The dead man
It's the next day and there is one question lingering in my mind.
It is Rulon Jeffs' question, really.
What the hell was Fred thinking?
That, according to Rebecca Musser, is what Rulon Jeffs wanted to know when he was told that 14-year-old Elissa Wall was set to marry Allen Steed.
Rebecca Musser is Elissa's older sister and a former wife of Rulon Jeffs. Rulon Jeffs was the prophet back in 2001 when the crime that would put his son Warren in prison, potentially for the rest of his life, took place. Warren Jeffs, as Rebecca put it, was the ''errand boy'' who performed the Wall-Steed marriage.
Warren was his father's ''mouthpiece," the first counselor in the FLDS faith. Despite that second tier status, according to many he was really the man behind the curtain, the one making the decisions.
But, what about Fred. Who was Fred?
He was many things -- Elissa's stepfather, for one, the man who decided she was ready for marriage and told the prophet.
Fred had many wives, but no children. He was sterile due to a ''childhood disease,'' according to Ben Bistline, author of ''The Polygamists: A history of Colorado City, Arizona.'' Bistline is a former -- and fair to say, bitter -- member of the faith. He was one of an earlier group of men who sued the church, demanding their homes, after they were kicked out in the 1980s.
So when a family had been left husband-less because of indiscretion -- say, the Wall family for instance -- they were often placed in the care of Fred.
What else was Fred? Bishop of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Second counselor to Rulon Jeffs, the prophet. And a big man around the twin towns.
The Jeffs -- Rulon and son Warren -- moved from Salt Lake City to Hildale/Colorado City in 1998-99. They were newcomers' in Fred's town.
Bistline says Fred ran everything. The Town Fair. The plays put on at Mohave Community College. The town councils. The Pioneer Celebration in Maxwell Canyon, where his stepdaughter Elissa may soon be a landowner.
He operated the Early Bird Cafe. One of his dozens of wives was postmistress for Colorado City.
In 1985, according to Bistline, a teenage girl living in Fred's home testified that the postmistress would bring home letters for Fred to steam open and read. She lost her job.
Fred was the president of the Twin City Waterworks. Editor of the Twin City Courier. United Effort Plan trustee. Majestic Security trustee. President of the Colorado City Improvement Association. Owner of the town's health center. Owner of Standard Supply, the twin towns' equivalent of Home Depot. General Election Judge for Hildale. Municipal Judge. Hildale town clerk (since 1962). Right-hand man to earlier prophet Leroy Johnson. The ''real mayor'' of Hildale, according to Lynn Cooke, who served in the post from 1965-1985.
Once Uncle Fred stated his opinion, no one on the town board would vote against him, Cooke said in a court document.
He was mediator between the UEP and the town council. Mediator between the priesthood council and the town council.
The guy who could get a man -- say J.R. Williams -- ousted as a justice of the peace because of a difference of opinion over priesthood authority.
At least, that is what Bistline says. ''Fred M. Jessop is acknowledged generally as running the affairs and being the power behind the scenes in Hildale,'' Bistline writes in his book.
Busy man.
Somehow, Fred had time for all his wives and stepchilden.
Washington County once refused to take up a bigamy prosecution against Fred, saying it wouldn't hold up against a religious defense, according to Bistline.
According to Bistline, Fred said in an affidavit that his ''whole interest is to carry out the expectations and hopes and inspirations of Brother (John Y.) Barlow and Brother Leroy Johnson and Brother Jeffs and all presidents of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.''
According to Bistline, Fred organized a ''Hands Across The Creek'' event in the mid-1980s to build a church meetinghouse in the community. People had to pay $2 to stand in the line that wound from then-prophet Leroy Johnson's home to the meetinghouse site. The building is known as the LSJ Meetinghouse today, though church meetings haven't been held there for a couple years or so.
In the towns, Fred was beloved and revered. But according to Bistline, he ''symbolizes all that is bad in the community.''
Well, Rulon is dead. So is Fred. But that is who Fred was.
Labels: Warren Jeffs trial
2 Comments:
putting the blame on Fred for this marriage just don't fit the template of the "marriage by Priesthood appointment" doctrine. the "plan", as it was originally taught, under Uncle Roy's administration, mind you, was that marriages were arranged in the preexistence. that our spouses were to be revealed to us by the priesthood. now there was a controversy concerning the authority to receive this revelation, and to perform the sealing. this was part of the reason for the Centennial group split off. the centennial group held that the priesthood council jointly held this authority, while the Colorado City group maintained that this authority was held by one man alone. Now if Fred had been ordained a "High Priest Apostle",he could have been responsible under the Centennial system, but it would be unacceptable to the CC group.
Now this is my question; if Rulon Jeffs was the "one man" with this authority, and Warren was in close contact with his Father, as was claimed, what the hell was warren thinking, taking direction form Fred in this matter? and if it was wrong, what was Rulon thinking, when he failed to right the wrong?tgarh
There is another side to Fred, the reason he was so beloved and respected. He would welcome anyone in the community into his home for Sunday dinner and some of them would hand him their bills which he would pay. (I never actually attended, but I heard many people talking about it.) He would allow entire families to come into the store house (which he provided)and get food and clothing and what ever else they might need for months at a time without ever receiving a penny and still smile and shake their hand when he met them on the street.
It is said he was really worried about what might happen if Warren took over the leadership after Rulon died. I personally believe that was why Warren kicked Fred out of town right before he died.
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