Mormon Classics | "Rigdon Revealed" | Spalding Library | Bookshelf | Newspapers | History Vault
Joseph Smith:
Nineteenth Century Con Man?
By Dale R. Broadhurst
Joseph Smith: 19th Century Con Man? | Sidney Rigdon: Creating the Book of Mormon
Tracking Book of Mormon Authorship | Word-print Study | Joseph Smith & Sidney Rigdon
MODERN SOURCES:
1962 Lancaster | 1970 R. L. Anderson | 1970 J. &. S. Tanner | 1971 J. &. S. Tanner | 1972 M. S. Hill
1974 W. P. Walters | 1977 W. P. Walters | 1982 Van Wagoner & Walker | 1984 R. W. Walker
1986 D. L. Morgan | 1990 R. I. Anderson | 1994 J. L. Brooke | 1998 D. M. Quinn | 2000 D. Persuitte
HISTORICAL SOURCES | HERMAN MELVILLE ITEMS
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James E. Lancaster "By the Gift and Power of God" (Saints' Herald, 110:24, Nov. 15, 1962) (excerpt) (notes) Transcriber's comments |
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Copyright © 1962, Herald House. Limited "fair use" excerpts transcribed.
(If copyright holder wishes the on-line excerpts shortened, please contact transcriber)
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Any consideration of the method of translation of the Book of Mormon must begin with the testimony of its translator, Joseph Smith, Jr. The prophet testified on numerous occasions regarding the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. A record exists of what transpired on one of the first occasions where Joseph Smith was publicly asked about the translation of the book. A conference of the church was held at Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, on October 25, 1831; twelve high priests, seventeen elders, four priests, three teachers, four deacons, and a large congregation attended.[1] At this conference, several of the brethren took occasion to testify to the truth of the Book of Mormon. Brother Hyrum Smith said that he thought best that the information of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon be related by Joseph himself to the elders present, that all might know for themselves. Brother Joseph Smith, Jr., said that it was not intended to tell the world all the particulars of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon; and also said it was not expedient for him to relate these things. [2] One week later these words appeared in a revelation given through the prophet at a special conference of the church meeting at Hiram, Portage County, Ohio: " ...and after having received the record of the Nephites, yea, even my servant Joseph Smith, Jr., might have power to translate, through the mercy of God, by the power of God, the Book of Mormon." [3] This was the pattern that Joseph Smith was to follow throughout his life when asked regarding the Book of Mormon. Never at any point did he reveal any of the details of the method of translation. He did, however, stress the divine aspects of this translation. Joseph's earliest published testimony concerning the translation appears in the Elders' Journal of July 1838. He wrote: Moroni, the person who deposited the plates, from whence the Book of Mormon was translated, in a hill in Manchester, Ontario County, New York, being dead, and raised again therefrom, appeared unto me, and told me where they were, and gave me directions how to obtain them. I obtained them, and the Urim and Thummim with them, by the means of which, I translated the plates and thus came the Book of Mormon. [4] In March 1842, in response to a letter from John Wentworth, editor of the Chicago Democrat, Joseph Smith printed in the Times and Seasons a brief statement of belief as well as a short history of the Mormon movement. With the records was found a curious instrument which the ancients called "Urim and Thummim," which consisted of two transparent stones set in the rim of a bow fastened to a breastplate. Through the medium of the Urim and Thummim I translated the record by the gift and power of God. [5] In the next issue of the Times and Seasons, Joseph Smith began the publication of his biography. Though first published in 1842 it states that the writing was begun in 1838. Regarding the translation of the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith wrote: By this timely aid was I enabled to reach the place of my destination in Pennsylvania, and immediately after my arrival there I commenced copying the characters of the plates. I copied a considerable number of them, and by means of the Urim and Thummim I translated some of them, which I did between the time I arrived at the house of my wife's father in the month of December, and the February following. [6] What is possibly the prophet's last published statement regarding the translation was made in a letter to N. E. Seaton, a newspaper publisher, which was printed in the Times and Seasons: The Book of Mormon is a record of the forefathers of our western tribes of Indians, having been found through the ministrations of an holy angel, and translated into our own language by the gift and power of God, after having been hid up in the earth for the last fourteen hundred years, containing the word of God which was delivered unto them. [7] As the foregoing quotations demonstrate, the statements of Joseph Smith give no detailed information regarding the translation of the Book of Mormon. Rather, that it was "by the gift and power of God" that the record of the Nephites was made available to the world. Emma Smith Bidamon was interviewed late in her life by her son Joseph Smith III regarding her knowledge of the important events which transpired in the early church. This interview took place in February 1879, in the presence of Major Lewis C. Bidamon, her husband. At one point in the interview Emma stated the following: A. In writing for your father I frequently wrote day after day, often sitting at the table close by him, he sitting with his face buried in his hat, with the stone in it, and dictating hour after hour with nothing between us. A. He had neither manuscript nor book to read from. Q. Could he not have had, and you not know it? A. If he had had anything of the kind, he could not have concealed it from me. Q. Are you sure that he had the plates at the time you were writing for him? A. The plates often lay on the table without any attempt at concealment, wrapped in a small linen tablecloth, which I had given him to fold them in... Q. Where did Father and Oliver Cowdery write? A. Oliver Cowdery and your father wrote in the room where I was at work. [8] Many are familiar with this testimony but have seemingly overlooked that the wife of the prophet claims Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon sitting with his face in his hat with a stone placed in the hat. He did not even look at the plates which were nearby, wrapped up in a small tablecloth. A similar testimony is borne out by another witness to the translation, David Whitmer. In 1887 he published a booklet entitled An Address to All Believers in Christ. This booklet is a summary of his beliefs regarding the Restoration and the role he played in the movement. He states: I will now give you a description of the manner in which the Book of Mormon was translated. Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man. [9] How can the testimonies of Emma Smith and David Whitmer, describing the translation of the Book of Mormon with a seer stone, be reconciled with the traditional account that the Book of Mormon was translated by the "interpreters" found in the stone box with the plates? Fortunately there is additional testimony by Emma Smith Bidamon on this important issue. Sometime in the early part of 1870, Emma S. Pilgrim, the wife of the pastor of the RLDS church in Independence, Missouri, wrote to Emma Bidamon, requesting information about the translation of the Book of Mormon. Emma Bidamon replied in a letter written from Nauvoo, Illinois, March 27, 1870. Her letter states in part: Now the first that my husband translated was translated by the use of the Urim and Thummim, and that was the part that Martin Harris lost, after that he used a small stone, not exactly black, but was rather a dark color. I cannot tell whether that account in the Times and Seasons is correct or not because someone stole all my books and I have none to refer to at present, if I can find one that has that account I will tell you what is true and what is not. [10] Emma's letter indicates that at first the Book of Mormon was translated by the Urim and Thummim. She refers to the instrument found with the plates. However, this first method was used only for the portion written on the 116 pages of foolscap which Martin Harris later lost. After that, the translation was undertaken with the seer stone. Emma's testimony is corroborated by David Whitmer in an interview appearing in the Chicago Inter-Ocean, October 17, 1886. The first 116 pages when completed were by permission of the prophet intrusted to the hands of Martin Harris, who carried them home to his incredulous relatives in triumph, hoping by the exhibition to convert his family and kinfolk from their uncompromising hostility to the religious premises he had adopted. Upon retiring at night he locked up the precious pages in a bureau drawer, along with his money and other valuables. In the morning he was shocked to find that they had been stolen, while his money had been left untouched. They were never found and were never replaced, so that the Book of Mormon is today minus just 116 pages of the original matter, which would increase the volume fully one-fourth of its present size. This unpardonable carelessness evoked the stormiest kind of chastisement from the Lord, who took from the prophet the Urim and Thummim and otherwise expressed his condemnation. By fervent prayer and by otherwise humbling himself, the prophet, however, again found favor, and was presented with a strange, oval-shaped, chocolate-colored stone, about the size of an egg, only more flat, which, it was promised, should serve the same purpose as the missing Urim and Thummim (the latter was a pair of transparent stones set in a bow-shaped frame and very much resembled a pair of spectacles). With this stone all of the present Book of Mormon was translated. [11] A consistent account appears in a later interview with Whitmer.[12] Indications that there were two methods of translation also appear very early in anti-Mormon works. In a book published in 1834, Mormonism Unvailed, by Eber D. Howe, the following statement appears: Now, whether the two methods for translation [sic - translating?], one by a pair of stone spectacles "set in the rims of a bow," and the other by one stone, were provided against accident, we cannot determine -- perhaps they were limited in their appropriate uses -- at all events the plan meets our approbation. We are informed that Smith used a stone in a hat, for the purpose of translating the plates. The spectacles and plates were found together, but were taken from him and hid up again before he had translated one word, and he has never seen them since -- this is Smith's own story. [13] D. P. Hurlburt, in the latter part of 1833 collected information from the townsfolk in Palmyra, regarding the translation of the Book of Mormon. This material was later used by Howe in his book. From this it must be concluded that at an early date both the prophet's friends and antagonists knew two methods were involved in the translation process. David Whitmer was interviewed numerous times in his later years by newspaper correspondents seeking information about the early days in the church from one of its founders. The resulting newspaper accounts do not always agree in detail. This may be due in part to Whitmer's age, but it may also be a result of the reporters' misunderstanding or carelessness. On numerous occasions he issued corrections to statements he was purported to have made. However, there are two statements by David Whitmer that do not come to us through this medium. The most important is his own booklet An Address to All Believers in Christ, previously quoted. The other is a statement he made to a member of the Reorganized Church, J. L. Traughber, Jr., in October 1879, and printed in Saints' Herald. In connection with this latter testimony it should be pointed out that David Whitmer did not meet Joseph Smith until June 1829. [14] According to the testimony of Emma Smith and David Whitmer, the angel took the Urim and Thummim from Joseph Smith at the time of the loss of the 116 pages. This was June 1828, one year before David became involved with the work of translation. [15] David Whitmer could never have been present when the Urim and Thummim were used. He clearly states in his testimony to Traughber: With the sanction of David Whitmer, and by his authority, I now state that he does not say that Joseph Smith ever translated in his presence by aid of Urim and Thummim; but by means of one dark colored, opaque stone, called a "Seer Stone," which was placed in the crown of a hat, into which Joseph put his face so as to exclude the external light. Then, a spiritual light would shine forth, and parchment would appear before Joseph, upon which was a line of characters from the plates, and, under it, the translation in English; at least, so Joseph said. [16] One of the earliest interviews with Whitmer appears in the Chicago Times, August 7, 1875. Chicago papers also printed at least two other similar articles. One appeared on December 18, 1885, in the Chicago Tribune. [17] A corrected summary of this later article appeared in the same paper on January 24, 1888, on the occasion of Whitmer's death. [18] In 1881 David Whitmer made a statement to the Kansas City Journal which appeared in that paper on June 5. I, as well as all of my father's family, Smith's wife, Oliver Cowdery, and Martin Harris were present during the translation. The translation was by Smith, and the manner as follows: He had two small stones of a chocolate color, nearly egg shaped and perfectly smooth, but not transparent, called interpreters, which were given him with the plates. He did not use the plates in the translation, but would hold the interpreters to his eyes and cover his face with a hat, excluding all light. [19] In reading the various accounts given by David Whitmer it should be remembered that by his own testimony he was not an eyewitness to any method of translation other than that of the "seer stone." It is possible his accounts of the translation by use of the Urim and Thummim are a result of conversation with Emma Smith or Martin Harris, who were Joseph's scribes at that earlier time. The testimony of Oliver Cowdery, Joseph's principal scribe, is similar to the prophet's own, for it gives little detailed information about the method of translation. There are three published statements of Oliver Cowdery regarding his work in assisting Joseph Smith in the translation of the Book of Mormon: These were days never to be forgotten -- to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven, awakened the utmost gratitude of this bosom! Day after day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from his mouth, as he translated, with the Urim and Thummim, or, as the Nephites would have said, "Interpreters," the history, or record, called "The Book of Mormon." [20] Still, although favored of God as a chosen witness to bear testimony to the divine authority of the Book of Mormon, and honored of the Lord in being permitted, without money and without price, to serve as scribe during the translation of the Book of Mormon, I have sometimes had seasons of skepticism, in which I did seriously wonder whether the Prophet and I were men in our sober senses when he would be translating from plates through "the Urim and Thummim" and the plates not be in sight at all. But I believed both in the Seer and in the "Seer Stone," and what the First Elder announced as revelation from God, I accepted as such, and committed to paper with a glad mind and happy heart and swift pen; for I believed him to be the soul of honor and truth, a young man who would die before he would lie. [21] ... I wrote, with my own pen, the entire Book of Mormon (save a few pages), as it fell from the lips of the Prophet Joseph Smith, as he translated it by the gift and power of God, by the means of the Urim and Thummim, or, as it is called by that book, "holy interpreters." I beheld with my eyes, and handled with my hands the gold plates from which it was translated. I also saw with my eyes and handled with my hands the "holy interpreters." That book is true. Sidney Rigdon did not write it. Mr. Spaulding did not write it. I wrote it myself as it fell from the lips of the Prophet. [22] It is interesting to note that Oliver Cowdery refers to the use of the "seer stone" but in such a way as to make it synonymous with the Urim and Thummim and the interpreters. He further states that Joseph translated with the plates out of sight. This generally supports the accounts previously examined. The remaining key witness, Martin Harris, provided only one reliable statement. It came from his later years when he resided in Utah. It is reprinted below. Martin Harris related an incident that occurred during the time that he wrote that portion of the translation of the Book of Mormon which he was favored to write direct from the mouth of the Prophet Joseph Smith. He said that the Prophet possessed a seer stone, by which he was enabled to translate as well as from the Urim and Thummim, and for convenience he then used the seer stone. Martin explained the translation as follows: By aid of the seer stone, sentences would appear and were read by the Prophet and written by Martin, and when finished he would say, "Written," and if correctly written that sentence would disappear and another appear in its place, but if not written correctly it remained until corrected, so that the translation was just as it was engraved on the plates, precisely in the language then used. Martin said further that the seer stone differed in appearance entirely from the Urim and Thummim that was obtained with the plates, which were two clear stones set in two rims, very much resembling spectacles, only were larger. Martin said there were not many pages translated while he wrote, after which Oliver Cowdery and others did the writing. [23] Martin Harris also claims that the prophet, Joseph Smith, used two methods of translation. Harris very clearly distinguishes the Urim and Thummim which "was obtained with the plates" from the seer stone. Interestingly enough, Martin Harris does not tell us why Joseph Smith used the seer stone. According to other witnesses the stone's use was due to Martin Harris's own indiscretion. Harris merely said that for "convenience" the prophet used the seer stone. One other witness to the events that transpired in the Whitmer home has left an account of the translation of the Book of Mormon. Michael Morse who was married to Trial Hale, a sister of Emma Smith, was present at the time of the translation. In an 1879 interview with W. W. Blair of the Reorganized Church, Mr. Morse described the method of translation of the Book of Mormon. The pertinent parts of his testimony are related by Blair: He further states that when Joseph was translating the Book of Mormon, he [Morse] had occasion more than once to go into his immediate presence, and saw him engaged at his work of translation. The mode of procedure consisted of Joseph's placing the Seer Stone in the crown of a hat, then putting his face into the hat, so as to entirely cover his face, resting his elbows upon his knees, and then dictating, word after word, while the scribe -- Emma, John Whitmer, O. Cowdery, or some other, wrote it down. [24] Isaac Hale, Emma's father, provided additional information about the translation of the Book of Mormon. His testimony first appeared in 1834, fairly early in the history of the church. Isaac Hale was obviously antagonistic toward Joseph Smith and the Mormon movement. He stated: The manner in which he pretended to read and interpret, was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the Book of Plates were at the same time hid in the woods! [25] The same source also contains the statement of Alva Hale, one of Isaac Hale's sons. Alva's account is similar to his father's. William Smith, younger brother of the prophet, is an often quoted source about the translation method. Since he was not a resident of Harmony, Pennsylvania, where the translation took place, we cannot be certain he was an eyewitness. Therefore, his testimony may be second-hand. In 1883 William published a small book of his experiences in the church. In regard to his brother's translation of the Book of Mormon he wrote: In consequence of his vision, and his having the golden plates and refusing to show them, a great persecution arose against the whole family, and he was compelled to remove to Pennsylvania with the plates, where he translated them by means of the Urim and Thummim (which he obtained with the plates), and the power of God. The manner inwhich this was done was by looking into the Urim and Thummim, which was placed in a hat to exclude the light (the plates lying nearby covered up), and reading off the translation, which appeared in the stone by the power of God. [26] In a sermon preached in the Saints' Chapel at Deloit, Iowa, June 8, 1884, William said: When Joseph received the plates he also received the Urim and Thummim, which he would place in a hat to exclude all light, and with the plates by his side he translated the characters, which were cut into the plates with some sharp instrument, into English. And thus, letter by letter, word by word, sentence by sentence, the whole book was translated. [27] In July 1891 William Smith was interviewed by J. W. Peterson and W. S. Pender of the Reorganized Church. This interview was published in 1924, thirty years after William's death. [Among other things we inquired minutely about the Urim and Thummim and the breastplate. We asked him what was meant by the expression "two rims of a bow," which held the former. He said [the Urim and Thummim were set in] a double silver bow which was twisted into the shape of the figure eight, and the two stones were placed literally between the two rims of the bow. At one end was attached a rod which was connected with the outer edge of the right shoulder of the breast-plate. By pressing the head a little forward, the rod held the Urim and Thummim before the eyes much like a pair of spectacles. A pocket was prepared in the breastplate on the left side, immediately over the heart. When not in use the Urim and Thummim was placed in the pocket, the rod being of just the right length to allow it to be so deposited. This instrument could, however, be detached from the breastplate, and his brother said that Joseph often wore it detached when away from home, but always used it in connection with the breastplate when receiving official communications, and usually so when translating, as it permitted him to have both hands free to hold the plates. In answer to our query, William informed us that he had, himself, by Joseph's direction, put the Urim and Thummim before his eyes, but could see nothing, as he did not have the gift of Seer. He also informed us that the instruments were too wide for his eyes, as also for Joseph's, and must have been used by much larger men. The instrument caused a strain on Joseph's eyes, and he sometimes resorted to the plan of covering his eyes with a hat to exclude the light in part." This statement described two methods of translation. In the first method a rod affixed to the Urim and Thummim was inserted into a breastplate. The prophet's second method was to cover his eyes with a hat. William further reports that the first method was "usually" employed when translating and the second method was "sometimes" used to avoid eye strain. This seems inconsistent with William's earlier statements that mention only the second, supposedly less frequent, method. An examination of the eyewitness testimony produces the following consensus on the method of translation of the Book of Mormon: (1) Nephite interpreters often called "Urim and Thummim" were found with the plates on Hill Cumorah; (2) these interpreters were used first in the translation of the plates; (3) the portion translated by use of the interpreters was copied onto 116 pages of foolscap and later lost by Martin Harris; (4) because of the indiscretion of Martin and Joseph, the Nephite interpreters were permanently removed; (5) the Book of Mormon that we have today was translated by use of the seer stone; (6) Joseph Smith translated by placing the seer stone in his hat and covering his face with his hat to darken his eyes; (7) the plates were not used in the translating process and often were not even in sight during the translation; (8) other persons were sometimes in the room while Joseph Smith dictated to his scribe; (9) all witnesses to the translation agree to these facts. In August 1829, a newspaper in Palmyra, New York, the Palmyra Freeman, printed the earliest known reference to the Book of Mormon. Although the original issue of the Freeman has been lost, fortunately, the article was republished by the Rochester Advertiser and Telegraph of August 31, 1829. This latter newspaper is still available in the Reynolds Library in Rochester, New York. The article is noteworthy because it attempts to explain the method of translation of the Book of Mormon prior to its publication. The Palmyra Freeman says -- The greatest piece of superstition that has come within our knowledge now occupies the attention of a few individuals of this quarter. It is generally known and spoken of as the "Golden Bible." Its proselytes give the following account of it. In the fall of 1827, a person by the name of Joseph Smith, of Manchester, Ontario Co., reported that he had been visited in a dream by the spirit of the Almighty and informed that in a certain hill in that town was deposited this golden Bible, containing an ancient record of a divine nature and origin. After having been thrice visited, as he states, he proceeded to the spot, and after penetrating "mother earth" a short distance the Bible was found, together with a huge pair of spectacles. He had been directed, however, not to let any mortal examine them, "under no less penalty than instant death." They were therefore nicely wrapped up and excluded from the "vulgar gaze of poor wicked mortals." It was said that the leaves of the Bible were plates of gold, about eight inches thick on which were engraved characters of hyroglyphics. By placing the spectacles in a hat, and looking into it, Smith could (he said so at least) interpret these characters. Another extant article was printed in the Rochester Gem of September 5, 1829. Both early newspaper accounts conform generally to the statements witnesses later made regarding the method of translation. The testimony of the eyewitnesses seems to conflict with the prophet where he states that "with the records was found a curious instrument which the ancients called Urim and Thummim which consisted of two transparent stones set in the rim of a bow fastened to a breastplate. Through the medium of the Urim and Thummim I translated the record." Joseph Smith's account, however, can be reconciled with the seer stone testimony of Emma Smith and the witnesses. First it must be recognized that the translation of the Book of Mormon took place at the very beginning of Joseph's ministry. At that stage in his understanding of his prophetic role and his relationship with God he evidently had need for a physical symbol of God's power to assist in the translation. Regardless of the physical media used, the essential quality of the translation stressed by the prophet was that of revelation or inspiration from God. In a statement to William H. Kelley and G. A. Blakeslee, dated September 15, 1882, David Whitmer said the following regarding the inspirational nature of the translation of the. Book of Mormon. He had to trust God. He could not translate unless he was humble and possessed the right feelings toward everyone. To illustrate so you can see: One morning when he was getting ready to continue the translation, something went wrong about the house and he was put out about it. Something that Emma, his wife, had done. Oliver and I went upstairs and Joseph came up soon after to continue the translation but he could not translate a single syllable. He went downtairs, out into the orchard, and made supplication to the Lord; was gone about an hour -- came back to the house, and asked Emma's forgiveness and then came upstairs where we were and then the translation went on all right. He could do nothing save he was humble and faithful. [29] Soon after Oliver Cowdery became scribe for the prophet, he began to desire the power himself to translate the records. Oliver was given a promise of this power and an explanation of it in a revelation through Joseph Smith in April 1829. Oliver, verily, verily I say unto you, that assuredly as the Lord liveth, which is your God and your Redeemer, even so sure shall you receive a knowledge of whatsoever things you shall ask in faith, with an honest heart, believing that you shall receive a knowledge concerning the engravings of old records, which are ancient, which contain those parts of my scripture of which have been spoken, by the manifestation of my Spirit; yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you, and which shall dwell in your heart.... Ask that you may know the mysteries of God, and that you may translate all those ancient records which have been hid up, which are sacred, and according to your faith shall it be done unto you. [30] Oliver Cowdery attempted to translate, acting upon the revelation given, but because of his own misunderstanding was unsuccessful. In answer to Oliver's problem another revelation was received by Joseph Smith a few days later. Behold, you have not understood, you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought, save it was to ask me; but, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right, I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right; but if it be not right, you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought, that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong; therefore, you can not write that which is sacred save it be given you from me. Now if you had known this, you could have translated: nevertheless, it is not expedient that you should translate now. [31] From the statement of David Whitmer and from the revelations to Oliver, we understand that Joseph Smith did not regard the process of translation as mechanical. The power to translate resided not in the material device used, but involved the heart and mind of the translator. It would appear that the inspiration received by the prophet in these circumstances involved general concepts rather than literal information. As such the translation was one of revelation. It was necessary for Joseph Smith to express in his own words and phrases the inspired concepts that passed through his mind. Supporting this view is the fact that Joseph Smith did not hesitate to change the wording of the 1830 Palmyra edition of the Book of Mormon. In preparing the 1837 Kirtland edition, the prophet made several hundred changes in the original so that the language there would more adequately express his inspiration. That the use of the seer stone involved a process of inspiration is also borne out by the manner in which the early revelations were given. During the time that the Book of Mormon was being translated Joseph Smith received revelations through what he later in his history in the Times and Seasons referred to as the Urim and Thummim. In this period "Urim and Thummim" can only pertain to the seer stone. From the Times and Seasons it is evident that revelations given up to June 1829, and later recorded in the Book of Commandments, were received through the seer stone. When these revelations were republished in 1835 in the Doctrine and Covenants the prophet authorized numerous changes in both their wording and content. By the time of the organization of the church, Joseph Smith's concept of the process of inspiration had progressed to the point where he was able to dispense with the use of any material instrument in receiving revelation. It is recorded by David Whitmer that after the translation of the Book of Mormon was finished, early in the spring of 1830, before April 6th, Joseph gave the stone to Oliver Cowdery and told me as well as the rest that he was through with it, and he did not use the stone any more. He said he was through the work that God had given him the gift to perform, except to preach the gospel. He told us that we would all have to depend on the Holy Ghost hereafter to be guided into truth and obtain the will of the Lord. The revelations after this came through Joseph as "mouth piece;" that is, he would enquire of the Lord, pray and ask concerning a matter, and speak out the revelation, which he thought to be a revelation from the Lord. [32] It is obvious that Joseph Smith felt he had grown beyond the use of the earlier media of translation. He established the policy that the newly founded church would depend solely on the Holy Spirit for revelations. Many of the Saints at first did not understand what Joseph regarded as a more profound principle of revelation. We have noted Oliver Cowdery's difficulties in this area. Some of Joseph's early followers never grew beyond an almost magical belief in the seer stone. David Whitmer was to make a statement near the end of his life that all the revelations given by the prophet after he had discarded the seer stone were not of God but were words of the man, Joseph Smith. [33] Possibly as a result of these ideas a revelation was given to the church through Joseph Smith at Fayette on April 6, 1830. This document stresses that revelation comes to the prophet by the Comforter. Wherefore, meaning the church, thou shalt give heed unto all his words, and commandments, which he shall give unto you, as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me; for his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith... For behold, I will bless all those who labor in my vineyard, with a mighty blessing, and they shall believe on his words, which are given him through me, by the Comforter. [34] Yet, some members of the church still clung to a belief in a more mechanical method of revelation through a seer stone. Hiram Page, who had married David Whitmer's sister, Catherine, possessed a stone, apparently the seer stone obtained from Oliver Cowdery. With this stone Page claimed that he was receiving revelations. The Whitmer family, which by marriage included Hiram Page and later Oliver Cowdery, believed many of the things supposedly coming forth from the stone. Accordingly, at a conference of the church convened September 26, 1830, a revelation was given to Oliver Cowdery through Joseph Smith. It emphasizes again the role of the Comforter. Behold, I say unto you, Oliver, that it shall be given unto thee that thou shalt be heard by the church, in all things whatsoever thou shalt teach them by the Comforter, concerning the revelations and commandments which I have given. But, behold, verily, verily I say unto you, no one shall be appointed to receive commandments and revelations in this church, excepting my servant Joseph, for he receiveth them even as Moses... And if thou art led at any time by the Comforter to speak or teach, or at all times by the way of commandment unto the church, thou mayest do it... And again, thou shalt take thy brother Hiram between him and thee alone, and tell him that those things which he hath written from that stone are not of me, and that Satan deceiveth him; For, behold, these things have not been appointed unto him. [35] The church was plunged into dissension again on this point in 1837. [36] Ultimately many of the early believers were expelled from the church. These events help us understand Joseph Smith's later reluctance to discuss the details of the translation of the Book of Mormon. By 1838, when he wrote his biography, he chose not to describe the translation in such a way that it would perpetuate the mechanical view of revelation. Instead, Joseph Smith, when pressed regarding the method of translation, very carefully stated that it was done by "the gift and power of God." Beyond this he would never elaborate. In keeping with this decision, Joseph Smith apparently used the term "Urim and Thummim" to cover all instruments used to translate or determine the will of God. It is obvious that Joseph Smith did not use the type of instrument referred to in the Old Testament as Urim and Thummim. Modern biblical scholarship is virtually unanimous in concluding that the ancient Urim and Thummim was a device for casting lots used by Hebrews to determine the will of God. It appears that the identification of the Nephite Interpreters with the biblical Urim and Thummim was made only gradually. The words "Urim and Thummim" are never mentioned in the Book of Mormon, the Book of Commandments, or early newspaper accounts. They first appear in the Evening and the Morning Star and the Messenger and Advocate in 1833 and 1834 [37] when it is suggested that Joseph may have used a Urim and Thummim. By 1835 thisidentification had been given official sanction by the incorporation of "Urim and Thummim" into the pertinent revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants. [38] Thereafter, in discussing his history, Joseph Smith used the term "Urim and Thummim" to include both the Nephite Interpreters and the seer stone. [39] It is possible that today when reading the testimony of the witnesses some may become too concerned with the seer stone and forget that the important ingredient for Joseph in the translation was the "gift and power of God." The witnesses had no such concerns. Joseph Smith, Emma Smith, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris were unwavering to the end of their lives in their belief in the divine origin of the book. In the very same testimony in which Emma Smith describes the method of translation of the Book of Mormon, she reaffirms her faith in it. And, though I was an active participant in the scenes that transpired, and was present during the translation of the plates, and had cognizance of things as they transpired, it is marvelous to me, "a marvel and a wonder," as much as to any one else... My belief is that the Book of Mormon is of divine authenticity -- I have not the slightest doubt of it. I am satisfied that no man could have dictated the writing of the manuscripts unless he was inspired. [40] Oliver Cowdery's last words as he lay dying in David Whitmer's home were these: "Brother David, be true to your testimony to the Book of Mormon." [41] David Whitmer, who all through his life testified to the authenticity of the book, requested before his death that there be engraved these words on his tombstone: "The record of the Jews and the record of the Nephites are one, truth is eternal." None of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon who had seen the process of translation and received divine testimony of it ever denied their belief that the book was the work of God. Notes 1. Times and Seasons 5 (April 1, 1844): 482. 2. Far West Record, vol. 1 of History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City): 219n. 3. Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 ed. (Kirtland, Ohio): Sec. 1, para. 5. 4. Elders' Journal 1 (July 1838): 43. 5. Times and Seasons 3 (March 1, 1842): 707. Also in I. Daniel Rupp, Religious Denominations, 1844, 405, 406. 6. Times and Seasons 3 (May 2, 1842): 772. 7. Written January 4, 1833, from Kirtland, it appears in Times and Seasons 5 (November 15, 1844): 707. 8. Saints' Herald 26 (October 1, 1879): 289, 290; vol. 3 of History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Independence, Missouri: Herald House, 1952): 356. 9. David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ (Richmond, Missouri: 1887): 13. 10. RLDS Church Archives, Independence, Missouri. For the circumstances surrounding this letter, see vol. 4, no, 12 of The Return (Davis City, Iowa, July 15, 1895), 2. This letter is also mentionend in Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945): 20. 11. Chicago Inter-Ocean, October 17, 1886. Reprinted in Saints' Herald 33 (November 13, 1886): 706, 707. 12. Richmond Democrat, January 26, 1888, from Plattsburg Democrat, reprinted in Saints' Herald 35 (February 11, 1888): 94, 95. 13. Eber D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville, Ohio, 1834): 77. 14. Times and Seasons 3 (August 15, 1842): 884. 15. Times and Seasons 3 (May 16, 1842): 785. 16. Saints' Herald 26 (November 15, 1879): 341. 17. Also reprinted in Saints' Herald 33 (January 2, 1886): 12, 13. 18. Also reprinted in Saints' Herald 35 (February 4, 1888): 67. 19. As quoted in Saints' Herald 28 (July 1, 1881): 198. 20. Messenger and Advocate 1 (October, 1834): 14. (From a letter written by Oliver Cowdery to W. W. Phelps, September 7, 1834.) 21. Oliver Cowdery, Defence in a Rehearsal of My Grounds for Separating Myself from the Latter Day Saints (Norton, Ohio, 1839). Reprinted in Saints' Herald 54 (March 20, 1907): 229, 230. The authenticity of this document has been questioned, mainly on the grounds that apparently no copy of the original 1839 printing has ever been found. 22. Deseret News, April 13, 1859. 23. Millennial Star 44 (February 6, 1882): 86, 87 [from Deseret News Dec. 28, 1881] 24. Saints' Herald 26 (June 15, 1879): 190, 191. 25. Howe, 265. See also the Susquehanna Register, May 1, 1834. Joseph Smith defended himself against the money-digger charge in Times and Seasons 3 (May 2, 1842): 772. See also Times and Seasons 4 (March 1, 1843): 118. 26. William Smith, William Smith on Mormonism (Lamoni, Iowa, 1883): 10-12. 27. Saints' Herald 31 (October 4, 1884): 644. 28. Rod of Iron, Zion's Religio-Literary Society, Independence, Mo., vol. 1, no. 3, p. 6, February 1924. 29. Clark Braden and E. L. Kelley, Public Discussion of the Issues Between the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Church of Christ, Disciples, Held in Kirtland, Ohio, St. Louis, 1884, 186. 30. Book of Commandments, 1833, ch. 7, p. 19, 20. Later revised and reprinted in 1835 in Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 34. 31. Book of Commandments, ch. 8, p. 20, 21; 1835 Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 35. 32. David Whitmer, 32. 33. Ibid. 34. Book of Commandments, ch. 22, paras., 4-5, 10; 1835 Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 46. 35. Book of Commandments, ch. 30; 1835 Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 51. 36. Lucy Smith, Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet and His Progenitors for Many Generations, Liverpool, 1853, 211-213. 37. The Evening and the Morning Star 1 (January 1833): 2; Messenger and Advocate 1 (October 1834): 14. 38. Compare 1835 Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 36 with Book of Commandments, ch. 9. 39. After Oliver Cowdery's death, the seer stone was given by his wife, Elizabeth, to Phineas Young, who took it to Utah. See David Whitmer, 32. It was exhibited by the Church leaders in Utah and viewed by many. As late as 1930 it was still in the archives of the LDS church. See B. H. Roberts, Comprehensive History of the Church (1930), vol. 6, 230-31. 40. Saints' Herald 26 (October 1, 1879): 289, 290. 41. David Whitmer, 08. (comments forthcoming) |
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Richard L. Anderson "Joseph Smith's N. Y. Reputation..." (BYU Studies, 10:1, Spring 1971) (excerpt) Transcriber's comments |
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Copyright © 1970, Brigham Young University. Limited "fair use" excerpts transcribed.
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Jerald & Sandra Tanner Joseph Smith and Money Digging (Salt Lake City: M.M.C., 1970) Part 1: Treasure Hunting (excerpt) Part 2: The 1826 Trial (excerpt) Transcriber's comments |
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Copyright © 1970, Modern Microfilm Company. Limited "fair use" excerpts transcribed.
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Contents 04 Peep Stones 07 Book of Mormon from Stone 10 Embarrassed Over Stone 13 Relationship to Book of Mormon 16 Working with the Rod 19 The Treasure Hunt Revelation 21 Part 2 - The 1826 Trial 23 Purple's Account 29 Tracing the Record 32 Mentioned in 1831 35 Cowdery's Statement 36 Historical Setting
[ 1 ]
In the Pearl of Great Price (one of the four standard works of the Mormon Church) Joseph Smith made these statements concerning how he obtained the gold plates from which the Book of Mormon was supposed to to have been translated: "Convenient to the village of Manchester, Ontario county, New York, stands a hill of considerable size,... not far from the top, under a stone of considerable size, lay the plates, deposited in a stone box. This stone was thick and rounding in the middle on the upper side, and thinner toward the edges, so that the middle part of it was visible above the ground, but the edge all around was covered with earth. "Having removed the earth, I obtained a lever, which I got fixed under the edge of the stone, and with a little exertion raised it up. I looked in, and there indeed did I behold the plates...." (Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith 2:51-52) In a letter to John Wentworth, Joseph Smith stated: "These records were engraven on plates... They were filled with engravings, in Egyptian characters, and bound together in a volume as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole." (History of the Church, Vol. 4, p.537) It is interesting to note that four years before the Book of Mormon was printed, an English traveler had claimed a somewhat similar discovery in Ohio. Josiah Priest gave this information in his book, American Antiquities: "In the neighborhood of Fort Harmer, on the Muskingum, opposite Marietta on the Ohio, were discovered by Mr. Ash, an English traveller, in the year 1826, several monuments of the ancient nations. "'Having made, (says this traveller,) arrangements for an abscence of a few days from the fort, I provided myself with an excellent tinder box, some biscuit and salt, and arming my Indian travelling companion, with a good axe and rifle,... "'On traversing the valley between Fort Harmer and the mountains, I determined to take the high grounds, and after some difficulty, ascended an eminence which commanded a view of the town of marietta,... "'After a very short inspection, and cursory examination, it was evident that the very spot or eminence on which I stood, had been occupied by the Indians, either as a place of observation, or a strong hold.... I despaired of gaining any further knowledge, and would have left the place, had I not been detained by my Indian companion, whom I saw occupied in end[e]avoring to introduce a pole into a small opening between two flat stones,, near the root of a tree, which grew on the very summit of this emience. "'The stones we found were too heavy to be removed by the mere power of hands. Two good oak poles were cut, in lieu of levers and crows. Clapping these into the orifice first discovered, we weighed a large flat stone, tilting it over,... "'I expected to find a cavern: my imagination was warmed by a certain design I thought I discovered from the very beginning; the manner the stones were placed led me to conceive the existence of at filled with the riches of antiquity, and crowded with the treasures of the most ancient world. "'A bed of sand was all that appeared under these flat stones,... the sand was about a foot deep, which I soon removed. "The design and labor of man was now unequivocal. The space out of which these materials were taken, left a hollow in an oblong square, lined with stones on the end and sides, and also paved on what appeared to be the bottom, with square stones, of about nine inches diameter.... With the skeleton was found, first an earthen vessel, or urn, in which were several bones, and some white sediment.... Sixth; under a heap of dust and tenuous shreds of feathered cloth and hair, a parcel of brass rings, cut out of a solid piece of metal, and in such a manner that the rings were suspended from each other, without the aid of solder or any other visible agency whatever. Each ring was three inches in diameter, and the bar of the rings a half an inch thick, and were square; a variety of characters were deeply engraved on the sides of the rings, resembling the Chinese characters.'" (American Antiquities, Albany, N.Y., 1835, pp. 90-93) 2 Joseph Smith and Money Digging At the time the Book of Mormon was printed many people were engaged in searching for buried treasures. On July 24. 1822, the Palmyra Herald reprinted the following statements from the "Montpelier (Vt.) Watchman": "Indeed, digging for money hid in the earth is a very common thing; and in this state it is even considered an honorable and profitable employment. We could name, if we pleased, at least five hundred respectable men, who do, in the simplicity and sincerity of their hearts, verily believe that immense treasures lie concealed upon our Green Mountains; many of whom have been for a number of years, most industriously and perseveringly engaged in digging it up." On Feb. 16, 1825, the Wayne Sentinel (a newspaper published in Joseph Smith's neighborhood) reprinted the following from the "Windsor, (Vermont) Jour.": "Money digging. -- We are sorry to observe even in this enlightened age, so prevalent a disposition to credit the accounts of the Marvellous. Even the frightful stories of money being hid under the surface of the earth, and enchanted by the Devil or Robert Kidd, are received by many of our respectable fellow citizens as truths.... "A respectable gentleman in Tunbridge, was informed by means of a dream, that a chest of money was buried on a small island... he started off to enrich himself with the treasure. After having been directed by the mineral rod where to search for the money, he excavated the earth... Presently he and his laborers came... upon a chest of gold... One of the company drove an old file through the rotten lid of the chest, and... the chest moved off through the mud, and has not been seen or heard of since.... Whether he actually saw the chest, or whether it was the vision of a disordered brain, we shall leave to the public to determine." Many of the people who were digging for buried treasure in Joseph Smith's time were very superstitious. There were many strange stories connected with these treasure hunts. Martin Harris, one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon, related the following: "Mr. Stowel was at this time at old Mr. Smith's, digging for money. It was reported by these money-diggers, that they had found boxes, but before they could secure them, they would sink into the earth. A candid old Presbyterian told me, that on the Susquehannah flats he dug down to an iron chest, that he scraped the dirt off with his shovel, but had nothing with him to open the chest; that he went away to get help, and when they came to it, it moved away two or three rods into the earth, and they could not get it. There were a great many strange sights. One time the old log school-house south of Palmyra, was suddenly lighted up, and frightened them away. Samuel Lawrence told me that while they were digging a large man who appeared to be eight or nine feet high, came and sat on the ridge of the barn, and motioned to them that they must leave. They motioned back that they would not; but that they afterwards became frightened and did leave. At another time while they were digging, a company of horsemen came and frightened them away. These things were real to them, I believe, because they were told to me in confidence, and told by different ones, and their stories agreed, and they seemed to be in earnest -- I knew they were in earnest." (An interview with Martin Harris, published in Tiffany's Monthly, 1859, page 165) On another occasion Martin Harris admitted that he participated in some money digging activities and that a stone box slipped back into the hill: "Martin Harris (speaking to a group of Saints at Clarkston, Utah in the 1870's): I will tell you a wonderful thing that happened after Joseph had found the plates. Three of us took some toolsto go to the hill and hunt for some more boxes, or gold or something, and indeed we found a stone box. We got quite excited about it and dug quite carefully around it, and we were ready to take it up, but behold by some unseen power, IT SLIPPED BACK INTO THE HILL. We stood there and looked at it, and one of us took a crow bar and tried to drive it through the lid to hold it, but it glanced and broke one corner off the box. Some time that box will be found and you will see the corner broken off, and then you will know I have told the truth." (Testimony of Mrs. Comfort Godfrey Flinders, Utah Pioneer Biographies, Vol. X, p. 65, Genealogical Society of Utah, as quoted in an unpublished manuscript by LaMar Petersen) It appears that even Brigham Young the second President of the Mormon Church, was influenced by the superstitions of his day. In a sermon delivered June 17, 1877, he stated: "But do you know how to find such a mine? No, you do not. These treasures that are in the earth are carefully watched, they can be removed from place to place according to the good pleasure of Him who made them and owns them. He has his messengers at his service, and it is just as easy for an angel to remove the minerals from any part of one of these mountains to another, as it is for you and me to walk up and down this hall... "Sometimes I take the liberty of talking a little further with regard to such things. Orin P. Rockwell is an eye-witness to some powers of removing the treasures of the earth. He was with certain parties that lived near by where the plates were found that contain the records of the Book of Mormon. There were a great many treasures hid up by the Nephites. Porter was with them one night where there were treasures, and they could find them easy enough, but they could not obtain them. "I will tell you a story which will be marvelous to most of you. It was told me by Porter, whom I would believe just as quickly as any man that lives. When he tells a thing he understands, he will tell it just as he knows it; he is a man that does not lie. He said that on this night, when they were engaged Joseph Smith and Money Digging 3 hunting for this old treasure, they dug around the end of a chest for some twenty inches. The chest was about three feet square. One man who was determined to have the contents of that chest, took his pick and struck into the lid of it, and split through into the chest. The blow took off a piece of the lid, which a certain lady kept in her possession until she died. That chest of money went into the bank. Porter describes it so [making a rumbling sound]; he says this is just as true as the heavens are. I have heard others tell the same story. I relate this because it is marvelous to you. But to those who understand these things, it is not marvelous. "You hear a great deal said about finding money. There is no difficulty at all in finding money, but there are a great many people who do not know what to do with it when they do find it. This is the great defect with the human family. I could relate many very singular circumstances. I lived right is the country where the plates were found from which the Book of Mormon was translated, and I know a great many things pertaining to that country. I believe I will take the liberty to tell you of another circumstance that will be as marvelous as anything can be. This is an incident in the life of Oliver Cowdery, but he did not take the liberty of telling such things in meeting as I take. I tell these things to you, and I have a motive for doing so. I want to carry them to the ears of my brethren and sisters, and to the children also, that they may grow to an understanding of some things that seem to be entirely hidden from the human family. Oliver Cowdery went with the Prophet Joseph when he deposited these plates. Joseph did not translate all of the plates; there was a portion of them sealed, which you can learn from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. When Joseph got the plates, the angel instructed him to carry them back to the hill Cumorah, which he did. Oliver says that when Joseph and Oliver went there, the hill opened, and they walked into a cave, in which there was a large and spacious room. He says he did not think, at the time, whether they had the light of the sun or artificial light; but that it was just as light as day. They laid the plates on a table; it was a large table that stood in the room. Under this table there was a pile of plates as much as two feet high, and there were altogether in this room MORE PLATES THAN PROBABLY MANY WAGON LOADS; they were piled up in the corners and along the walls. The first time they went there the sword of Laban hung upon the wall; but when they went again it had been taken down and laid upon the table across the gold plates; it was unsheathed, and on it was written these words: 'This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ.'... "...People do not know it, but I know there is a seal upon the treasures of earth; men are allowed to go so far and no farther. I have known places where there were treasures in abundance; but could men get them? No. You can read in the B ook of Mormon of the ancient Nephites holding their treasures, and of their becoming slippery; so that after they had privately hid their money, on going to the place again, lo and behold it was not there, but was somewhere else, but they knew not where." (A Sermon by Brigham Young. Delivered At A Special Conference Held At Farmington, June 17, 1877, Journal of Discourses, Vol.19, pp. 36-39) Brigham Young also tells that even the priests from the various churches were influenced by a fortune teller. He stated: "I never heard such oaths fall from the lips of any man as I heard uttered by a man who was called a fortune-teller, and who knew where those plates were hid. He went three times in one summer to get them, -- the same summer in which Joseph did get them. Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist priests and deacons SENT FOR HIM to tell where those plates were, and to get them out of the hill where they were deposited; and he had not returned to his home from the last trip he made for them more than a week or ten days before Joseph got them. Joseph was what we call an ignorant boy; but this fortune-teller, whose name I do not remember, was a man of profound learning. "He had put himself in possession of all the learning in the States, -- had been to France, Germany, Italy, and through the world, -- had been educated for a priest, and turned out to be a devil... He could preach as well as the best of them, and I never heard a man swear as he did. He could tell that those plates were there, and that they were a treasure whose value to the people could not be told; for that I myself heard him say." (Remarks by Brigham Young, July 19, 1857, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 5, page 55) On another occasion Brigham Young stated, "I well knew a man who, to get the plates, rode over sixty miles three times the same season they were obtained by Joseph Smith. About the time of their being delivered to Joseph by the angel, the friends of this man sent for him, and informed him that they were going to lose that treasure, though they did not know what it was. The man I refer to was a fortune-teller, a necromancer, an astrologer, a soothsayer, and possessed as much talent as any man that walked on the American soil, and was one of the wickedest men I ever saw. The last time he went to obtain the treasure HE KNEW WHERE IT WAS, and told where it was, but did not know its value. Allow me to tell you that a Baptist deacon and others of Joseph's neighbors were the very men who sent for this necromancer the last time he went for the treasure. I never heard a man who could swear like that astrologer; he swore scientifically, by rule, by note. To those who love swearing, it was musical to hear him, but not so to me, for I would leave his presence. He would call Joseph everything that was bad, and say, ‘I believe he will get the treasure after all. I He did get it, and the war commenced directly." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 2, pp. 180-181) The early Mormon leaders grew up at a time when people were very superstitious. The Mormon historian B.H. Roberts made these comments: "Credulity: Yes, the Prophet's ancestors were credulous in that some of them believed that they 4 Joseph Smith and Money Digging were healed of bodily ailments by the power of faith in God. Others had dreams, as their neighbors had,... It may be admitted that some of them believed in fortune telling, in warlocks and witches -- ...Indeed it is scarcely conceivable how one could live in New England in those years and not have shared in such beliefs. To be credulous in such things was to be normal people." (A Comprehensive History of the Church, by B.H. Roberts, Vol. 1, pp. 26-27) Peep Stones At the time the Book of Mormon came forth many people believed in "peep stones." These stones were sometimes placed in a hat and used to locate buried treasure. The following appeared in the Wayne Sentinel on December 27, 1825:"MR. STRONG -- Please insert the following and oblige one of your readers. "Wonderful Discovery. -- A few days since was discovered in this town, by the help of a mineral stone, (which becomes transparent when placed in a hat and the light excluded by the face of him who looks into it, provided he is fortune's favorite,) a monstrous potash kettle in the bowels of old mother Earth, filled with the purest bullion. Some attempts have been made to dig it up, but without success. His Satanic Majesty, or some other invisible agent, appears to keep it under marching orders; for no sooner is it dug on to in one place, than it moves off like 'false delusive hope,' to another still more remote. But its pursuers are now sanguine of success -- they have entrenched the kettle all round, and driven a steel ramrod into the ground directly over it, to break the enchantment. Nothing now remains, but to raise its ponderous weight, "By the rust on the kettle, and the color of the silver, it is supposed to have been deposited where it now lies, prior to the flood." (Wayne Sentinel, December 27, 1825, p. 2) Some of the early Mormon leaders believed in peep stones. The Mormon Apostle Orson Hyde claimed that the ability to find metals was a gift from God: "I want to tell a little anecdote which came to my ears.... It is said that there is a man in this city, a natural miner, who has a peculiar GIFT to discover metals of value, though HIDDEN in the earth at any depth. He can point out the very place where they are. He happened in a gentleman's house in this town one day, and they were discussing his powers to discern any metal in the earth. The lady, doubting his ability, took a piece of lead, and slily stepped out and buried it, being careful to leave no visible marks by which any other than herself could find it. She returned and told him that in the garden was a piece of lead buried, and wished him to find it if he could. He made the attempt; and after a little rambling, pointed to the very spot where it was; but the lady, thinking to bluff him off and discourage him, made perfect ridicule of him, and asked what had led him to think it was there. She pretended to regard him as insane, and the poor man came to the conclusion that he might be mistaken, as the lady appeared so sanguine in her ridicule. He gave it up as a mistake, doubting his own GIFT. Since the time that he was bluffed off from the FAITH in the natural GIFT THAT GOD HAD GIVEN HIM -- (Pres. H.C. Kimball: And that by a woman!) -- yes, and since that, it has been taken away altogether. Before this, he was never mistaken in such matters; but since then, has no more powers of discovering than any other." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 5, pp. 16-17) There is evidence that the Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith possessed a 'seer stone." Willard Chase made these statements in an affidavit dated Dec. 11, 1833: "I became acquanted with the Smith family,... in the year 1820. At that time, they were engaged in the money digging business, which they followed until the latter part of the season of 1827. In the year 1822, was engaged in digging a well. I employed Alvin and Joseph Smith to assist me; the latter of whom is now known as the Mormon prophet. After digging about twenty feet below the surface of the earth, we discovered a singularly appearing stone, which excited my curiosity. I brought it to the top of the well, and as we were examining it, Joseph put it into his hat, and then his face into the top of his hat. It has been said by Smith, that he brought the stone from the well; but this is false. There was no one in the well but myself. The next morning he came to me, and wished to obtain the stone, alledging that he could see in it; but I told him I did not wish to part with it on account of its being a curiosity, but would lend it. After obtaining the stone, he began to publish abroad what wonders he could discover by looking in it, and made so much disturbance among the credulous part of [the] community, that I ordered the stone to be returned to me again. He had it in his possession about two years. -- I believe, some time in 1825, Hiram Smith (brother of Joseph Smith) came to me, and wished to borrow the same stone, alledging that they wanted to accomplish some business of importance, which could not very well be done without the aid of the stone. I told him it was of no particular worth to me, but merely wished to keep it as a curiosity, and if he would pledge me his word and honor, that I should have it when called for, he might take it; which he did and took the stone. I thought I could rely on his word at this time; as he had made a profession of religion. But in this I was disappointed, for he disregarded both his word and honor. "In the fall of 1826, a friend called upon me and wished to see that stone, about which so much had been said; and I told him if he would go with me to Smith's, (a distance of about half a mile) he might see it. But to my surprize, on going to Smith's, and asking him for the stone, he said, 'you cannot have it;' I told him it belonged to me, repeated to him the promise he made me, at the time of obtaining the stone: upon which he faced me with a malignant look and said, 'I don't care who in the Devil it belongs to, you shall not have it.'... Joseph Smith and Money Digging 5 "In April, 1830, I again asked Hiram for the stone which he had borrowed of me; he told me I should not have it, for Joseph made use of it in translating his Bible." (Mormonism Unvailed, Painesville, Ohio, 1834, pp. 240, 241, 242 and 247 The Mormon historian B. H. Roberts accepted the story that Joseph Smith's stone was found in a well. He made the following statement in the Comprehensive History of the Church, Vol. 1. page 129: "The SEER STONE referred to here was a chocolate-colored, somewhat egg-shaped stone which the Prophet found while digging a well in company with his brother Hyrum, for a Mr. Clark Chase, near Palmyra, N.Y. It possessed the qualities of Urim and Thummim, since by means of it -- as described above -- as well as by means of the Interpreters found with the Nephite record, Joseph was able to translate the characters engraven on the plates." The Mormon Apostle John A. Widtsoe stated: "Some use was made also of the SEER STONE and occasional mention was made of it. This was a STONE found while the Prophet assisted in digging a well for Clark Chase. By divine power this stone was made serviceable to Joseph Smith in the early part of his ministry." (Joseph Smith Seeker After Truth, by John A. Widtsoe, page 267) George Q. Cannon, who became a member of the First Presidency, stated: "One of Joseph's aids in searching out the truths of the record was a peculiar PEBBLE OR ROCK which he called a seer stone, and which was sometimes used by him in lieu of the Urim and Thummim. This STONE had been discovered to himself and his brother Hyrum at the bottom of a well; and under divine guidance they had brought it forth for use in the work of translation." (Life of Joseph Smith, by George Q. Cannon, p. 56) Martin Harris, one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon, made this statement concerning Joseph Smith's "stone": "These plates were found at the north point of a hill two miles north of Manchester village. Joseph had a STONE which was dug from the well of Mason Chase, twenty-four feet from the surface. In this stone he could see many things to my certain knowledge. IT WAS BY MEANS OF THIS STONE HE FIRST DISCOVERED THESE PLATES. In the first place, he told me of this stone, and proposed to bind it on his eyes, and RUN A RACE with me in the woods. A few days after this, I was at the house of his father in Manchester, two miles south of Palmyra village, and was picking my teeth with a pin while sitting on the bars. The pin caught in my teeth, and dropped from my fingers into shavings and straw. I jumped from the bars and looked for it. Joseph and Northrop Sweet also did the same. We could not find it. I then took Joseph on surprise, and said to him -- I said, 'Take your stone.' I had never seen it, and did not know that he had it with him. He had it in his pocket. He took it and placed it in his hat -- the old white hat -- and placed his face in his hat. I watched him closely to see that he did not look one side; he reached out his hand beyond me on the right, and moved a little stick, and there I saw the pin, which he picked up and gave to me. I know he did not look out of the hat until after he had picked up the pin. "Joseph had had this stone for some time. There was a company there in that neighborhood, who were digging for money supposed to have been hidden by the ancients. Of this company were old Mr. Stowel -- I think his name was Josiah -- also old Mr. Beman, also Samuel Lawrence, George. Proper, JOSEPH SMITH, JR., and his father, and his brother Hiram Smith. They dug for money in Palmyra, Manchester, also in Pennsylvania, and other places. When JOSEPH found this STONE, there was a company digging in Harmony, Pa,, and they took Joseph to LOOK IN THE STONE FOR THEM, AND HE DID SO FOR A WHILE, and then he told them the enchantment was so strong that he could not see, and they gave it up. There he became acquainted with his future wife, the daughter of old Mr. Isaac Hale, where he boarded. He afterwards returned to Pennsylvania again, and married his wife, taking her off to old Mr. Stowel's, because her people would not consent to the marriage. She was of age, Joseph was not. "After this, on the 22d of September, 1827, before day, Joseph took the horse and wagon of old Mr. Stowel, and taking his wife, he went to the place where the plates were concealed, and while he was obtaining them, she kneeled down and prayed. He then took the plates and hid them in an old black oak tree top which was hollow... "The money-diggers claimed that they has as much right to the plates as Joseph had, as they were in company together. They claimed that Joseph had been a traitor, and had appropriated to himself that which belonged to them. For this reason Joseph was afraid of them, and continued concealing the plates.... Joseph had before this described the manner of his finding the plates. He FOUND THEM BY LOOKING IN THE STONE found in the well of Mason Chase. The family had likewise told me the same thing. "Joseph said that the angel told him he MUST QUIT THE COMPANY OF THE MONEY-DIGGERS. That there were wicked men among them, He must have no more to do with them. He must not lie, nor swear, nor steal." (Interview with Martin Harris, Tiffany's Monthly 1859, pp. 163, 164, 165, 167, and 169) On April 23, 1880, the Salt Lake Tribune printed what was purported to be the agreement between Joseph Smith and the other money-diggers: 6 Joseph Smith and Money Digging "Ed. Tribune: Knowing how interested you are in any matter pertaining to the early history of our church, I enclose a slip cut from the Susquehanna. P. Journal of March 20, which will throw some light on the subject. The Journal is published near the scene of our martyred Prophet's early exploits. Respectfully yours, B. Wade "The following agreement, the original of which is in the possession of a citizen of Thompson township, was discovered by our correspondent, and forwarded to us as a matter of local interest.... "ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT "We, the undersigned, do firmly agree, and by these present bind ourselves, to fulfill and abide by the hereafter specified articles: (The Daily Tribune, Salt Lake, Friday morning, April 23, 1880, as quoted in A New Witness for Christ in America, by Frances W. Kirkham, 1951 ed., Vol. 1, pp. 492-494) While the Mormon apologist Frances W. Kirkham feels that Joseph Smith did not use a "seer stone" to deceive, he does not seem to question the authenticity of this agreement: "The April 23, 1880, issue of the Salt Lake Tribune, printed articles of an agreement between nine persons including Isaiah Stowell, Joseph Smith, Sr., and Joseph Smith, Jr., regarding excavating 'at a certain place in Pennsylvania near a William Hales, supposed to be a valuable mine of either gold or silver and also to contain coined money and bars of ingots of gold and silver.' This agreement when published was preceded with the usual vitriolic comments made regarding Joseph Smith and his activities. At this time, anti-Mormon literature portrayed Joseph Smith as a fraud, ignorant and superstitious. "If the comments are disregarded, the agreement is found to be similar to the statements made by Isaac Hale, (see his quoted affidavit on page 472) Joseph Smith, and Josiah Stowell. All agree that an effort was made to find a place where early Spanish explorers might have hidden 'gold or silver bars or ingots,' Joseph Smith writes that their activity lasted about one month when he persuaded Mr. Stowell to discontinue his effort. "But such employment in a mine is in no way related to the alleged use of a 'seer stone' by Joseph Smith to deceive superstitious persons that he had the ability to look into the depths of the earth for hidden treasures." (A New Witness or Christ in America, Vol.1, pp. 487-488) Brigham Young, the second President of the Mormon Church, made these statements concerning Joseph Smith's connection with money-digging: "One of the first objections that was urged against Joseph Smith was that he was a money digger; and now the digging of gold is considered an honorable and praiseworthy employment. They are hunting for gold all over the country, doing the very thing which they condemned in him." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 12, p. 165) "The cry with regard to brother Joseph was, 'He is a money digger, he is a speculator.' Well, how long was it before the whole world was on his track digging money? It was no disgrace just as soon as the world commenced digging money, but when there were only a few accused of it, it was a disgrace. How things are changed!" (Ibid., Vol. 16, p. 29) After Joseph Smith organized the Mormon Church he did not have much to say about his money-digging activities. He did, however, admit that he had been engaged in money-digging. In the July, 1838, issue of the Elders' Journal, Joseph Smith attempted to answer the questions that were most frequently asked him. Question No.10 read as follows: Joseph Smith and Money Digging 7 purpose as the missing "Question 10. Was not Jo Smith a money digger. "Answer. YES, but it was never a very proffitable job to him, as he only got fourteen dollars a month for it.” (Elders Journal, July, 1838, page 43; reprinted in the History of the Church, Vol. 3, p. 29) According to David Whitmer, one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith gave the stone which he used to translate the Book of Mormon to Oliver Cowdery. Later this stone was brought to Utah. A newspaper reporter wrote the following in his account of an interview with David Whitmer: "With this stone all of the present Book of Mormon was translated. It is the only one of these relics which is not in the possession of the Whitmers. For years Oliver Cowdery surrounded it with care and solicitude, but at his death old Phineas Young, a brother of Brigham Young, and an old-time and once intimate friend of the Cowdery family, came out from Salt Lake City, and during his visit he contrived to get the stone from its hiding place, through a little deceptive sophistry, expended upon the grief-stricken widow. When he returned to Utah he carried it in triumph to the apostles of Brigham Young's 'lion house." (Des Moines Daily News, October 16, 1886) We know that by 1856 Joseph Smith's "seer stone" had been brought to Utah, for Hosea Stout recorded the following in his diary under the date of Feb.25, 1856: "President Young exhibited the SEER'S STONE with which The Prophet Joseph discovered the plates of the Book of Mormon, to the Regents this evening It is said to be a silecious granite dark color almost black with light colored stripes some what resembling petrified poplar or cotton wood bark It was about the size but not the shape of a hen's egg" (On The Mormon Frontier, The Diary of Hosea Stout, Vol. 2, page 593) Book of Mormon from Stone In the History of the Church the following incident is recorded:"Brother Hyrum Smith said that he thought best that the information of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon be related by Joseph himself to the Elders present, that all might know for themselves.' "Brother Joseph Smith, Jun., said that it was not intended to tell the world all the PARTICULARS of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon; and also said that it was not expedient for him to relate these things." (History of the Church, Vol.1, p. 220) One of the "particulars" Joseph Smith failed to relate was his use of the stone in a hat to translate the Book of Mormon. It is claimed that the Urim and Thummim consisted of two stones set in silver bows fastened to a breastplate. While Joseph Smith may have possessed two stones set in silver bows, evidence seems to indicate that he used the STONE which he placed in a HAT to translate the Book of Mormon. David Whitmer, one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon, stated: "I will now give you a description of the manner in which the Book of Mormon was translated. JOSEPH WOULD PUT THE SEER STONE INTO A HAT, and put his FACE IN THE HAT, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing." (An Address To All Believers In Christ, by David Whitmer, p. 12) Emma Smith, Joseph Smith's wife, told the following to her son: "In writing for your father I frequently wrote day after day, after sitting by the table close by him, he sitting with HIS FACE BURIED IN HIS HAT, WITH THE STONE IN IT, and dictating hour after hour with nothing between us." (The Saints’ Herald, May 19, 1888, page 310) Martin Harris, another of the three witnesses, also stated that a stone was used: "On Sunday, Sept. 4, 1870, Martin Harris addressed a congregation of Saints in Salt Lake City. He related an incident which occurred during the time that he wrote that portion of the translation of the Book of Mormon which he was favored to write direct from the mouth of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and said that the Prophet possessed a SEER STONE, by which he was enabled to translate as well as from the Urim and Thummim, and for CONVENIECE he then used the seer stone.... Martin said that after continued translation they would become weary, and would go down to the river and exercise by throwing stones out on the river, etc. While so doing, on one occasion, Martin Harris found a stone very much resembling the one used for translating, and on resuming their labor of translation, he put in place the STONE he had found. He said that the Prophet remained silent, unusually and intently gazing in darkness, no traces of the usual sentences appearing. Much suprised, Joseph exclaimed, 'Martin! What is the matter! All is as dark as Egypt!' Martin's countenance betrayed him, and the Prophet asked Martin why he had one so. Martin said, to stop the mouths of fools, who had told him that the Prophet had learned those sentences and was merely repeating them, etc." (Historical Record, by Andrew Jensen, p. 216) In his booklet, How Did Joseph Smith Translate?, the Mormon writer Arch S. Reynolds stated: 8 Joseph Smith and Money Digging "In the B. of M. [Book of Mormon] the Lord gives: 'I will prepare my servant Gazelem, a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness into light, that I may discover unto them (the Lamanites) the works of their brethren. (Alma 37:23) "Compare this with the Doc. and Cov. 82:11 and see that Joseph Smith is the Gazelem. This stone did shine forth to us in darkness when he received the B. of M. characters with their English equivalents when HE HAD HIS EYES HIDDEN FROM NATURAL LIGHT IN A HAT as testified by his associates." (How Did Joseph Smith Translate?, by Arch S. Reynolds, page 7) James E. Lancaster gives us this interesting information: "One other person who was a witness to the events that transpired in the Whitmer home has left us an account of the translation of the Book of Mormon. Michael Morse who was married to Trial Hale, one of Isaac Hale's daughters, a sister to Emma Smith, was present at the time of the translation. In 1879 in an interview with W. W. Blair of the Reorganized Church, Mr. Morse gave his testimony as to the method of translation of the Book of Mormon. From this testimony it appears that Mr. Morse was prejudiced neither for nor against the church. The pertinent parts of his testimony as related by President Blair are as follows: He further states that when Joseph was translating the Book of Mormon, he, (Morse), had occasion more than once to go into his immediate presence, and saw him engaged at his work of translation."Isaac Hale, Emma's father, has also left his testimony regarding the translation of the Boo k of Mormon. This testimony first appeared in 1834, fairly early in the history of the church. Unlike Mr. Morse, Isaac Hale obviously felt very strongly against Joseph Smith and the Mormon movement. He stated: The manner in which he pretended to read and interpret, was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the Book of Plates were at the same time hid in the woods!The same source also contains the testimony of Alva Hale, one of the sons of Isaac Hale. It is not worthwhile to quote it here because of its extreme bias." (Saints' Herald, Nov. 15, 1962, p. 17) Arch S. Reynolds stated: "The Seerstone that the Prophet Joseph Smith used was, according to the Millennial Star, vol. 24, p. 86, a chocolate-colored stone about the size of an egg that was oval in shape. It was found by Joseph in a well when working for Clark Chase in the year 1826. (See Reminiscences of the Prophet Joseph. by Edward Stevenson, p. 30) It is well known that Joseph used this stone to translate the first part of the Book of Mormon record while Martin Harris was scribe. This is proved by Martin's description of the medium and its use. After Joseph used it for receiving revelations and translating the Nephite record, he gave it in the care of Oliver Cowdery in April 1830 according to David Whitmer.... We find Joseph using this instrument, however, after that date. Orson Pratt declared that: 'Joseph received several revelations to which I was witness by means of the Seerstone, but he could receive also without any instrument.' (Millennial Star, vol.40, No. 49."On May 17, 1888, we find this same Seerstone offered on the altar of the Manti Temple by President Wilford Woodruff. Brother B. H. Roberts describes the incident: 'President Woodruff May 17, 1888, at a private dedication mentioned, 'before leaving I consecrated upon the altar the SEERSTONE that Joseph Smith found by revelation some thirty feet under the earth, and carried by him throughout life.'(The Urim and Thummim, by Arch S. Reynolds, pp.18-20) In a letter written March 27, 1876 Emma Smith, who was married to Joseph Smith, stated that THE ENTIRE BOOK OF MORMON, that we have today, was translated by the use of a stone. James E. Lancaster states: "How can the testimonies of Emma Smith and David Whitmer, describing the translation of the Book of Mormon with a SEER STONE, be reconciled with the traditional account of the church that the Book of Mormon was translated by the 'interpreters' found in the stone box with the plates? It is the Joseph Smith and Money Digging 9 extreme good fortune of the church that we have testimony by Sister Emma Smith Bidamon on this important issue. Sometime in the early part of 1876 a woman by the name of Pilgrim wrote to Emma Bidamon, requesting information as to the translation of the Book of Mormon. Emma Bidamon rep[l]ied in a letter to Sister Pilgrim, written from Nauvoo, Illinois, March 27, 1876. Sister Bidamon's letter states in part: Now the first that my husband translated, was translated by the use of the Urim and Thummim, and that was the part that Martin Harris LOST, after that he USED A SMALL STONE, not exactly black, but was rather a dark color. I cannot tell whether that account in the Times and Seasons is correct or not because someone stole all my books and I have none to refer to at present, if I can find one that has that account I will tell you what is true and what is not."Sister Bidamon's letter indicated that at first the Book of Mormon was translated by the Urim and Thummim. She refers to the instrument found with the plates. However, this first method w a s used only for the portion written on the 116 pages of foolscap which Martin Harris later lost. After that time the translation was done with the seer stone." (Saints' Herald, November 15, 1962, page 15) David Whitmer, one of the three witnesses, admitted that he never did see Joseph Smith use the Urim and Thummim (or the two stones set in silver bows). This information is found in the article by James E. Lancaster: "The other is a statement he made to a member of the Reorganized Church, J. L. Traughber, Jr., in October, 1879, and printed in Saints Herald. In connection with this latter testimony it should be pointed out that David Whitmer never met Joseph Smith until June, 1829. According to the testimony of Emma Smith and David Whitmer, the angel TOOK THE URIM AND THUMMIM FROM JOSEPH SMITH at the time of the loss of the 116 pages. This was in June, 1828, one year before David became involved with the work of translation. David Whitmer could never have been present when the Urim and Thummim were used. All of this he clearly states in his testimony to Brother Traughber: With the sanction of David Whitmer, and by his authority, I now state that he DOES NOT SAY THAT JOSEPH SMITH EVER TRANSLATED IN HIS PRESENCE BY AID OF URIM AND THUMMIM, but by means of ONE DARK COLORED, OPAQUE STONE called a 'Seer Stone,' which was placed in the crown OF A HAT into which JOSEPH PUT HIS FACE, so as to exclude the external light. Then, a spiritual light would appear before Joseph upon which was a line of characters from the plates, and under it, the translation in English; at least, so Joseph said."(Saints' Herald, November 15, 1962, page 16) Mr. Lancaster quotes an interview with David Whitmer which was published in the Chicago Inter-Ocean, Oct. 17, 1886. In this interview the following statement appeared: "By fervent prayer and by otherwise humbling himself, the prophet, however, again found favor, and was presented with a strange, oval-shaped, chocolate-colored stone, about the size of an egg, only more flat, which, it was promised, should serve the same purpose as the missing Urim and Thummim (the latter was a pair of transparent stones set in a bow-shaped frame and very much resembled a pair of spectacles). WITH THIS STONE ALL OF THE PRESENT BOOK OF MORMON WAS TRANSLATED." (Saints' Herald, Nov. 15, 1962, page 16) One thing that has caused confusion is the fact that the "seer stone" was sometimes called the Urim and Thummim. Bruce R. McConkie, of the First Council of the Seventy, makes this statement concerning the seer stone: "The Prophet also had a SEER STONE which was separate and distinct from the Urim and Thummim, and which (speaking loosely) has been called by some a Urim and Thummim." (Mormon Doctrine, Salt Lake City, 1966, p. 818) Joseph Smith's brother William referred to the stone as the Urim and Thummim: "The manner in which this was done was by looking into the Urim and Thummim, which was placed in a hat to exclude the light. (the plates lying near by covered up), and reading off the translation, which appeared in the STONE by the power of God." (William Smith On Mormonism, reprinted in A New Witness For Christ In America, by Francis W. Kirkham, Vol. 2, page 417) Brigham Young also called the seer stone the Urim and Thummim. The following is found in a thesis submitted to the Brigham Young University: "Some have felt to question Wilford Woodruff's correctness in calling the instrument the Urim and Thummim. On the same date of December 27, 1841, Elder Woodruff claims to have been shown the Urim and Thummim, Brigham Young recorded in his history the showing of the instrument -- only he said that it was the 'seer stone.' -- 27. -- I met with the Twelve at brother Joseph's. He conversed with us in a familiar manner on a variety of subjects, and explained to us the Urim and Thummim which he found with the plates, called in the Book of Mormon the Interpreters. He said that every man who lived on the earth was entitled to a seer stone, and should have one, but they are kept from them in consequence of their wickedness, and most of those who DO FIND ONE MAKE AN EVIL 10 Joseph Smith and Money Digging USE OF IT; HE SHOWED US HIS SEER STONE:'("Textual Changes in the Pearl of Great Price, M. A. thesis, Brigham Young University, typed copy, page 9) The Mormon Historian Joseph Fielding Smith admits that the seer stone was sometimes called the Urim and Thummim: "The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar in the Manti Temple when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the SEER STONE which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This seer stone is NOW in the possession of the Church." (Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 3, p. 225) Embarrassed Over Stone The fact that Joseph Smith used a stone, which he placed in a hat, to translate the Book of Mormon has caused a great deal of embarrassment because it so closely resembled crystal gazing. Crystal gazing is an ancient practice. Crystal gazers have claimed to see writings in their stones in the same way that Joseph Smith was supposed to have translated the Book of Mormon. In the book, Strange Superstitions and Magical Practices, we read:"Among primitive peoples there is a widespread belief in the magical efficacy of quartz crystals -- one of the most common of all luminous stones. These mineralogical specimens are frequently the main prop of the magician. They are used for this purpose by the aborigines of Australia, Polynesia and North America, among others." (Strange Superstitions and Magical Practices, by William J. Fielding, p. 53) On pages 137-138 of the Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology, by Rossell Hope Robbins, the following information appears: "In England, for example, in 1467a William Byg was convicted of using a crystal stone to locate stolen property;..." The Mormon writer Arch S. Reynolds stated: "During the early history of the Latter-day Saints' Church, many people arose with so-called seer-stones, claiming to have power of seeing many things such as seeing the place where lost articles were also where the Book of Mormon plates were hidden. Some of these clairvoyants were the means o f leading many astray from the truth. One of the earliest of these peepstone gazers was a young woman named Miss Chase, sister of Willard Chase, a Methodist class-leader. (See Lucy Smith's Life of the Prophet Joseph, p. 102) Miss Chase found a green glass, through which she claimed she could see where Joseph Smith kept the Gold Plates. (Ibid. p. 109) ... "Brewster had a stone by which he pretended to receive revelations. There were others in the early rise of the Church -- Isaac Russel and James J. Strang who tried to lead factions from the Church and pretended to receive revelations by stone or Urim.... "From the earliest days of the Church we have had many who have claimed to have had the power to see things in so-called peepstones. There are stones among the Church members that are considered by some to be their receiving communications from the unseen world. "Edwin Rushton dug in the ground in the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, as a dream had previously shown, and obtained a seerstone about five feet underground, on May 4, 1846. He was a resident of Nauvoo at the time he obtained it. The stone, which still exists, appears to be a little smaller than a quarter of a baseball, and is crystal clear. He never tried to use the stone, as far as we know. It now reposesin the possession of his son-in-law, C. W. Christensen, of Salt Lake City, Utah." (The Urim and Thummim, by Arch S. Reynolds, p. 21-24) On page 28 of the same booklet, Arch S. Reynolds states: "Not only true media have been used by God's seers throughout the centuries; but false ones such as peepstones, crystal balls, etc. have been brought forth by the Adversary to further his diabolic work and hinder God's plan on earth." Bruce R. McConkie, of the First Council of the Seventy, made this statement: "In imitation of the true order of heaven whereby seers receive revelations from God through a Urim and Thummim, the devil gives his own revelations to some of his followers through peep stones or crystal balls." (Mormon Doctrine, Salt Lake City, 1966, pp. 565-566) Charlotte Haven gave this interesting information in a letter from Nauvoo, dated May 2, 1843: "It is said that Joseph read the golden plates by looking through the Peep Stone. Now he pretends not to believe in the Peep Stone, although many of his followers undoubtedly do. The stone is in the possession of a high church dignitary, and has the power of seeing and reading things without the use of eyes -- a sort of clairvoyant. I am told that many of the English and Scotch, when becoming anxious about their friends across the ocean, with implicit faith consult the Peep Stone, which not only tells them of their friends health, but what they are doing at the time. But it is not always infallible, as you will see. Joseph Smith and Money Digging 11 "Some weeks ago, a store was broken open and nearly all its contents stolen. The Peep Stone pretended to reveal where the goods were deposited, and immediately ten or fifteen men with teams started for the spot, but lo! nothing was there." (Overland Monthly, December 1890, p. 630) The early Mormon people were prone to the use of "peep stones." Hosea Stout recorded the following in his diary under the date of September 9, 1845: "Went Early this morning to see B. Young, and came home by way of Br C. Allen & then I took the horse & buggy home and came home and met the police and then went with Br Harmon & Horr to see a boy look in a 'peep Stone,' for some money which he said he could see hid up in the ground, he would look and we would dig but he found no money he said it would-move as we approached it. I came home about ten oclock at night." (On The Mormon Frontier -- The Diary of Hosea Stout, Vol. 1, pp. 61-62) Wandle Mace recorded this interesting information in his journal: "Uncle John visited us and during his stay we related to him our experience (with evil spirits) and we learned from him that... In Staffordshire a branch of the Church was organized at the Potteries and Elder Alfred Cordon was president; among those who embraced the Gospel at this place were some who had practiced magic, or astrology. They had Books which had been handed down for many generations; they also had two stones, about the size of goose eggs;... This is the substance of the narration as I heard it from Uncle John. Sometime after I moved to Nauvoo I became acquainted with Elder Alfred Cordon, who related to me the same; he also said the Books with the stones were placed into his hands by these men after they joined the church, and he gave them to Apostle George A. Smith who destroyed the books, but put the stones in the bottom of his trunk and brought them to Nauvoo. He gave them to Joseph the prophet who pronounced them to be a Urim and Thummim -- as good as ever was upon the earth -- but he said, 'They have been consecrated to devils." (Wandle Mace Diary, p. 66, as quoted in Seer Stones, by Ogden Kraut, pp.22-23) In Utah the anti-Mormon paper, Valley Tan, accused the Mormons of using "peep stones": "...the Mormons... have better facilities for obtaining information than through newspapers. About every other family, and generally the one between, is possessed of either astrological science or a 'peep-stone.'... through the latter -- a small globular-shaped pebble -- they can see cattle beyond mountains twenty or a hundred miles, or even a greater distance off." (Valley Tan, October 5, 1859, p. 2) Although this is probably an exaggeration, there were many who used "peep stones" in Utah. In John M. Whitaker's journal, for instance, we find the following: "Sister Greaves and I had often met and she opened her heart to me and told me of her troubles with her Bishop, Orson F. Whitney, going to her sisters place and getting information from a SEAR [seer?] stone. I tried in several ways to explain what a fine man Bishop Whitney was, and could not understand why he sought such a source for information -- 'I sincerely believe he has more faith than that, --' and she said, 'you see dear, he has a little ADAM in him." (Excerpts from the Daily Journal of John M. Whitaker, typed copy, Vol.1, page 151) According to Ogden Kraut, J. Golden Kimball, one of the first. seven presidents of seventies, told Nels B. Lundwall the following: "During the 1920's I became a very close acquaintance of J. Golden Kimball. On one occasion he told me that while he was a young man the family cows wandered away and became lost. They hunted everywhere for them, but to no avail. Someone suggested that they go to a certain person who was known to have a 'seer stone;' so they proceeded to that person and inquired if they could locate the cows for them, The person used the stone and told them where the cows could be found. Golden said that they went to the place that was specified and there were the cows!' "Statement by Nels B. Lundwall to the author, 4-22-67" (Seer Stones, by Ogden Kraut, page 25) The following statements appear in the journal of Priddy Meeks: "After I settled in Parowan some time, I went to the city.... after I had got home, President Daniel H. Wells sent a boy to me by the name of Wm. Titt, some 12 or 14 years of age. He was born a natural Seer.... Seer Stones, or peepstones as they are more commonly called, was very plenty about Parowan. I rather being a gifted person in knowing a peepstone when seeing one, altho I have never found one yet that I could see in, a seerstone appears to me to be the connecting link between the visible and invisible worlds.... "It is not safe to depend on a peepstone in any case where evil spirits has the power to put false appearances before them while looking in a peepstone. If evil influences will not interfer, the verdict will be as true as preaching. That is my experience in the matter. Also, the Patriarch, Hiram Smith, the brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith, held the same idea, but stated that our faith was not strong enough to overcome the evil influences that might interfere, but seemed to think that time would come. I have seen peepstones as well polished as a fiddle, with a nice hole thro one end that belonged to the 12 Joseph Smith and Money Digging Ancients. I asked Bro. Smith the use for that hole. He said the same as for a watch chain, to keep from losing it. He said in time of war the Nephites had the advantage of their enemies, by looking in the seerstone, which would reveal whatever they wished to know. (I believe a peepstone is of the same piece with the Urim & Thummum if we understood it.) "Now then, Wm. Titt was the best Seer in peepstones I ever was acquainted with.... I believe that Satan and his gang saw the danger his kingdom would be in thro Wm. Titt and the Peepstone, that they done their best to destroy him,..." (Priddy Meeks Journal, pages 32-33) "...William Titt... was born a natural Seer. He was the best hand to look in a Seer Stone that I was ever acquainted with. I believe the Lord overruled his coming to me, I having some knowledge of the science of Seer Stones and being somewhat gifted in knowing one when I saw it. I used to find many, and William could tell by looking in it who that stone was for, and I would give that Stone to the one he said it was for, and they would see in them. I yet remember two (2) men's names. Isaac Grundy and James Rollands. They both could see in their Stones when they got them, and if they was strangers, he could discribe the persons, but could not tell their names. I told him if he would be faithful, he did not know the eminence he would arrive at in consequence of his gift. I kept the Seer Stones under my immediate controll, and when needed, I would bring it out and he done a great deal of good by finding lost property and by telling people how their kinsfolks was getting along, even in England. He could satisfy them that he could see correct by discribing things correct, but when it come to things that the Devil did not want the truth to come out, the Devil had power to make false appearances, and William would miss the truth. William being young and limited in experience, he was not able to compete with the devil at all times, and they undertook to distroy him, and they told him if it had not been for old Meeks, they would have distroyed him. I think it was on account of his gift that made them try to distroy him. They comminced by coming into the house one evening some an hour by sun where William was sitting on the floor by the fire. There was three of them, and they caught him around the body and squeezed him nearly to death. I called on two of the brethren to lay hands on with me. Befor they entered the door, William commenced cursing them. They was so astonished at that, knowing that William did not swear, they stoped at the door. I urged them in quick, saying it is the devil talking through William. We had not hands on him but a little while till William says. 'There does one devil out at the door; there goes another, and there goes another,' says he. And the three all went out at the door and William was rational again." (Priddy Meeks Journal, typed copy, pages 46-47) Mormon apologists have a difficult time explaining the fact that Joseph Smith used a "seer stone." The Mormon Apostle John A. Widtsoe made this statement: "Some use was made also of the seer stone and occasional mention was made of it. This was a stone found while the Prophet assisted in digging a well for Clark Chase. By divine power this stone was made serviceable to Joseph Smith in the early part of his ministry. There is no evidence that this stone was used in Joseph's sacred work." (Joseph Smith -- Seeker After Truth, by John A. Widtsoe, Salt Lake City, 1951, page 267) Notice that Mr. Widtsoe states there is "NO evidence that this STONE was used in Joseph's SACRED work,' yet on page 260 of the same book Widtsoe states that Joseph did use the stone in his "SPIRITUAL WORK": "Before Joseph received the Urim and Thummim he had a stone, obtained during the digging of a well for Clark Chase. This stone, through the blessing of the Lord, became a SEER STONE which was used frequently by him in his SPIRITUAL WORK. "The use of the SEER STONE explains in part the charge against Joseph Smith that he was a 'peep stone gazer.'... The use of the SEER STONE and the Urim and Thummim was well-known to the people of his time and neighborhood. "The use of stones in sacred work has been frequent; for example, the ball known as the Liahona, the rod of Aaron, and the twelve stones used by Lehi." (Joseph Smith-Seeker After Truth, p.260) Joseph Fielding Smith, who recently became President of the Mormon Church, seems to be embarrassed over the use of the stone. Although he admits that Joseph Smith had a stone, he is unwilling to admit that Joseph used a stone in the translation of the Book of Mormon. He stated: "While the statement has been made by some writers that the Prophet Joseph Smith used a seer stone part of the time in his translating of the record, and information points to the fact that he did have in his possession such a stone, yet there is no authentic statement in the history of the Church which states that the use of such a stone was made in that translation. The information is all hearsay, and personally, I do not believe that this stone was used for this purpose.... It hardly seems reasonable to suppose that the Prophet would substitute something evidently INFERIOR under these circumstances. It may have been so, but is so easy for a story of this kind to be circulated due to the fact that the Prophet did possess a seer stone, which he may have used for some other purposes." (Doctrines of Salvation, by Joseph Fielding Smith, Vol. 3, pp. 225-226) A few things should be noted concerning Joseph Fielding Smith's statement. He states that the information concerning the use of the stone in the translation of the Book of Mormon is "hearsay." In making this statement Mr. Smith overlooks the fact that not only Joseph Smith's wife and brother testified that a stone was used, but also David Whitmer and Martin Harris, who were witnesses to the Book of Mormon. These people were eye witnesses to the translation. Mr. Smith also claims that "there is no authentic statement in the history of the Church which states that the use of such a stone was made in that translation." While Joseph Smith and Money Digging 13 it may be true that there is no statement in Joseph Smith's History, still the Comprehensive History of the Church, by B.H. Roberts, very definitely states that a stone was used in the translation of the Book of Mormon. The fact that Joseph Fielding Smith is embarrassed over the use of the stone is evident from his statement that "It hardly seems reasonable to suppose that the Prophet would substitute something evidently INFERIOR under these circumstances." Perhaps Mr. Smith is reluctant to admit that a stone was used because of the criticism of anti-Mormon writers. M. T. Lamb made this observation concerning the use of the stone: "Finally, according to the testimony of Martin Harris, Mr. Smith often used the 'seer stone' in place of the Urim and Thummim, even while the later remained in his possession -- using it as a mere matter of convenience. It seems almost too bad that he should thus inadvertently give the whole thing away. You must understand that the Urim and Thummim spoken of, and called throughout the Book of Mormon ' t h e Interpreters, had been provided with great care over 2500 years ago by God himself, for the express purpose of translating these plates. They are often mentioned in the Book of Mormon as exceedingly important. They were preserved with the greatest care, handed down from one generation to another with the plates, and buried with them in the hill cumorah over 1400 years ago; as sacred as the plates themselves. So sacred that only one man was allowed to handle or use them, the highly favored prophet, Joseph Smith himself. But now, alas! after all this trouble and pains and care on the part of God, and on the part of so many holy men of old, this 'Urim and Thummim' is found at last to be altogether superfluous; not needed at all. This 'peep stone' found in a neighbor's well will do the work just as well -- and is even MORE CONVENIENT, 'for convenience he used the seer stone.' So we are left to infer that when he used the Urim and Thummim at all, it was at SOME INCONVENIENCE. And probably he only did it out of regard to the feelings of his God, who had spent so much time and anxiety in preparing it so long ago, and preserving it to the present day for his special use!" (The Golden Bible, by M. T. Lamb, pp. 250-251) Joseph Fielding Smith, confronted with so much evidence that a stone was used in the translation of the Book of Mormon, finally has to admit, "IT MAY HAVE BEEN SO, but it is so easy for a story of this kind to be circulated due to the fact that THE PROPHET DID POSSESS A SEER STONE, which he may have used for some other purposes." Mr. Smith does not explain what "other purposes" the stone might have been used for. The Mormon writer John J. Stewart is willing to concede that Joseph Smith was a money-digger, but he evades the issue of whether or not Joseph Smith actually used a "peep stone": "One of the most persistent stories circulated about young Joe Smith was that he was a peep stone gazer and money digger. In the early nineteenth century New York, Ohio and other areas about with mounds and other relics of the past. Newspapers frequently carried accounts of such 'treasures' being unearthed. This fact plus the age old, universal desire of man to find buried treasure and thus secure a life of ease, gave rise to legends and stories of lost mines, hidden gold, etc. What region and what period of time do not have such stories? "Whether Joseph ever did any peep stone gazing, as any youth might, remains a matter of speculation. Nor is it important. But that he did engage in money digging is certain." (Joseph Smith the Mormon Prophet, Salt Lake City, 1966, page 22) On page 225 of his book, Doctrines of Salvation, Vol.3, Joseph Fielding Smith stated: "The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the SEER STONE which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This SEER STONE is NOW in the possession of the Church." Now, if the Church does still possess this stone, as Mr. Smith claims, the leaders are very reluctant to display it. In an unpublished manuscript on the Book of Mormon, LaMar Petersen states: "Today the Church is silent regarding the stone. It seems somehow beneath the dignity of a Prophet to have ever placed one in his hat. Little or no information can be obtained as to the present whereabouts of the stone. [A.] William Lund, assistant Church historian says: 'I have been here in the Library more than forty years and I have never seen it.' Yet there are at least three definite statements in responsible Church organs that it does, or did, repose there." Relationship to Book of Mormon A careful examination of the whole story of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and even the text of the book itself reveals that it originated in the -mind of someone who was familiar with the practice of money-digging. To begin with, the "seer stone" used in "translating" the book seems to be nothing but a common "peep stone,' Many people in Joseph Smith's area were using these stones to search for buried treasures. The evidence shows that Joseph Smith found such a stone while digging a well, and that he used his stone to search for treasures. Even Martin Harris, one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon, admitted that the money-diggers "took Joseph to look in the stone for them, and he did so for a while,..." (Tiffany' s Monthly, 1859, page 164) On page 169 of the same publication Martin Harris claimed that Joseph "had before this described the manner of his finding the plates. He found them by looking in the stone found in the well of Mason Chase. The family had likewise told me the same thing." Henry Harris also stated that Joseph Smith told him he saw the plates in the hill Cumorah by means of the stone: "He said he had a revelation from God that told him they were hid in a certain hill and he LOOKED IN HIS STONE and saw them in the14 Joseph Smith and Money Digging place of deposit:..." (Affidavit by Henry Harris, as quoted in A New Witness For Christ in America, Vol. 1, page 133) Hosea Stout also claimed that Joseph Smith used the stone to find the Book of Mormon plates: "President Young-exhibited the SEER'S STONE WITH WHICH THE PROPHET JOSEPH DISCOVERED THE PLATES of the Book of Mormon, to the Regents this evening" On the Mormon Frontier, The Diary of Hosea Stout, Vol. 2, page 593) Evidence also shows that in "translating' the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith placed the stone in a hat in the same manner "as when he looked for the money-diggers." According to witnesses, the plates didn't even have to be present when Joseph Smith was "translating." The following statement appears in Arch S. Reynolds' booklet, How Did Joseph Smith Translate? page 6: "At another time David Whitmer gave a description of the procedure: 'Joseph Smith did NOT SEE THE PLATES in translation, but would hold the interpreters (Urim and Thummim to his eyes and cover his face with a hat, excluding all light, and before him would appear what seemed to be parchment on which would appear the characters of the plates on a line at the top, and immediately below would appear the translation in English,...' (Kansas City Journal, June 5, 1881.)"On page 21 of the same booklet, Mr. Reynolds states: "The evidence proves that the plates were not always before Joseph during the translation. His wife and mother state that the plates were on the table wrapped in a cloth while Joseph translated with his eyes HID IN A HAT with the SEER STONE or the Urim and Thummim. David Whitmer, Martin Harris and others state that Joseph hid the plates in the woods and other places while he was translating. Also if Joseph hid his face in a hat while translating what good would the plates have been to him in helping him read the characters? Where it was dark he could not have seen the characters anyway, and the plates were too large to be hidden in a hat." Although Joseph Smith suppressed the fact that he used a "seer stone" in his history, the Book of Mormon states: "And the Lord said: I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem, A STONE, which shall SHINE forth in DARKNESS unto light, that I may discover unto my people who serve me, that I may discover unto them the works of their brethren, yea, their secret works, their works of darkness, and their wickedness and abominations:" (Book of Mormon, Alma 37:23) In the Doctrine and Covenants 78:9, Gazelam is identified as "Joseph Smith, Jun." As we examine the Book of Mormon story in the light of the money-digging activities of the 1820's, we notice that the gold plates from which the Book of Mormon was "translated" were supposed to have been a very valuable treasure. In fact, when the "first published consecutive account of the origin of the Church" appeared in 1834 and 1835 it stated that Joseph Smith desired to have the Book of Mormon plates to make himself wealthy. This account was republished in the Times and Seasons as follows: "...I have said that two invisible powers were operating upon his mind during his walk from his residence to Cumorah, and that the one urging the certainty of wealth and ease in this life, had so powerfully wrought upon him, that the great object so carefully and impressively named by the angel, had entirely gone from his recollection, that only a fixed determination to obtain now urged him forward... a little exertion in removing the soil from the edges of the top of the box, and a light pry, brought to his natural vision its contents. No sooner did he behold this sacred TREASURE than his hopes were renewed, and he supposed his success certain; and without first attempting to take it from its long place of deposit, he thought, perhaps, there might be something more equally as valuable, and to take only the plates, might give others an opportunity of obtaining the remainder, which could he secure, would still add to his STORE OF WEALTH. These, in short, were his reflections, without once thinking of the solemn instruction of the heavenly messenger, that all must be done with an express view of glorifying God. 'On attempting to take possession of the record a shock was produced upon his system, by an invisible power, which deprived him, in a measure, of his natural strength. He desisted for an instant, and then made another attempt, but was more sensibly shocked than before. What was the occasion of this he knew not -- there was the pure unsullied record, as had been described -- he had heard of the power of enchantment, and a thousand like stories, which held the hidden treasures of the earth, and supposed that physical exertion and personal strength was only necessary to enable him to yet obtain the object of his wish. He therefore made the third attempt with an increased exertion, when his strength failed him more than at either of the former times, and without premeditating he exclaimed: 'Why can I not obtain this book?' "'Because you have NOT kept the commandments of the Lord,' answered a voice, within a seeming short distance. "He looked, and to his astonishment, there stood the angel who had previously given him the directions concerning this matter." (Times and Seasons, Vol. 2, pp. 392-393) Even Joseph Smith's mother seems to have had an interest in the value of the treasures found in the hill Cumorah. Speaking of the breastplate which was found with the Book of Mormon plates, she said: "The whole plate was WORTH AT LEAST FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS..." (Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, London, 1853, page 107) Joseph Smith and Money Digging 15 In later printings of Mrs. Smith's book, these words have been completely deleted without any indication (see photograph in our Case, Vol. 1, p. 61). The Mormon leaders have also deleted her description of the Urim and Thummim. In this description Joseph's mother claimed that the Urim and Thummim consisted of "Diamonds set in glass": "...it consisted of two smooth three-cornered DIAMONDS set in glass, and the glasses were set in silver bows, which were connected with each other in much the same way as old fashioned spectacles." Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, page 101) In an affidavit given Dec. 8,1833, William Stafford told of the great interest which the Smith family ha d in money-digging: "...I first became acquainted with Joseph, Sen., and his family in the year 1820.... They would say, for instance, that in such a place, in such a hill, on a certain man's farm, there were deposited kegs, barrels and hogsheads of coined silver and gold -- bars of gold, golden images, brass kettles filled with gold and silver -- gold candlesticks, swords, &c &c. They would say, also, that nearly all the hills in this part of New York, were thrown up by human hands, and in them were large caves, which Joseph Jr., could see, by placing a stone of singular appearance in his hat, in such a manner as to exclude all light; at which time they pretended he could see all things within and under the earth, -- that he could see within the above mentioned caves, large gold bars and silver plates -- that he could also discover the spirits in whose charge these treasures were clothed in ancient dress." (Mormonism Unvailed, Painesville, Ohio, 1834, pp.237-238) It is very interesting to compare Stafford's statement about the caves with a statement by Brigham Young which we have previously quoted: "Oliver says that when Joseph and Oliver went there, the hill opened, and they walked into a CAVE, in which there was a large and spacious room.... They laid the plates on a table; it was a large table that stood in the room. Under this table there was a pile of plates as much as two feet high, and there were altogether in this room MORE PLATES THAN PROBABLY MANY WAGON LOADS;..." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 1 , page 38) Heber C. Kimball, who was a member of the First Presidency, also spoke of this cave: "How does it compare with the vision that Joseph and others had, when they went into a CAVE in the hill Cumorah, and saw more records than ten men could carry? There were books piled up on tables, book upon book." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 4, page 105) The Mormon writer Edward Stevenson made these interesting statements about the cave: "It was likewise stated to me by David Whitmer in the year 1877 that Oliver Cowdery told him that the Prophet Joseph and himself had seen this room and that it was filled with treasure, and on a table therein were the breastplate and the sword of Laban, as well as the portion of gold plates not yet translated, and that these plates were bound by three small gold rings, and would also be translated, as was the first portion in the days of Joseph. When they are translated much useful information will be brought to light. But till that day arrives, no Rochester adventurers shall ever see them or the treasures, although science and mineral rods testify that they are there. At the proper time when greed, selfishness and corruption shall cease to reign in the hearts of the people, these vast hoards of hidden treasure shall be brought forth to be used for the cause and kingdom of Jesus Christ." (Reminiscences of Joseph the Prophet, Salt Lake City, 1893, pp. 14-15) The Book of Mormon makes these statements concerning hidden treasures: "And behold, if a man hide up a treasure in the earth, and the Lord shall say -- Let it be accursed, because of the iniquity of him who bath hid it up -- behold, it shall be accursed. "And if the Lord shall say -- Be thou accursed, that no man shall find thee from this time henceforth and forever -- behold, no man getteth it henceforth and forever." (Book of Mormon, Helaman 12:18-19) "...whoso shall hide up treasures in the earth shall find them again no more, because of the great curse of the land save he be a righteous man and shall hide it up unto the Lord. "For I will, saith the Lord, that they shall hide up their treasures unto me; and cursed be they who hide not up their treasures unto me; for none hideth up their treasures unto me save it be the righteous; and he that hideth not up his treasures unto me, cursed is he, and also the treasure, and none shall redeem it because of the curse of the land." (Ibid, Helaman, 13:18-19) The reader will remember that Brigham Young told of a "chest of money" that moved by itself "into the bank," and that Martin Harris told of "stone box" which "slipped back into the hill." This idea of treasures slipping into the earth seems to be reflected in the Book of Mormon. In Helaman 13:34-36 we read: "Behold, we lay a tool here and on the morrow it is gone; and behold, our swords are taken from us in the day we have sought them for battle. "Yea, we have hid up our treasures and they have SLIPPED away from us, because of the curse of the land. 16 Joseph Smith and Money Digging "O that we had repented in the day that the word of the Lord came unto us; for behold the land is cursed, and all things are become SLIPPERY, and we cannot hold them." (Book of Mormon, Helaman 13:34-36) In Mormon 1:18 we read that the people "began to hide up their treasures in the earth; and they became SLIPPERY, because the Lord had cursed the land, that they could not hold them, nor retain them again." From the evidence we have presented it becomes clear that the Book of Mormon had its origin among a people who believed in "seer stones" and money-digging. Working with the Rod One of the most important changes Joseph Smith made in his revelations was an obvious attempt to cover up the fact that he had endorsed the idea that Oliver Cowdery had a gift from God to work with a divining rod. Below is a comparison of the way this revelation was first printed in the Book of Commandments and the way it has been changed to read in recent editions of the Doctrine and Covenants (see photograph in our Case, Vol. 1, page 144, Change F).
The reader will notice that the words "WORKING WITH THE ROD" and "ROD OF NATURE" have been. entirely deleted from this revelation. In the Vermont Historical Gazetteer we find some information that would seem to show that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery derived their interest in working with the rod from their parents: "About 1800, occurred the 'Wood scrape,' a term not expressive perhaps of what is meant, but a name which has always been given by the people to a strange affair in which the Wood families, then living here, were the leading actors. It was a religious delusion, and, at the time, the cause of great excitement here, and of a good deal of notoriety in this part of the State... "Before 1860, I had conversed with more than 30 old men and women who were living here in 1800, and then supposed I had obtained all the information that could be had on that subject, the substance of which was that the Woods dug for money in various parts of the town, and were engaged in this for nearly a year; that they used hazel-rods which they pretended would lead them to places where money, had been buried, and that they finally predicted that there would be an earthquake on a future day by them named, and that when that day arrived there was great excitement and commotion among the people, such as was never known here before nor since.... His [Nathaniel Wood’s] peculiar religious doctrines will appear as we proceed. Suffice it to say, for the present, that he regarded himself and his followers as modern Israelites or Jews, under the special care of Providence; that the Almighty would not only specially interpose in their behalf, but would visit their enemies, the Gentiles (all outsiders), with his wrath and vengeance. "In this condition we find Nathaniel Wood and his followers when the hazel-rod was introduced, and the money digging commenced; but the Woods did not commence it; that honor belongs to a man of another name; but they were in a condition to adopt this man's rod-notions, which they did with great effect in their work of deluding the people. "A man by the name of Winchell, as he called himself when he came here, was the first man who used the hazel-rod.... He was a fugitive from justice from Orange county, Vermont, where he had been engaged in counterfeiting. He first went to a Mr. Cowdry's, in Wells, who then lived in that town, near the line between Wells and Middletown, in the house now owned and occupied by Robert Parks, Esq. Cowdry was the father of OLIVER COWDERY, the noted Mormon, who claimed to have been one of witnesses to Joe Smith's revelations, and to have written the book of Mormon, as it was deciphered by Smith from the golden plates. Winchell, I have been told, was a friend and acquaintance of Cowdry's, but of this I cannot be positive; they were intimate afterwards; but Winchell staid at Cowdry's some little time, keeping himself concealed, and it is the opinion of some with whom I have conversed that he commenced his operations of digging for money in Wells, but I have been unable to determine as to that... "Winchell next turns up in Middletown, at Ezekiel Perry's in the Fall or fore part of the winter of 1799.... and here. he began to use the hazel-rod (whether he had before used it at Cowdry's, in wells, I cannot say).... he gathered quite a number about him from the immediate neighborhood, and told them there was money buried in that region, and with his rod he could find it, and if they would assist in digging it out, and forever keep it a secret, he would give them a part of the money. This they agreed to, and were all eager to commence digging. "Before we proceed further, we should, perhaps, say a word about this rod, which played such a part in Middletown in this eventful year. The best description we can give of it is this: It was a stick of what has been known as witch-hazel -- a small bush or shrub very common in this vicinity. It was cut with two prongs, in the form of a fork, and the person using it would take the two prongs, one in Joseph Smith and Money Digging 17 each hand, and the other end from the body. From the use of this stick Winchell an[d] [t]he Woods pretended to divine all sorts of things to suit their purposes.... "After Winchell had made his proposals to those whom he gathered about him, and they had been accepted, he had recourse to his rod to determine whether they were sincere in their promises to keep the money digging a secret. The rod, as he pretended, told him they were, and then he sallied out; went on to the hill, east of Perry's house, holding his rod before him in the manner indicated, his dupes following after.... The men, under Winchell, immediately prepared themselves with shovels and other implements, and commenced digging. They worked hard for two or three days. and becoming weary, their enthusiasm began to cool, and they began to show signs of giving out. Winchell held up his rod, got some motion from it, and told them the money was in an iron chest and covered with a large stone, and that they would soon come to it.... He impressed it upon them, that the occasion was one of 'awful moment,' that there was a 'divinity' guarding the treasure, and that if there was any lack of faith in any one of the party, or any should utter a word while removing the stone and taking out the chest, that this divinity would put the money forever beyond their reach,... Some one of the party stepped on the foot of another, the latter crying out in pain, 'Get off from my toes.' Winchell exclaimed with a loud voice, 'The money is gone, flee for your lives!' Every man of the party dropped his bar or lever, and ran as though it was for life.... "The Woods then commenced using the hazel rod and digging for money, which was in the Spring or early summer of 1800, and continued in this until late in the Fall, and some have said until into the Winter. Winchell was with them, but it was not generally known, he being concealed -- the Woods were the ostensible managers.... the Woods superintended the work, and were the men who handled the rod for the most part in those operations. Jacob Wood, known as Capt. Wood, one of the sons of Nathaniel, was the leader in the use of the rod. 'Priest Wood' his father, seemed to throw his whole soul into the rod delusion, but his use of the rod was mostly as a medium of revelation. It was 'St. John's rod' he said, and undoubtedly was very convenient for him, as he was much more fruitful in his prophecies than before -- but Capt. Jacob was the man to find where the money was buried, and to use the rod at their public meetings, and on other occasions, though all the Woods and their followers, had each a rod, which was used whenever they desired any information. If any one was sick, they sought the rod to know whether they would live or die, and to know what medicine to administer to them. In all their business matters, they followed, as they said, the direction of the rod, and with it they could, as they pretended, divine the thoughts and intentions of men.... Many of the old people have told me, that almost every day during that season, Capt. Wood, or some other one, could be seen with the two prongs of the rod twisted around his hands, in search for buried treasures.... there was no show of reason in the affair from beginning to end, their idea was, that it was revelation, that it was made known to them through the medium of St. John's rod, and would be revealed to none others but God's chosen people. Nathaniel Wood's Jewish theory, if I may so call it,) ran through the whole thing from first to last... The rods-men, (such they were called,) became so infatuated as to give up nearly their whole time to this scheme. All the believers became wild fanatics.... "The Woods at one time had it revealed to them, that they must build a temple.... "Mr. Clark in his letter says: 'By what I have heard of them (the Woods,) I have no doubt that the movement gave origin to the Mormons.'... "That the system of religion promulgated by Nathaniel Wood, and adopted by his followers in 1800, was the same, or 'much the same, as the Mormons adopted on the start, is beyond question. It was claimed by the Mormons, so says a writer of their history, 'that pristine Christianity was to be restored, with the gift of prophecy, the gift of tongues -- with power to heal all manner of diseases -- that the fulness of the gospel was to be brought forth by the power of God, and the seed of Israel were to be brought into the fold, and that the gospel would be carried to the Gentiles, many of whom were to receive it.' These were the doctrines of the Woods. The Woods were very fruitful in prophecies, especially after the hazel rod came to their use; so were the Mormons in the beginning of their creed, and both the Woods and the Mormons claimed to have revelations,... I have been told that Joe Smith's father resided in Poutney at the time of the Wood movement here, and that he was in it, and one of the leading rods-men. Of this I cannot speak positively, for the want of satisfactory evidence,... I have before said that Oliver Cowdry’s father was in the 'Wood scrape.' He then lived in Wells, afterwards in Middletown, after that went to Palmyra, and there we find these men with the counterfeiter, Winchell, searching for money over the hills and mountains with the hazel-rod, and their sons Joe and Oliver, as soon as they were old enough, were in the same business,... "Gov. Ford of Illinois, in his history of the Mormons, says of Joe Smith. "'That his extreme youth was spent in idle, vagabond life, roaming in the woods, dreaming of buried treasures, and exerting the art of finding them by twisting a forked stick in his hands, or by looking through enchanted stones. He and his father before him, were what are called 'water-witches,' always ready to point out the ground where wells might be dug and water found.'... "I have perhaps already occupied more time upon this matter than I should, but I have thought it proper and important too, to give what evidence I have been able to obtain, to show that the Wood movement here 'gave origin to the Mormons.'... They used the rod, that is, the elder Smith and Cowdry, and pretended by that to obtain revelations,... and their sons Joe jr. and Oliver,... commenced their education with the use of the hazel-rod or forked stick, in searching for hidden treasures -- though afterwards they used what they called enchanted stones." (The Vermont Historical Gazetteer, Edited by Abby Maria Hemenway, Claremont, N.H., 1877, Vol. 3, pp. 810, 811, 812, 813, 814, 818 and 819) Although the material above was not printed until many years after the events were supposed to have occurred, the "Rodmen" were mentioned in the Vermont American as early as 1828: "About the year 1800, one or two families in Rutland county,... pretended to have been informed by 18 Joseph Smith and Money Digging the Almighty, that they were descendants of the ancient Jews,... They claimed, also, inspired power, with which to cure all sorts of diseases -- intuitive knowledge of lost or stolen goods, and ability to discover the hidden treasures of the earth,...most of the connexions of its originators were drawn in,... numbering nearly forty persons. The instrument of their miraculous powers, was a cleft stick, or rod, something of the form of an inverted Y;... "Before the adoption of any project among the fraternity, a nod of assent was required from the rods of the whole,... excavations were made in the mountains, some to a great depth;... From the bowels of the mountain valuable ore was to be taken; the building was to be erected into a furnace for smelting and refining it; and the horses' bones were to be converted into crucibles!" (Vermont American, Middlebury, Vermont, May 7, 1828) Joseph Smith's father was undoubtedly a believer in the practice of working with the rod. In an affidavit, dated Dec. 2, 1833, Peter Ingersoll stated: "I, Peter Ingersoll, first became aquainted with the family of Joseph Smith, Sen. in the year of our Lord, 1822.... "The general employment of the family, was digging for money.... I was once ploughing near the house of Joseph Smith, Sen. about noon, he requested me to walk with him a short distance from his house, for the purpose of seeing whether a mineral rod would WORK IN MY HAND, saying at the same time he was confident it would.... he cut a small witch hazel bush and gave me direction how to hold it. He then went off some rods, and told me to say to the rod, 'work to the money; which I did, in an audible voice. He rebuked me severely for speaking it loud, and said it must be spoken in a whisper. This was rare sport for me. While the old man was standing off some rods, throwing himself into various shapes, I told him the rod did not work. He seemed much surprized at this, and said he thought he saw it move in my hand. It was now time for me to return to my labor." (Affidavit of Peter Ingersoll, as found in Mormonism Unvailed, Painesville, Ohio. 1834, page 232) It would appear, then, that Joseph Smith learned about "WORKING WITH THE ROD" from his father. He approved of this practice, and claimed to have a revelation from God which spoke of Cowdery's "gift of working with the rod." Later, however, he became embarrassed about his money-digging activities and changed the revelation to remove all reference to the rod. In 1843 a member of the Mormon Church found himself in trouble with the Church because of working with the rod and similar practices. Under the date of March 25, 1843, we find this statement in Joseph Smith's History: "The High Council, with my brother Hyrum presiding, sat on an appeal of Benjamin Hoyt, from the decision of David Evans, bishop; which was, that Brother Hoyt cease to call certain characters witches or wizards, cease to work with the divining rod, and cease burning a board or boards to heal those whom he said were bewitched." (History of the Church, Vol. 5, pages 311-312) Although the Utah Mormon leaders appear to want their people to remain in the dark concerning the changes in the revelations, the Reorganized LDS Church leaders have made some real progress toward facing this problem. Richard P. Howard, RLDS Church Historian, makes these startling admissions in a book recently published by his Church: "Several writers have established that both in Vermont and in western New York in the early1800's, one of the many forms which enthusiastic religion took was the adaptation of the witch hazel stick (used then and even to this date for locating underground water sources) to religious purposes. For example, the 'divining rod' was used effectively by one Nathaniel Wood in Rutland County, Vermont, in 1801. Wood, Winchell, William Cowdery, Jr., and his son, Oliver Cowdery, all had some knowledge of and associations with the various uses, both secular and sacred, of the forked witch hazel rod. Winchell and others used such a rod in seeking buried treasure; and, as the following parallel column arrangement suggests, when Joseph Smith met Oliver Cowdery in April, 1829, he found a man peculiarly adept in the use of the forked rod -- one who may have brought information to him about the strange, mystical uses to which such an artifact had been put back in the hometown of his boyhood. Cowdery had already proved himself to Joseph as one who could be trusted in the important work on the Book of Mormon. He was a man of no little education and literary gifts for his day -- a schoolmaster and, though perhaps unknown to both Oliver and Joseph at the time, a third cousin to Joseph's mother Lucy Mack Smith. He soon was Joseph's close friend and confidant, his scribe and trusted counselor. In the midst of such mutual rapport and against the background of his own experiments with and uses of oracular media, Joseph Smith's April, 1829, affirmations about Cowdery's unnatural powers related to working with the rod are quite understandable.... "By the time that Joseph Smith approached the reinterpretation and REWORDING of this document for the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, he had had the time and experience necessary to place his 1829 assessment of the meaning of Cowdery's gift of working with the rod in a somewhat more accurate perspective. Both he and Cowdery had developed away from an emphasis on the religious or mystical meanings in such mechanical objects as the water witching rod. Joseph's 1835 wording of this document expressed in more general and symbolic terms the significance and promise of the relationship of trust still existing between Cowdery and himself. It left behind the apparent 1829 reliance upon external media, which by 1835 had assumed in Joseph's mind overtones of SUPERSTITION and speculative experimentation." (Restoration Scriptures, by Richard P. Howard, Independence, Mo., 1969, pages 211-214)
Joseph Smith and Money Digging
19
"A brother in the church, by the name of Burgess, had come to Kirtland and stated that a large amount of money had been secreted in a cellar of a certain house in Salem, Massachusetts, which had belonged to a widow, and he thought he was the only person now living who had knowledge of it, or to the location of the house. We saw the brother Burgess. but Don Carlos Smith told us with regard to the hidden treasure. His statement was credited by the brethren, and steps were taken to try and secure the treasure, of which we will speak more fully in another place." (The Return, Vol. 1, p. 105) On page 106 of the same book, Mr. Robinson stated: "On our return home we went to work in the printing office as heretofore. "We soon learned that four of the leading men of the church had been to Salem, Massachusetts, in search of the hidden treasure spoken of by Brother Burgess, viz: JOSEPH SMITH, Hyrum Smith, Sidney Rigdon and Oliver Cowdery. They left home on the 25th of July, and returned in September." Joseph Smith's History tells of this trip: "On Monday afternoon, July 25th, in company with Sidney Rigdon, Brother Hyrum Smith, and Oliver Cowdery, I left Kirtland,... "From New York we continued our journey to Providence, on board a steamer; from thence to Boston, by steam cars, and arrived in SALEM, Massachusetts, early in August, where we hired a house, and occupied the same during the month,... " (History of the Church, Vol. 2, page 464) David R. Proper, who has done a great deal of research concerning Joseph Smith's trip to Salem, gives this information: "It appears at this time Joseph Smith began to pay attention to some reports published in the Painesville, Ohio, Telegraph describing a great treasure hidden in a house in Salem.... "Tales of buried treasure in Salem were evidently quite common, especially as the old shipping families began to decline... "The Mormon visitors were definitely in Salem as early as August 6, 1836 when Sidney Rigdon and Oliver Cowdrey signed the visitors book of the East India Marine Society museum; Joseph Smith, Jr. signed the register on August 9.... "That there was evidently something behind the visit paid to Salem by the Mormon leaders is strengthened not only by Robinson's sad admission, but also by the lack of any public notice of the mission in Salem newspapers. There were five papers in the city; four of them reported the public address by Sidney Rigdon. The papers had carried stories and features about Mormonism before and continued to do so after this event, but nothing on the local visitation. So famous a personage as Joseph Smith, Jr., the prophet himself, could hardly have gone unnoticed unless he chose to remain so.... "When Rigdon gave his Salem lecture, doubtless Joseph and Hyrum Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and possibly Brigham Young and Lyman Johnson were present, but went unrecognized. It seems incredible that had Mormon missionary efforts been the real object, the prophet would not have been called upon,... One can hardly believe as experienced an evangelist as Sidney Rigdon would have failed to make use of such personages in his delivery unless they wished to remain unrecognized for some reason. "The final note in the mysterious adventure is given by the rather sympathetic Salem Register of August 25, 1836 which four days earlier had given Rigdon as fair a report as he receive making note of the fact that he had left the city after having 'introduced himself' the previous week, the paper goes on to state: 'None knew the names, character, or object of these men, until the day Rigdon held forth, although they had been for a week or two in the city.' The group, it was stated, 'retained possession of the tenement leased by them in Union street and intend to return to this city next spring.' The whole adventure is too mysterious to be explained simply as a missionary tour to Salem and Essex County. What was the object of the Mormon prophet's visit cannot be known, but certainly it adds to the luster of Salem, as well as to its ability to draw visitors from far corners of the world for one reason or another -- even then as now." (Essex Institute Historical Collections, Vol. C, No. 2, April 1964, pp. 93-97) Joseph Smith actually received a revelation concerning the treasure hunt, which is published by the Mormon Church in their Doctrine and Covenants. In this revelation we read the following: "I, the Lord your God, am not displeased with your coming this journey, notwithstanding your follies. "I have MUCH TREASURE in this city for you,... and its wealth pertaining to GOLD AND SILVER SHALL BE YOURS. Concern not yourselves about your debts, for I will give you POWER TO PAY THEM. "...And inquire diligently concerning the more ancient inhabitants and founders of this city; "For there are MORE TREASURE THAN ONE for you in this city." (Doctrine & Covenants, Sec. 111, verses 1, 2, 4, 5, 9 and 10) 20 Joseph Smith and Money Digging Mr. Robinson informs us that the treasure was never found, and Joseph Smith was unable to pay his debts as the revelation had promised: "We were informed that Brother Burgess met them in Salem, evidently according to appointment, but time had wrought such a change that he could not, for a certainty point out the house, and soon left. They however, found a house which they felt was the right one, and hired it. It is needless to say they failed to find that treasure, or the other gold and silver spoken of in the revelation. "We speak of these things with regret, but inasmuch as they occurred we feel it our duty to relate them, as also some of those things which transpired under our personal observation, soon after." (The Return, Vol. 1, page 106) The Mormon historian B.H. Roberts stated: "While the Prophet gives a somewhat circumstantial account of this journey to Salem and his return to Kirtland in September, he nowhere assigns an ADEQUATE cause for himself and company making it -- the object of it is not stated." (Comprehensive History of the Church, Vol.1, page 411) B. H. Roberts admits that the Mormon leaders went to Salem seeking "an earthly treasure;' but claims that the other treasures spoken of in the revelation were of a spiritual nature: "Here we have an opportunity of discerning the difference between the ways of God and the ways of men. Whereas these brethren had COME SEEKING AN EARTHLY TREASURE, God directs their attention to spiritual things, telling them there are more treasures than one for them in that city; and instructs them to inquire diligently concerning the ancient inhabitants and founders of that city, doubtless having in view the securing of their genealogies and the redemption of the past generations of men who had lived there; so that if for a moment THE WEAKNESS OF MEN WAS MANIFESTED IN THIS JOURNEY, we see that fault reproved and the strength and wisdom of God made manifest by directing the attention of his servants to the real and true treasures that he would have them seek, even the salvation of men, both the living and the dead." (Comprehensive History of the Church, Vol. 1, page 412) While it is interesting to note that B.H. Roberts admits that the Mormon leaders went to Salem seeking "an earthly treasure;" his explanation of the revelation seems to be an attempt to keep from facing reality. |
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In her book, No Man Knows My History, Fawn M. Brodie states: "In March 1826 Joseph's magic arts for the first time brought him into serious trouble. One of Stowel's neighbors, Peter Bridgman, swore out a warrant for the youth's arrest on the charge of being a disorderly person and an impostor.... the court pronounced him guilty, though what sentence was finally passed the record does not say." (No Man Knows My History, page 30) Mrs. Brodie states that the court record was "first unearthed in southern New York by Daniel S. Tuttle, Episcopal Bishop of Salt Lake City, and published in the article on 'Mormonism' in the New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge." (Ibid., page 405) The following account of the trial is taken from Tuttle's article: "'People of State of New York vs. Joseph Smith. Warrant issued upon oath of Peter G. Bridgman, who informed that one Joseph Smith of Bainbridge was a disorderly person and an impostor. Prisoner examined. Says that he came from town of Palmyra, and had been at the house of Josiah Stowel in Bainbridge most of time since; had small part of time been employed in looking for mines, but the major part had been employed by said Stowel on his farm, and going to school; that he had a certain stone, which he had occasionally looked at to determine where hidden treasures in the bowels of the earth were; that he professed to tell in this manner where gold-mines were a distance under ground, and had looked for Mr. Stowel several times, and informed him where he could find those treasures, and Mr. Stowel had been engaged in digging for them; that at Palmyra he pretended to tell, by looking at this stone, where coined money was buried in Pennsylvania, and while at Palmyra he had frequently ascertained in that way where lost property was, of various kinds; that he had occasionally been in the habit of looking through this stone to find lost property for three years, but of late had pretty much given it up on account its injuring his health, especially his eyes -- made them sore; that he did not solicit business of this, kind, and had always rather declined having any thing to do with this business. "'Josiah Stowel sworn. Says that prisoner had been at his house something like five months. Had been employed by him to work on farm part of time; that he pretended to have skill of telling where hidden treasures in the earth were, by means of looking through a certain stone; that prisoner had looked for him sometimes, -- once to tell him about money buried on Bend Mountain in Pennsylvania, once for gold on Monument Hill, and once for a salt-spring, -- and that he positively knew that the prisoner could tell, and professed the art of seeing those valuable treasures through the medium of said stone: that he found the digging part at Bend and Monument Hill as prisoner represented it; that prisoner had looked through said stone for Deacon Attelon, for a mine -- did not exactly find it, but got a piece of ore, which resembled gold, he thinks; that prisoner had told by means of this stone where a Mr. Bacon had buried money; that he and prisoner had been in search of it; that prisoner said that it was in a certain root of a stump five feet from surface of the earth, and with it would be found a tail-feather; that said Stowel and prisoner thereupon commenced digging, found a tail-feather, but money was gone; that he supposed that money moved down; that prisoner did offer his services; that he never deceived him; that prisoner looked through stone, and described Josiah Stowel's house and out-houses while at Palmyra, at Simpson Stowel's, correctly; that he had told about a painted tree with a man's hand painted upon it, by means of said stone; that he had been in company with prisoner digging for gold, and had the most implicit faith in prisoner's skill. "'Horace Stowel sworn. Says he [seen] prisoner look into hat through stone, pretending to tell where a chest of dollars were buried in Windsor, a number of miles distant; marked out size of chest in the leaves on round. "'Arad Stowel sworn. Says that he went to see whether prisoner could convince him that he possessed the skill that he professed to have, upon which prisoner laid a book open upon a white cloth, and proposed looking through another stone which was white and transparent; hold the stone to the candle, turn his back to book, and read. The deception appeared so palpable, that went off disgusted. "'McMaster sworn. Says he went with Arad Stowel to be convinced of prisoner's skill, and likewise came away disgusted, finding the deception so palpable. Prisoner pretended to him that he could discern objects at a distance by holding this white stone to the sun or candle; that prisoner rather declined looking into a hat at his dark-colored stone, as he said that it hurt his eyes. "'Jonathan Thompson says that prisoner was requested to look Yeomans for chest of money; did look, 22 Joseph Smith and Money Digging and pretended to know where it was, and that prisoner, Thompson, and Yeomans went in search of it; that Smith arrived at spot first (was in night); that Smith looked in hat while there, and when very dark, and told how the chest was situated. After digging several feet, struck upon something sounding like a board or plank. Prisoner would not look again, pretending that he was alarmed the last time that he looked, on account of the circumstances relating to the trunk being buried came all fresh to his mind; that the last time that he looked, he discovered distinctly the two Indians who buried the trunk; that a quarrel ensued between them, and that one of said Indians was killed by the other, and thrown into the hole beside of the trunk, to guard it, as he supposed. Thompson says that he believes in the prisoner's professed skill; that the board which he struck his spade upon was probably the chest, but, on account of an enchantment, the trunk kept settling away from under them while digging; that, notwithstanding they continued constantly removing the dirt, yet the trunk kept about the same distance from them. Says prisoner said that it appeared to him that salt might be found at Bainbridge; and that he is certain that prisoner can divine things by means of said stone and hat; that, as evidence of fact, prisoner looked into his hat to tell him about some money witness lost sixteen years ago, and that he described the man that witness supposed had taken it, and disposition of money. "'And thereupon the Court finds the defendant guilty." (New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, New York, 1883, Vol. 2, page 1576) A number of Mormon writers have denied the authenticity of this document. In the "Church Section" of the Deseret News the following statements appeared: "...the alleged find is no discovery at all, for the purported record has been included in other books dating back, some of them half a century and derived always from the same source..., after all her puffing and promise the author produces no court record at all, though persistently calling it such.... A justice's court is not what the lawyers call a court of record, the testimony of witnesses is usually not taken down nor preserved as a part of the record in the case. This alleged record is obviously spurious because it has Joseph testify first, giving the defense before the prosecution has made its case.... Then, more wonderful still, the record does not tell what the judgment or sentence of the court was. The really vital things which a true record must contain are not there, though there is a lot of surplus verbiage set out in an impossible order which the court was not required to keep. "This record could not possibly have been made at the time as the case proceeded. It is patently a fabrication of unknown authorship and never in the court records at all." (Deseret News, Church Section, May 11, 1946, as quoted in A New Witness For Christ in America, by Francis W. Kirkham, Salt Lake City, 1959, Vol. 2, pp. 430-431) The Mormon writer Francis W. Kirkham made these statements concerning this document: "A careful study of all facts regarding this alleged confession of Joseph Smith in a court of law that he had used a seer stone to find hidden treasure for purposes of fraud, must come to the conclusion that no such record was ever made, and therefore, is not in existence.... "(5) Thousands of intelligent and devout persons accepted the evidence presented by Joseph Smith during his lifetime.... If any evidence had been in existence that Joseph Smith had used a seer stone for fraud and deception, and especially had he made this confession in a court of law as early as 1826, or four years before the Book of Mormon was printed, and this confession was in a court record, it would have been IMPOSSIBLE for him to have organized the restored Church." (A New Witness For Christ In America, Vol. 1, pp. 385-387) "If a court record could be identified, and if it contained a confession by Joseph Smith which revealed him to be a poor, ignorant, deluded, and superstitious person -- unable himself to write a book of any consequence, and whose church could not endure because it attracted only similar persons of low mentality -- if such a court record confession could be identified and proved, then it follows that his believers must DENY his claimed divine guidance which led them to follow him.... How could he be a prophet of God, the leader of the Restored Church to these tens of thousands, if he had been the superstitious fraud which 'the pages from a book' declared he confessed to be?" (Ibid., pp. 486-487) On page 469 of the same book, Dr. Kirkham stated that the "use of a seer stone by Joseph Smith buried in a hat to exclude the light, seemed to have had its origin and emphasis in Mormonism Unveiled, 1834." A recent attack on Fawn Brodie's book by the Mormon writer F. L. Stewart seems to be somewhat more liberal with regard to this subject. Although the author questions the authenticity of the record of the trial, she does make these interesting comments: "Since the publication of NM [No Man Knows My History], other scholars have taken up the search for the facts regarding the alleged court trial before a justice of the peace in Bainbridge, New York, in 1826. Some believe there actually was such a trial; others are equally convinced there was not.... "Joseph Smith was actually arrested in South Bainbridge in 1830 and many times thereafter in other places. One more time wouldn't seem to matter much, except for the fact that this earlier arrest is seized upon by detractors of Mormonism as an indication, if not an outright proof, that Joseph Smith had been a charlatan before and during the finding of the Book of Mormon plates. This charge, even if the court record is authentic, is vague. If, as the alleged record states, Joseph had been guilty of treasure hunting, it would seem not to disqualify him as being worthy of a divine mission. Only five years after Joseph's death, the gold rush of 1849 had almost every citizen in the country thirsting for treasures of the earth. Many methods were employed for ferreting out these treasures, including the Joseph Smith and Money Digging 23 use of the old-fashioned divining rod. Being found guilty of the same indulgence would hardly preclude Joseph Smith's religious worthiness." (Exploding the Myth About Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, by F.L. Stewart, New York, 1967, pages 64-65) The Mormon writers James B. Allen and Leonard J. Arrington have made these comments concerning the 1826 trial: "11. What verifiable accounts do we have of the various court trials experienced by Joseph Smith in New York? Fawn Brodie has published a document purporting to be the transcript of an 1826 trial in which Joseph Smith was found guilty of disturbing the peace, but its authenticity is not beyond question." (Brigham Young University Studies, Spring 1969, p. 273) Dr. Kirkham asks why the court record was not printed at an earlier date if it is genuine: "(2) The affidavits in Mormonism Unveiled which assert that Joseph Smith had a seer stone which he had found while he was working for Willard Chase at Palmyra, were written for the specific purpose to prove that Joseph Smith by this means practiced fraud and claimed to have found the metallic plates of the Book of Mormon. If a court record had been in existence within a reasonable distance of the residence of the people who signed these affidavits in which Joseph Smith confessed he had used a seer stone, this record in all probability would have been known to the author of Mormonism Unveiled, and would have been printed at the time, and quoted thereafter by all anti-Mormon writers." (A New Witness For Christ In America, Vol. 1, p.386) While it is true that Mormonism Unvailed contains nothing concerning this trial, we must realize that Bainbridge was a small community located many miles from Joseph Smith's home. It is certainly possible that a trial could have occurred in Bainbridge before Joseph Smith became well-known without the outside world being aware of it. The Mormon writer F.L. Stewart has pointed out that Joseph Smith should have been referred to as "Joseph Smith, Jr., in the court record: "The alleged court record does not specify which Joseph Smith was under arrest. In March, 1826, the date given on the alleged record, THE Joseph Smith was only twenty years of age and therefore a minor.... His correct name was 'Joseph Smith, Junior.'... Certainly in a court of law in 1826, before Joseph Smith made any public claims to being a Prophet and at a time when he and his father were employed as common laborers by Josiah Stowel, no one would take for granted that everyone would know which Joseph Smith was being arrested.... The Book of Mormon copyright, dated 1830, designated Joseph Smith correctly as 'Junior.' A court record, being a legal document should be more specific than more casual references.... there is no way of proving that it wasn't written as a prank. In fact, it seems that it was written at a much later date when Joseph Smith, Junior, became plain Joseph Smith, after the death of his father in 1840." (Exploding the Myth About Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, pp. 67, 68, 69 and 73) While F.L. Stewart has an interesting point here, we must remember that it would be possible to omit the word "Junior" by mistake. An example is found in a letter written by Joseph Smith to Oliver Cowdery. As it was published in the Messenger and Advocate, Vol. 1, p. 40, the signature reads: "Joseph Smith jr. When this letter was reprinted in the History of the Church, however, it read as follows: "Joseph Smith" (see History of the Church, Vol. 1, p.10). The reader will also notice that in the court record one of the witnesses in the trial is listed only as "McMaster.' The first name has apparently been omitted by mistake. Purple's Account Since Mormon writers contested the authenticity of the trial, scholars began to search to find more documentation with regard to this matter. Helen L. Fairbanks, of Guernsey Memorial Library, Norwich, N.Y., made a very interesting discovery. She found that Dr. W. D. Purple, who had lived at Bainbridge and claimed to be an eyewitness to the trial, had written concerning it. Although his article was not published until 1877, he was supposed to have had a very good memory. Dr. Purple's account appeared in The Chenango Union, May 3, 1877. It has been reprinted in Francis W. Kirkham's A New Witness For Christ In America, Vol. 2, pp. 363-368. Because of the importance of this article we will reprint it in its entirety, although we will do it in sections to include some of our own observations. Dr. Purple begins by stating:"More than fifty years since, at the commencement of his professional career, the writer spent a year in the present village of Afton, in this County. It was then called South Bainbridge, and was in striking contrast with the present village at the same place. It was a mere hamlet, with one store and one tavern. The scenes and incidents of that early day are vividly engraven upon his memory, by reason of his having written them when they occurred, and by reason of his public and private rehearsals of them in 1 ate r years. He will now present them as historical reminiscences of old Chenango, and as a precursor of the advent of the wonder of the age, Mormonism. 24 Joseph Smith and Money Digging He had been educated in the spirit of orthodox puritanism, and was officially connected with the first Presbyterian church of the town, organized by Rev. Mr. Chapin. He was a very industrious, exemplary man, and by severe labor and frugality had acquired surroundings that excited the envy of many of his less fortunate neighbors. He had at this time grown up sons and daughters to share his prosperity and the honors of his name.Notice that Dr. Purple claims that Stowell came to Joseph Smith because he had heard of his "magic stone." Joseph Smith's own mother confirms the fact that Stowell came to her son for help in locating hidden treasures: "A short time before the house was completed, a man, by the name of Josiah Stoal, came from Chenango county, New York, with the view of getting Joseph to assist him in digging for a silver mine. He came for Joseph ON ACCOUNT OF HAVING HEARD THAT HE POSSESSED CERTAIN KEYS, by which he could DISCERN THINGS INVISIBLE TO THE NATURAL EYE. "Joseph endeavoured to divert him from his vain pursuit, but he was inflexible in his purpose, and offered high wages to those who would dig for him, in search of said mine, and still insisted upon having Joseph to work for him. Accordingly, Joseph and several others, returned with him and commenced digging." (Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, London, 1853, pp. 91-92) Joseph Smith himself admitted he went with Stowell to dig for a "silver mine": "In the month of October, 1825, I hired with an old gentleman by the name of Josiah Stowel, who lived in Chenango county, state of New York. He had heard something of a silver mine having been opened by the Spaniards in Harmony, Susquehanna county, state of Pennsylvania; and had previous to my hiring to him, been digging, in order, if possible, to discover the mine. After I went to live with him, he took me, with the rest of his hands, to dig for the silver mine, at which I continued to work for nearly a month, without success in our undertaking, and finally I prevailed with the old gentleman to cease digging after it. Hence arose the very prevalent story of my having been a money-digger." (History of the Church, Vol. 1, page 17) The Mormon historian B. H. Roberts states that Stowell came to Joseph Smith because he had "heard of Joseph Smith's gift of seership": "...in October, 1825, to be exact, Joseph engaged to work for an elderly gentleman, Josiah Stoal, of Bainbridge, Chenango county, in the south part of New York state. Bainbridge is located on the west bank of the Susquehanna river, and some forty miles south, or down the river, in the township of Harmony, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania. Near Bainbridge was an extensive cave,... a local legend had it that it was an old mine formerly worked by Spaniards; and that they had concealed within it much of the treasure they had discovered,... "Mr. Stoal believed this legend and had employed men to explore the cave for the treasure. Having heard of Joseph Smith's GIFT OF SEERSHIP, he came to the Smith residence to employ him in this undertaking. Joseph hired out to Mr. Stoal and went with him and the rest of his men to Harmony Joseph Smith and Money Digging 25 Pennsylvania, where for something like a month they vainly sought to find the 'hidden treasure.'... Although Mr. Stoal gave up the search for the 'Spanish treasure; Joseph continued for some time in his employment." (Comprehensive History of the Church, Vol. 1, pp. 81-82) The Mormon writer Hyrum L. Andrus made these interesting comments concerning this matter: "According to Mother Smith, he wanted the Prophet to work for him because he had heard that Joseph 'possessed certain means by which he could discern things invisible to the natural eye.' She does not say what Joseph had in his possession. But Stoal was acquainted with Joseph Knight, Sr., and may have heard from him of the Urim and Thummim which were with the gold plates. Joseph could also have had the seer stone at this time.... Having worked for Josiah Stoal, he was marked in the popular mind as a money digger; and in the opinion of those with whom he had worked, he was subject to the code of the money diggers which required him to share what he found. Martin Harris stated that the money diggers claimed 'they had as much right to the plates as Joseph had, as they were in company together.' In taking this position, they asserted 'that Joseph had been traitor, and had appropriated to himself that which belonged to them.' That these men were actively opposed to the Prophet is attested to by David Whitmer. While in Palmyra in 1828, he conversed with some men who assured him 'that Joseph Smith certainly had golden plates, and that before he had attained them he had promised to share with them, but had not done so and they were very much insensed with him." (God, Man and the Universe, Salt Lake City, 1968, pp. 70, 71, 74 and 75) Dr. Purple continues by stating: "In February, 1826, the sons of Mr. Stowell, who lived with their father, were greatly incensed against Smith, as they plainly saw their father squandering his property in the fruitless search for hidden treasures, and saw that the youthful seer had unlimited control over the illusions of their sire. They made up their minds that 'patience had ceased to be a virtue,' and resolved to rid themselves and their family from this incubus, who, as they believed, was eating up their substance, and depriving them of their anticipated patrimony. They caused the arrest of Smith as a vagrant, without visible means of livelihood. The trial came on in the above mentioned month, before Albert Neeley, Esq., the father of Bishop Neeley of the State of Maine. I was an intimate friend of the Justice, and was invited to take notes of the trial, which I did. There was a large collection of persons in attendance, and the proceedings attracted much attention."Francis W. Kirkham points out that Purple says the trial was in February, 1826, whereas the court record gives the date as March 20, 1826. While there is a discrepancy here, we must remember that Dr. Purple was an old man at the time he wrote his account. The fact that he comes within a month of the date given in the court record is rather amazing. It is true that Dr. Purple claimed to have taken notes at the time of the trial, but, as Francis W. Kirkham observes. Purple "does not quote his notes nor assert he kept them." (A New Witness For Christ In America, Vol. 1, p. 469) Mormon writers point out that Purple states that Joseph Smith was arrested as a "vagrant, without visible means of livelihood,' whereas the court record states that he was charged with being "a disorderly person and an impostor." This discrepancy could also be attributed to Dr. Purple's age and the long period of time which had elapsed since the trial. The Mormon writer F.L. Stewart states: "Without questioning Dr. Purple's veracity, we should remember that he was seventy-five years of age when he wrote the article.... Perhaps Dr. Purple's memory was slipping at age seventy-five, more than. fifty years after the alleged incident." (Exploding the Myth About Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, page 70) Dr. Purple goes on to state that Joseph Smith was "examined by the Court": "The affidavits of the sons were read, and Mr. Smith was fully examined by the Court. It elicited little but a history of his life from early boyhood, but this is so unique in character, and so much of a key-note to his subsequent career in the world, I am tempted to give it somewhat in extenso. He said when he was a lad, he heard of a neighboring girl some three miles from him, who could look into a glass and see anything however hidden from others; that he was seized with a strong desire to see her and her glass; that after much effort he induced his parents to let him visit her. He did so, and was permitted to look in the glass, which was placed in a hat to exclude the light. He was greatly surprised to see but one thing, which was a small stone, a great way off. It soon became luminous, and dazzeled his eyes, and after a short time it became as intense as the mid-day sun. He said that the stone was under the roots of a tree or shrub as large as his arm, situated about a mile up a stream that puts in on the South side of Lake Erie, not far from the New York and Pennsylvania line. He often had an opportunity to look in the glass, and with the same result. The luminous stone alone attracted his attention. This singular circumstance occupied his mind for some years, when he left his father's house, and with his youthful zeal traveled west in search of this luminous stone. 26 Joseph Smith and Money Digging labor and exertion he found the stone, carried it to the creek, washed and wiped it dry, sat down on the bank, placed it in his hat, and discovered that time, place and distance were annihilated; that all the intervening obstacles were removed, and that he possessed one of the attributes of Deity, an All-Seeing -Eye. He arose with a thankful heart, carried his tools to their owner, turned his feet towards the rising sun, and sought with weary limbs his long deserted home.Although both Purple's account and the account found in the "court record" deal with Joseph Smith's seer atone, they appear to discuss different aspects of this matter. While Purple's account is concerned with bow Joseph Smith acquired the stone, the "court record" speaks only of what he used the stone for after he obtained it. Since neither account claims to give a word for word account of Joseph Smith's statements, it is possible that both the origin and subsequent use of the stone could have been discussed. The reader will note that Purple's recollection of how Joseph Smith claimed he obtained his stone differs from the usual version. The Mormon historian B.H. Roberts claims that Joseph Smith found the stone while digging a well: "The Seer Stone referred to here was a chocolate-colored, somewhat egg-shaped stone which the PROPHET found while digging a well in company with his brother Hyrum, for a Mr. Clark Chase, near Palmyra, N. Y.(Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vol. 1, page 129) Even though Purple's account differs from the usual version, it is interesting to note that there was a girl in Joseph Smith's neighborhood who had a "glass" that she used for divination. Joseph Smith's mother related the following: "A young woman by the name of Chase, sister to Willard Chase, found a green glass, through which she could see many very wonderful things, and among her great discoveries she said that she saw the precise place where 'Joe Smith kept his gold bible hid,' and obedient to her directions, the mob gathered their forces and laid siege to the cooper's shop." (Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith, by Lucy Smith, Liverpool, 1853, page 109) Richard L. Anderson, of Brigham Young University, gives this interesting information concerning this matter: "The Palmyra-Manchester sources attach a firm money-digging tradition to the Chase family. For instance, Dr. John Stafford recalled: The neighbors used to claim Sally Chase could look at a stone she had, and see money. Willard Chase used to dig when she found where the money was. Don't know as anybody ever found any money."The interview the same year with Abel Chase confirmed his family's involvement. After describing the stone in possession of his sister, Abel Chase responded to the following questions: Do you really think your sister could see things by looking through that stone, Mr. Chase?(Brigham Young University Studies, Spring 1970, page 296) On page 300 of the same article, Richard L. Anderson quotes Caroline Rockwell Smith as saying: "There was considerable digging for money in our neighborhood by men, women and children... I saw Joshua Stafford's peepstone, which looked like white marble and had a hole through the center. Sally Chase a Methodist, had one, and people would go for her to find lost and hidden or stolen things." Fayette Lapham claimed that Joseph Smith's father told him that Joseph Smith, Jr., found his own stone by looking in other man's stone: "I think it was in the year 1830, I heard that some ancient records had been discovered... Accompanied by a friend, Jacob Ramsdell, I set out to find the Smith family,... Joseph, Junior, afterwards so well known, not being at home, we applied to his father for the information we wanted. This Joseph Smith, Senior, we soon learned, from his own lips, was a firm believer in witchcraft and other supernatural things; and had brought up his family in the same belief. He also believed that there was a vast amount of money buried somewhere in the country; that it would someday be found; that he himself had spent both time and money searching for it, with divining rods, but had not succeeded in finding any, though sure that he eventually would.... "His son Joseph, whom he called the illiterate, when about fourteen years of age, happened to be where a man was looking into a dark stone and telling people, therefrom, where to dig for money and other things. Joseph requested the privilege of looking into the stone, which he did by putting his face into the hat where the stone was. It proved to be not the right stone for him; but he could see some things, and, among them, he saw the stone, and where it was, in which he could see whatever he wished to see. Smith claims and believes that there is a stone of this quality, somewhere, for every one. The place where he saw the stone was not far from their house; and, under pretence of digging a well, they found water and the stone at a depth of twenty or twenty-two feet." (The Historical Magazine, and Notes and Queries Concerning the Antiquities, History and Biography of America, 1870, Vol. VIII, as quoted in A New Witness For Christ In America, Vol. 2, page 384) Joseph Smith may have possessed more than one seer stone, and may have had different stories as to how Joseph Smith and Money Digging 27 he obtained them. In the "court record" Arad Stowel and McMaster testified that Joseph Smith had two stones. Dr. Purple continued his narrative by stating: "Joseph Smith, Sr., was present, and sworn as a witness. He confessed at great length all that his son had said in his examination. He delineated his characteristics in his youthful days -- his visions of the luminous stones in the glass -- his visit to Lake Erie in search of the stone -- and his wonderful triumphs as a seer. He described very many instances of his finding hidden and stolen goods. He swore that both he and his son were mortified that this wonderful power which God had so miraculously given him should be used only in search of filthy lucre, or its equivalent in earthly treasures and with a long-faced, 'sanctimonious seeming, he said his constant prayer to his Heavenly Father was to manifest His will concerning this marvelous power. He trusted that the Son of Righteousness would some day illumine the heart of the boy, and enable him to see His will concerning Him. These words have ever had a strong impression on my mind. They seemed to contain a prophetic vision of the future history of that mighty delusion of the present century, Mormonism. The 'old man eloquent' with his lank and haggard visage -- his form very poorly clad -- indicating a wandering vagabond rather than an oracle of future events, has, in view of those events, excited my wonder, if not my admiration."Dr. Purple's statement concerning Joseph Smith's father presents a problem, for the "court record" says nothing about Joseph Smith's father giving testimony at the trial. There is a possibility, however, that the testimony of two of the witnesses was omitted when the trial was recorded. In the first published version of the trial (which we will discuss later) the costs of the trial were included at the end of the proceedings, and among these costs we find the statement that there were "SEVEN witnesses." If this is correct, then the testimony of some of the witnesses was not recorded in the "court record." Dr. Purple goes on to relate the following: "The next witness called was Deacon Isaiah Stowell. He confirmed all that is said above in relation to himself, and delineated many other circumstances not necessary to record. He swore that the prisoner possessed all the power he claimed, and declared he could see things fifty feet below the surface of the earth, as plain as the witness could see what was on the Justice's table, and described very many circumstances to confirm his words. Justice Neeley soberly looked at the witness and in a solemn, dignified voice, said, 'Deacon Stowell, do I understand you as swearing before God, under the solemn oath you have taken, that you believe the prisoner can see by the aid of the stone fifty feet below the surface of the earth, as plainly as you can see what is on my table?' 'Do I believe it? says Deacon Stowell, 'do I believe it? No, it is not a matter of belief. I positively know it to be true.'"The reader will note that Dr. Purple refers to this witness as "Isaiah Stowell:' The "court record,' however, gives the name as "Josiah Stowel." The Mormon writer F.L. Stewart states that there was a man named Isaiah Stowell in Bainbridge: "Dr. Purple also referred to Joseph's employer as 'Isaiah' and not 'Josiah' Stowel. Since there was also an 'Isaiah' Stowell living in South Bainbridge at the time, Dr. Purple apparently confused one with the other." (Exploding the Myth About Joseph Smith, The Mormon Prophet, p. 70) Since Dr. Purple talks of 'Deacon Isaiah Stowell' earlier in his narrative when speaking of Joseph Smith's employer, it is obvious that he was referring to Josiah Stowell. The reader will note that Purple's account agrees with the "court record" instating that Josiah Stowell defended Joseph Smith and claimed to believe in Joseph Smith's ability to see hidden treasures in the earth. Purple claimed that when Stowell was asked if he believed that Joseph Smith "can see by the aid of the stone fifty feet below the surface of the earth, " he replied: "Do I believe it?' says Deacon Stowell, 'do I believe it? No, it is not a matter of belief. I POSITIVELY KNOW it to be true.'" This should be compared with Stowells testimony in the "court record": "Josiah Stowel sworn. Says that prisoner... pretended to have skill of telling where hidden treasures in the earth were, by means of looking through a certain stone;... and that he POSITIVELY KNEW that the prisoner could tell, and professed the art of seeing those valuable treasures through the medium of said stone... and had the most implicit faith in prisoner's skill. " Dr. Purple finishes his narrative by stating: "Mr. Thompson, an employee of Mr. Stowell, was the next witness. He and another man were employed in digging for treasure, and always attended the Deacon and Smith in their nocturnal labors. He could not assert that anything of value was ever obtained by them. The following scene was described by this witness, and carefully noted: Smith had told the Deacon that very many years before a band of robbers had buried on his flat a box of treasure, and as it was very valuable they had by a sacrifice placed a charm over it to protect it, so that it could not be obtained except by faith, accompanied by certain talismanic influences. So, after arming themselves with fasting and prayer, they sallied forth to the spot designated by Smith. Digging was commenced with fear and trembling, in the presence of this imaginary charm. In a few feet from the surface the box of treasure was struck by the shovel, on which they redoubled their energies, but it gradually receded from their grasp. One of the men placed his hand upon the box, but it gradually sunk from his reach. After some five feet in depth had been attained without success, a council of war against this spirit of darkness was called, and they resolved that the lack of faith, or some untoward mental emotion, was the cause of their failure. 28 Joseph Smith and Money Digging "In this emergency the fruitful mind of Smith was called on to devise a way to obtain the prize. Mr. Stowell went to his flock and selected a fine vigorous lamb, and resolved to sacrifice it to the demon spirit who guarded the coveted treasure. Shortly after the venerable Deacon might be seen on his knees at prayer near the pit, while Smith, with a lantern in one hand to dispel the midnight darkness might be seen making a circuit around the spot, sprinkling the flowing blood from the lamb upon the ground, as a propitiation to the spirit that thwarted them. They then descended the excavation, but the treasure still receded from their grasp, and it was never obtained.While the "court record" gives the testimony of three other witnesses before that of Thompson, both accounts agree in stating that Thompson testified that a box of treasures slipped into the ground while he was digging. Below is a comparison of the two accounts.
The reader will notice that Purple's account tells of a lamb being sacrificed. While this is not included in the "court record," it is very possible that Joseph Smith may have ordered such a sacrifice. We know that Joseph Smith taught that animal sacrifices were to be restored, for in the History of the Church we find this statement attributed to him: "...it is generally supposed that SACRIFICE was entirely done away when the Great Sacrifice [i.e. the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus] was offered up, and that there will be no necessity for the ordinance of sacrifice in future: but those who assert this are certainly not acquainted with the duties, privileges and authority of the priesthood, or with the Prophets.... "These sacrifices, as well as every ordinance belonging to the Priesthood, will, when the Temple of the Lord shall be built, and the sons of Levi be purified, be fully restored and attended to in all their powers, ramifications, and blessings." (History of the Church, Vol. 4, page 211) Wandle Mace, a devout Mormon, recorded this statement in his journal: "Joseph told them to go to Kirtland, and cleanse and purify a certain room in the Temple, that they MUST KILL A LAMB AND QFFc A SACRIFICE UNTO THE LORD which should prepare them to ordain Willard Richards a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles." ("Journal of Wandle Mace," page 32, microfilmed copy at Brigham Young University) Mormon writers have pointed out a discrepancy at the end of Dr. Purple's account of the trial. Purple states that "the prisoner was discharged," whereas the "court record" claims that he was found "guilty." Dr. Francis W. Kirkham feels there is a serious discrepancy between the two documents as to those who gave testimony at the trial. He gives the following names of witnesses in A New Witness For Christ In America, Vol.2, pages 357-358 (we have placed the corresponding names side by side for easy comparison):
Joseph Smith and Money Digging 29 Dr. Kirkham lists one of the witnesses as "Joseph Stowell," but this is apparently a typographical error and should read "Isaiah Stowell." However this may be, the two lists are far from agreement, for Purple mentions Joseph Smith's father and omits three witnesses listed in the "court record." Of course, we must remember that it would be very easy for an old man to forget some of the witnesses who gave testimony and that Dr. Purple does not claim to give a full account of everything that happened at the trial. Speaking of the testimony given by Joseph Smith's employer, Dr. Purple states that there were "many other circumstances not necessary to record." There is one thing, however, which may bring the two lists into closer harmony. The reader will notice that Purple states that the "affidavits of the SONS were read, and Mr. Smith was fully examined by the Court." If Horace and Arad Stowell were the sons of Josiah Stowell, this would help to bring the two accounts into closer agreement. By adding the names of two more Stowells to Dr. Purple's list, we come up with the following:
The Mormon writer Francis W. Kirkham makes this comment concerning Purple's account: "The newspaper article by W. D. Purple, published in the Chenango Union under the date of May 3, 1877,... does NOT appear to have been known to Bishop Tuttle who also accused Joseph Smith of confessing in a Justice of the Peace court that he used a seer stone for purposes of deception." (A New Witness For Christ In America, Vol. 1, page 467) The following statement by Dr. Kirkham is found in A New Witness For Christ In America, Vol. 2, p. 485: "In as much as the alleged court record of 1883 and 1877 disagree extensively in content, it is more and more evident that both these records were written by different persons and at different times for the sole purposes of defaming the character of Joseph Smith and members of the Restored Church." While it is true that there are a number of disagreements between the two accounts, these could be explained by the fact that Dr. Purple was writing fifty years after the events he was describing. It is interesting to note that the Mormon writer Richard L. Anderson feels that Joseph Smith's mother placed some events "a year too early" in her book. These events had occurred about twenty years before, yet Dr. Anderson states: "...it is remarkable that when Lucy Smith's dictated history is inaccurate in chronology, the deviation is confined to narrow limits." (Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Summer 1969, page 27) As we stated before, Francis W. Kirkham points out that Dr. Purple dated the trial one month before the date that appears on the "court record." Now, if Joseph Smith's mother, writing twenty years after the events she describes, can be excused for an error of about a year in her chronology, we feel that Dr. Purple, writing fifty years later than the events he speaks of, can be excused for his error. Taken as a whole, then, we feel that Dr. Purple's account is a remarkable document. It seems to add a great deal to Fawn Brodie's argument that the "court record" is a genuine document. Tracing the Record While Mormon writers were willing to concede that Purple mentioned the trial in 1877, they felt confident that no earlier mention of the trial would be discovered. Dr. Francis W. Kirkham made this statement:"No account of the life of Joseph Smith written either by those who accepted his message as the truth, or those who tried to find a human explanation for the origin of the Book of Mormon, prior to Purple in 1877, and Tuttle in 1883, assert that Joseph Smith confessed in a court of law that he had used a seer stone for any purpose, and especially that the record of such confession was in existence" (A New Witness For Christ In America, Vol. 1, pp. 386-387) After Dr. Kirkham made these statements an earlier printing of the "court record" was discovered in a magazine printed in England. Mrs. Brodie gives this information in the 1957 printing of her book: "The court record was first published by Charles Marshall in Fraser's Magazine, London, February 1873.... Bishop Tuttle presented the original manuscript pages of the trial to the Utah Christian Advocate, which published them January 1886. At this point the manuscript seems to have disappeared." (No Man Knows My History, page 418) Mrs. Brodie's statements show that the trial had been printed ten years before Bishop Tuttle's work, and four years before Purple's account appeared. In a "Supplement" to his book, Dr. Kirkham conceded 30 Joseph Smith and Money Digging that the "court record" had been printed as early as 1873: "Apparently the source of the alleged court record published by Bishop D. S. Tuttle in 1883 is now known. It was printed in Fraser's Magazine, London, in February 1873, republished in the Eclectic Magazine, New York, April 1873, and again in the Utah Christian Advocate, January 1886." (A New Witness For Christ In America, Vol. 1, pages 485-486) The reader will remember that Mrs. Brodie stated the "court record" was "first unearthed in southern New York by Daniel S. Tuttle,... " Dr. Kirkham contested this statement: "It can be definitely asserted that Daniel S. Tuttle could not have visited this county prior to 1883, and found such a record that he allegedly reports." (Ibid., page 389) Further research revealed that the original manuscript pages were brought to Utah about 1870 by Emily Pearsall. The Mormon Apostle John A. Widtsoe stated: "This alleged court record was brought to Utah in the 1870's by a woman who said that she had torn the pages from her father's record book. It seems to be a literary attempt of an enemy to ridicule Joseph Smith by bringing together all the current gossip of that day and making him appear to confess to it." (Joseph Smith -- Seeker After Truth, Salt Lake City, 1951, page 78) Mormon writers were very critical of the fact that Miss Pearsall tore the pages from the record book. Francis W. Kirkham stated: "In all probability a pretended court record of a trial in 1826 was brought to Utah by Miss Emily Pearsall in 1871, who died a few years later.... Why did she not bring the book so the evidence would be complete and irrefutable? These leaves of a claimed record were shown to Charles Marshall as early as 1871, published February 1873... Why were these leaves torn from a book lost or destroyed?" (A New Witness For Christ in America, Vol. 2, p. 492) While it is true that the leaves should not have been torn from the book, this is the kind of mistake that people who are not familiar with historical research frequently make. For instance, we have often seen people tear out interesting clippings from the newspaper, but forget to write down the date or even the name of the paper. The pages were brought to Utah, and in the early 1870's they were examined by Charles Marshall. In an article published in England in 1873, Mr. Marshall stated: "During my stay in Salt Lake permission was courteously accorded me to copy out a set of such judicial proceedings, not hitherto published. I cannot doubt their genuineness. The original papers were lent me by a lady of well-known position, in whose family they had been preserved since the date of the transactions. I reproduce them here, partly to fulfil a duty of assisting to preserve a piece of information about the prophet,..." (Fraser's Magazine, Feb. 1873, Vol. VII, page 229) When Daniel S. Tuttle published the "court record" in 1883, he apparently did not realize that it had been printed ten years before. He stated: "In what light he appeared to others may be gathered from the following extract, never before published, from the records of the proceedings before a justice of the peace of Bainbridge, Chenango County, N.Y." -- (New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1883, Vol. 2, page 1576) In January, 1886, the Utah Christian Advocate printed the "court record." They claimed that they had "received the Manuscript from Bishop Tuttle..." Thus it appears that the original pages were in Salt Lake City for at least 13 years. During this time the Mormons could have contested the authenticity of these pages if they did not believe they were genuine. It appears, however, that the Mormon leaders chose to ignore the issue. Francis W. Kirkham states: "A careful search has been made in Utah and England Mormon publications for an answer or reply to the claims of this alleged court record. Up to the present, none have been found. It would appear that the Utah people, accustomed to such accusations against their beloved Prophet and such claims of their superstition and ignorance, made no reply." (A New Witness For Christ in America, Vol. 2, pages 473-474) There were probably a number of ways in which the authenticity of the original pages could have been determined at that time. The handwriting could have been examined, and other tests performed on these pages. The Mormons could have called on the opposition to produce the original book. Besides, there may have been eyewitnesses of the trial still living at that time. That the non-Mormons did little to establish the genuineness of the pages may be explained by the fact that the Mormons did not contest their authenticity at the time. The "court record" was published at least three times by people who had access to the original pages. Dr. Kirkham not only rejects the authenticity of the original pages, but he also tries to cast doubt upon the accuracy of the printed versions: "In 1871 Emily Pearsall may have brought to Bishop Daniel Sylvester Tuttle, to help him in his bitter opposition to the Latter-day Saint people, leaves from a book of some kind, written sometime, Joseph Smith and Money Digging 31 somewhere, by some one. But it was not a court record. She brought no proof of its validity. C. H. Marshall made a copy. Did he change the contents of the reported leaves from a record? Emily Pearsall had died before the printing and could have made no corrections. Bishop Tuttle published the contents of the leaves torn from a book, either changed and edited or as originally written,..." (A New Witness For Christ in America, Vol. 2, pages 496-497) We have compared the versions printed by the three different individuals who had access to the original pages, and we find that the printings are essentially the same. Charles Marshall omitted the testimony of Horace Stowel, but as this only amounts to about 40 words it was probably omitted by accident. It appears in both of the other printings. The discovery of the two additional printings may provide some important evidence in the matter of the trial's authenticity. Tuttle's account, published in 1883, ends with this statement: "and thereupon the court finds the defendant guilty." The two other versions, however, include a statement of the costs of the trial at the end of the proceedings. In the first printed version we read: "And therefore the Court find the Defendant guilty. Costs: Warrant, 19c. Complaint upon oath, 25 1/2c. Seven witnesses, 87 1/2c. Recognisances, 25c. Mittimus, 19c. Recognisances of witnesses, 75c. Subpoena, 18c. -- $2.68. (Fraser's Magazine, Feb. 1873, Vol. VII, page 230) The fact that the costs were included is verified by the 1886 printing in the Utah Christian Advocate. Francis W. Kirkham quotes the following from "Bender's Manual for all counties and Town Officers," 15th edition, 1837: "The civil docket shall show in each case the names of the plaintiff and the defendant and their attorneys, if there be any, the names and addresses of all the witnesses sworn, the names of the persons constituting the jury, if any, and the final disposition of the case, together with an itemization of all costs collected therein." (A New Witness for Christ in America, Vol. 2, page 389) We do not know if this rule would apply to a justice of the peace in Bainbridge in 1826, but it seems reasonable to suppose that the costs would be included in such a record. Therefore, the fact that the costs are itemized in the 1826 "court record" seems to give it a more authentic appearance. The fact that the "court record" was published three different times by people who had access to the original pages makes us almost certain that we have an accurate copy of these pages. The question remains, however, whether the original pages were actually taken from a court record book. The Mormon writer F. L. Stewart seems willing to admit that Miss Pearsall, who had lived at Bainbridge, brought the pages to Bishop Tuttle: "Actually this document was first submitted for publication by Bishop Tuttle when it was presented to him by a missionary, a Miss Emily Pearsall, who had gone to Utah from Bainbridge in 1870. She said she had torn the document from the court record book of a relative." (Exploding the Myth About Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, pages 64-65) Bishop Tuttle claimed that either Miss Pearsall's "father or uncle was a Justice of the Peace in Bainbridge, " and that she tore the leaves from the original record book. We find this statement in the Utah Christian Advocate for January, 1886: "The document we print below is interesting to those, who desire historic light on the origin of Mormonism. We received the Manuscript from Bishop Tuttle; and the following, from the good bishop's pen, explains how he came into possession of the Manuscript: -- 'The Ms. was given me by Miss Emily Pearsall who, some years since, was a woman helper in our mission and lived in my family, and died here. Her father or uncle was a Justice of the Peace in Bainbridge Chenango Co., New York, in Jo. Smith's time, and before him Smith was tried. Miss Pearsall tore the leaves out of the record found in her father's house and brought them to me.'" Stanley S. Ivins did a great deal of research regarding this matter and found that Miss Pearsall's uncle was named Albert Neely. The reader will recollect that Dr. Purple stated Joseph Smith was tried before "Albert Neely, Esq., the father of Bishop Neely of the State of Maine." Mr. Ivins gives this information in his notes on the 1826 trial: "HISTORY OF CHENANGO & MADISON COUNTIES, N.Y., By James Smith -- D. Mason & Co. (Syracuse, N.Y.) 1880. "P. 176 -- Smith says that Albert Neely was a vestryman of the St. Peters Protestant Episcopal Church in Bainbridge in 1825. "HISTORY & GENEOLOGY OF THE PEARSALL FAMILY IN ENGLAND & AMERICA. -- Edited by Clarence E, and Hettie May Pearsall and Harry L. Neal Vol. 2. pp. 1143, 1144, 1151 -- Thomas Pearsall moved from Long Island to Chenango County, N.Y., in 1790. Among his children were Robert and Phebe Pearsall. Phebe married Albert Neely, and their son Hanry A. became the Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Maine. Robert Pearsall married Flavia Newton and lived at Bainbridge, N.Y. Their second child was: "Emily Pearsall, born January 25, 1833;died November 5, 1872, at the home of Bishop D. S. Tuttle, Salt Lake City, Utah, where she had gone as in Episcopal missionary. She was unmarried." (Stanley S. Ivins' notes, now in the Utah State Historical Society Library, Salt Lake City, Utah) 32 Joseph Smith and Money Digging Stanley S. Ivins' research plainly shows that Miss Pearsall was related to Justice Neely, and therefore it was certainly possible that she could have taken the pages from his record book. Mentioned in 1831 We have shown that at first Dr. Kirkham claimed the trial was not mentioned before 1877, but that he later had to admit that it was printed in 1873. Dale L. Morgan, a noted historian, discovered that the trial was actually mentioned as early as 1831 in a letter published in the Evangelical Magazine and Gospel Advocate, published in Utica, N.Y. The letter is "signed A.W.B., and Mr. Morgan identifies him from subsequent articles as A. W. Benton." (No Man Knows My History, page 418A) Since Mr. Benton lived in Bainbridge, his account is very important. Wesley P. Walters has furnished us with a photograph of Benton's account as it appears in the Evangelical Magazine and Gospel Advocate. We will reprint this article in its entirety, although we will do it in sections to include some of our own observations:"Messrs. Editors -- In the sixth number of your paper I saw a notice of a sect of people called Mormonites; and thinking that a fuller history of their founder, Joseph Smith, jr., might be interesting to community, and particularly to your correspondent in Ohio, where, perhaps, the truth concerning him may be hard to come at, I will take the trouble to make a few remarks on the character of that infamous impostor. For several years preceding the appearance of his book, HE WAS ABOUT THE COUNTRY IN THE CHARACTER OF A GLASS-LOOKER: PRETENDING, BY MEANS OF A CERTAIN STONE, OR GLASS, WHICH HE PUT IN A HAT, TO BE ABLE TO DISCOVER LOST GOODS, HIDDEN TREASURES, MINES OF GOLD AND SILVER, &C. Although he constantly failed in his pretensions, still he had his dupes who put implicit confidence in all his words. In this town, a wealthy farmer, named Josiah Stowell, together with others, spent large sums of money in digging for hidden money, which this Smith pretended he could see, and told them where to dig; but they never found their treasure."We have previously quoted Francis W. Kirkham as maintaining that "The use of the seer stone by Joseph Smith buried in a hat to exclude the light, seemed to have had its origin and emphasis in Mormonism Unveiled, 1834." (A New Witness For Christ In America, Vol. 1, p. 469) The reader will notice, however, that A. W. Benton states that Joseph Smith was using a stone or glass which he placed in a hat. Since his letter was published April 9, 1831, it clearly shows that this was publicly known years before Mormonism Unvailed was printed. A. W. Benton goes on to relate that Joseph Smith was arrested as a disorderly person: "At length the public, becoming wearied with the base imposition which he was palming upon the credulity of the ignorant, for the purpose of sponging his living from their earnings, had him arrested as A DISORDERLY PERSON, TRIED AND CONDEMNED BEFORE A COURT OF JUSTICE. But considering his youth, (he then being a minor,) and thinking he might reform his conduct, he was designedly allowed to escape. This was FOUR OR FIVE YEARS AGO. From this time he absented himself from this place, returning only privately, and holding clandestine intercourse with his credulous dupes, for two or three years."The reader will notice that Benton claimed that Joseph Smith was "arrested as A DISORDERLY PERSON:' This agrees well with the "court record;' for it states that Joseph Smith was "A DISORDERLY PERSON and an impostor" Benton's statement also agrees with the "court record" in stating that Joseph Smith was found guilty. The "court record' states that the trial took place on March 20, 1826. This would have been five years prior to the time Benton wrote his letter in 1831. Mr. Benton states that the trial took place "FOUR OR FIVE YEARS AGO:' Mr. Benton goes on to relate that Joseph Smith was arrested again in 1830: "It was during this time, and probably by the help of others more skilled in the ways of iniquity than himself, that he formed the blasphemous design of forging a new revelation, which, backed by the terrors of an endless hell, and the testimony of base unprincipled men, he hoped would frighten the ignorant, and open a field of speculation for the vicious, so that he might secure to himself the scandalous honor of being the founder of a new sect, which might rival, perhaps, the Wilkinsonians, or the French Prophets of the 17th century.Joseph Smith himself tells of this trial in his History of the Church: "I was visited by a constable, and arrested by him on a warrant, on the charge of being a disorderly person, of setting the country in an uproar by preaching the Book of Mormon, etc.... He drove on to the town of South Bainbridge, Chenango county, where he lodged... the day following, a court was convened
Joseph Smith and Money Digging
33
A photograph from the Evangelical Magazine and Gospel Advocate, April 9, 1831, page 120. This photograph proves that Joseph Smith's trouble with the law was known at an early date. 34 Joseph Smith and Money Digging for the purpose of investigating those charges which had been preferred against me." (History of the Church, Vol. 1, pages 88-89) A. W. Benton gives this information concerning the trial: "This trial led to an investigation of his character and conduct, which clearly evinced to the unprejudiced, whence the spirit came which dictated his inspirations. During the trial it was shown that the Book of Mormon was brought to light by the same manic power by which he pretended to tell fortunes, discover hidden treasures, &c. Oliver Cowdry, one of the three witnesses to the book, testified under oath, that said Smith found with the plates, from which he translated his book, two transparent stones, resembling glass, set in silver bows. That by looking through these, he was able to read in English, the reformed Egyptian characters, which were engraved on the plates.In his History of the Church, Joseph Smith states that among the "many witnesses called up against me, was Mr. Josiah Stoal..." (History of the Church, Vol. 1, page 89) Smith claimed that his former employer defended him. In fact, he quoted him as giving this testimony: "Did not the prisoner, Joseph Smith, have a horse of you?' "'Yes "Did not he go to you and tell you that an angel had appeared unto him and authorized him to get the horse from you?' "No, he told me no such story." "Well, how had he the horse of you?" "He bought him of me as any other man would." "Have you had your pay?" "That is not your business." "The question being again put, the witness replied: "I hold his note for the price of the horse, which I consider as good as the pay; for I am well acquainted with Joseph Smith, Jun., and know him to be an honest man; and if he wishes, I am ready to let him have another horse on the same terms.'" (History of the Church, Vol. 1, page 90) While Joseph Smith says nothing about his money-digging activities being brought up at this trial, he goes on to relate that after he was acquitted he was again arrested and taken "about fifteen miles" to Broome County, where his money-digging was discussed: "Mr. Seymour now addressed the court, and in a long and violent harangue endeavored to blacken my character... he brought up the story of my having been a money-digger; and in this manner proceeded, hoping evidently to influence the court and the people against me. (History of the Church, Vol. 1, page 93) Mr. Benton finishes his letter by stating: "Paramount to this, in truth and consistency, was the testimony of Joseph Knight, another Mormonite. Newel Knight, son of the former, and also a Mormonite, testified, under oath, that he positively had a devil cast out of himself by the instrumentality of Joseph Smith, jr., and that he saw the devil after it was out, but could not tell how it looked! Joseph Smith and Money Digging 35 Joseph Smith gives little information concerning the trial at Bainbridge in 1830, nor does he have much to say about the trial which followed in Broome county. He does, however, state that his "former faithful friends and lawyers" were again at his side at the latter trial. He stated that at this trial Newel Knight did testify that the devil was cast out of him through the instrumentality of Joseph Smith. Evidently Knight was unable to describe the appearance of the devil, for Joseph Smith quoted him as saying: "'Well, then,' replied Knight, 'it would be of no use to tell you what the devil looked like, for it was a spiritual sight, and spiritually discerned; and of course you would not understand it were I to tell you of it." (History of the Church, Vol. 1, page 93) The details which A.W. Benton gives of the 1830 trial are very convincing, and some of his statements are even confirmed by Joseph Smith's own History of the Church. Therefore, we feel that his statement that Joseph Smith was arrested as "a disorderly person" some "four or five years" before, must be given serious consideration. Even the Mormon apologist F.L. Stewart has to admit that A.W. Benton's letter is "impressive and puzzling" (Exploding the Myth About Joseph Smith, The Mormon Prophet, page 71). Cowdery's Statement Dr. Hugh Nibley tries to dismiss Benton's letter as "fiction." In his book, The Myth Makers, we find the following statements:"...are inclined to regard A. W. B.'s story of the 1826 trial as fiction.... part, at least, of A.W. B.'s story is made up. But without the reality of the peep-stones, the whole legend of the 1826 trial collapses. The 1830 trial was real; the 1826 trial, unattested in any source but his for fifty years, was a product of A.W. B's own wishful thinking." (The Myth Makers, Salt Lake City, 1961, page 157) Actually, there is some very good evidence from a Mormon source to show that Joseph Smith had some trouble with the law after he began working for Josiah Stowell. In 1835 Oliver Cowdery, one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon, wrote the following: "Soon after this visit to Cumorah, a gentleman from the south part of the State, (Chenango County,) employed our brother as a common laborer, and accordingly he visited that section of the country; and had he not been accused of digging down all, or nearly so, the mountains of Susquehannah, or causing others to do it by some art of nicromancy, I should leave this, for the present unnoticed.... This gentleman, whose name is Stowel, resided in the town of Bainbridge, on or near the head waters of the Susquehannah river. Some forty miles south, or down the river, in the town of Harmony, Susquehannah county, Pa. is said to be a cave or subterraneous recess,... where a company of Spaniards, a long time since, when the county was uninhabited by white settlers, excavated from the bowels of the earth ore, and coined a large quantity of money; after which they secured the cavity and evacuated, leaving a part still in the cave, purposing to return at some distant period. A long time elapsed and this account came from one of the individuals who was first engaged in this mining business. The country was pointed out and the spot minutely described.... Enough however, was credited of the Spaniard's story, to excite the belief of many that there was a fine sum of the precious metal lying coined in this subterraneous vault, among whom was our employer; and accordingly our brother was required to spend a few months with some others in excavating the earth, in pursuit of this treasure. ... "On the private character of our brother I need add nothing further, at present, previous to his obtaining the records of the Nephites, only that while in that country, SOME VERY OFFICIOUS PERSON COMPLAINED OF HIM AS A DISORDERLY PERSON, AND BROUGHT HIM BEFORE THE AUTHORITIES OF THE COUNTY; but there being no cause of action he was honorably acquited." (Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate, October, 1835, Vol. 2, pages 200 & 201) Notice that Oliver Cowdery stated that this happened "previous" to the time Joseph Smith obtained the "records of the Nephites." Since Joseph Smith obtained the plates on September 22, 1827, this would me an that he had trouble with the law prior to that time. While Oliver Cowdery disagrees with the "court record" when he states that Joseph Smith was acquited, he is in agreement with the "court record" and with A . W. Benton's letter in stating that Joseph Smith was charged with being "A DISORDERLY PERSON." The Mormon writer F. L. Stewart tries to make Oliver Cowdery's statements refer to an incident that occurred in 1828: "The above statement does not apply to any alleged trial of 1826, and for that matter not to any trial where Joseph Smith was found guilty and fined. It best applies to another incident altogether. "While Joseph was 'in that country' (Chenango county, New York -- Harmony, Pennsylvania area) Lucy Harris, 'a very officious person' (which would be a polite way to describe the vindictive wife of a fellow Church member, Martin Harris) complained of him as a disorderly person, and brought him before the authorities of the county: but there being no cause for action, he was honorably acquitted.' "Joseph's mother gives details of this incident that occurred while Joseph was in Pennsylvania dictating to Oliver Cowdery in 1828... It is the above incident that Oliver Cowdery was most likely describing." (Exploding The Myth About Joseph Smith, The Mormon Prophet, page 72) This is an interesting attempt to explain away Cowdery's statement. The reader will note, however, that Cowdery plainly states that the trouble occurred "previous" to the time Joseph Smith obtained the plates, 36 Joseph Smith and Money Digging and Joseph Smith clearly states that he obtained them on "the twenty-second day of September, one thousand eight hundred and twenty seven,..." (History of the Church, Vol. 1, page 18) Thus it is plain to see that F. L. Stewart's explanation of Cowdery's statement cannot be accepted. The Mormon writer Richard L. Anderson frankly states that Stewart is in error with regard to this matter, although he does not believe that the "court record" is authentic: "A final chapter is added that contains an imaginary dialogue between Stewart and Brodie concerning the supposed transcript of an 1826 trial of Joseph Smith popularized by No Man Knows My History.... In regard to the subject of this chapter, however, more evidential work needs to be done on what appears to be a fictitious transcript of a genuine trial.... Stewart attempts to equate this early trial with one mentioned by Lucy Smith in Wayne County in 1829. But this conclusion violates Cowdery's description both in location and chronology; the trial he mentions took place 'previous to his obtaining the records of the Nephites.'" (Brigham Young University Studies, Winter 1968, pp. 231-232) Francis W. Kirkham feels that the "court record" is not genuine, but he is willing to concede that Joseph Smith may have been arrested in 1826: "While residing in Chenango County, probably March 1826, Joseph Smith may have been arrested and brought before a justice of the peace, either as a disorderly person or as a vagrant. As there was no evidence to convict him, he was discharged being still under 21 years of age, with the hope he would reform.... "Both Oliver Cowdery and A. W. Benton agree that Joseph Smith was discharged by the justice.... It is beyond any reason to assume that either of these two men confirm the ridiculous assumed confession of Joseph Smith on leaves torn from a record brought to Utah by Emily Pearsall in 1871 or the memories written by W.D. Purple, who said he was invited to take notes at the trial, but whose writings were not printed until 50 years after the event." (A New Witness For Christ In America, Vol. 2, pages 491-492) The Mormon Apostle John A. Widtsoe also doubts the authenticity of the "court record," but he is willing to admit that Joseph Smith was brought into court in 1826: "Only one arrest of Joseph Smith has been found between his eighteenth and twenty-second year. While working for Josiah Stoal, 'some very officious person complained of him, Joseph Smith, as a disorderly person, and brought him before the authorities of the county. There being no cause of action, he was honorably acquitted.'" (Joseph Smith -- Seeker After Truth, page 79) "1. He stood before law courts, for various reasons, from March, 1826, until the end of his days: justices' courts, county, municipal, and district courts of the American states, and the Federal District Courts." (Ibid., page 214) Historical Setting Although the "court record" for the 1826 trial was not published until many years after Joseph Smith's death, the information given in the record seems to agree well with facts derived from many other sources. For one thing, we know that Joseph Smith was probably in the area of Bainbridge at the time the trial was supposed to have occurred. The Mormon writer F. L. Stewart states that "it was common knowledge that Joseph Smith lived in Bainbridge in 1826." (Exploding The Myth About Joseph Smith, The Mormon Prophet, page 66) Furthermore, we know that Joseph Smith was working for Josiah Stowell at the time. In his testimony Josiah Stowell claimed that Joseph Smith "had been at his house something like five months." This statement is in harmony with a statement made by Joseph Smith himself:"In the month of October, 1825, I hired with an old gentleman by the name of Josiah Stowel, who lived in Chenango county, state of New York- He had heard something of a silver mine having been opened by the Spaniards... After I went to live with him, he took me,... to dig for the silver mine,... Hence arose the very prevalent story of my having been a money-digger. (History of the Church, Vol. 1, page 17) If we add five months to the date given by Joseph Smith -- i.e. ,October, 1825 -- it would make the date March, 1826, and the reader will remember that the trial was supposed to have been held March 20,1826. In the "court record" we read that Josiah Stowell "positively knew that the prisoner could tell, and professed the art of seeing those valuable treasures through the medium of said stone;..." This would be in harmony with the statement by Joseph Smith's mother that Stowel "came for Joseph on account of having heard that he possessed certain keys, by which he could discern things invisible to the natural eye." (Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith, by Lucy Smith, London,1853, pp.91-92) Martin Harris, one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon, gave this very revealing information: "Joseph had had this stone for some time. There was a company there in that neighborhood, who were digging for money supposed to have been hidden by the ancients. Of this company were old Mr. Stowel -- I think his name was Josiah -- also old Mr. Beman, also Samuel Lawrence, George Proper, Joseph Smith, jr., and his father, and his brother Hiram Smith. They dug for money in Palmyra, Manchester, also in Pennsylvania, and other places. When Joseph found this STONE, there was a company digging in Harmony, Pa., and they took Joseph to look in the stone for them, and he did so Joseph Smith and Money Digging 37 for a while, and then he told them the enchantment was so strong that he could not see, and they gave it up." (Tiffany's Monthly, 1859, page 164) In his testimony at the trial, Stowell states that Joseph Smith used the stone to locate "a salt-spring. This is very interesting because in 1880 Frederic G. Mathers wrote an article in which he stated: "Three miles above Nineveh lies Afton, just on the edge of Chenango county, and a short distance above are Sidney, in Delaware county, and Otego, in Otsego county. Smith and his followers operated with the peek-stone in this part of the valley, where he was a comparative stranger. George Collington, one of the most substantial farmers in Broome county, was then a lad of sixteen. One evening, at twilight, he discovered Smith, Joseph Knight, William Hale (uncle of Smith's wife) and two men named Culver and Blowers in the act of dodging through the woods with shovels and picks upon their shoulders, their object being to discover a SALT-SPRING by the agency of the peek-stone. He followed them, under cover of the brush, to a point where they stopped for consultation and finally decided to dig the next day. Noticing that Bostwick Badger, who then owned the farm now occupied by Collington, had felled an oak near the place, and that he had drawn out the timber, Collington obtained permission to cut the top for wood. Collington's axe and the prophet's diggers began operations about the same time on the following morning. Out from the treetop came Collington and asked what they were doing. They told him to mind his business, which he did by thoroughly publishing them about the neighborhood -- a proceeding that brought them a number of unwelcome visitors in the place of one. Frederick Davenport furnished young Collington with a half bushel of salt to be deposited in the hole at night. By Morning the water had dissolved the salt and retained its briny flavor. Bottles were filled for exhibition, and the stock of the converts in the peek-stone ran high until the trick was discovered. It was claimed that the peek-stone also pointed out an extensive silver-mine on the farm of Abram Cornell at Bettsburg, nearly opposite Nineveh. No silver was found except that furnished by Josiah Stowell, a not over-bright man whose little all went into the pocket of Smith." (Lippincott's Magazine, Vol. XXVI, 1880, pp, 202-203 The "court record" states that the warrant was issued "upon oath of PETER G. BRIDGMAN..." In his notes on the 1826 trial Stanley Ivins presents evidence to show that Peter G. Bridgman was a resident of Afton (Bainbridge): "HISTORY OF CHENANGO & MADISON COUNTIES, N.Y., By James Smith -- D. Mason & Co. (Syracuse, N.Y.) 1880. ..... P. 152 --In his sketch of North Afton, Smith says that the North Afton Methodist Episcopal Church was incorporated at a Feb. 17, 1829 meeting presided over by PETER G. BRIDGMAN and Rev. George Evans." Wesley P. Walters has pointed out the possibility that Peter G. Bridgman may have been related to Josiah Stowell's wife, for, according to Larry C. Porter, her name was "Mariam Bridgeman Stowell" (Brigham Young University Studies, Spring 1970, page 376). Stanley Ivins also found evidence that Arad Stowel, McMaster and Jonathan Thompson, who are listed as witnesses at the trial, were in the area at about that time: "P. 150 -- In his sketch of Afton Village, Smith says that, when the South Bainbridge Presbyterian Society was organized, in 1825, Arad Stowell and David McMaster were two of the trustees.... "P.322 -- Smith says that in 1822 Jonathan Thompson was supervisor of the town of Norwich," We know, of course, that Josiah Stowell lived at Bainbridge (see Comprehensive History of the Church, Vol. 1, page 81). The "court record" presents him as giving testimony favorable to Joseph Smith. This seems consistent with Stowell's feelings about Joseph Smith, for according to Joseph Smith, Stowell spoke of his honesty in the 1830 trial. This is confirmed by A.W. Benton's letter. According to the 1826 "court record," Jonathan Thompson gave testimony favorable to Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith states that a man named Jonathan Thompson testified at the 1830 trial. This testimony also appears favorable: "Mr. Jonathan Thompson was next called up and examined: "Has not the prisoner, Joseph Smith Jun., had a yoke of oxen of you?' "Yes. "Did he not obtain them of you by telling you that he had a revelation to the effect that he was to have them?' "No, he did not mention a word of the kind concerning the oxen; he purchased them the same as any other man would." (History of the Church, Vol. 1, page 90) Thus we see that the 1826 trial seems to have a good historical setting. The Mormon apologist F.L. Stewart admits that the record lists individuals who are known to have lived in the area of Bainbridge, but she states: "...this merely indicates that it was written by someone who was familiar with Bainbridge and its citizens. This narrows the field, but still gives us hundreds of potential authors." (Exploding The Myth About Joseph Smith, The Mormon Prophet, page 67) In the "court record" Joseph Smith stated that he had been "going to school" at the time he lived with Josiah Stowell. Since Mormon writers have claimed that Joseph Smith's "school education was very meager" (Joseph Smith-Seeker After Truth, by John A. Widtsoe, p. 67), we were surprised to read that he was still attending school when he was about twenty years old. At first this seemed like a mark against the authenticity 38 Joseph Smith and Money Digging of the "court record." Further research, however, seems to show that Joseph Smith did attend school in Bainbridge. In his book, History of Chenango and Madison Counties, New York, James H. Smith stated: "Smith, while here, attended school in District No. 9." (History of Chenango and Madison Counties, New York, as quoted in A New Witness For Christ In America, Vol. 1, page 381) The Mormon writer Larry C. Porter gives this information: "Both the townships of Coleville and Bainbridge traditionally claim that Joseph Smith attended school in their respective districts at some juncture during his residency there." (Brigham Young University Studies, Spring 1970, page 370) Wesley P. Walters gives this interesting information in a letter he has allowed us to use: "While it is true that Smith would be 19-20 years old during the period he was at Bainbridge, in the rural one-room school system that generally prevailed, so far as I know, there was no age limitation on school attendance. With the necessity of boys helping with farm work during spring, summer & fall, plus chores in winter, school -- even in the winter -- often became a hit or miss proposition." In the same letter Wesley P. Walters made some interesting comments with regard to other problems connected with the "court record”: "The bigger problem is the fact that the record refers simply to "Joseph Smith" instead of Joseph Smith, Jr."... The trial was held at a Justice of the Peace Court. Generally -- at least it is true in Illinois -- this did not require a complete stenographic record of every word that was said, nor was it necessary to retain the trial record or to turn it over to the county court house. This is why Neely could have the book in his possession. In our little village I know of one J. P. court record book from about 1920 following that is tucked away in the attic of the descendant of that J. P. So under such rather loose form of record-keeping, unlike the more formal courts, I don't think the lack of the term "Jr." can be pressed too hard. (This laxity of recording would account for Purple giving added information not in the court record).... the J. P. Court records lack the legal niceties that are usually present in more formal courts of justice." Although the evidence supporting the authenticity of the "court record" seems to be rather convincing, more research needs to be done. Larry C. Porter, "a doctoral candidate in history of religion at Brigham Young University," has recently written an article which deals with Joseph Smith's connection with Josiah Stowell. This article is well documented from primary sources. At first glance, it appears that Mr. Porter has omitted all reference to the 1826 trial. A more careful examination of his article, however, reveals that he has endorsed the authenticity of the "court record." He states: "...Mr. Stowell had hired a number of workmen to assist him in seeking for the purported treasure. In 1825 he was desirous of securing Joseph's services 'on account of having heard that he possessed certain means, by which he could discern things invisible to the natural eye, as he had heard while visiting a relative, SIMPSON STOWELL, at Palmyra, New York. He offered $14 per month to Joseph, who initially demurred. But the insistence of Mr. Stowell and the prospect of good wages apparently prompted him and his father to go to the site on the Susquehanna." (Brigham Young University Studies, Spring 1970, page 366) The reader may notice that Larry C. Porter's statement that Josiah Stowell learned of Joseph Smith's skill "while visiting a relative, Simpson Stowell, at Palmyra," sounds like the testimony of Josiah Stowell as printed in the "court record": "...that prisoner looked through stone and described Josiah Stowel's house and outhouses, while at Palmyra at Simpson Stowel's, correctly;..." (Fraser's Magazine, February, 1873, page 229) That Larry C. Porter was referring to the court record is obvious from his footnote: "Fraser's Magazine, New series, Vol. 7 (February 1873), p.229;..." (Brigham Young University Studies, Spring 1970, page 366, footnote 7) Thus we see that Mr. Porter has endorsed the authenticity of the "court record" without really mentioning the trial. Perhaps he will refer to this trial in another article he hopes to write about Joseph Smith's legal difficulties in New York. |
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The Mormon historian B.H. Roberts made these statements concerning the affidavits published by E.D. Howe in 1834: "The evidence relied upon to support the charge of being lazy, shiftless, intemperate and unreliable as to speaking the truth, is from a collection of affidavits made in Palmyra, and Manchester, New York; and in Harmony, Pennsylvania, in the closing months of 1833, and published in E. D. Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 1834.... Hurlburt had been expelled from the 'Mormon' church in Kirtland, in June, 1833, for immoralities; and because he had threatened to take the life of Joseph Smith, Jun., he was placed under bonds... "Hurlburt between these two events, -- his excommunication and his trial for threatening the life of Joseph Smith, Jun., -- was sent as the special agent of the anti-'Mormon' party in and about Kirtland, to gather up all that report had to say about the Prophet and his family both in Palmyra, New York, and in Harmony, Pennsylvania. The collection of affidavits in Howe's Mormonism Unveiled was the result. It was simply a matter of 'muck raking' on Hurlburt's part. Every idle story, every dark insinuation which at that time could be thought of and unearthed was pressed into service to gratify this man's personal desire for revenge,..." (Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vol. 1, pp. 40-41) The Mormon Apostle John A. Widtsoe made these comments concerning this matter: "In the preparation of a book against the Church he secured from upwards of a hundred people in Palmyra and vicinity unfriendly affidavits as to the character of Joseph Smith and his family. This was done in 1833, eight or ten years after the period discussed in the affidavits.... The affidavits are weak and watery,... "The spirit of religious intolerance which ran high in those days explains these affidavits.... Honest historians would accept with much caution statements made by such a combination. In Mormonism Unvailed hate and the lust for money stand out primarily... "The famous affidavits in Howe's book are remarkably alike in composition. One hand must have written them. They have little to say about 'peepstones'; much about treasure hunting and the deluded nature of the Smith family." (Joseph Smith -- Seeker After Truth, pp. 76, 77 and 80) Although Mormon writers condemn others for using these affidavits, they often use them when it serves their purpose. For instance, the Mormon writer F.L. Stewart cites the affidavit of Abigail Harris to try to prove a point: "An excerpt from an affidavit of Abigail Harris, presumably the sister-in-law of Martin Harris, collected by Hurlburt, makes it clear that Harris was in Palmyra at that time:..." (Exploding The Myth About Joseph Smith, The Mormon Prophet, page 40) Francis W. Kirkham also finds some statements in the affidavits useful: "Further evidence of the knowledge of the facts of the 'coming forth' and publication of the Book of Mormon by persons who knew the Joseph Smith family personally from 1816 until 1830 when the book was presented to the public are the affidavits of many residents of Palmyra and vicinity. These were obtained by Philastus Hurlburt in 1833.... "In his anger, Hurlburt went to Palmyra and obtained affidavits from more than sixty citizens who declared they personally knew the Joseph Smith family and were willing to add that they knew them to be ignorant, lazy, deluded, deceivers, money diggers, etc. , etc.... "Although they were willing to defame the personal character of Joseph Smith, yet they agree with the Prophet's statement and that of his mother and others regarding the physical facts of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and how and where Joseph Smith spent his time and energy while the book was in process of production.... A very important affidavit is by Isaac Hale, father-in-law of Joseph Smith,... many important events regarding the origin of the Book of Mormon are confirmed by the neighbors of Joseph Smith,... "The affidavits were to prejudice the reader against Joseph Smith... Fortunately, however, these many persons who knew Joseph Smith intimately have left their personal knowledge of the physical facts of the origin of the Book of Mormon as known to the residents of Palmyra at the time. In this manner they have left for all time proof that Joseph Smith declared the possession of an ancient record entrusted to him by divine power at the time of the event. They give the same persons, the same facts, 40 Joseph Smith and Money Digging and the same dates as were later written by Joseph Smith. They did not anticipate that their declarations concerning the origin of the Book of Mormon would thus be important, corroborative evidence, of the declarations of Joseph Smith concerning its divine origin.' (A New Witness For Christ In America, Vol. 1, page 137) The Mormon writer Hyrum L. Andrus states: "Though these affidavits reflect the prejudice that was manifested toward the Smiths, they verify the physical facts relating .o the origin of the Book of Mormon." (God, Man and the Universe, page 69, footnote 34) Thus we see that even Mormon writers use Howe's affidavits when it is to their advantage. Although we feel that some of the witnesses may have exaggerated in their testimony, we feel that the affidavits contain important information concerning the money-digging activities of the Smith family. The Mormon Apostle John A. Widtsoe argues that the affidavits in Howe's book "are remarkably alike in composition." This may be true, but the "THE TESTIMONY OF THREE WINTESSES" and "THE TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WITNESSES" in the Book of Mormon are also "remarkably alike in composition." Mormons would not reject the Book of Mormon because of this; instead, they would point out that the witnesses all signed their names, regardless of who drew up the statements. Hurlburt might have influenced the wording of the affidavits in Howe's book, but the individuals signed their names, and this indicates that they approved of the contents. The Mormon writer F. L. Stewart stated: "ALL apparently were heavily edited by Hurlburt or dictated by him, as they bear a remarkable similarity in language and style." (Exploding The Myth About Joseph Smith, The Mormon Prophet, page 25) Richard L. Anderson, of Brigham Young University, has made a discovery which seems to disprove that Hurlburt edited "ALL" of the affidavits. An examination of the affidavits printed by Howe reveals that some of them did not come from the Palmyra-Manchester area but rather from Pennsylvania. Richard L. Anderson makes this statement concerning these affidavits: "A set of statements about this period exists from Joseph Smith's in-laws and their Pennsylvania friends. Although appearing in the same publication with E. D. Howe's first publication of the Hurlbut affidavits, they were apparently procured by Howe's direct correspondence INDEPENDENT of Hurlbut." (Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Summer 1969, page 25) In footnote 46 on the same page Richard L. Anderson states: "Letter of E.D. Howe to Isaac Hale, February 4, 1834, Painesville, Ohio, cit. Susquehanna Register, May 1, 1834, cit. New York Baptist Register, Vol. II (1834). Howe's letter discloses that Hale had written to Hurlbut but that Howe wished verification and sought an attested statement 'to lay open the imposition to the world.' A battery of sworn statements were made in the Harmony, Pennsylvania area by Hale and his neighbors, published first in the newspaper at the county seat of Susquehanna County, and then reproduced in slightly abbreviated form by Howe." Dr. Anderson still maintains that "Hurlbut heavily influenced the individual statements from Palmyra-Manchester," but he seems willing to admit that Willard Chase's affidavit contained his own sentiments: 'The longest Hurlbut affidavit is that of Willard Chase, in which instances of dishonesty and treasure digging are minimal. In fact, the Chase statement contains more parallels to Mormon sources than any other affidavit. This would lead to the inference that Chase imposed his individuality to a large extent, though many of the Hurlbut stock phrases and formulae are still apparent. The Chase family tradition was later reported by the younger brother of Willard, and he maintained Willard's statement to Hurlbut genuine; on the other hand, he differed in certain details of recollection from the printed affidavit. Willard Chase ought to have taken more care in his statement than others contacted by Hurlbut, since Lucy Smith recalled him as 'a Methodist class leader' in 1827, and his obituary described him as 'formerly a Minister of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, and was an earnest and zealous worker for many years...." (Brigham Young University Studies, Spring 1970, pages 295-296) The following pages, which have been photographically reproduced from E. D. Howe's Mormonism Unvailed, Painesville, Ohio, 1834, contain the affidavits relating to Joseph Smith's money-digging activities. Joseph Smith and Money Digging 41
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Jerald & Sandra Tanner Joseph Smith's 1826 Trial (Salt Lake City: M.M.C., 1971) (excerpt) Transcriber's comments |
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Copyright © 1971, Modern Microfilm Company. Limited "fair use" excerpts transcribed.
(If copyright holder wishes the on-line excerpts shortened, please contact transcriber)
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In the Salt Lake City Messenger for August, 1971, we announced one of the most important discoveries since Joseph Smith founded the Mormon Church in 1830. This is the discovery by Wesley P. Walters of an original document which is more than 140 years old. This document proves that Joseph Smith was a "glass looker" and that he was arrested, tried and found guilty by a justice of the peace in Bainbridge, New York, in 1826. (The reader will find a photograph of this document in the center of this booklet.) The importance of this discovery cannot be overstated, for it establishes the historicity of the account of the trial which was first published in Fraser's Magazine in 1873. We quote the following from that publication: "STATE OF NEW YORK v. JOSEPH SMITH. "Warrant issued upon written complaint upon oath of Peter G. Bridgeman, who informed that one Joseph Smith of Bainbridge was a disorderly person and an impostor. "Prisoner brought before Court March 20, 1826. Prisoner examined: says that he came from the town of Palmyra, and had been at the house of Josiah Stowel in Bainbridge most of time since; had small part of time been employed in looking for mines, but the major part had been employed by said Stowel on his farm, and going to school. That he had a certain stone which he had occasionally looked at to determine where hidden treasures in the bowels of the earth were; that he professed to tell in this manner where gold mines were a distance under ground, and had looked for Mr. Stowel several times, and had informed him where he could find these treasures, and Mr. Stowel had been engaged in digging for them. That at Palmyra he pretended to tell by looking at this stone where coined money was buried in Pennsylvania, and while at Palmyra had frequently ascertained in that way where lost property was of various kinds; that he had occasionally been in the habit of looking through this stone to find lost property for three years, but of late had pretty much given it up on account of its injuring his health, especially his eyes, making them sore; that he did not solicit business of this kind, and had always rather declined having anything to do with this business. "Josiah Stowel sworn: says that prisoner had been at his house something like five months; had been employed by him to work on farm part of time; that he pretended to have skill of telling where hidden treasures in the earth were by means of looking through a certain stone; that prisoner had looked for him sometimes; once to tell him about money buried in Bend Mountain in Pennsylvania, once 2 JOSEPH SMITH'S 1826 TRIAL for gold on Monument Hill, and once for a salt spring; and that he positively knew that the prisoner could tell, and did possess the art of seeing those valuable treasures through the medium of said stone; that he found the (word illegible) at Bend and Monument Hill as prisoner represented it; that prisoner had looked through said stone for Deacon Attleton for a mine, did not exactly find it, but got a p_____ (word unfinished) of ore which resembled gold, he thinks; that prisoner had told by means of this stone where a Mr. Bacon had buried money; that he and prisoner had been in search of it; that prisoner had said it was in a certain root of a stump five feet from surface of the earth, and with it would be found a tail feather; that said Stowel and prisoner thereupon commenced digging, found a tail feather, but money was gone; that he supposed the money moved down. That prisoner did offer his services; that he never deceived him; that prisoner looked through stone and described Josiah Stowel's house and outhouses, while at Palmyra at Simpson Stowel's, correctly; that he had told about a painted tree, with a man's head painted upon it, by means of said stone. That he had been in company with prisoner digging for gold, and had the most implicit faith in prisoner's skill."Arad Stowel sworn: says that he went to see whether prisoner could convince him that he possessed the skill he professed to have, upon which prisoner laid a book upon a white cloth, and proposed looking through another stone which was white and transparent, hold the stone to the candle, turn his head to book, and read. The deception appeared so palpable that witness went off disgusted. "McMaster sworn: says he went with Arad Stowel, and likewise came away disgusted. Prisoner pretended to him that he could discover objects at a distance by holding this white stone to the sun or candle; that prisoner rather declined looking into a hat at his dark coloured stone, as he said that it hurt his eyes. "Jonathan Thompson says that prisoner, was requested to look for chest of money; did look, and pretended to know where it was; and prisoner, Thompson, and Yeomans went in search of it; that Smith arrived at spot first; was at night; that Smith looked in hat while there, and when very dark, and told how the chest was situated. After digging several feet, struck upon something sounding like a board or plank. Prisoner would not look again, pretending that he was alarmed on account of the circumstances relating to the trunk being buried, [which], came all fresh to his mind. That the last time he looked he discovered distinctly the two Indians who buried the trunk, that a quarrel ensued between them, and that one of said Indians was killed by the other, and thrown into the hole beside the trunk, to guard it, as he supposed. Thompson says that he believes in the prisoner's professed skill; that the board which he struck his spade upon was probably the chest, but on account of an enchantment the trunk kept settling away from under them when digging; that notwithstanding they continued constantly removing the dirt, yet the trunk kept about the same distance from them. Says prisoner said that it appeared to him that salt might be found at Bainbridge, and that he is certain that prisoner can divine things by means of said stone. That as evidence of the fact prisoner looked into his hat to tell him about some money witness lost sixteen years ago, and that he described the man that witness supposed had taken it, and the disposition of money: "And therefore the Court find the Defendant guilty. Costs: Warrant, 19c. Complaint upon oath, 25 1/2c. Seven witnesses, 87 1/2c. Recognisances, 25c. Mittimus, 19c. Recognisances of witnesses, 75c. Supoena, 18c. -- $2.68." (Fraser's Magazine, February, 1873, Vol. VII, pp. 229-230) JOSEPH SMITH'S 1826 TRIAL 3 Although the Bainbridge court record was printed a few times it did not become too well known until Fawn Brodie printed it in her book No Man Knows My History. Immediately after her book appeared the Mormon leaders declared that the record was a forgery. The following appeared in the "Church Section" of the Deseret News:"...the alleged find is no discovery at all, for the purported record has been included in other books... after all her PUFFING AND PROMISE the author produces NO COURT RECORD AT ALL, though persistently calling it such.... This alleged record is obviously SPURIOUS... The really vital things which a true record must contain are not there, though there is a lot of surplus verbiage set out in an impossible order which the court was not required to keep. "This record could not possibly have been made at the time as the case proceeded. It is patently A FABRICATION of unknown authorship and never in the court records at all." (Deseret News, Church Section, May 11, 1946, as quoted in A New Witness For Christ In America, Vol. 2, pp. 430-431) The Mormon Apostle John A. Widtsoe stated: "This alleged court record... seems to be a literary attempt of an enemy to ridicule Joseph Smith by bringing together all the current gossip of that day and making him appear to confess to it.... There is no existing proof that such a trial was ever held." (Joseph Smith -- Seeker After Truth, Salt Lake City, 1951, page 78). The Mormon scholar Francis W. Kirkham claimed that he did a great deal of research with regard to this matter and came to the conclusion that the court record was spurious: "A careful study of all facts regarding this alleged confession of Joseph Smith in a court of law that he had used a seer stone to find hidden treasure for purposes of fraud, must come to the conclusion that no such record was ever made, and therefore, is not in existence.... No record exists and there is no evidence to prove one was ever made in which he confessed in a justice of the peace court that he had used a seer stone to find hidden treasures for purposes of fraud and deception." (A New Witness For Christ In America, Vol. 1, pp. 385, 386 and 391) The document which Wesley P. Walters found is Justice Albert Neely's bill showing the costs involved in several trials in 1826. The fifth item from the top mentions the trial of "JOSEPH SMITH THE GLASS LOOKER." Below is a photograph of this portion of the document (see complete document in the center of this book). [ image: not reproduced ] The fact that the document says that Joseph Smith was a "GLASS LOOKER" fits very well with the published version of the trial. In fact, this statement alone seems to show that the published account of4 JOSEPH SMITH'S 1826 TRIAL the trial is authentic. Besides this, however, Neely's bill provides additional evidence. It states that the trial took place on "March 20, 1826," and this is precisely the date found in the published account of the trial: "Prisoner brought before Court March 20, 1826." (Fraser's Magazine, Feb. 1873, page 229) In Albert Neely's bill the fee for this trial is listed as "2.68," and this is the exact figure found in the printed record: "Costs:... $2.68."In the face of this evidence it is impossible to continue to deny the authenticity of the court record. In the book Joseph Smith and Money Digging we devoted over 15 pages to a study of this court trial. On page 38 we concluded: "Although the evidence supporting the authenticity of the 'court record' seems to be rather convincing, more research needs to be done." We did show, however, that the court record was brought to Salt Lake City by Emily Pearsall, the niece of Albert Neely. When Charles Marshall published the record in Fraser's Magazine he stated: "During my stay in Salt Lake permission was courteously accorded me to copy out of a set of such judicial proceedings not hitherto published. I cannot doubt their genuineness. The papers were lent me by a lady of well-known position, in whose family they had been preserved since the date of the transactions." (Fraser's Magazine, Feb. 1873, Vol. VII, page 229) In her attack on Fawn Brodie's book, F. L. Stewart cast doubt upon the statement that Albert Neely was a justice of the peace in Bainbridge 1826: "But was Albert Neely a justice of the peace in Bainbridge in l826? He an election as justice for the year 1828. The election was held in November, 1827, and he received the fewest votes of all the candidates. He was later a justice of the peace in Manlius, New York, in 1838. No known records indicate that he was a justice in Bainbridge in 1826." (Exploding The Myth About Joseph Smith, The Mormon Prophet, New York, 1967, pages 69-70) During the past few years Wesley P. Walters has been doing a great deal of research concerning the court record. He has made several trips to New York in search of evidence. By June 23, 1971, he was able to give this encouraging report in a letter to a friend: "As I am sure you are aware, the document was printed three times -- once in England (with a reprinting of this in N. Y.), Once by Tuttle in the Schaff-Herzog Ency., and once by the Methodists. The first and last of these printings give the court costs. This summer I spent a few days at Norwich and among the county records I found some bills from the town of Bainbridge. Bills for the years 1826 and 1827 were missing, presumably among the water-damaged items the court house threw out some while back. However, the bills from 1825 and 1828 were there and give an example of what the J. P. charges were at that time. A subpoena was 6c each, so that a charge of 18c in the document must represent 3 subpoenas; Recognisance charge was 25c, so that the document's charge of 25c is in perfect agreement and the charge of 75c for 'recognisance of witnesses' must represent three such witnesses. There are a couple of items that are not clear as yet. The document lists warrant 19c and complaint upon oath as 25c, whereas the justice bills I was able to find listed 'oath & warrant' -- 25c... To my mind there is enough agreement here to make the possibility of the document being a forgery out of the realm of possibility. "Finally, the other surrounding circumstances all are in proper JOSEPH SMITH'S 1826 TRIAL 5 place... Miss F. L. Stewart in EXPLODING THE MYTH casts doubt on the court record because there was no evidence thy Albert Neely was a J.P.in 1826. Well, I found his official appointment papers signed by the 3 circuit judges and the 15 county supervisors and the date of his appointment was November 16, 1825. If the bills for 1826 had been available still, I am sure there would have been an itemized account of all the warrants he issued, and cost involved for the town and county, as there are in the other justices bills for 1825 and 1828. In fact, the itemized bills were totaled and at the annual meeting of the Board of Supervisors the total amounts were 'audited and allowed.' In their Supervisor's record book for 1826 Albert Neely's name appears under the town of Bainbridge as being paid $6.34 by the town and $15.44 by the county. So as far as I am concerned, there is no question in my mind that Albert Neely was a J.P. in 1826 and that Smith was tried before him, and that the published record is really a genuine account of what happened."There are other little details that fit into place as well. The complaint, according to the trial record, was signed by Peter G. Bridgeman... Now I found the obituary notice of his wife's death in 1831 and at that time he was called 'Rev.' and living at Coventry, just west of Bainbridge. In 1829 he had been one of the organizers for incorporating the West Bainbridge Methodist Church.... from every angle the whole matter has the ring of genuiness about it." (Letter written by Wesley P. Walters, dated June 23, 1971) Just about a month after writing thts letter, Wesley P. Walters was back searching for the missing bills. On July 30, 1971, we received a phone call announcing the important discovery -- i.e., the discovery of Justice Neely's bill for 1826. The same day Walters sent us a letter telling of other discoveries: "By this time you should have gotten over the shock of my phone call about finding the 1826 Neely bill.... "In addition to what I sent you recording the bill for the trial of 'Joseph Smith The Glass Looker'... there is also the bill of Constable Philip M. DeZang. His charges include ones for 'Serving warrant -- on Joseph Smith and tr[avel]' <-- very faint, water damage, 'Subpoening 12 Witnesses & travel;' 'attendance with Prisoner two days & 1 nigh[t];' 'Notifying two Justices' and '10 miles travel with mittimus to take him.'... There are also bills from Arad Stowell (one of the witnesses in the trial) for 1826 when he was serving as school commissioner." On the next page of this booklet we have photographically reproduced Constable DeZang's bill which tells of taking Joseph Smith a prisoner. Importance of Discovery Now that Wesley P. Walters has proven beyond all doubt that the Bainbridge court record is authentic, it will be very interesting to see how the Mormon leaders will react. As we have shown, their position in the past has been that the court record is "spurious." The Mormon scholar Francis W. Kirkham has stated that if the court record could be proven authentic, it would show that Mormonism itself is untrue:"A careful study of all facts regarding this alleged confession of Joseph Smith in a court of law that he had used a seer stone to find hidden treasure for purposes of fraud, must come to the conclusion
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JOSEPH SMITH'S 1826 TRIAL
ABOVE IS A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE BILL OF CONSTABLE PHILIP M. DEZANG. NOTICE THAT THE DATE 1826 IS WRITTEN AT THE TOP OF THE BILL. THE ARROW POINTS TO THE PLACE WHERE THE CONSTABLE TELLS OF "SERVING WARRANT ON JOSEPH SMITH..." JOSEPH SMITH'S 1826 TRIAL 7 that no such record was ever made, and therefore, is not in existence.... If any evidence had been in existence that Joseph Smith had used a seer stone for fraud and deception, and especially had he made this confession in a court of law as early as 1826, or four years before the Book of Mormon was printed, and this confession was in a court record, it would have been IMPOSSIBLE for him to have organized the restored Church." (A New Witness For Christ In America, Vol. 1, pp. 385-387) "IF a court record could be identified, and IF it contained a confession by Joseph Smith which revealed him to be a poor, ignorant, deluded, and superstitious person -- unable himself to write a book of any consequence, and whose church could not endure because it attracted only similar person |