State estimates 25,000 Utahns involved in polygamy practice
 
The Associated Press
 
Some 25,000 Utah residents are involved in polygamy, says Lt. Mike King of the attorney general's criminal division.

The following are brief descriptions of the state's prominent polygamist groups, based on information from King and other sources:

Corporation of the President of the Fundamentalist Church Rulon T. Jeffs is the leader of 8,000 to 12,000 members. The headquarters are in Sandy, Utah, but the group has a strong presence in the border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. Those towns, once known as Short Creek, were the site of the last effort to prosecute polygamists in 1953.

Corporation of the Presiding Elder of the Apostolic United Brethren The group, headed by 85-year-old Owen Allred, is centered in Bluffdale, south of Salt Lake City. Allred, who claims eight wives, has said the group has 5,000 members. Some estimates place membership as high as 8,000.

Latter-day Church of Christ The Kingston cooperative is formally led by Merlin Kingston, an elderly patriarch, but Ortell Paul Kingston is believed to function as the church's spiritual and economic leader. Authorities believe the group has between 300 and 500 members, although some members say it has 1,000 to 1,500.

The True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days. Headquartered in Manti, Utah, the group is governed by James Harmston, who claims to be the reincarnation of Mormon church founder Joseph Smith. Harmston, a former Mormon, was excommunicated for advocating polygamy. Today, he and about 300 to 500 members own several buildings in Manti, including an assembly hall.

Righteous Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints This small group of about 100 people west of Cedar City was founded by Gerald Peterson, who claims that the ghost of Rulon Allred, who founded the Short Creek community, returned to restore the priesthood to him.
 
The Associated Press
Originally published April 21, 1999
 
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