Pt 41-J: Ross Wesley LeBaron Sr and
“More on” LeBaron Madness

The great enemy of truth
is very often not the lie–
deliberate, contrived, and dishonest–
but the myth–
persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic….
We enjoy the comfort of opinion
without the discomfort of thought.

John F. Kennedy

Ross LeBaron:
Interview to Dale Van Atta, 1977

Ross Wesley LeBaron in June, 1977. | Photo: Dale Van Atta. Courtesy of L. Tom Perry Special Collections, BYU.

In 1977, as the murderous acts of Ross LeBaron’s brother Ervil gained international attention, journalist Dale Van Atta did some research on the priesthood claims of the LeBaron family. Van Atta later co-authored a book on Ervil LeBaron and his crimes.

The following file can be found among Van Atta’s research papers at the Special Collections of the Brigham Young University. Despite the title on the library catalog – “Interview with Ross LeBaron” -, the document might actually be a transcript of a radio show by Ross LeBaron, in June that year.

According to Ross, the violence was over ownership of land in Mexico, as was well as a Cain-and-Abel war over spiritual rights to preside in Joseph Smith’s patriarchal family.

In the following notes, Van Atta reports Ross LeBaron’s ideas on his brothers‘ churches, the Mormon Fundamentalist movement, and his own spiritual position as the heir of Joseph Smith:

Now this is going on in the LeBaron family particularly because we are, definitely, the patriarchal family of the line of the prophet Joseph Smith.”

Ross Wesley LeBaron Sr

To view the file, click here: Ross LeBaron – MSS 2258 Box 2 Interview Van Atta

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Reference

Van Atta, Dale. Interview with Ross LeBaron for KSXX (1977). Dale Van Atta Collection, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University.

Mormon Fundamentalism and the Sealing Keys of Hyrum Smith

In “Documents”

Lyle O. Wright: Overview of Ross LeBaron’s Beliefs

In “Scholarly”August 26, 2017HolyOrder.OrgAlex Joseph, Alma Dayer LeBaron, Benjamin F. Johnson, Ervil LeBaron, Joel LeBaron, Joseph Smith, LeBaronism, Mormon Fundamentalists, Mormon Studies, Offices, Patriarch, Patriarchal heir, Patriarchal Priesthood, Right of the Firstborn, Ross Wesley LeBaron, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Church of the Firstborn, The Holy Order of God, Theology, Violence

ROSS RADIO SHOW
Ross Wesley LeBaron Sr on KZZI circa 1988
(Courtesy of Historian Kris Wray)

Continued January 9, 2020, “Pt 41-K:
Ross Wesley LeBaron Sr and “More on” LeBaron Madness