Joseph White Musser (March 8, 1872 – March 29, 1954) was a

Mormon fundamentalist Mormon fundamentalism (also called fundamentalist Mormonism) is a belief in the validity of selected fundamental aspects of Mormonism as taught and practiced in the nineteenth century, particularly during the administrations of Joseph Smith, Br ...

leader. Musser was born in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

, to Amos Milton Musser (an assistant LDS Church historian) and Mary E. White. He is known for his

books,

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a Hardcover, hard cover or Bookbinding, binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' ...

s and magazines, as well as being considered a prophet by many Mormon fundamentalists.

LDS Church service

On June 29, 1892, Musser was called to the 16th

Quorum of the Seventy Seventy is a Priesthood (LDS Church), priesthood office in the Melchizedek priesthood (Latter Day Saints), Melchizedek priesthood of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Traditionally, a church member holding this priesth ...

, and two years later in April 1895 served a

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, having been set apart by

Brigham Young, Jr. Brigham Young Jr. (December 18, 1836 – April 11, 1903) served as president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1899 until his death. His tenure was interrupted for one ...

, Heber J. Grant, and John W. Taylor. On Thanksgiving Day 1899, in the company of four other couples, Musser and his wife, Rose Selms Borquist, received their Second Anointing at the unusually young age of twenty-seven, under the direction of

Lorenzo Snow Lorenzo Snow (April 3, 1814 – October 10, 1901) was an American religious leader who served as the List of presidents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, fifth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS C ...

. Musser was later told by

apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

that he had been sent by the

President of the Church In the Latter Day Saint movement, the president of the Church is generally considered to be the highest office of the church. It was the office held by Joseph Smith, founder of the movement, and the office assumed by many of Smith's claimed succe ...

Joseph F. Smith Joseph Fielding Smith Sr. (November 13, 1838 – November 19, 1918) was an American religious leader who served as the sixth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was a nephew of Joseph Smith, founder of ...

, to tell Musser that if he did not enter into the principle of

plural marriage Polygamy (called plural marriage by Latter-day Saints in the 19th century or the Principle by modern fundamentalist practitioners of polygamy) was practiced by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for more ...

he would lose his blessings (presumably, the blessings promised in the Second Anointing). This likely suggested to Musser that living plural marriage was a pre-requisite qualification for the blessings of the Second Anointing, regardless of the previous administration of the ordinance. In November 1901, Musser was made president of the 105th Quorum of Seventy, and would later also serve as a

high councilor A stake is an administrative unit composed of multiple congregations in certain denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. The name "stake" derives from the Book of Isaiah: "enlarge the place of thy tent; stretch forth the curtains of thine ha ...

in the Uintah, Wasatch and Granite Stakes (being set apart by president Joseph F. Smith). "On 16 February 1903 Patriarch John M. Murdock ordained Musser to the office of High Priest. He was then the husband to two women; both marriages were post-Manifesto". Musser was also the Duchesne Uintah

branch president A branch president is a leader of a "branch" congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The calling of branch president is very similar to the calling of bishop, except that instead of presiding over a ward, th ...

beginning in 1906.

Wives and post-Manifesto plural marriage

Musser married his first wife, Rose S. Borquist in the

Logan Temple The Logan Utah Temple (formerly the Logan Temple) is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was completed in 1884 and is the fourth temple built by the church. Located in the city of Logan, Utah, it was the second temple ...

in June 1892, and his second wife, Mary C. Hill, in March 1902. But upon marrying his third wife, Ellis R. Shipp Jr., in July 1907, he caught the attention of the ''

Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History ...

'', which announced the marriage on its front page. His support of continued plural marriages, in violation of the

first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

second Manifesto The "Second Manifesto" was a 1904 declaration made by Joseph F. Smith, the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), in which Smith stated the church was no longer sanctioning marriages that violated the laws of ...

s of the LDS Church, led him to be called before the

Quorum of Twelve Apostles In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Quorum of the Twelve (also known as the Council of the Twelve, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Council of the Twelve Apostles, or the Twelve) is one of the governing bodies (or Quorum (Latter Day Saints), ...

of the church in July 1909, but this did not lead to any

disciplinary action In a deliberative assembly, disciplinary procedures are used to punish members for violating the rules of the assembly. Codes and rules According to Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR), discipline could include censure, fine, suspension ...

against him. According to Musser, in 1915 he was given authority to perform plural marriages by "an apostle." He was excommunicated from the LDS Church by the high council of the

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

-based Granite Stake on March 21, 1921 for attempting to take Marion Bringhurst as his fourth wife. In May 1932, Musser married again, this time Lucy O. Kmetzsch, and on the May 14, 1929, he was ordained an apostle in the

Council of Friends The Council of Friends was an organization described by Joseph Smith in early 19th-century Mormon theology. He viewed the organisation as being part of a world government which would guide and direct the Kingdom of God (Zion) on earth during the e ...

by Lorin Calvin Woolley, the then-leader of the Mormon fundamentalist movement. In the 1930s and 1940s, Musser was responsible for editing the Mormon fundamentalist publication, ''

Truth Magazine Truth or verity is the Property (philosophy), property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth, 2005 In everyday language, it is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise cor ...

''. His promotion and practice of plural marriage led to his incarceration by the U.S. federal government between May and December 1945.

Controversy

A concessionary document he and some of his fellow polygamist inmates signed (which they were told was limited to the period of their parole) during their time in prison led to some dissension between those who would sign and those who would not. In late December 1949, with the death of

John Yeates Barlow John Yeates Barlow (also known as John Yates Barlow) (March 4, 1874 – December 29, 1949) was a Mormon fundamentalist leader in Short Creek, Arizona. Childhood Barlow was born in Panaca, Lincoln County, Nevada, to Israel Barlow and his Englis ...

, Musser became the leader of the Mormon fundamentalists. However, upon his May 1951 decision to select Rulon C. Allred as an apostle, some other members of the presiding Priesthood Council felt they were being bypassed. Other leaders also took issue at Musser's condemnation of the practices of underage and arranged marriages that were going on in the

Short Creek, Arizona Colorado City is a town in Mohave County, Arizona, United States, and is located in a region known as the Arizona Strip. The population was 2,478 at the 2020 census. At least three Mormon fundamentalist sects are said to have been based there. ...

Mormon fundamentalist community. This split deepened in July 1951 with the call of

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

apostle

Margarito Bautista Margarito Bautista (June 10, 1878 – August 4, 1961) was a Mexican Preacher, evangelist and religious founder who wrote and preached for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). After Conversion to Christianity, converting ...

, and in January 1952 Musser created a new Priesthood Council including

Owen A. Allred Owen Arthur Allred (January 15, 1914 – February 14, 2005) was the leader of the Apostolic United Brethren, a Mormon fundamentalist polygamist group centered in Bluffdale, Utah. He came to this position following the murder of his brother Rulon ...

, and others, including the apostles he had already called. Musser was the leader of the Short Creek community during the

Short Creek raid The Short Creek raid was an Arizona Department of Public Safety and Arizona National Guard action against Mormon fundamentalists that took place on the morning of July 26, 1953, at Short Creek, Arizona. The Short Creek raid was the "largest m ...

. Upon Musser's death on March 29, 1954, the fundamentalists in Short Creek refused to accept the leadership of his appointed successor, Rulon Allred, and instead

LeRoy S. Johnson Leroy Sunderland Johnson (June 12, 1888 – November 25, 1986), known as Uncle Roy, was a leader of the Mormon fundamentalist group in Short Creek, which later evolved into the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS Chur ...

became their leader, while the fundamentalists in Mexico and the Salt Lake City region remained faithful to Allred. Some of those who supported neither group became independent Mormon fundamentalists.

Works

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Notes

References