they know how.

Oh, I forgot. There isn't any Mormonism anymore as the word "Mormon" is a pejorative.

The more I think about it, the more I think it is.

Oh, well, they will never run out of material to make mini-series about.