Paul Elden Kingston

Paul Elden Kingston (born 17 December 1959) is an accountant and attorney who has served as the Trustee-in-Trust of the Davis County Cooperative Society (DCCS), a Mormon fundamentalist denomination,[2] since 1987. The DCCS is a financial cooperative established by his uncle Elden Kingston in 1935.

Paul Elden Kingston
Trustee in Trust [1]
August 25, 1987 (1987-08-25)
PredecessorJohn Ortell Kingston
Personal details
Born (1959-12-17) 17 December 1959
United States
Spouse(s)27
Children300+
ParentsJohn Ortell Kingston

Kingston succeeded his father John Ortell Kingston as the Trustee-in-Trust of the DCCS upon his father's death in 1987. During his tenure, some members have continued the practice of plural, and intra-family marriage,[3] although neither is practiced by the majority of members and the practice is not required to gain status in the group.[4]

Plural marriage is practiced by some members of the DCCS, and members make their own choice in who they marry.[4] Plural marriages for individuals under 18 in the group are not allowed. For more than a decade, the group has publicly spoken out against child-bride marriages and the DCCS has a policy encouraging its members to marry within the legal age of consent.[5][6][7][8] Members generally seek the blessing of parents and religious leaders before choosing to marry. Many consider Kingston the top man in the group.[9]

Records show he signed as a witness on 4 lawful teenage marriages over a 20 year period. There are thousands of members in the group.[9]

He is believed to have practiced polygamy in the past, potentially accruing as many as 40 wives and fathering up to 300 children.[10][11]

References
  1. Hales, Brian C. "John Ortell Kingston". Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  2. "United by fundamentalist Mormon beliefs, one polygamous group helps another by bringing truckloads of food". The Salt Lake Tribune. 2017-07-26. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
  3. Janofsky, Michael (February 27, 2003), "Young Brides Stir New Outcry on Utah Polygamy", The New York Times, retrieved 2013-09-10 Late Edition - Final Section A, page 1, column 2
  4. Foster, Craig (2019). American Polygamy; A History of Fundamentalist Mormon Faith. Charleston, SC: The History Press. pp. 197, 198. ISBN 978-1-4671-3752-2.
  5. "Shurtleff: Child bride polygamous marriages appear to have stopped". KSL.com. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  6. "DCCS - FAQ". www.dccsociety.org. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  7. "Polygamists are urged to make public statement". Deseret News. 2008-06-19. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  8. "No longer performing child-bride marriages?". Deseret News. 2007-09-09. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  9. "A review of wedding certificates shows how the teen marriages are sanctioned at the highest levels of the Kingston Group. Paul E. Kingston, considered the top man, signed as a witness for four of the marriages that The Tribune found outside Utah.… If the father believes his son received true direction from God, the son is sent to Paul Kingston or one of the people he designates to consider marriages." "Girls in polygamous Kingston Group continue to marry as young as 15, records show, sometimes leaving Utah to marry cousins". The Salt Lake Tribune. 2018-08-04. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
  10. Bennion, Janet (2012). Polygamy in Primetime. ISBN 9781611682960. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  11. "Inside 'The Order,' One Mormon Cult's Secret Empire". Rolling Stone. 15 June 2011. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
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