Tag Archives: Ross Wesley LeBaron

Ross LeBaron, Fred Collier: Revelation on Salvation and Exaltation, 1974

On 7 August 1974, Ross W. LeBaron received a revelation stating the purposes of the Church of Jesus Christ and the Church of the Firstborn, and their relation to the principles of salvation and exaltation of humankind. [1] The revelation was recorded in handwriting by Fred Collier, then an adopted son of Ross LeBaron. In a later recollection, Collier suggested that he was the original recipient of the revelation, which had been given him a few years before, and that he only wrote it down after LeBaron had a spiritual confirmation of the spiritual message. [2]

Ross LA Times

Ross LeBaron in front of Ogie’s Café, West Valley, UT, in 1988. | Photo courtesy of Marsha Traeger, Los Angeles Times.

The revelation was recorded as follows: Continue reading →

Mormon Fundamentalism and the Sealing Keys of Hyrum Smith

Ross W. LeBaron claimed to have “the patriarchal keys of the lineage of the Prophet Joseph”. He considered his heirship to the Mormon Prophet “the highest title of birth, and the second order of priesthood,” as he stated to Joseph White Musser in 1951. Lebaron believed the Mormon Fundamentalist movement, on the other hand, operated under “the keys of the lineage of Hyrum”. In 1985, LeBaron explained his views of the Fundamentalist priesthood authority in the following manner:

The only possible claim to the sealing power, by the Polygamists after 1890, was through the sealing keys of Hyrum Smith. Those keys were conferred upon John Smith by Brigham Young.

Ross LeBaron interview

Ross Wesley LeBaron in June, 1977. | Image: Dale Van Atta. Courtesy of L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University.

DeWayne Hafen: Interview to Dale Von Atta, 1978

As a teenager, DeWayne Hafen helped Ross LeBaron in his machine shop while LeBaron taught him about the Church of the Firstborn. When Hafen met him again as an adult, LeBaron was hesitant to ordain Hafen. The reason was Hafen’s previous affiliation with The Church of the Firstborn of the Fullness of the Times. Even though Ross LeBaron considered his brothers’ organization a “counterfeit” of the true Church of the Firstborn, he wouldn’t “steal” someone who “belonged” to them.

DeWayne Navy

DeWayne Hafen in the 1960’s. 

In this interview given to journalist Dale Van Atta in June 1978, Hafen speaks of his disillusion with the two main leaders of the larger LeBaronite church, Joel and Ervil LeBaron. “There were deals for wives, women, money, land… A lot of people told me I was a damn fool. Everyone else was dealing for something. I wasn’t dealing for anything”. Continue reading →

Ross LeBaron: The Opening of the Seventh Seal, 1943

In 1943, Ross Wesley LeBaron published a pamphlet identifying the seven angels or plagues of the Book of Revelation as events in the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War.

grave

Later in life, LeBaron would say that he knew some things “by revelation” and other things “by calculation”, also recognizing that he wasn’t free from miscalculating prophetic dates.

To view or download the document, click  here: The Opening of the Seventh Seal.

 

Ross LeBaron: Letter to Margarito Bautista, 1958

“Lehi was evidently the first-born of Manasseh; for he followed the patriarchal pattern[,]” wrote Ross LeBaron about the Book of Mormon patriarch. “His youngest son held the right of the first-born (evidently of the tribe of Manasseh). Lehi was patriarch to a new world, Jacob priest, and Nephi King.”

Margarito Bautista Mormon Fundamentalism Mexico LeBaron

Margarito Bautista (1878-1961) | Image: from his book La Evolución de México, 1935

A Mormon Fundamentalist, Margarito Bautista had an early association with the LeBaron family in Mexico. After his excommunication from the LDS Church, Bautista established a community called Colonia Industrial Nueva Jerusalém, in Ozumba, where he headquartered his church La Plenitude del Reino de Dios (“The Fullness of the Kingdom of God”), affiliated today with the Apostolic United Brethren.

After the death of Dayer LeBaron, in 1951, Margarito Bautista organized part of the LeBaron family living in Mexico into a branch, under the authority of Joseph Musser. Different from his mother Maud and most of his siblings, Ross LeBaron never joined the organization in Colonia LeBaron.

Later, after the LeBaron brothers had established their own church, in 1955, Bautista would pen some anti-LeBaron tracts.

From Bautista’s correspondence with researcher Lyle O. Wright, comes probably the earliest and clearest witness that Alma Dayer LeBaron in fact claimed to hold a special order of the priesthood, unknown to Mormondom and the world, a fact commonly disputed by some historians and apologists. According to Wright, Margarito Bautista stated in a letter in 1959, Continue reading →

Edsil Allred: Patriarchal Blessing of Ross LeBaron, 1934

Ross LeBaron interview

Ross Wesley LeBaron in June, 1977. | Image: Dale Van Atta. Courtesy of L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University.

Central, Arizona   February 9, 1934

Blessing, given by Patriarch Edsil Myron Allred on the head of Ross Wesley LeBaron, son of Alma Dayer LeBaron and Maud LeBaron, born November 16, 1914, in Overton, Nevada.

Dear Wesley: In the name of the Redeemer of Israel, I place my hands upon your head and give unto you a Patriarchal Blessing, which will be of great worth to you in future life, if you study the same and live up to every privilege that comes before you.

You were chosen in the spirit world to come to earth and take a tabernacle and be a representative in your father’s family in counsel and advice, and to cherish the mother that gave you birth.

You are a true Israelite, a descendant of Abraham – the great Patriarch, and a direct lineage of Ephraim, that the Lord spake, and the ancients apostles said would come to earth in the last days; and you were blessed by coming through such noble lineage. The Lord blessed you with a strong and active body. He would be much displeased if you defiled this body in any way. Therefore, I would say unto you, cultivate good habits and refrain from the evils of the world, that your body may be clean and pure, that the Spirit of the Lord may dwell with you. Continue reading →

Ross LeBaron: Brigham Young Speaks, 1975

Adam God Brigham Young Ross LeBaron

Portrait of Brigham Young, by Charles Roscoe Savage, 1855.

Published by Ross W. LeBaron in 1975, the pamphlet Brigham Young Speaks was a compilation of statements on the Adam-God doctrine, without editorial comments. It was the product of Fred Collier’s research, then an adopted son of Ross LeBaron. Later, Collier republished the pamphlet under his name with the title Adam-God in a Nutshell.

In the introduction, Ross LeBaron wrote:

For over seven years now I have been discussing the Adam-God Doctrine over the radio. During this time many have asked questions concerning this principle and wanted proof that it was taught by Joseph Smith as well as by Brigham Young. It is for these people who are searching for answers regarding this question that this pamphlet has been prepared. It consists of statements made by Brigham Young, which were taken from fifty-ne different sermons, all of which have been arranged according to subject as shown in the table of contents.

To read the full documente, click here: Brigham Young Speaks.

Benjamin F. LeBaron: Patriarchal Blessing of Ross LeBaron, 1936

Ross LeBaron Patriarchal Blessing

Ross W. LeBaron at different ages. Photo collage.

Blessing, given by Patriarch Benjamin F. LeBaron upon the head of Ross Wesley LeBaron, son of Alma Dayer LeBaron and Maud Lucinda McDonald, born November 16 1914, at Overton, Nevada.

To view the document, click on this link: ROSS Patriarchal Blessing 1936

Reference

1. James D. Wardle Papers. University of Utah Special Collections. Spelling and capitalization as in the original.

Articles of Faith of the Church of the Firstborn

ARTICLES OF FAITH

of

THE CHURCH OF THE FIRST-BORN

1. We believe in Michael, the Eternal Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, and in Joseph Smith, the Witness or Testator.

2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam`s transgression; for He partook of mortality, that He might bring forth mortal bodies for His spiritual offspring.

3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel of the First-born.

4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are; first, Faith in Michael the Archangel, and His Son Jesus Christ, and in Joseph the Testator; second, Repentance; third, Baptism, by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. Continue reading →

Steve McKinley: Ross LeBaron On The Endowment

Ross Wesley LeBaron, in January 1983

Steve McKinley recollects a conversation with Ross W. LeBaron about the endowment in 1995. The “ambiguous answer” given by Ross, according to Steve, made him “feel better about the changes [made by the LDS Church] in the endowment”. He says he realized that “the reason the endowment was taken away by the Lord was because people didn’t understand it. It didn’t work for them. … It made them responsible for things they didn’t understand.” In this interview, Steve also talks about the way Ross LeBaron gave him instructions and tells an anecdote on Ross’s excitement while watching a music concert on TV.

See the first part of this interview here.