Alex Joseph

Alex Joseph (June 24, 1936 – September 27, 1998) (born Alec Richard Joseph; also referred to as Ronald Ellison) was an American polygamist and founder of the Confederate Nations of Israel, a Mormon fundamentalist sect. As mayor of Big Water, Utah, Joseph was the first Libertarian Party mayor of a community in the United States.

Early life Joseph was born on June 24, 1936, in Merced, California. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served two tours during the Korean War.

Mormon fundamentalism Joseph was not raised in the Greek Orthodox Church, but was baptized into it in his late teens. He became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in 1965. In 1969, he abandoned the LDS Church and briefly joined a group of Mormon fundamentalists under the leadership of Rulon C. Allred in Pinesdale, Montana. In time, he convinced four students at the University of Montana to marry him and become his plural wives. His wives were not Latter Day Saints; rather, two were Roman Catholics, one was a Methodist, and one was a Presbyterian. The parents of the students were outraged and confronted Allred with their displeasure. Allred was displeased that Joseph had married without his permission, and after Joseph pointed out that Allred had also taken multiple wives, Joseph was asked to leave the colony in Montana. Joseph's exposure to Mormon fundamentalist groups led him to see them as oppressive and corrupt. "Atrocities are committed and people have no recourse because they're outside the law, like the Mafia", commented Joseph.

Polygamy Joseph's style of polygamy was formed out of his own reading of the Bible, and the Confederate Nations of Israel, a hybrid church–political organization modelled after Mormonism's Council of Fifty.

Libertarian mayor In April 1986, Joseph made news when he abandoned the Republican Party and joined the Libertarian Party and by so doing became the first American mayor to be a member of the Libertarian Party. Joseph also convinced the four other members of the town council to join the Libertarians, thereby creating America's first "Libertarian Party town government" in Big Water.