Review: Joseph White Musser: A Mormon Fundamentalist

 

Review by Doug Gibson

Polygamy sects in more modern times are full of negative reports. Girls being beaten by parents who want to marry much older men, young marriagable men cast out, becoming "lost boys" because the gray beards living the "principle" want young wives, murders the past couple of generations between rival groups; not to mention the more recent capture and incarceration of Warren Jeffs for multiple felonies.

It's interesting to read a short biography, Joseph White Musser: A Mormon Fundamentalist, Cristina M. Rosetti, 2024, University of Illinois Press. (Here's an Amazon link.) The book, Rosetti notes, is "For the Mormons who call Joseph W. Musser a prophet." It is a mostly favorable biography, not without good reason. Musser, born into a polygamous family in 1872, grew up well into adulthood within a church and Utah culture that considered polygamous unions as a key toward exaltation, or the highest perch in the afterlife. Musser had commuications, some personal, with apostles, stake presidents and others who fervently believed in polgamy; events that occurred well after the Manifestos that purpotedly ended polygamy. In fact, Musser claims in his autobiography that LDS Church President Lorenzo Snow invited him to marry his first plural wife in 1899, well after the First Manifesto. It's accepted today that plural marriage continued after the Woodruff Manifesto, including among apostles.

But after the second Manifesto in 1904, delivered by Church President Joseph F. Smith, Rosetti notes that a trajectory of evdents occurred that would eventually lead to Musser's excommunication and expulsion from the Utah's church's acceptance. He would lose his job and the fidelity of some of his wives. Most of his children did not embrace polygamy. But Musser stayed committed to polygamy and proudly took on the mantle of Mormon fundamentalist. He edited and wrote essays in more than one publication, primarily Truth. He achieved top ecclesiastical status as a polygamous leader, and was imprisoned for a short time after the Short Creed raid of the 1940s. That's ironic because his father, Amos, was jailed in the mid 1880s. As Rosetti notes, for the same crime as his son.

Musser never wavered from his beliefs, despite the material and familial dysfunction it caused. Rosetti notes that late in his life he had concerns about the autocratic rule of polygamous leader Leroy Johnson. This dysfunctional leadership would eventually lead to the modern evil of Warren Jeffs. But Musser is revered today by nearly all Mormon fundamentalists as a prophet, and his articles and pamphlets still read with devout interest. He also penned an autobiography.

As Rosetti notes, Musser was influenced by Lorin C. Wooley, another polygamist leader. He attended the Wooley School of the Prophets, which included teachings that Adam was our God and that he had three wives. As Musser's writing grew, he was another voice for several polygamous beliefs: that the Priesthood was more powerful than both the church and its leaders; that the conventional Mormon's belief in tithing was sinful, and did not represent a true law of consecration that would provide equally to all; and, also, that Mormonism's third prophet, John Taylor, had a received a revelation in 1886 that commanded the church never to give up polygamy.

These beliefs compiled by Rosetti in the book underscore why Mormon fundamentalism will likely never go away. It has its history. It has its revelations. It has its modern-day prophets. Musser fully believed that one day the world will be saved by a high council of polygamous leaders.

Only one chapter is dedicated to Musser's life. The rest of the books focuses on Musser's doctrinal writings and key tenants of Mormon fundamentalism. Shortly before his death, Musser was deemed "patriarch in the high priesthood" among polygamist largely lead by a chiropracter, Rulon Allred. Musser died in 1954. Rosetti appropriately notes his death as such: "In a time of significant change in the LDS Church, Mussers's life is an exemplary account of a Mormon who disagreed with the church's response to modernization."

Book explores Mormonism from a Peruvian perspective

 

In 1983, when I was 19, I began my LDS mission in Iquitos, Peru. It's a major city in the Amazon by the river. Early in my tenure there I was sitting in Sacrament meeting when a deacon passed me a note from the ward bishop. It read, in castellano, "Elder, could you give a 10-minute talk after this song?" I barely spoke the language, but soldiered through a halting talk.

What I recall about my mission was how "western" the LDS Church was. The meetings copied what I grew up with. The hymns were the same, and young 19 year olds like myself were frequently asked to provide advice to lay leaders scores older than me.

This was a time, it must be noted, before the Internet or even cable (in Peru). Semiannual general conferences were not provided on TV or radio. An LDS general authority traveling was a bigger deal than it is now, and it was infrequent. Two arrived during my then 18-month mission.

Being considered a "Gospel authority" did not trouble or surprise me. I thought I was there to teach the members. I realize now that attitude was condescending and an example of implicit bias from a still-teen adult whose only trips out of the U.S. had been to Baja California. Nevertheless, I made lifelong friends in Peru, many of whom I now connect with on Facebook. Some live in the U.S.

"Forever Familias: Race, Gender and Indigeneity in Peruvian Mormonism," by Jason Palmer, University of Illinois Press, 2024, is not an easy read. It's a scholarly book, and I wouldn't be suprised if it's used as a textbook in classes.

It does have value as Palmer has painstakingly interviewed Peruvian Latter-day Saints, including those who have immigrated to the United States. It deals with these members attempting to blend the culture and traditions into a U.S.-based faith led by males, most of which are probably conservative Chamber of Commerce types. 

I won't go into depth but here are examples of how Peruvian members may differ from their U.S. counterparts. One immigrant interviewed by Palmer had a different perspective on getting a Visa through less than ethical means. Rather than tagging it as a sin, it was considered a miracle of God to be able to enter and live in a place that offers more opportunities.

Another contrast is Peruvian contextualizing the long-held Utah Mormon "pioneer story" to fit their history in Peru, with the high points, low points, tragedy, suffering and blood spilt.

A key fact I learned from Palmer is that South America's role in the Book of Mormon is a topic of study mostly ignored in the West and the church. He notes that a Book of Mormon think tank in South America has been snubbed.

Palmer also interviews members who said they were struggling in their faith, asking God for help, when a knock on the door was the crux, or miracle, that led them to the Gospel. This resonated with me as I met people at the door who told me they had been praying for me. That impressed me greatly and I understand now it underscores the Peruvian belief in fate and miracles.

I disagree with Palmer on some underlying opinions. I don't believe, as he said in an interview, that "The United States, and therefore The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is a force of destruction and colonization."

But I am encouraged at his assertion -- which I have heard from my Peruvian friends -- that Peruvians believe Peru is more compatible to Mormonism ideals than the U.S. That gives me hope that in today's world, a Sacrament meeting in Iquitos is more influenced by Peru and not the church office building in Salt Lake City.

-- Doug Gibson