Joseph Musser

Joseph Musser was a Mormon fundamentalist leader whose brief, physically diminished tenure at the movement’s summit became a turning point in its history. After John Y. Barlow’s death, Musser inherited the leadership; when illness made succession unavoidable, his choice of Rulon Allred over LeRoy Johnson’s supporters split the movement into enduring rival communities.

Leadership after John Y. Barlow

After John Y. Barlow died in 1949, leadership of the fundamentalist movement passed to Musser, a respected follower of Barlow. His position placed him within a religious tradition in which authority was associated with prophetic leadership and continuing revelation. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the supreme leader’s title was President, Prophet, Seer, and Revelator; Joseph Smith had promoted personal revelation, then restricted who could receive commandments for the church. The continuing appeal of direct revelation, however, helped produce dissenting groups. Musser’s succession would expose how vulnerable leadership remained when claims to authority and inheritance collided.

Illness and the choice of an heir

Musser was soon struck by a series of crippling strokes. In his debilitated state, he depended heavily on Rulon Allred, a sociable naturopath and fellow polygamist who treated him. In 1951, while gravely ill, Musser appointed Allred his second elder and heir apparent. The decision met strenuous opposition from people who believed LeRoy Johnson should succeed him, as John Y. Barlow had specified before his death. The dispute was therefore not simply over Musser’s preference: it placed his appointment against an earlier succession expectation associated with Barlow.

The movement divides

Hostility between Johnson’s supporters and Allred’s camp became so intense that the fundamentalist movement divided into two rival sects. Musser died in 1954. Johnson then led the larger breakaway group, which remained in Short Creek and became known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or the United Effort Plan. Allred became prophet of the Apostolic United Brethren, based in the Salt Lake Valley, about 280 miles to the north. The succession contest thus reshaped the movement geographically as well as institutionally, establishing separate communities under competing leaders.

Significance

Musser’s importance lies chiefly in the consequences of his appointment. His failing health made the transfer of authority urgent, but the choice of Allred could not settle a movement in which supporters also invoked Barlow’s designation of Johnson. The resulting division illustrates a recurring tension in Mormon fundamentalism: leadership depends on recognized lines of authority, yet those lines can fracture when rival groups disagree over who has the right to lead. After the split, the Short Creek group and Allred’s followers had little further involvement with one another, making Musser’s succession decision a lasting boundary between them.