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How Mitt Romney 'owes $25,000 on a 130-year-old debt' after his great-grandfather skipped bail because his neighbors thought him a 'mass of putrid pus'
- Author Judith Freeman claims her great-grandfather William Flake bailed Mitt Romney's great-grandfather out of jail for $1,000
- Miles Park Romney had been arrested on polygamy charges
- Romney never repaid Flake and instead fled to Mexico with his family
- A local newspaper editor referred to Romney as 'a mass of putrid pus and rotten goose pimples with the face of a baboon and the character of a louse'
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 17:46 EST, 28 August 2012 | UPDATED: 17:47 EST, 28 August 2012
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2194952/Mitt-Romney-owes-25-000-130-year-old-debt-left-great-grandfather.html

With an estimated fortune of $250million, one would think Mitt Romney would not have let a family debt go unpaid for 130 years.

An author claims the Republican presidential candidate owes her family $25,000 after her great-grandfather paid Romney's great-grandfather's bail in the 1880s.

Instead of showing up at court, Miles Park Romney -- whom one newspaper editor called a 'mass of putrid pus' -- jumped bail and fled to Mexico, leaving his friend liable for the considerable sum.

Performer: Miles Park Romney, Mitt's great-grandfather, was known for his theatrical performances. He's pictured here in costume

Author and essayist Judith Freeman traces the debt back four generations to a time when her ancestor, William Flake, and Romney's ancestor were Mormon pioneers together in Arizona.

Freeman documents the bizarre family history in the Los Angeles Review of Books, reporting that Flake paid $1,000 to bail Romney out of jail when he was arrested for polygamy. Freeman estimates that sum, not accounting for interested, is worth $25,000 now and that Mitt Romney is liable for it.

The story is half tongue-and-cheek and half history lesson on the Romney family's roots in the Mormon church and its participation in polygamy.

It began in the 1870s, when Brigham Young -- the founder of the Mormon colony in Salt Lake City, Utah -- tasked Miles Park Romney and William Flake with spreading Mormonism to Arizona.



Slings and arrows: Mitt Romney is not the only one who has drawn insults for his public persona. His great-grandfather Miles Park Romney was called a 'mass of putrid pus' by a editor newspaper editor

Before they could embark on their quest, though, Freeman writes, he commanded both men to participate in the 'Divine Principle' and take multiple wives.

Flake married Prudence Kartchner, a 16-year-old family friend who became Freeman's great-grandmother.

In Utah, Miles Park Romney was known for his role in amateur theatrical productions. Flake had a reputation for his handling of horses and his skills as a frontiersman.

Once they moved to Arizona, Romney's reputation seemed to slide.The residents of the dusty frontier towns were deeply suspicious of the Mormons and especially seemed to dislike Romney.


One newspaper editor referred to him as 'a mass of putrid pus and rotten goose pimples; a skunk, with the face of a baboon, the character of a louse, the breath of a buzzard and the record of a perjurer and common drunkard.'



Prison: William Flake served six months in jail for polygamy after he was arrested by angry Arizonans




Ties: Author Judith Freeman revealed her family's history with the Romneys. Her great-grandfather, William Flake, offered $1,000 bail money for Miles Romney in the 1880s

By the 1880s, Arizona territorial officials began rounding up polygamists after a new law was passed. Both Flake and Romney were thrown in jail.

Freeman claims Romney had no money and could not afford the $1,000 bail -- a large sum in those days -- so Flake paid to have both of them freed.

Romney repaid the kindness by fleeing to Mexico with his family, including Mitt Romney's grandfather Gaskell Romney. He started an enclave in Chihuahua where Mitt's father George Romney was born.

Flake stood trial in Arizona and spent six months in jail.

Freeman claims Flake was never repaid. Adjusted for inflation -- but not counting interest -- the sum is now $25,000.

'I want to assure Mitt that I’m more than happy to be the disperser of the funds and I guarantee that all the Flakes of the world will get their fair share the moment he does the right thing,' she writes.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2194952/Mitt-Romney-owes-25-000-130-year-old-debt-left-great-grandfather.html#ixzz2AQOxLOkV