Merril Jessop

{{Infobox Latter Day Saint biography

| name = Merril Jessop

| birth_name = Frederick Merril Jessop

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1935|12|27}}

| birth_place = Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2022|02|28|1935|12|27}}

| death_place = Cedar City, Utah, United States

| spouse = Foneta Marie Stokes Cook
Ruth Pugh Steed
Barbara Steed
Carolyn Bistline Blackmore (former)
Tammy Lauritzen Barlow
Ireta Cathleen Hammon Barlow
Lorraine Steed
and several others

| children = 54 total
10 children by Foneta Cook
16 children by Ruth Steed
14 children by Barbara Steed
8 children by Carolyn Blackmore
1 child by Tammy Barlow
5 children by Cathleen Barlow

| parents = Richard Seth Jessop and Ida Johnson

| portals = movement

| position_or_quorum1 = Head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (de facto)

| predecessor1 = Warren Steed Jeffs

| successor1 = Warren Steed Jeffs

| start_date1 = {{start date|2007|12|04}}

| end_date1 = {{end date|2011|02}}

}}

Merril Jessop (December 27, 1935 – February 28, 2022)*Cause No. 2833 in the District Court of Schleicher County, Texas [http://hooleking.com/inthenews/documents/MotionforConservatorship-SampsonMarrianneandBenjaminJessop.pdf "Motion for Conservatorship and Further Orders"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120913194155/http://www.hooleking.com/inthenews/documents/MotionforConservatorship-SampsonMarrianneandBenjaminJessop.pdf |date=2012-09-13 }}.[https://spotontexas.com/west-texas/3411067/merril-jessop-86-dies-in-utah.html Merril Jessop, 86, Dies in Utah] was a high-ranking bishop in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly referred to as the FLDS Church. He was briefly the de facto leader of the FLDS.{{cite news |url= http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0804/23/ng.01.html |title= Judge Orders FLDS Nursing Mothers to Foster Care With Infants |publisher= CNN |date= 2008-04-23 }} Jessop was also in charge of the YFZ Ranch during the 2008 raid.{{cite news |title= Honors for ex-polygamous wife |newspaper= Deseret News |first= Ben |last= Winslow |date= 2007-08-29 |url= http://www.deseretnews.com/article/695205363/Honors-for-ex-polygamous-wife.html?pg=all |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121021142415/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/695205363/Honors-for-ex-polygamous-wife.html?pg=all |url-status= dead |archive-date= October 21, 2012 }}{{cite news | url= http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/04/15/at-the-green-gate-and-then-a-glimpse-of-the-polygamists-life/ | title= At the green gate, and then a glimpse of the polygamist's life | publisher= CNN | author= Katherine Wojtecki | date= 2008-04-15 | access-date= 2008-07-23 | archive-date= 2008-04-20 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080420083437/http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/04/15/at-the-green-gate-and-then-a-glimpse-of-the-polygamists-life/ | url-status= dead }}

Early life

Jessop was born in Salt Lake City to Ida Johnson and Richard Seth Jessop, a son of Joseph Smith Jessop.{{cite web|title=Exhibits from the Trial of LeRoy Jessop (Merril's son)|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/78369761/Exhibits-from-the-Sexual-Assault-of-a-Child-Trial-of-LeRoy-Jessop|work=Schleicher County, Texas District Attorney's Office|publisher=Scribd|access-date=20 June 2013}}{{Unreliable source?|date=June 2013}}

Bishop in the FLDS

Jessop was a lifelong member of the church, as his father and grandfathers were former high-ranking FLDS officials. Jessop is connected by a nebulous series of marriages to the Jeffs family; several of Jessop's daughters and at least one of his wives were previously the plural wives of Rulon Jeffs while at least eleven of Jessop's daughters and two of his granddaughters[http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52870954-78/jessop-texas-jeffs-marriages.html.csp Ex-FLDS bishop gets prison amid talk of more illegal marriages] became plural wives to Warren Jeffs, several of them while they were underage.Carolyn Jessop, Triumph (2010). One of his daughters, Merrianne, was married to Jeffs three weeks after her twelfth birthday, a ceremony in which Jessop himself presided over.{{cite book |last=Brower |first=Sam |title=Prophet's Prey |publisher=Bloomsbury USA }} Another daughter, Naomie, was one of Jeffs' favorite wives and was with him at the time of his capture by police.[https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/who-is-naomie-jeffs-warren-jeffs-wife-flds-scribe Who Is Naomie Jeffs, Warren Jeffs' Wife And 'Official Scribe' For The FLDS 'Prophet'?]

While he was imprisoned, Warren Jeffs reportedly designated William E. Jessop as the rightful successor to the FLDS Church presidency.*Hilary Hylton, [https://web.archive.org/web/20080719110822/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1823656,00.html "A New Prophet for the Polygamists?"], Time, 2008-07-18.{{ cite news|url=http://blogs.sltrib.com/plurallife/labels/William%20E.%20Jessop.htm |title=What Warren said to William |publisher=Salt Lake Tribune |author=Brooke Adams |date=2007-11-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001045309/http://blogs.sltrib.com/plurallife/labels/William%20E.%20Jessop.htm |archive-date=2011-10-01 }}. However, William Jessop remained at official church headquarters in Hildale, Utah. News reports suggested a possible shift of the church's headquarters to Eldorado, Texas, where a temple has been built by FLDS Church members at the YFZ Ranch.[http://www.myeldorado.net/YFZ%20Aerial%20Tour/yfztour1.html YFZ Ranch - A trip through time] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427012410/http://www.myeldorado.net/YFZ%20Aerial%20Tour/yfztour1.html |date=2009-04-27 }}, The Eldorado Success As the bishop of the church at YFZ, it appeared that Merril Jessop was the de facto president and the most powerful person in the FLDS Church, until February 2011.

Jessop was removed as bishop by Jeffs in February 2011.{{Citation|last= McKinley|first= Carol|title= Inside a troubled fundamentalist Mormon sect|url=http://www.salon.com/news/religion/?story=/mwt/feature/2011/03/05/inside_flds_trouble_brewing |access-date=March 11, 2011|date= March 5, 2011|publisher= Salon Media Group, Inc.|quote= In just a few weeks, Jeffs has gone on a rampage, kicking out at least 40 of his most pious men. One of those faithful is Merril Jessop, a 70year-old FLDS bishop.}}

Personal life

One of Jessop's former wives, Carolyn Jessop, wrote a memoir in 2007 about their 17-year marriage, which had begun when she was 18 and he was 50. The book includes dozens of allegations of spousal and child abuse, both emotional and physical.{{cite book | author1= Palmer, Laura | author2= Carolyn Jessop | title= Escape | publisher= Broadway Books | location= New York | year= 2007 | isbn= 978-0-7679-2756-7 | url-access= registration | url= https://archive.org/details/escapejess00jess }} Carolyn Jessop left the FLDS Church in 2003 and, after a custody battle with Merril Jessop, won full custody of their 8 children.{{ cite news | url= https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/29/national/29polygamy.html | title= After fleeing polygamist community, an opportunity for influence | work=The New York Times | date= 29 June 2005 | first=Nick | last=Madigan | access-date=2010-05-12}}{{ cite news|url=http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/observer/story.html?id=0ff3d621-4d12-4f18-9c71-623d777061e7 |title=Escape from polygamy |publisher=Vancouver Sun |date=3 December 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080315011046/http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/observer/story.html?id=0ff3d621-4d12-4f18-9c71-623d777061e7 |archive-date=15 March 2008 }}{{ cite news | url= http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0609/02/smn.03.html | title= CNN Interview transcript | date= 2 September 2006 | publisher= CNN }} She is the second woman to leave an FLDS community and gain full custody of all her children, although her eldest daughter Betty decided, after turning 18, to return to her father at the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Texas.Escape by Carolyn Jessop Betty Jessop vehemently denies her mother's accusations. In 2009 Carolyn Jessop also won a child-support judgment against Merril Jessop in the approximate amount of $148,000 for support he failed to provide his children from 2003-2009.{{cite news|title=Woman sues FLDS Leader |url=http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2010/feb/22/woman-sues-flds-leader/ |author=Matthew Waller |publisher=San Angelo Standard Times|date=February 22, 2010 |access-date=April 11, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100227003131/http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2010/feb/22/woman-sues-flds-leader/ |archive-date=February 27, 2010 }} As of February 2010, Merril Jessop had still not paid any of the child support he owed. According to Carolyn's attorney, Natalie Malonis, he can be jailed for contempt for this failure.

According to his former wife's memoir, Jessop was the father of more than 50 biological children, all by his first six wives. His senior wife, Faunita, mother of 10 of Jessop's children, suffered from mental illness; she was abandoned by the roadside when the group moved to Texas, and she became a ward of one of her grandchildren who was living in the mainstream-Mormon community. Jessop is believed to have taken many more wives following Carolyn's departure. According to his ex-wife's book, Jessop had nebulous business interests that included construction and hotels, and had suffered from major heart problems.

In a National Geographic article published in February 2010, Jessop both praised and discussed his troubled relationship with Faunita (spelled 'Foneta' in the article). Over 5,000 people were in attendance at Faunita Jessop's funeral. "My hand is a bit sore today," Merril was quoted as saying at the end of the funeral after greeting all those who came.{{cite journal|title=The Polygamists|first=Scott|last=Anderson|journal=National Geographic|date=February 2010|url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/02/polygamists/anderson|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430000810/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/02/polygamists/anderson|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 30, 2011}}