More on the FLDS leadership

In response to my previous "Warren Jeffs update" post, Dana Franks entered a comment at FriendFeed which read, in part, as follows:

[M]ost of those who previously believed he was the prophet feel he was either coerced into his statement or that an evil spirit took hold of him momentarily, and that he couldn't "resign" a position that God had given him through revelation for life. They still believe he's the prophet. Others believe Rulon Jeffs actually designated that a Canadian follower would be the prophet after his death.

Here's part of what a Salt Lake Tribune blog post says about William E. Jessop, beginning with the claim that William E. Jessop is not really William E. Jessop.

William E. Jessop is really William E. Timpson. His mother was Kathy Jessop, a daughter of Edson Jessop. She was married to Alma A. Timpson. Timpson helped found Centennial Park with Marion Hammon after a falling out with Leroy S. Johnson in the mid-1980s.

Kathy sided with her family, which stayed loyal to Johnson. She left Timpson and was placed with Fred Jessop, the FLDS bishop and big man about the twin towns.

William E. adopted his stepfather's last name. Several sources told me he is in his late 30s to mid-40s.

More here, including the note that the claim that Jessop was made an apostles by Rulon Jeffs seems to contradict Rulon Jeffs' earlier teachings.

And there's a whole bunch of questions and answers about Jessop/Timpson in the comments to a blog post.

Anonymous said...
I've heard of the new bishop at CC, a William (Willie) Timpson. Some court documents list him as (aka Jessop). Who is he and why did he change his last name?

6/30/2005 10:37 PM

Anonymous said...
Jessop last name is one of the Chosen Names. Jessops, Allreds, Steeds, and Jeffs.

But Willie I hear is no longer the bishop. Got demoted? Maybe he will be shipped off to Texas.

7/01/2005 5:16 AM

Anonymous said...
William Timpson, the want-a-be bishop, is the son of President Alma Timpson. His past makes him not as holy as one would think.

7/01/2005 7:00 AM...

Anonymous said...
So why do some refer to William Timpson as William Jessop?

7/01/2005 10:01 PM

Anonymous said...
HHEEEEELLLLLLOOOOO!!
his "Mother" married Fred M. Jessop
The previous bisop.
ANd he took his new father's name.

Thanks for letting me share :)

7/02/2005 1:37 AM

Anonymous said...
william timpson is only half jessop his mom is kathy jessop here father is edson jessop but william is still a timpson with what he has done he is not good enoff to take on the jessop name he married some of uncle freds wifes before he passed on so please dont call him a jessop ok

7/02/2005 10:05 AM

Anonymous said...
And just how do you know that he married some of Uncle Fred's wives before Uncle Fred died? That was all rumor unless you have first hand knowledge that it's true. Honestly, I think Uncle Fred's wives had more love and respect for him than that.

7/02/2005 12:41 PM

Anonymous said...
respect that is a word that is not in the vocabulary of the women in the flds if warren till the women to leave there husband they do it you said it is a rummer well it is all so true that fred lindsay was kicked out becouse that he would not take some of uncle freds wifes before he died he told warren no becouse he had RESPECT for uncle fred the people in the flds church dont even comeing close to knowing the true meaning of the word RESPECT

7/03/2005 7:18 AM

Anonymous said...
I believe William Timpson name change is a recent development.
Correct assumption or not?

7/03/2005 8:54 AM...

Faithful Woman said...
Willy Timpson vs. Willy Jessop

To add another complication to the Willy soup, there is another Willy Jessop, about the same age, son of Glade Jessop. This is big Willy, the concealed weapon toting, big bellied, loud mouthed, self apointed body guard, you get the picture. Like he is a Sam Barlow wana be.

I went to school with Willy T. Er, I was a freshman in highschool while he was a senior. I thought he was a nice kid, at least nicer than his siblings. I also worked with him at Uncle Fred's house, before he got married, or him Mother married Uncle Fred for that matter. I still thought he was a nice kid, and the little girls there had a crush on him. Some where between getting married and becoming the new biship, he turned into a real jerk. He is the reason our utilities were turned off. And the only comment he had to make was that it wan't crule for a man to take his family out camping. Likening our utilities being cut off to going camping for the weekend.
Of course that didn't last long.... (snort), he expected us to just bow down and take it!

Oh yeah, at the town hall meeting there was a big arial picture of the town, but it isn't likely that it would get posted any time soon.

7/05/2005 11:28 AM

And in the same blog (Texas polygamy), a July 26, 2006 update claimed the following:

William Jessop aka William Timpson is bishop at YFZ.

Yet the story seems to have changed by the time the Salt Lake Tribune wrote this story on April 16, 2008:

Merrill Jessop, bishop for the FLDS at the YFZ Ranch, has served as the community's liaison with Texas officials. Jessop, Isaac Jeffs and Lyle Jeffs have been granted the legal right to challenge the sweeping search of the YFZ Ranch.

The article, which purports to list all of the main players in the YFZ saga, does not list William Jessop/William Timpson at all.

But both Jessops turned up in a Deseret News article from the next day, April 17:

[Child Protective Services supervisor Angie] Voss then went on to describe a crowd of mothers standing with their children who were uncooperative and did not wish to leave. It was then, Voss said, that Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran held up a cell phone and through the speaker, "Merril Jessop told the ladies they needed to cooperate and they just stopped" resisting.

When the state's attorney asked Voss how many in the crowd changed modes from being resistant to cooperative, she said it was about 30 or so. Jessop is the leader and bishop at the ranch....

During a mid-afternoon lunch break, FLDS member William Jessop was surrounded by a hoard of media. He spoke briefly and when asked if he had a message to the state of Texas, he said, "Wake up. Wake up. Wake up." Asked if the state was wrong to conduct the raid and take the children, he simply replied, "Yes."

Of course, that could be big Willy Jessop. It gets kind of confusing.

[18 JUNE 2008: MERRILL JESSOP UPDATE.]

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