‘Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey’: How Many Wives Did Rulon Jeffs Have?

Rulon Jeffs, or Uncle Rulon, served as the Prophet and President of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) until he died in 2002. The story of the religious sect and its subsequent leader Warren Jeffs is documented in Netflix’s four-part series, Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey. How many wives did Rulon Jeffs have?

How many wives did Rulon Jeffs have?

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to David Willliam Ward Jeffs, a first-generation Mormon fundamentalist, Rulon Jeffs used “Jennings” as a last name until age 10 to hide his family’s illegal polygamous lifestyle.

Raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his father introduced him to Mormon fundamentalism at the age of 28, which preached the importance of polygamy if one wanted to attain the highest level of salvation in the afterlife.

Already married to Zola Brown, the great-granddaughter of LDS President Brigham Young, he wholly embraced the teachings and secretly took another wife in 1940. However, Brown divorced him. After relocating to Idaho, where he worked for a few years, Jeffs returned to Salt Lake City, where he was appointed a High Priest Apostle in 1945.

A student of the Mormon fundamentalist group in Short Creek, leader Leroy Sunderland Johnson, the Utah native, assumed leadership of the religious sect following his death in 1986. He remained the Prophet, affectionately referred to as Uncle Rulon, until he died in 2002 at 92. When Jeffs died, it’s estimated he had at least 60 wives, some as young as 14-years-old, and 60 children.

Warren Jeffs took over as FLDS leader after his father’s death

One of his sons, Warren Jeffs, previously served as a counselor to the FLDS church leader but assumed the Prophet’s role following his father’s death.

He asserted his position by taking on all but two of Rulon’s widows as his own wives. Jeffs encouraged his followers to marry at least three women by adhering to their beliefs that polygamy or plural marriages resulted in a higher place next to God in the afterlife.

As Prophet, he held the sole right of assigning wives to husbands and would discipline members by reassigning their families to other men.

Eventually, he relocated his flock to Eldorado, Texas, where they built the Yearning For Zion (YFZ) Ranch. The community and Jeffs’s practice of marrying underage women to older men were put into the spotlight, resulting in the FLDS leader going on the run.

Jeffs is currently serving a life sentence in prison

Financially supported by his followers who thought they were donating money to the ranch, the President reportedly visited several “gentile” places, including Disney World, before his arrest in August 2006.

Following his conviction as an accomplice to rape, the authorities raided his temple at the YFZ compound and found records of the underage marriages he performed.

Additionally, recordings of Jeffs reportedly assaulting the teenagers he took on as brides were discovered, leading to his 2011 conviction on two felony counts of sexual assault of a child.

He was sentenced to life in prison and is still behind bars at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Jeffs becomes eligible for parole in 2038. He is said to have at least 70 wives, with 24 who are underage. Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey is streaming on Netflix.

How to get help: If you or someone you know has been sexually abused, text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 for free and confidential support.