Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 59
During Carolyn‘s early teen years, she began to feel the group‘s constraints. She struggled
mightily to continue her education after the eighth grade, and contact with boys her own
age was strictly limited. The first great turning point of her life came when her older sister,
Linda, reached age 18—at that time the age of eligibility for girls to marry—and fled from
Colorado City to avoid marriage with a much older man, disgracing the entire family and, in
the eyes of the believers, consigning herself to Hell. Hunted and harassed by her father and
other members of the group, Linda eventually was so worn down that she consented to a
marriage with a different, younger man she knew but did not want to marry, on condition
that she would not have to return to Colorado City. Even though Linda‘s ―apostate‖ status
was then revoked, she remained cut off from her family and trapped in an unwanted
marriage. From this Carolyn learned that ―escape was not the answer…. if I tried, I‘d be
hunted down and then forced into a situation that guaranteed misery and unhappiness‖ (p.
60).
Through luck and diligence, Carolyn not only graduated from high school, but also was able
to fit in a year of community college before she turned 18. But her luck turned when ―Uncle
Roy,‖ the prophet, decreed that she should marry Merril Jessop, a 50-year-old crony of his.
After the distressing experience with Linda, the family was taking no chances of another
humiliation. On very short notice, and under close guard against escape, Carolyn became
the fourth wife of a man who was so indifferent to her that he did not address a single
remark to her before the wedding.
Merril Jessop‘s household was dominated by his jealous, tyrannical second wife, Barbara.
Carolyn quickly learned that life there turned on the ability to intrigue and manipulate. She
contrived to get Merril to send her to college, in large part because her absence would
please Barbara. He also sent one of his daughters (a contemporary of Carolyn‘s) along with
her as a monitor/spy.
In November, 1986, Uncle Roy died and was succeeded by the elderly Rulon Jeffs. Merril‘s
power within the group increased as he allied himself first with Rulon, and then with
Warren, Rulon‘s son and eventual successor. (In 2008, Merril Jessop was in charge of the
YFZ ranch in Texas when child-welfare authorities raided it.) Along with the increase in
power came an increase in wives and children, with a predictable increase in household
intrigues, manipulation, and disorder.
Carolyn bore 8 children in a series of difficult pregnancies, coping not only with raising the
children and holding her own in the complex home environment, but also with assisting
Merril to run his various businesses. Having married her as part of a business proposition,
Merril‘s attitude toward Carolyn gradually changed from indifference to hostility. However,
the precipitating factor in her departure was the serious illness of a small child. Carolyn
began to compare the care and support given by the supposedly evil outsiders at the
hospital where she took the child for treatment with the blame accorded by her husband
and other FLDS members, who objected to the child‘s receiving medical treatment on the
grounds that her own sins were the cause of his illness.
The reader is awestruck by the determination and courage of this mother, who desired
nothing more than to get away, but who would not leave her children behind. She tells a
gripping tale of how she planned her escape and eventually fled in the middle of the night in
a car with just about enough gas to get to the nearest town, and with 8 children, one of
whom required an oxygen mask, and several of whom were convinced that, as one of them
put it, ―Mommy is taking us to Hell.‖
When Carolyn managed to get an appointment with Mark Shurtleff, Utah‘s Attorney General,
her story became the catalyst for long-delayed state action to investigate the FLDS and
initiate attempts to protect members in need of help.
During Carolyn‘s early teen years, she began to feel the group‘s constraints. She struggled
mightily to continue her education after the eighth grade, and contact with boys her own
age was strictly limited. The first great turning point of her life came when her older sister,
Linda, reached age 18—at that time the age of eligibility for girls to marry—and fled from
Colorado City to avoid marriage with a much older man, disgracing the entire family and, in
the eyes of the believers, consigning herself to Hell. Hunted and harassed by her father and
other members of the group, Linda eventually was so worn down that she consented to a
marriage with a different, younger man she knew but did not want to marry, on condition
that she would not have to return to Colorado City. Even though Linda‘s ―apostate‖ status
was then revoked, she remained cut off from her family and trapped in an unwanted
marriage. From this Carolyn learned that ―escape was not the answer…. if I tried, I‘d be
hunted down and then forced into a situation that guaranteed misery and unhappiness‖ (p.
60).
Through luck and diligence, Carolyn not only graduated from high school, but also was able
to fit in a year of community college before she turned 18. But her luck turned when ―Uncle
Roy,‖ the prophet, decreed that she should marry Merril Jessop, a 50-year-old crony of his.
After the distressing experience with Linda, the family was taking no chances of another
humiliation. On very short notice, and under close guard against escape, Carolyn became
the fourth wife of a man who was so indifferent to her that he did not address a single
remark to her before the wedding.
Merril Jessop‘s household was dominated by his jealous, tyrannical second wife, Barbara.
Carolyn quickly learned that life there turned on the ability to intrigue and manipulate. She
contrived to get Merril to send her to college, in large part because her absence would
please Barbara. He also sent one of his daughters (a contemporary of Carolyn‘s) along with
her as a monitor/spy.
In November, 1986, Uncle Roy died and was succeeded by the elderly Rulon Jeffs. Merril‘s
power within the group increased as he allied himself first with Rulon, and then with
Warren, Rulon‘s son and eventual successor. (In 2008, Merril Jessop was in charge of the
YFZ ranch in Texas when child-welfare authorities raided it.) Along with the increase in
power came an increase in wives and children, with a predictable increase in household
intrigues, manipulation, and disorder.
Carolyn bore 8 children in a series of difficult pregnancies, coping not only with raising the
children and holding her own in the complex home environment, but also with assisting
Merril to run his various businesses. Having married her as part of a business proposition,
Merril‘s attitude toward Carolyn gradually changed from indifference to hostility. However,
the precipitating factor in her departure was the serious illness of a small child. Carolyn
began to compare the care and support given by the supposedly evil outsiders at the
hospital where she took the child for treatment with the blame accorded by her husband
and other FLDS members, who objected to the child‘s receiving medical treatment on the
grounds that her own sins were the cause of his illness.
The reader is awestruck by the determination and courage of this mother, who desired
nothing more than to get away, but who would not leave her children behind. She tells a
gripping tale of how she planned her escape and eventually fled in the middle of the night in
a car with just about enough gas to get to the nearest town, and with 8 children, one of
whom required an oxygen mask, and several of whom were convinced that, as one of them
put it, ―Mommy is taking us to Hell.‖
When Carolyn managed to get an appointment with Mark Shurtleff, Utah‘s Attorney General,
her story became the catalyst for long-delayed state action to investigate the FLDS and
initiate attempts to protect members in need of help.
