Famous Poet, Pioneer, and Mormon Hymn Writer, my G.G.-Uncle Joel H. Johnson, Brother of BFJ While growing up, Mother talked about her amazing Great-grandfather B.F. Johnson -- amazing not only because he was one of the American West's and Mormondom's early pioneer heroes (he helped forge the last frontier, Utah); but also because he figured…
Pt 34-O: Great-great-grandfather Benjamin F. Johnson and Familial Bipolar Disorder
"The First Command was to 'Multiply.' The Prophet taught us that Dominion & Power in the great future would be comensurate with the no [number] of 'Wives, Childin & Friends' that we inheret here. And that our great mission to earth was to Organize a Neculi of Heaven to take with us. To the increase…
Pt 34-K: The LeBaron Madmen: Button, Button: Who’s Got the Button?
Musician, Writer, and Mormon Fundi, Esther LeBaron-McDonald Spencer "Whether your memoir ever gets published isn't finally the point. There are many good reasons for writing that have nothing to do with getting published. Whatever we call the form–autobiography, memoir, personal history, Family history–writing about one's life is a powerful human need."Writers are the custodians of memory, and…
Pt 34-I: The LeBaron Madmen: Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button?”
Hangdog-face Pedo-plyg Alex Joseph with his 12-year-old child bride---part of his harem [1] "I was once the world's greatest polygamist and I got cut out by Alex Joseph. He is smarter than I am. He's got more wives than I have ... He's in the herb business ... Ginseng ..."Ross Wesley LeBaron Sr [2] I…
Poetry & Songs by Stephany Spencer-LeBaron: Bio Ballads in Verse for Better or Worse
Circa 1958: 11 of my parents' ultimately 14 children(I'm age 12, middle row, 2nd to left) Bio Ballad in Verse for Better or Worseby Stephany Spencer-LeBaronI was born some time agoAway out in the sticksIn Mexico’s Rocky Mountain RangeIn 1946.Then raised in Mormon Fundy cultsWhere self-righteous hicksThink it sinfulWith…
Pt 34-A: Esther LeBaron Spencer, The Mexico-LeBarons, and Hearing Voices
Pt 34-A: Esther LeBaron Spencer, The Mexico LeBarons, and Hearing Voices The young and the old of my Grandpa Dayer LeBaron "There is only one way to bring a child upin the way he should goand that is to travel that way yourself."Abraham Lincoln IF it's true Grandpa Dayer's grandfather B.F. Johnson said he held a…
Pt 33: The Mexico-LeBarons and Familial Incest
Pt 33: The Mexico-LeBarons and Familial Incest * My maternal great-grandparents Lucinda Mariah Emmerson and William Wesley McDonald "The heart of the mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness."Honore De Balzac Incest on my maternal grandfather Alma Dayer LeBaron's side definitely contributed to the mental illness prevalent in…
Pt 32: Esther LeBaron Spencer, The Mexico-LeBarons, and Mental Illness
Pt 32: Esther LeBaron Spencer, the Mexico-LeBarons, and Mental Illness "The conscience of children is formed by the influences that surrounded them;their notions of good and evil are the result ofthe moral atmosphere they breathe."Jean Paul Richter We left off last week with this assertion: People should take responsibility for their actions; not project blame…
Pt 43: Esther LeBaron Spencer and Lesbian Love
Pt 43: Esther LeBaron Spencer and Lesbian Love Circa 1935: Esther LeBaron Spencer (right) & companion "All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual, and physical education I received from her." George Washington Pt 43: My Mama Esther LeBaron Spencer and Lesbian Love In…
Pt 31-D: Esther LeBaron Spencer, The-Mexico-LeBarons, and Mental Illness
Pt 31-D: Esther LeBaron Spencer, The-Mexico-LeBarons, and Mental Illness ~Picking up where we left off on "Pt 31-C: My Mama Esther LeBaron Spencer, The- Mexico-LeBarons, and Mental Illness": X-- Another factor leading to mental problems in the Dayer and Maud LeBaron family is: They held much in because they were supposed to be perfect Mormon…
Pt 31-C: Esther LeBaron Spencer, the Mexico-LeBarons, and Mental Illness
Pt 31-C: Esther LeBaron Spencer, the Mexico-LeBarons, and Mental Illness My maternal Grandpa, Alma Dayer LeBaron "He did the wrong thing for the right reason." Stephany Spencer-LeBaron Repeating what was said in previous blogs, both my mother and Grandmother Maud LeBaron believed the cause of mental illness in their immediate family was mainly…
Pt 31-B: Esther LeBaron Spencer, The Mexico LeBarons, and Mental Illness
Pt 31-B: Esther LeBaron Spencer, The Mexico LeBarons, and Mental Illness 1920: passport photo of Dayer and Maud LeBaron with their first six out of 13 children they would eventually have "As you work on your memoir, write with fidelity to your own experience while knowing that memory is fallible. Write with respect for your…
Pt 31-A: Esther LeBaron Spencer, the Mexico LeBarons, and Mental Illness
Pt 31-A: Esther LeBaron Spencer, the Mexico LeBarons, and Mental Illness Grandpa Alma Dayer LeBaron and his second oldest daughter Lucinda LeBaron Butchereit "No influence is so powerful as that of the mother." Sarah Josepha Hale As I said in the previous blog, both my mother and maternal grandmother Maud LeBaron believed the cause of mental illness in their…
Pt 21-29: More Memories of My Parents Esther LeBaron and Floyd Spencer
~ Pt 21: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy on Parade “Civilization is social ordersupporting cultural creativity.”Will Durant Taking up from "Pt 20-A-J: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy on Parade," it bears restating that one of my Mormon fundamentalist sisters who married so many Misters never ever caught on ... never bothered to catch on how to check out, before she…
Me, my twin sisters Judith and Sharon on Mom's lap, and my sister Doris “Home is wherever I'm with you.”“HOME” by Edward Sharpand the Magnetic Zeros “Home,” by Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros https://youtu.be/LzPPAw5tnqs "Home is whenever I'm with you."Edward Sharpe* Beginning where we left off in "Pt 27: More Memories of My Mama Esther…
Pt 27: More Memories of My Parents Esther LeBaron and Floyd Spencer
My father and mother standing on their land "the Galeana Springs" Pt 27: More Memories of My Mom Esther LeBaron and Dad Floyd Spencer "One I love with all my heart,Mother, dear, it's you;And I want to make you glad;Yes, indeed, I do!I will help you every day,Smiling as I go,And I'll never make you…
Pt 26: More Memories of My Mom Esther LeBaron Spencer
Pt 26: More Memories of My Mom Esther LeBaron Spencer My mother Esther LeBaron-McDonald Spencer at age 21 "You can never go home." Sinclair Lewis Another variable in the equivocation, as to Mom's virginity on her wedding night, is the following (Perhaps I'm throwing a hand grenade into the equation?): When I was about fourteen, Momma told…
Pt 25: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Pa, Me, ‘n’ Polygamy
Pt 25: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Pa, Me, 'n' Polygamy My parents and nine of their then 10 children in 1956 or 1957. I'm around 10 or 11 years old in this picture--just got back from cherry-picking in a friend's orchard so my hair is all mussed up. "Never complain about what your parents couldn't give…
Pt 24: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy on Parade
Pt 24: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy on Parade Life's HighwayTo everyone their openethA way, ways, and a way;And the high soul takes the high way,The low soul takes the low;While in between on the misty flatsThe rest drift to and fro.But to everyone their openethA high way and low.And everyone decidethThe way his soul…
Pt 23: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy on Parade
My Memoir: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy on Parade -- Part 23 "People see what they want to see till they want to see." Dena McLean (My cousin) I left off in blog, "Pt 22: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy on Parade," saying: Mama preached polygamy and told people they would go to hell if they did…
Pt 22: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy on Parade
Pt 22: Ma Pa, Me, and Polygamy on Parade As you work on your memoir,tell your story true, artfully and with courage,writing with fidelity to your own experiencewhile knowing that memory is fallible.Tracy Seeley.My Ruby Slippers, Repeating what was said in "Pt 21: Ma Pa, Me, and Polygamy on Parade, "I'm not proud of what…
Pt 21: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy on Parade
~ Pt 21: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy on Parade “Civilization is social ordersupporting cultural creativity.”Will Durant Taking up from "Pt 20-A-J: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy on Parade," it bears restating that one of my Mormon fundamentalist sisters who married so many Misters never ever caught on ... never bothered to catch on how to check out, before she…
Pt 20-J: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy on Parade
Pt 20-J: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy on Parade People see what they want to see, believe what they want to believe; It's impossible to reason with an irrational person. Stephany Spencer I left off in "Pt 20-I: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy on Parade" saying in the cult I came from, a Mormon fundamentalist man usually…
Pt 20-I: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy on Parade
Pt 20-I: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy on Parade My family in 1964 -- one sister absent) Abuse: “When fear rules, Obedience is the only survival choice." Toni Morrison "God Help the Child" My parents, though trying prodigiously to do what was right, foolishly spawned a bunch of foot-washing fundamentalist children bound by fear and…
Pt 20-H: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy Parasites
Listen on YouTube to my Aunt Irene (Kunz-LeBaron) Spencer's half-sister, my aunt-in-law Rebecca Kunz Kimbel's outstanding interview of Author Ed Kociela who wrote two excellent books I recommend: "Plygs," and "Plygs 2."* Till we learn from past mistakes, we're bound to repeat them and pass them on to our progeny ad infinitum in the form…
Pt 20-G, Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy Parasites
My Memoir: Pt 20-G, Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy Parasites “Everything can be taken from a person but one thing: The last of the human freedoms – to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way. Viktor Frankel "Man’s Search for Meaning” Continuing where we left off in "Pt 20-F, Ma,…
Pt 20-F: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy on-the-down-low
Pt 20-F: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy on-the-down-low Notes from a Chat Site: "Narcissists make me melt down and cry like a child. It is a remarkable trick Narcissists pull. They are petty and acquisitive -- and have no scruples. They value themselves by how much they can steal from someone else through cunning, manipulation, or simply believing they are…
Pt 20-E: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy On-The-Down-Low
"You have to have standards, no matter how low!" Anne Lamott Picking up from the previous blog, "Part 20-D: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy On-The-Down-Low:" Previously I said William Preston Tucker/ AKA: Bill, the 26-year-old polygamist I was pawned off on, was commonly two-faced. It was too important for him to be liked. And in order to be…
Pt 20-D: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy On-The-Down-Low
Law 27 "People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something. Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a clause, a new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full of promise; emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking. Give your new disciples rituals to perform. Ask them to make sacrifices on…
Pt 20-C: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy On-The-Down-Low
Pt 20-C: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy On-The-Down-Low Advice on How to Handle Overt/ Covert Narcissists: Saying "I do not consent" won't work with narcissists: They don't care about boundaries. They will keep coming at you. Look up "grey rock," quietly let authorities know of the toxic person, and, so you are taken seriously, allude…
Pt 20-B: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy On-The-Down-Low
Pt 20-B: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy On-The-Down-Low My parents Esther LeBaron-McDonald and Floyd Otto Spencer "To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power." Maya Angelou I left off with "My Memoir: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And Polygamy On The Down-Low -- Part 20-A." Let's now backtrack a few blogs…
Pt 20-A: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy-On-The-Down-Low
Tom Weston said you can tell God created people in his own image because he hates all the same people, coincidentally, that you do. (The Christian far-right) I left off in "My Memoir: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And Polygamy On the Down-Low, Part 19-Z" remarking on a trip I went on with Bill to…
Pt 19-Z: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me, and Polygamy On-The-Down-Low
My Memoir: Part 19-Z: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And Polygamy On The Down-Low Women Beware: Philanderers are Opportunists: Big Pretenders. They will tell anybody anything they want to hear. How can you tell if they're lying? Their lips are moving. If a person will break a marriage contract, he or she will break any…
Pt 19-Y: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me, and Polygamy On-The-Down-Low
Part 19-Y: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer And Polygamy On The Down-Low William Preston Tucker age 28, six-month-old Asenath Marie, and myself Beulah Stephany Spencer-LeBaron de Tucker age 18 A Reflection: Is God then so ignorant of things,so unacquainted with the human heartthat He has to find out about a man by testing him?Of course not. It is…
Pt 19-W: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me, and Polygamy On-The-Down-Low
Part 19-W, Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And Polygamy On-The-Down-Low William Preston Tucker and Stephen Silver People don't see what they don't want to see till they want to see. Stephany Spencer Taking up where we left off in, "My Memoir: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And Polygamy On-The-Down-Low, Part 19-V": Being an adolescent nineteen year…
Pt 19-V: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me, and Polygamy On-The-Down-Low
Part 19-V, Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And Polygamy On-The-Down-Low "You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should've behaved better." Anne Lamott, "Bird by Bird" I left off in "My Memoir: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And Polygamy On-The-Down-Low, Part 19-U"…
Pt 19-U: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me, and Polygamy On-The-Down-Low
Part 19-U -- Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And Polygamy On-The-Down-Low Left to right: Me, hubby Billy, 1st wife "Overlord" Marilyn, 2nd wife Lolita--both wearing makeup; not I. 'Twas against our religion. "A memoir is your perception of your experience of your involvement in a particular situation in your life. It is not your sister’s, it…
Pt 19-T: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me, and More Perils of Polygamy: My Honeymoon
Part 19-T: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer And More Perils of Polygamy: My Honeymoon Bill and I "cutting the cake" "The sharing of stories broadens our outlook on life. People identify with and draw strength from reading about the struggles of others. Readers can ‘try on’ the life of the character/s in the story, and see how they would…
Pt 19-S: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me, and More Perils of Polygamy: My Honeymoon
Part 19-S, Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer And More Perils of Polygamy:My Honeymoon Billy and me in 1963, Ages 16 and 26 consecutively “And we are put on this earth a little space that we might learn to bear the beams of love” ― William Blake I left off in "My Memoir: Part 19-R, Esther LeBaron McDonald…
Pt 19-R: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me, and More Perils of Polygamy: My Honeymoon
My Memoirs: Part 19-R, Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And More Perils of Polygamy: My Honeymoon My swollen-eyed Honeymoon photo, October 1963. We Honeymooned in a cheap hotel in Chihuahua City, Mexico; no screens on the windows but plenty of mosquitoes. "We all come from the past, and children ought to know what it was that went into…
Pt 19-Q: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me, and More Perils of Polygamy
Part 19-Q -- Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And More Perils of Polygamy Could This be Bill with his first two wives, "horny toads" in a menage a trois? Sex, drugs, 'n' "rock 'n' roll" -- Rock on! "The truth told with love and consideration is the key. An honest account of what you experienced is…
Pt 19-P: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me, and More Perils of Polygamy
My Memoir: Part 19-P -- Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- More Perils of Polygamy “As I sifted through my memories, my life came to me in bits and pieces, often disconnected, just like my dreams. Even normal memory has gaps, but traumatic memory is even more discontinuous. This is my story, which put…
Pt 19-O: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me, and More Perils of Polygamy
My Memoir, Part 19-O: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And More Perils of Polygamy https://youtu.be/TqnyTqH55jw "Leaders who win the respect of others are the ones who deliver more than they promise, not the ones who promise more than they can deliver." Mark A. Clement Taking up where I left off in my blog "My Memoir: Esther LeBaron McDonald…
Part 19-N: Esther LeBaron Spencer, me and More Perils of Polygamy
My Memoir, Part 19-N: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And More Perils of Polygamy From left to right: My Uncle Ervil M. LeBaron; My father, Floyd Otto Spencer; My mother, Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer; and My husband William Preston Tucker/ Bill The Virginity Try as he will, no man breaks wholly loose From his first…
Part 19-M: Esther LeBaron Spencer, me and More Perils of Polygamy
My Memoir, Part 19-M: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And More Perils of Polygamy "To handle your self, use your head; to handle others, use your heart. George Bernard Shaw Taking up where we left off in"My Memoir: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And More Perils of Polygamy -- Part 19-L": Bill's second wife, Lolita, played mouthpiece for "the family" when,…
Part 19-L: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me and More Perils of Polygamy
My Memoir Part 19-L: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- More Perils of Polygamy Two of Bill's Mormon French-missionary friends, LDS "Saints" "Dick 'n' Peter" "By their friends, ye shall know them." Biblical Adidge Taking up where we left off in "My Memoir: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And More Perils of Polygamy, Part 19-K": I said in an earlier…
Part 19-K: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me and More Perils of Polygamy
My Memoir, Part 19-K: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- and More Perils of Polygamy "True leadership must be for the benefit of the followers, not the enrichment of the leaders." Warren G. Bennis Taking up where we left off in "My Memoir Backstory: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And More Perils of Polygamy, Part…
Part 19-J: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me and More Perils of Polygamy
My Memoir, Part 19-J: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And More Perils of Polygamy "Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe." H.G. Wells Taking up where we left off in my last blog, "My Memoir: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And More Perils of Polygamy -- Part 19-I": My husband William Preston Tucker/ Bill Had…
Part 19-I: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me and More Perils of Polygamy
My Memoir, Part 19-I: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And More Perils of Polygamy Beulah Stephany Spencer-LeBaron in 1972, age 26, and soon to graduate from UCLA after escaping polygamy in 1967!! "Man, created in God's image and likeness, is not just flesh and blood. The sexual instinct is not all that he has: Man is also,…
Part 19-H: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me, and More Perils of Polygamy
My Memoir, Part 19-H: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And More Perils of Polygamy "History is little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind." Edward Gibbon I left off in "My Memoir: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And More Perils of Polygamy -- Part 19-G" relating how I had come to realize people did not just…
Part 19-G: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me and More Perils of Polygamy
My Memoir, Part 19-G: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And More Perils of Polygamy "Use power to help people. For we are given power not to advance our own purposes nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power and it is to serve people."…
Part 19-F: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me and More Perils of Polygamy
My Memoir, Part 19-F: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And More Perils of Polygamy "Leadership is not wielding authority – It's empowering people." Becky Brodin I left off in "My Memoir: Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer -- And More Perils of Polygamy -- Part 19-E" on the following note: I Now know my mother's brother, Ervil LeBaron, was a psychopath and sociopath…
Poem I wrote: Cougar Lives To Love Another Day
Cougar lives to love another day Cougar Lives to Love Another DayBy Stephany Spencer-LeBaron2008Hey King Kay, Your cougar lives To love another day,To further bond With wondrous King Kay.Cougaress never dreamed It could be this way: First he was her friend, Then her boyfriend; Now her husband – Her Kind King Kay.Cougaress lives for him each day.People call her a cougar.You've robbed the…
Part 19-E: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me and More Perils of Polygamy
My Memoir:Part 19-E:Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me, And More Perils of Polygamy Circa 1961: Beulah/Stephany Spencer-LeBaron, age 14, on our homestead in Colonia LeBaron,clotheslines and grapevines in the background An important question for leaders: 'Am I building people, Or building my dreamAnd using people to do it?' John Maxwell I left off in MY MEMOIREsther LeBaron Spencer, Me, And More Perils of Polygamy Part…
Pt 19-D: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me, and More Perils of Polygamy
MY MEMOIRPart 19-D: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me,And More Perils of Polygamy "The successful leader Is the one who makes The right move at the right moment With the right motive."John Maxwell Continued from:MY MEMOIR Esther LeBaron-McDonald-Spencer, Me,And More Perils of Polygamy, Part 19-C NOTE:I'm a poet but my medium is prose In parts of the following memories I disclose: I'm barely sixteen, parked…
Pt 19-B: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me, and More Perils of Polygamy
MY MEMOIRPart 19-B Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer, Me, and More Perils of Polygamy The middle photo is the way I remember myUncle Ervil M. LeBaron in the 1960s A wise leader inspires and motivates, rather than intimidating and manipulating.Henry Ford Continuing where we left off in the previous blog,wherein my life was being hijacked in the name of…
Part 19-A: Ma, Pa, Me, and Perils of Polygamy
MY MEMOIRPart 19-A Esther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer: Ma, Pa, Me,And the Perils of Polygamy No influence is so powerfulas the that of the mother. Sarah Josepha Hale Picking up from: MY MEMOIREsther LeBaron McDonald de Spencer:Ma 'n' PaPART 18 As I've bemoaned before, Mummsy couldn't live polygamy herself – at least not during her twenty-two years of marriage…
Pt 41-F: Ross Wesley LeBaron Sr and “More on” LeBaron Madness
Pt 41-F: Ross Wesley LeBaron Sr and "More on" LeBaron Madness Ross Wesley LeBaron Sr's son Ross LeBaron Jr with first wife Diana Leany *NOTE: An acquaintance sent the following interesting but old news clipping she found on Tumblr: "Ross Wesley LeBaron Sr's oldest son, Ross LeBaron Jr, famously has his own cult in which…
Pieces by Stephany Spencer- LeBaron: Author Luna Lindsey’s Story Shares Commonalities with Mine
Author and Speaker Luna Flesher Lindsey On July 7, 2016 I was cruising Social Media when I came across the fascinating and brilliant Writer Luna Flesher Lindsey.Her comments on Facebook grabbed me. I could relate to them becauseI too was ostracized while living in Utah from 1948 to 1960 among the LDS/ The Church of…
Review by Stephany Spencer-LeBaron: “It’s Not About the Sex” My Ass!
An update of my January 9, 2017 Review of "It's Not About the Sex" My Ass: Confessions of an Ex-Mormon Ex-Polygamist Ex-Wife: I don't usually do Book Reviews, for lack of time. But this book was so super, I listened to it straight through, on Audible; then listened to it again two times more -- then…
Pt 40-C: Esther LeBaron Spencer: Ma, Pa, Me, and Pitfalls of Polygamy
1953 Short Creek Raid arrest of my Fundy, 58-year-old father Floyd Otto Spencer; in front of our rock home in Short Creek, Arizona (Courtesy of Utah State Historical Society) Pt 40-C: Esther LeBaron Spencer: Ma, Pa, Me, and Pitfalls of Polygamy UTAH POLYGAMY: PANDORA'S BOXAlthough the box is full of evils, we must remember there…
Pt 40-B: Esther LeBaron Spencer: Ma, Pa, Me, and Pitfalls of Polygamy
Pt 40-B: Esther LeBaron Spencer: Ma, Pa, Me, and Pitfalls of Polygamy Gifted Susan Ray Schmidt was part of my Uncle Verlan LeBaron's harem. After escaping polygamy, she penned the above super memoir. Her writer's voice reads like a 19th-century Jane Austen novel. “The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing…
Pt 40-A: Ma, Pa, Me, and Pitfalls of Polygamy
Pt 40-A: Ma, Pa, Me, and Pitfalls of Polygamy Maud Lucinda McDonald LeBaron on her land in Colonia LeBaron, Mexico; with four of her sons, left to right: Floren, Alma, Verlan, Ervil "When a task is once begun,Never leave it till it's done;Be the labor great or small,Do it well or not at all." A…
Poems/doggerel I wrote: Notes, Quotes, Jokes; Pokes, ‘n’ Anecdotes
Bimbo Weeps: I'm sittin' alone in the moonlight, At the Heartbreak Hotel Café, Abandoned by women and men; And here's all I have to say: “I’ll never eat garlic nor onions again -- Not till my dying day --They've driven my possible friends away; Kept romance and intimacy at bay!"By Stephany Spencer BIG LOVE Bimbo…
DAVID M.’S LIFE STORY: (Anna LeBaron’s Half-Brother) The story you are about to read is true.
Caveat … The story you are about to read is true and I never killed anyone unless it was a justifiable homicide. Fulano's Blog Search Guest Blog: David Marston's Life Story (A Brother of Anna LeBaron) Posted on November 7, 2010 Caveat…The story you are about to read is true and I never killed anyone…
Pt 39: Ma, Pa, Me, and Polygamy on Parade
Pt 39: Ma, Pa, Me, And Polygamy on Parade My Mother: beautiful brainiac, talented, Esther LeBaron-McDonald Spencer "What the mother sings to the cradle goes all the way to the coffin."Henry Ward Beecher Our habits of perfectionism are deeply harmful: Perfectionism distracts us and keeps us from moving forward, out of a fear of messing up…
Pt 35a–38c: More LeBaron- Spencer Family History
Pt 35a--38c: More LeBaron-Spencer Family History “The less people speak of their greatness, the more we think of it.” ― Francis Bacon Pt 35-A: Alma Dayer LeBaron Lou Gehrig's Diseaseand "Who Got the Button?" Maud Lucinda McDonald LeBaron, Joel Franklin LeBaron, and Alma Dayer LeBaron Sr "A mother is she who can take the place of all others but…
Pt 30-33: The Mexico-LeBarons: Bipolar Issues Vs. Incest
Pt 30-33: The Mexico-LeBarons: Bipolar Issues Vs. Incest*Please note: For some reason, this post is messing up--I'm unable to correct spellings or words; and WordPress Tech Support hasn't been able to solve the problems, either, so far. Pt 30: My Mama Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me, and Mental Illness My parents in 1964 with 13 of…
Review by Stephany Spencer-LeBaron: “The Blood Covenant” by Rena Chynoweth
Review by Stephany Spencer-LeBaron of my Aunt Rena Chynoweth's "The Blood Covenant" This Memoir, written over thirty-five years ago, struck me as the work of an immature apologist and revisionist. Its bias toward my Uncle Ervil's cold-hearted cult hangs like a cobweb over this tale co-authored by my Ex-Aunt, infamous Rena Chynoweth. The last I…
Rebecca Kimbel: Producer, Artist, Ex-Mormon Fundy, Human Rights Advocate, and Community Activist
NOTE: The following is a re-post of a past blog post. Since that previous posting, some things have changed: E.g., Rebecca Kimbel recently published her monumental Memoir: Born in Polygamy. I bought the manuscript last week on Amazon.com. I'm now in the process of reading this masterpiece that promises to be the Bible of all…
Pieces by Stephany Spencer- LeBaron: William P. Tucker’s Baby and Wife Left to Die by Cult, Sister, & Bill’s Buddy Stephen Silver
28-year-old Bill Tucker and 18-year-old Beulah Stephany Spencer-LeBaron de Tucker with our Six-month-old baby Asenath Marie "Where there's a will, there's a way." William James In July 1967, three months after my/our husband, William Preston Tucker/AKA: Bill Tucker (I say "our" husband because I was one of Bill's three wives), announced to the "church" he…
Pt 1-9: Floyd O. Spencer, Mormon LeBaron Cult Member
PART 1 My Memoir: My Daddy, Floyd Otto Spencer My Daddy, Floyd Otto Spencer, age 19 MY DADDY My Memoir Backstory “My Daddy” takes up where I left off writing “My Memoir Introduction: I Was Born a “Saint.” After I wrote this blog, I realized I'd put the cart before the horse -- started my Memoir bass-ackwards: I got myself…
Pt 1–18: Esther LeBaron Spencer, Me, and Mormon Polygamist Cults Unmasked
A Memoir: FLEEING POLYGAMY: Out of LeBaronism into the Lightby Stephany Spencer-LeBaron PART 1:Esther LeBaron-McDonald Spencer:My Mother: Image “Mother! For love of thee it was begun;In thy most honored name today ’tis done.And though all earthly cares must ceaseIn that fair land of everlasting peace,Love aye is one, and they who love…
Review by Stephany Spencer- LeBaron: THE LEBARON STORY by Esther LeBaron Spencer and Verlan LeBaron
Joseph Smith, Benjamin Franklin Johnson, Alma Dayer LeBaron, and Joel Franklin LeBaron Review by Stephany Spencer-LeBaron: THE LEBARON STORY by Esther LeBaron Spencer and Verlan LeBaron"The LeBaron Story" is truly a "Vanity Book" – not only because my uncle Verlan LeBaron paid a publishing company in 1981 (back when self-publishing was not the norm) to publish the book – but also because…
Review by Stephany Spencer-LeBaron: Scott Anderson’s “The 4 O’Clock Murders”
Investigative Journalist Scott Anderson, Author of The 4 O'clock Murders Scott Anderson's "The 4 O'clock Murders," published in 1993, is a must-read for those interested in a documentary of America's most bizarre but now apparently defunct crime family. The Doc chronicles the history of this extremist cult initiated in the late 1960s by the sociopathic serial…
Poetry by Stephany Spencer- LeBaron: My Hypnotic-Regression “Rebirthing” Session: Nascency in Mexico Down Past the Rio Grande
My Hypnotic-Regression "Rebirthing" SessionIn 1986 I learned it was possible to be hypnotized and taken back to the moment I was born. Being a curious person undergoing personal growth, self-discovery, and healing, I hired an excellent psychotherapist who specialized in doing psychological “Rebirthings.” Through my hypnotic-regression session, this licensed Mental Health Provider guided me back to the…
Media of Stephany Spencer-LeBaron: Famous ‘n’ Infamous Relatives
Famous 'n' InfamousRelatives "We all come from the past,and children ought to know what it wasthat went into their making."Russell Baker The following book by Diana Spencer's brother, Charles Spencer, the ninth Earl of England, chronicles the story of his Royal family. It may be of interest to Spencer families and anyone related…
Pieces by Stephany Spencer- LeBaron: Producer Doris Hanson
I recommend listening to Doris Hanson's YouTube interviews. She had her own independent TV show for many years. Now she produces her shows on YouTube.I've learned much from listening to these excellent interviews she has done of especially mainstream Mormons, but also Mormon fundamentalists who have left or escaped the Sect/Cult they were raised in.…
Review by Stephany Spencer-LeBaron: Anna LeBaron’s “The Polygamist’s Daughter”
By Stephany Spencer: Review of my cousin Anna LeBaron’s Memoir: The Polygamist’s Daughter *Note:This is a re-post Review I wrote some years ago when Anna Le Baron's first Memoir came out. I hear she's now in the process of writing her second book. Follow her on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. And…
Pieces by Stephany Spencer LeBaron: SB102: Legalizing/Decriminalizing Polygamy
Circa 1962: Three weeks after I was married off in an arranged marriage, at age 16 to 26-year-old Mormon polygamist William Preston Tucker--who already had two other wives--one 6 years older and the other 15 years older than I. On Feb 10, 2020, a Bill was on the table in the Utah senate to reduce…
Pt 42-B: Megalomania and the Making of the Mexico-LeBaron Mind
Pt 42-B:Megalomania and the Making of the Mexico-LeBaron Mind Mexico-LeBarons Grandmother Maud, Floren, Joel, Verlan, and Ervil A Rugged Constitutionalist: A Fundamentalist Mormon with a hard anti-government bent. Tell bleeding hearts that the Southern Poverty Law Centerhas listed the fundamentalists as a White supremacist, homophobic, antigovernment, totalitarian cult." PLYG: Ed Kociela In the previous blog,…
Part 42-A: Megalomania and the Making of the Mexico-LeBaron Mind
Pt 42-A: Megalomania and the Making of the Mexico-LeBaron Mind Handsome Mexico-LeBarons Ervil, Joel, Verlan, Alma, and Floren Somehow we learn who we really are and then live with that decision."Eleanor Roosevelt I've long been on a quest to understand the making of the Mexico-LeBaron mind---its need to be number one, the best; in control…
Pt 41-k: Ross Wesley LeBaron Sr and “More on” LeBaron Madness
Pt 41-k: Ross Wesley LeBaron Sr and "More on" LeBaron Madness gifted, crazy, creative Ross Wesley LeBaron Sr “Polygamy attracts the type of men who do not wish to be accountable to anyone; least of all their wives. Marriage was not a partnership.”Karen MILLER: "My Life as a Sister Wife" *Continued from "Pt 41-J: Ross…
Pt 41-I: Ross Wesley LeBaron Sr and “More on” LeBaron Madness
Pt 41-I: Ross Wesley LeBaron Sr and "More on" LeBaron Madness Ross Wesley LeBaron Sr dancing with one of his many lovely daughters (Courtesy of Mary Bonnelle Taylor) In this blog, I continue with Tumblr-borrowed newsfeeds (See Tumblr for more such; and photos that didn't copy to these following newsfeeds): "The outcome of Thelma Elena…
Pt 41-G: Ross Wesley LeBaron Sr and “More on” LeBaron Madness
Part 41-G: Ross Wesley LeBaron Sr and "More on" LeBaron Madness "People who think they are great, usually aren't"Old adage Ross Wesley LeBaron Sr and first wife Thelma Cox (Courtesy of Mary B. Taylor) *NOTE: The following very old newspaper feeds were posted on Tumblr. (See Tumblr for more Photos of these articles. Clicking on…
Pt 41-A: Esther LeBaron Spencer and “More on” LeBaron Madness
Pt 41-A: Esther LeBaron Spencer and "More on" LeBaron Madness My mother Esther LeBaron-McDonald Spencer "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."Ralph Waldo Emerson In "Parts 39--40-B: Esther LeBaron Spencer;Ma, Pa, Me, and Pitfalls of Polygamy," I discussed issues of perfectionism in my grandparents Maud and…
Pt 39–40-E: Esther LeBaron Spencer: Ma, Pa, Me, and Pitfalls of Polygamy
Pt 39: Ma, Pa, Me, And Polygamy on Parade My Mother: beautiful brainiac, talented, Esther LeBaron-McDonald Spencer "What the mother sings to the cradle goes all the way to the coffin."Henry Ward Beecher Our habits of perfectionism are deeply harmful. Perfectionism distracts us and keeps us from moving forward, out of a fear of messing up…
Pt 40-E: Esther LeBaron Spencer: Ma, Pa, Me, and Pitfalls of Polygamy
Pt 40-E: Esther LeBaron Spencer: Ma, Pa, Me, and Pitfalls of Polygamy My beautiful mother Esther LeBaron Spencer, second row, right, in front of our rock house; being arrested during 1953 Short Creek Raid; her then seven kids at front; another in her belly past due. Abraham Lincoln ran on the Republican Platform of ending…
Pt 40-D: Esther LeBaron Spencer: Ma, Pa, Me, and Pitfalls of Polygamy
Pt 40-D: Esther LeBaron Spencer: Ma, Pa, Me, and Pitfalls of Polygamy Circa 1956: My parents and 9 of their ultimately 14 kids; shortly after leaving Short Creek, Arizona to live in nearby Hurricane, Utah Writers do not live one life, they live two. There is the living and then there is the writing. Anaïs…
Pt 19: N-Z: Mexico-LeBaron Mormon Cults, Me, and The Perils of Polygamy
*NOTE: I've edited and rewritten parts of the 26-blog "Part 19" series. I have presently broken this rewritten and reposted series into two different parts consisting of 13 blogs each. ("Part 19: A--M" was recently posted.) This blog, "Part 19: N--Z," is the second half of the 26-blog series "Part 19: A--Z." (Also, I've individually posted each blog in this…
Pt 19: A-M: Mexico-LeBaron Mom, Pop, Me, and the Perils of Polygamy
NOTE:I've renamed and reposted today's blog:"Part 19: A-Z Mom, Pop, Me, and the Perils of Polygamy,"Because I've rewritten segments of it. Today's post consists of "Part 19: A-M,"To be followed next week by "Part 19: N-Z."(These 26 memoir blogs in my "Part 19" seriesExist as individual posts, also.) NOTE:The following posts are largely grouped memoir blogsof experiences with…
Review by Stephany Spencer-LeBaron: Zelph on the Shelf: Mormons, Ex-Mormons, and Censorship Culture”
I just discovered a most valuable and wonderful Website, "Zelph on the Shelf: Mormons, Ex-Mormons, and Censorship Culture." I read part of it. So very much look forward to reading more when I have time.Although I presently believe we are spiritual beings having a physical experience -- in other words, I am no longer a Social-Scientific-Thinker --…
ABOUT
Bio of Stephany Spencer-LeBaron ~ Stephany Spencer-LeBaron is a retired teacher on her endless summer – a Creative: Artist, poet, performer, and musician. Born in Chihuahua, Mexico of American parents, she spent most of her life in the Western U.S.; married young, became widowed at twenty-one. Left with a toddler, she raised her while putting herself through College,…
First Blog
My First Blog Beulah Stephany Spencer-LeBaron, 2015, age 69 7/2016 Hi! I'm Stephany Spencer/AKA: Beulah/ Stephany Spencer-LeBaron. Welcome to my little corner of the world-wide web -- my "virtual" piece of internet real estate! Feel free to click about and find out what's useful. If I may be of help, please contact me. I'm…
STEPHANY SPENCER-LEBARON: 