In 1882, the government of the United States implemented the Edmunds Act, which not only declared polygamy to be a felony but also forbade polygamists from holding political office and revoked their voting rights. As a result, large numbers of Mormons re-settled in Mexico to continue their lives free from persecution. Colonia Juarez in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua was such colony, and it was here that Ervil’s father, Alma Dayer Lebaron Sn. lived before he was excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.