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,[1][2] since 1987. The DCCS is a financial cooperative established by his uncle Elden Kingston in 1935.
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,[4] although neither is practiced by the majority of members and the practice is not required to gain status in the group.[5]
Plural marriage is practiced by some members of the DCCS, and members make their own choice in who they marry.[5] 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.[6][7][8][9] Members generally seek the blessing of parents and religious leaders before choosing to marry. Many consider Kingston the top man in the group.[10]
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.[10]
He is believed to have practiced polygamy in the past, potentially accruing as many as 40 wives and fathering up to 300 children.[11][12]
^ abFoster, Craig (2019). American Polygamy; A History of Fundamentalist Mormon Faith. Charleston, SC: The History Press. pp. 197, 198. ISBN978-1-4671-3752-2.
