Benjamin Franklin Johnson Intro

July 28, 1818 – November 18, 1905

The life story of Benjamin Franklin Johnson is truly one for the record books as they say. If I could sum up his life in one word or phrase, it’d be inbreeding. As I stated in this report ‘I’ve researched more than thirty families in our series, and have come across my fair share of shallow gene pools in my day. While it can be cumbersome to follow, the trails that are intertwined eventually become more clearly defined so one can make sense of it all.

However, I’ve never witnessed anything like this family. No one, and I do mean no one, has the same story twice. Typically, the person hosting a site w/ info on their family will be identified. I found maybe 3-4 who had a real name attached. Everything else was listed ‘by private user’. This leads me to believe the Church is behind the odious information presented on this family. If I can be proven wrong, I’ll be more than happy to report it. Making matters worse, the majority of Benjamin Johnson’s wives were related to each other, in one way or another.’

Johnson had 8 wives, and somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 kids. The majority of his wives were blood relatives and all but 3 were young teen girls who were decades younger than himself.

His life ranks up there as one of the worst in Mormon history. Although I’ve written about other polygamists with far bigger families than this man had, no others had a ratio of inbreeding like he did. You can read our report in a PDF here.

As you can imagine with having that many wives and kids, he left behind a huge clan. Some estimates range over the 800 mark which means Utah, Arizona, Mexico, and even Canada, are filled with his descendants.

If ever there was a time the phrase ‘his reputation preceded him’ was apropros, it is now. Even today in the 21st century, just the mention of the family name LeBaron still carries the hallmarks that polygamy, and inbreeding are lurking around the next corner.

Thankfully, here at the ministry we’ve witnessed many who’ve escaped and are living a wondrous life in the Lord!

As always, we’re asking for the Christian prayer warriors to surround them in prayer! The one thing I’ve learned in my walk with Jesus is that if He saved me, He can save anyone – including everyone in the LeBaron clan!

With Love in Christ;

Michelle

1 Cor. 1:18