Asahel D. Howe, of Norwalk, Ohio, formerly of this village, has recently been detected purloining money from the U. S. Mails, while acting as assistant Post Master. He was arrested and held to bail to appear before the U. States District Court; after which he left the place. He was again arrested at Euclid, a few days after, and conveyed to Columbus, to be tried at the U. S. District Court, then in session. It is said a large amount of bank bills, thus purloined, were found in his possession -- Ontario Repository.


Note: Asahel Dudley Howe (1880-aft. 1850) was the younger brother of Eber D. Howe. Both served respectively as editors of the Painesville Telegraph. Asahel's 1828 crime was still recalled in Painesville a decade later -- see the letter in the Apr. 6, 1837 issue of the Painesville Republican, where the writer says that a certain Mr. Howe "has a brother famous for his editorial qualifications [Asahel D. Howe], who once suffered materially for having an inclination to steal, and at the same time, not having ingenuity enough to keep it concealed... and after having been furnished a seat in one of the houses at Columbus, for the space of three years, 'tis not surprising that he should come out well prepared, and highly qualified for a Whig editor of the town of Painesville." Joseph Smith, jr. also refers to Asahel: "Asahel Howe, one of E. D.'s brothers who was said to be the likeliest of the family, served apprenticeship in the work house in Ohio for robbing the post office. And yet notwithstanding all this, all the pious priests of all denominations were found following in the wake of these mortals." (Aug. 1838 issue of the Elders' Journal)

==> Our neighbor of the Chronicle makes a sort of half-way apology for his learned correspondent's wit, if it may be so called, which miserable and vulgar as it is, has certainly given an unusual degree of interest and importance to his columns for the last two weeks. As Mr. Cowdery has but recently taken up his residence among us, he may have yet to learn that there are in the ranks of his political assoviates, many individuals who may be considered fair subjects of retaliation, and against whom the shifts of irony and ridicule may be directed with a pointedness they cannot evade, and with humiliating effect. Those who live in glass houses," &c. &c.


Note 1: The "Mr. Cowdery" spoken of in the above article was Benjamin Franklin Cowdery, who had recently taken over the editorship of the Geneva Chronicle. In a Jan. 1847 article Franklin says: "Our several papers were published: In 1817-18, Genesee Farmer and Moscow Advertiser... In 1819-20, Hamilton Recorder, at Olean... 1820-1-2, Angelica Republican. 1823-4-5, Newport Patriot, at Newport, now Albion... in 1828-9-30, Geneva Chronicle." Cowdery leaves out his employment with Thurlow Weed in Rochester, prior to his moving to Geneva.

Note 2: The whereabouts of Franklin's cousin, Oliver Cowdery, are not exactly known previous to this time. It is likely that Oliver assisted Franklin in job printing work on Orsamus Turner's press at Lockport and in the production of Franklin's Newport Patriot during 1824-25. Oliver may have also spent some time wandering the biways of western New York and Upper Canada, selling tracts and booklets, such as the 1823 almanac published by James D. Bemis in Canandaigua (Oliver's cousin Franklin was one of that publication's sales agents). By the time Franklin was established, editing and publishing the Chronicle at Geneva, Oliver was living with the Joseph Smith, Sr. family in nearby Manchester, in the same county.

Just about in this particular region, for some time past, much speculation has existed, concerning a pretended discovery, through superhuman means, of an ancient record, of a religious and divine nature and origin, written in ancient characters, impossible to be interpreted by any to whom the special gift has not been imparted by inspiration. It is generally known and spoken of as the "Golden Bible." Most people entertain an idea that the whole matter is the result of a gross imposition, and a grosser superstition. It is pretended that it will be published as soon as the translation is completed. Meanwhile we have been furnished with the following, which is represented to us as intended for the title page of the work -- we give it as a curiosity:

THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON.               

AN account written by the hand of Mormon, upon plates, taken from the plates of Nephi.

Wherefore, it is an abridgment of the Record of the People of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites; written to the Lamanites, which are a remnant of the House of Israel; and also to Jew and Gentile; written by way of commandment, and also by the spirit of prophecy and of revelation. Written, and sealed up, and hid up unto the LORD, that they might not be destroyed; to come forth by the gift and power of GOD unto the interpretation thereof, sealed by the hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the LORD, to come forth in due time by way of the Gentile, the interpretation thereof by the gift of GOD. An abridgment taken from the Book of Ether.

Also, which is a record of the People of Jared, who were scattered at the time the LORD confounded the language of the people when they were building a tower to get to Heaven, Which is to show unto the remnant of the House of Israel how great things the LORD hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the LORD, that they are not cast off forever; and also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that JESUS is the CHRIST, the ETERNAL LOD, manifesting Himself unto all nations. And now, if there be fault, it be the mistake of men; wherefore, condemn not the things of GOD, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment seat of CHRIST.   BY JOSEPH SMITH, JUNIOR, Author and Proprietor.

Note: Shortly after this, beginning on July 25, 1829 the Rochester Paul Pry's Weekly Bulletin began publishing excerpts from what its editor called "The Golden Bible." However, what was published in Rochester at that time had very little to do with Joseph Smith's Book of Mormon or the activities of the early Momrons in that area.

(From the Batavia Peoples' Press.)

The Aborigines. -- The feeble and scattered fragments of the once powerful Indian tribes who were formerly the lordly proprietors of the whole territory which now constitutes our flourishing and populous country, are fast dwindling away, and will soon be buried in the depths of that oblivion which conceals the history and fate of a people who (judging from the traces discovered of the progress which they had made in civilization, and the arts and sciences, as developed by the western antiquities) must have been but a little behind the present generation in many respects. When we look at the straggling Indians who may occasionally be seen wandering through our [streets] and mark their [--- ----] and dejected countenances, which reveal the ravages of intemperance and almost every other loathsome vice, we can hardly persuade ourselves that they are remnants of the powerful race of people who, as it were but yesterday, stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific; that they are brethren of the Logans and Philips of other times. It is difficult to withhold the meed of sympathy for the fate of the poor outcasts, when we reflect how much they have been oppressed by the whites. They have been gradually driven farther and farther west, before the dense mass of civilization, till scarcely a vestige of their race remains.

In relation to the civilized people who once inhabited this country, relics of whom have been discovered in most of the western states, and whose fate remains involved in mystery and obscurity, probably nothing definite will ever be known. There appears to be a gap in the history of the world, as far as relates to them, which never can be closed up. -- True, we may conjecture what and who they were; -- we may picture them in our minds as a flourishing and mighty nation, possessing all the advantages and blessings of civil and religious liberty; powerful in wealth and natural resources, combining moral and political excellence, and seated upon the pinnacle of national prosperity and glory -- and we may suppose that some dreadful plague, some national calamity, swept them from the face of the earth; or perhaps that like Sodom and Gomorrah of old, their national sins became so heinous, that the Almighty in his wrath utterly annihilated them, -- but after all, our conjectures cannot lead to any satisfactory results.

In 1809, we believe, when Mr. Jefferson was president, some persons who were in search of saltpeter in the wilds of Tennessee, while digging in a cave, suddenly came to a coffin; upon opening which, a body was discovered in it, covered with two envelopes; the outside one consisted of a mantle of feathers, [completely] wove together, and presenting a [glossy] surface, similar to changeable silk: and the inside one formed of a sort of wooden [---work]. The body had evidently been embalmed, and was in a high state of preservation. The hair was auburn and the features were of a different contour from those of the Spaniards -- which precluded all possibility of its belonging to that nation. One of the arms was amputated and taken to Washington, where it was shown to Mr. Jefferson and the French Ambassador, who gave it as their opinion, that this body was a relic of a civilized people, who formerly inhabited this country -- but, who ages since ceased to be.

Who they were -- from whence they sprung -- and what was their destiny -- remains locked up in the womb of the past, one of those inscrutable events which defy human ken or human examination, which loom up on the far-off ocean of by-gone years, with enough of reality about them to convince us that they are no fiction, but yet clothed with an indistinctiveness which defies investigation. The origin, the history, the destiny of that people, together with the cause of their extinction, is [to use] the beautiful language of an elegant modern writer, "consigned to the receptacle of things forever lost upon earth."

---

Bones of the Great Monster. We were on Saturday led by curiosity to view skeleton of the Great Monster, now exhibiting at 330 Broadway. The bones are beyond any thing upon record. -- There is nothing in the annals of the world, either in the earth or in the sea, that will even remotely compare with them. The largest, supposed to be merely the jaw bone, is 20 feet long, and weighs [1060] lbs. The vertebra is 16 inches in diameter; the passage for the spinal marrow [9 ---] inches, the tibia 8 feet long, and all the rest of the bones in proportion.

We were shown, at the same time, [one] of the vertebra of a Mammoth; but to this monster a Mammoth would bear no more comparison than a mouse does to a elephant. Perhaps this was the skeleton of the Behemoth of which we know nothing save the name. N. Y. Courier & Enquirer.


Notes: (forthcoming)

The Chronicle of Geneva came out last week with a long, disconnected, unintelligible article on the subject of -- the Lord knows what; but after rubbing the glasses and putting on our spectacles, and following along about a foot and nine inches, we ascertained the object of the writer was to invite the Wayne County Patriot and Buffalo Journal to show their colors, and accompany the Chronicle on an electioneering voyage for Henry Clay, as a candidate for the next Presidency... -- Wayne County Patriot.


Note: By this time, B. Franklin Cowdery, the Geneva Chronicle editor, was both a Whig and an anti-Mason. His cousin, Oliver, on the other hand, seemed to prefer the company of "the craft" and the adherents of "Old Hickory." Whether or not Franklin Cowdery took any editorial notice of the Book of Mormon -- then under production in nearby Palmyra -- remains unknown: the files of his Geneva papers are nolonger extant. The Gazette of this date also carried another notice of the Geneva Chronicle, this one reprinted from the Bath Advocate. The editor of the latter paper, calls Franklin (who once lived in Bath) "brother Frank."

On Saturday last, Asil D. Howe, late deputy post-master of Norwalk, Huron co., Ohio, was tried in the United States circuit court at Columbus, for breaking open letters and stealing money enclosed in them. The trial lasted the whole day, and resulted in his conviction. Notice of a motion for a new trial was given, which was to have been heard on Monday last. The result was not learned. -- Cincinnati Republican.

---

DIED -- ... In Freedom, Cataraugus county, of a fit of apoplexy, on the 28th ult. Dr. DYER COWDERY, aged 35 years. Esteemed by all for his eminence and virtue, his sudden death has occasioned a deep wound in the hearts of his relatives, and society has lost one of its brightest ornaments, while his country mourns the loss of one of her most benevolent sons. "A man dies but his memory lives." -- Commun.


Note 1: The Howe conviction report is a follow-up to the Sentinel's brief article of Jan. 9th. In his 1878 autobiography, Eber D. Howe says: "In January, 1835, my connection with the TELEGRAPH ceased, and the paper went into the hands of a younger brother, Asahel Howe, and was for the next year very ably edited by Doctor M. G. Lewis..." Eber's replacement at the Telegraph did not meet with the approval of the Mormons. Sidney Rigdon states that he knew of "scandalous immoralities about the Howe family of so black a character that they had nothing to lose" in persecuting the Mormons (June 8, 1839 issue of the Quincy Whig). No doubt Elder Rigdon was speaking of Asahel's 1828 conviction for robbing the U.S. Mail.

Note 2: The death notice for Dyer (or Dyar) Cowdery (1793-1829), an older brother of Oliver Cowdery may have been placed by either Oliver or Lyman Cowdery. Since it appeared in a Palmyra paper, and since Oliver was in Palmyra at the Sentinel office at about this same time, the probability is that Oliver heard of the unhappy news from his brother Warren, then living in Freedom, Cattaraugus Co., and that it was Oliver who placed the notice. According to the 1879 History of Cattaraugus Co., NY, "Dyar Cowdrey, the first physician in Farmersville, came in 1826." Farmersville is near Freedom.

No. 2                     Palmyra, Wayne Co. -- Wed., September 9, 1829.                      Vol. 1

==> Paul Pry Esq. of the Rochester Bulletin, has suspended his editorial labors for the present, and intimates in his valedictory address, that his paper has been well supported, and that at some future day, the "Bulletin" will again appear "on an improved and enlarged form." ...

==> "Honest Attorney," it is said, has found his "notes;" by some (un)accountable accident they seem to have been misslaid. We hope public justice will nolonger suffer.

Note: The July and August issues of the Rochester paper, Paul Pry's Bulletin, make some obscure references to Joseph Smith's "Golden Bible."

(From the "Book of Mormon," erroneously called the "Gold Bible.")
____

THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  NEPHI.
HIS  REIGN  AND  MINISTRY.
____

CHAPTER I.
(Continued from our last.)

And it came to pass that he departed into the wilderness. And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents, and he departed into the wilderness; and he came down by the borders near the shore of the Red Sea; and he traveled in the wilderness, on the borders which was nearer the Red Sea; and he did travel in the wilderness with his family, which consisted of my mother, Sarah, and my elder brothers, who were Laman, Lemuel, and Sam.

And it came to pass that when he had travelled three days in the wilderness, he pitched his tent in a valley beside a river of water. And it came to pass that he built an altar of stones, and he made an offering unto the Lord, and gave thanks unto the Lord our God. And it came to pass that he called the name of the river Laman, and it emptied into the Red Sea; and the valley was in the borders near the mouth thereof.

And when my father saw that the waters of the river emptied into the fountain of the Red Sea, he spake unto Laman, saying: O that thou mightest be like unto this river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness. And he also spake unto Lemuel: O that thou mightest be like unto this valley, firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord. Now this he spake because of the stiffneckedness of Laman and Lemuel; for behold they did murmur in many things against their father, because that he was a visionary man, and that he had led them out of the land of Jerusalem, to leave the land of their inheritance, and their gold, and their silver, and their precious things, and to perish in the wilderness. And this they said he had done because of the foolish imaginations of his heart. And thus Laman and Lemuel, being the eldest, did murmur against their father. And they did murmur because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them. Neither did they believe that Jerusalem, that great city, could be destroyed according to the words of the prophets. And they were like unto the Jews, which were at Jerusalem, which sought to take away the life of my father.

And it came to pass that my father did speak unto them in the valley of Lemuel, with power, being filled with the spirit, until their frames did shake before him. And he did confound them, that they durst not utter against him; wherefore, they did as he commanded them. And my father dwelt in a tent.

---

"Gold Bible." -- We inadvertantly neglected in our remarks last week, respecting this wonderful work, to accompany them with the explanations requisite to a correct understanding of it. The appellation of "Gold Bible" is only a cant cognomen that has been given it by the unbelievers -- for be it known that this Book, as well as the sacred volume which is held so valuable by all good christians, is not without its revilers and unbelievers -- by way of derision. The true title of the work, as appears from the copy-right, is "The Book of Mormon" -- comprising a great number of Books, or parts, by different primary authors, all of which are divided into Chapters. The first is the "First Book of Nephi," of which we gave an extract in our last, and is continued in the present number of our paper. The whole purports to be a compilation, in ancient hieroglyphics, on plates said to resemble plates of gold by one of the chosen of the lost tribes, whose name was MORMON.


Notes: (forthcoming)

New AntiMasonic papers. -- The first of a large and handsomely executed anti-masonic paper, entitled "The Sun," has lately made its appearance in Philadelphia. It is conducted with much ability, and will undoubtedly prove a valuable source of information to those in that city who are in search of light on a dark subject.

We have received the first number of the "Ohio Star," published in Ravenna, Ohio, by L. L. Rice. Mr. Rice formerly published the New York Anti-Masonic Beacon, the publication of which he was obliged to discontinue, the "vengeance" of the whole brotherhood having been brought to bear against him. He is a worthy young man and we hope success may crown his labors.


Note 1: The Lyons Countryman was in many ways a resurrection of the Palmyra Freeman of 1829. Both papers were edited by Jonathan A. Hadley, the first newspaperman to publish an article on the Mormons. See his letter in the Wayne Co. Whig of Sept. 14, 1842.

Note 2: The Philadelphia Sun published some interesting early articles on the Mormons. See, for example, the issue of that paper for Aug. 18, 1831.

Note 3: Lewis L. Rice (1801-1886) was the man who donated Solomon Spalding's manuscript to Oberlin College. Exactly when L. L. Rice published the Anti-Masonic Beacon remains unclear, but probably it was about two years after he sold his Cazenovia Republican Monitor (which Rice founded in Sept. 1823) to James F. Fairchild in April of 1825. After leaving New York (in 1828?) Rice became the editor of the Ravenna, Ohio Western Courier. That paper was publishing the poetry of the poetess and future Mormon, Eliza R. Snow as early as 1829. Rice's Ohio Star printed numerous articles on the Mormons, beginning with its issue for Feb. 24, 1831. In speaking to Joseph F. Smith, the nephew of Joseph Smith, Jr., in 1885, Mr. Rice recalled having published a story called the "Manuscript Found" in the columns of the Cazenovia Republican Monitor. Rice was then "of the opinion that the name of this story... had been confounded with Spaulding's Manuscript or writings."

BOOK  OF  MORMON.
(Extract from the Book of Alma, Chapter XX.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

            Batavia, N. Y. Feb. 1st, 1830.

Frederick A. Sumner, Esq.
    Sir, -- The liberal donation obtained through your efficient exertions, amounting to Fifty Dollars, was presented to me by George W. Harris, of this village, last week. For which you will, Sir, please accept my sincere thanks, as well in your own behalf as in the behalf of those who, in conjunction with yourself, have so munificently contributed to the alleviation of a bereaved widow and her helpless children.

If, Sir, any thing could comfort the widow in her affliction, that a generous sympathizing Christian communication could bestow, comfort would be mine: for though I am destitute of property and bereaved of him to whom I was accustomed to look for support for myself and my infant children, by a merciless and cruel institution; though the tongue of calumny has not been idle, and though every means have been employed to render wretched and miserable the few days I may be permitted to spend on earth, yet through the protection of the widow's God, him who has said. I will be a father to the fatherless, I am not forgotten but remembered by those who have hearts to feel, and can fully appreciate my necessitous situation.

These, Sir, are my reflections, which when meditating upon my own helpless condition, and the more helpless condition of my children, operate as a balm to my lacerated heart, and serve to reconcile me to drink with patience the bitter cup of which cruel men have so unkindly doomed me to drink, believing that my bereavement, though to me, indeed severe, will contribute to the happiness of the present, as well as future generations, in the total eradication of false Free Masonry.
              Yours, Sir, I am respectfully,
                        LUCINDA MORGAN.


Note: This letter was republished in numerous anti-Masonic papers, including the Norwich Anti-Masonic Telegraph of Feb. 24, 1830.

Palmyra, March 11, 1830.   

O. Dogberry, Esquire

Dear Sir -- When the present series of the Reflector is completed, you will please erase my name from your list of subscribers.

Yours, etc.           
      Luther Howard.

[Editor Cole's comments follow]

We have only to regret that this 'little lump of anguish,' who measures something more than four feet in his shoes, had not requested an immediate discontinuance, as he is the only person of the same description our list contains. It is from the enlightened, independent, and liberal minded, that we receive and expect support -- not from meddlesome, canting, or whining hypocrites -- it is not from a man who professes ostentatiously to belong to a Calvinistic Church, where himself and the family display a profession of fine clothing, while he privately advocates the "Gold Bible." This man has an itching to appear in print -- he shall be gratified. We have many communications on hand respecting this pious as well as meddling worthy. His Geneva friends will not be forgotten.


Note 1: The Book of Mormon was printed in the Wayne Sentinel office on the third floor of the Grandin Building on Main Street in Palmyra. The printed forms were folded, sewen into signatures and bound into hard-cover volumes by book-binder Luther Howard. Howard was also the editor and publisher of the new anti-Masonic paper in Palmyra, the Western Spectator and Public Advertiser. In the first floor of the Grandin Building was the bookstore, where the first sales of copies of the Book of Mormon commenced during the fourth week in March -- see the Mar. 26, 1830 issue of the Wayne Sentinel for the book's initial advertisement.

Note 2: Within days of its first advertisement, the Book of Mormon was already known in New York City -- see Mordecai M. Noah's Morning Courier of Mar. 31, 1830. Capt. Noah kept a curious editorial eye trained upon the latter-day Israelites of the west; his papers subsequently published several interesting accounts respecting their origin and development. The Morning Courier of Aug. 31, 1831 is especially noteworthy in this regard.

We are requested to announce that the "Book of Mormon" will be ready for sale in the course of next week.

Notes: (forthcoming)

THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON.  

AN account written by the hand of Mormon, upon plates, taken from the plates of Nephi.

Wherefore, it is an abridgment of the Record of the People of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites; written to the Lamanites, which are a remnant of the House of Israel; and also to Jew and Gentile; written by way of commandment, and also by the spirit of prophecy and of revelation. Written, and sealed up, and hid up unto the LORD, that they might not be destroyed; to come forth by the gift and power of GOD unto the interpretation thereof, sealed by the hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the LORD, to come forth in due time by way of the Gentile, the interpretation thereof by the gift of GOD. An abridgment taken from the Book of Ether.

Also, which is a record of the People of Jared, who were scattered at the time the LORD confounded the language of the people when they were building a tower to get to Heaven, Which is to show unto the remnant of the House of Israel how great things the LORD hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the LORD, that they are not cast off forever; and also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that JESUS is the CHRIST, the ETERNAL LOD, manifesting Himself unto all nations. And now, if there be fault, it be the mistake of men; wherefore, condemn not the things of GOD, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment seat of CHRIST.   BY JOSEPH SMITH, JUNIOR, Author and Proprietor.

The above work, containing about 600 pages, large Duodecimo, is now for sale, wholesale and retail, at the Palmyra Bookstore, by
                           HOWARD & GRANDIN.
     PALMYRA, March 26, 1830.

Notes: (forthcoming)

                                                    City of Mud, March, 1830.
Mr. Reflector. --

Sir -- As you appear to possess some literary acquirements -- if not talents -- and as you may possibly take it into your head, some day or other, to publish an exclusively literary paper -- I have taken the liberty of sending you a recipe for making one up.... In selecting your subject (article) for dissection, let your scene be laid in France, Italy, or the holy land, (this will be more interesting to the unlearned reader,) cut off the head and tail of it, alter the names, and commence from the bottom of the page to copy upwards, in imitation of the translators of the book of Mormon, or the Gold Bible." In this way you give it a cast of originality...   NEWSMONGER.


Notes: (forthcoming)

Mr. Editor --
Please advice Hyrum Smith, and some of his ill-bred associates, not to be so impertinent, when decent folks denounce the imposition of the "GOLD BIBLE." The anathemas of such ignorant wretches, although not feared, are not quite so well relished by some people -- Apostles should keep cool.


Note: The above note appears in the Reflector as a letter from one of Mr. Cole's readers. Some of the early Mormon leaders were referred to as "Apostles," even though no official ordinations were performed in regard to that ecclesiastical dignity for several years thereafter. See, for example, Cole's mention of Oliver Cowdery as an apostle in his June 1st issue, as well as his more generalized use of the term in the Reflector on Sept. 23, 1829.

From the Rochester Republican.

Blasphemy -- "Book of Mormon" alias "The Golden Bible. --

(view original article)

Notes: (forthcoming)

BLASPHEMY -- "BOOK  OF  MORMON,"
alias  THE  GOLDEN  BIBLE.

The "Book of Mormon" has been placed in our hands. A viler imposition was never practised. It is an evidence of fraud, blasphemy and credulity, shocking to the Christian and moralist. The "author and proprietor" is one "Joseph Smith, jr." -- a fellow who, by some hocus pocus, acquired such an influence over a farmer of Wayne county, that the latter mortgaged his farm for $3,000, which he paid for printing and binding 5000 copies of this blasphemous work. The volume consists of about 600 pages, and is divided into the books of Nephi, of Jacob, of Mosiah, of Alma, of Mormon, of Ether, and of Helaman. -- "Copy-right secured!" The style of the work may be conjectured from the "preface" and "testimonials" which we subjoin. -- Roch. Rep.

PREFACE.

( see Rochester Daily Adv. of Apr 2, 1830 for text )

---

D I E D.

In Junius, on the the 26th inst. Mrs. Christina Cowdery, consort of Col. John C., 55.


Note 1: Although the temptation may have been strong, the editorial staff of the Geneva Gazette refrained from associating their local rival in political journalism (B. Franklin Cowdery) with the "Oliver Cowdery" whose name appears among the "witnesses" cited in this article on the Book of Mormon.

Note 2: See the Feb. 9, 1835 issue of the Rochester Daily Democrat for Col. John Cowdery's obituary. He was a distant relative to both B. Franklin Cowdery and Oliver Cowdery.

We are informed that an "honest Attourney" (from compunction we suppose,) is about to abandon his lucrative profession, and enter upon the preaching of the "Gospel according to" -- Jo Smith.


Note 1: The above notice may refer to Lyman Cowdery of Arcadia township, Wayne Co., NY. Compare the report to the following account in the Mar. 1, 1831 issue of the Cleveland Advertiser: "Some months since, a young lawyer living in the western part of the state of New York... wrote the wonderful Mormon bible in stenographick characters... he marvellously appeared in disguise, in the form of an angel, to a man named Smith, and revealed to him where he would find the sacred treasure. Smith accordingly went, found the Mormon manuscript, and in his researches to find some one to interpret it, he fell in with his angel lawyer, who readily unravelled the mystery."

Note 2: It is also possible that the "Honest Attorney" mentions scattered through Cole's columns referred to a conflation of different local "lawyer" personalities, and were not meant to identify a specific attorney.

THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON.  

An account written by the hand of Mormon, upon plates, taken from the plates of Nephi. Wherefore, it is an abridgment of the Record of the People of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites; written to the Lamanites, which are a remnant of the House of Israel; and also to Jew and Gentile; written by way of commandment, and also by the spirit of Prophecy and of Revelation. Written, and sealed up, and hid up unto the LORD, that they might not be destroyed; to come forth by the gift and power of GOD unto the interpretation thereof, sealed by the hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the LORD, to come forth in due time by way of the Gentile; the interpretation thereof by the gift of GOD. An abridgment taken from the Book of Ether.

Also, which is a Record of the People of Jared, which were scattered at the time the LORD confounded the language of the people when they were building a tower to get to Heaven; Which is to shew unto the remnant of the House of Israel how great things the LORD hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the LORD, that they are not cast off forever; and also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that JESUS is the CHRIST, the ETERNAL GOD, manifesting Himself unto all nations. And now if there be fault, it be the mistake of men; wherefore, condemn not the things of GOD, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment seat of CHRIST. BY JOSEPH SMITH, JUNIOR, Author and Proprietor.

The above work, containing about 600 pages, large Duodecimal, is now for sale, wholesale and retail, at the Palmyra Bookstore, by

E. B. GRANDIN.        

Palmyra, March 26, 1830.


Notes: (forthcoming)

==> The apostle to the NEPHITES (Cowdery) has started for the EAST, on board a boat with a load of "gOld bibles," under a command, (as he says) to declare the truth (according to JO SMITH,) "in all the principal cities in the Union." We must, however, caution this second Mohomet, (Jemima Wilkinson,) to be careful how he treds upon the old Saybrook Platform. Oliver (he left out two middle names in the "Book of Mormon") may find his way to the Simsbury mines.


Note 1: The "apostle" typically signed his name as Oliver H. P. Cowdery during this period. The "two middle names" referred to above, were perhaps "Hervy" and "Pliny."

Note 2: Oliver's trip east on the Erie Canal probably only took him to the eastern edge of Wayne County -- possibly to Geneva or in the direction of Waterloo (Fayette) where the Whitmers resided.

Note 3: The "Saybrook Platform" was a 1708 plan for regulating the Puritan church in New England. The civil government invested church ministers with a great deal of power but it also allowed some congregational differences. Editor Cole appears to be warning Oliver Cowdery not to break the law while conducting his ecclesiastical duties, away from Palmyra. The "Simsbury mines" was a New York "hard labor" prison were especially despicable criminals were incarcerated.

THE BOOK OF PUKEI. -- Chap. 1.

1. And it came to pass in the latter days, that wickedness did much abound, and the "Idle and slothful said one to another, let us send for Walters the Magician, who has strange books, and deals with familiar spirits; peradventure he will inform us where the Nephites, hid their treasure, so be it, that we and our vagabond van, do not perish for lack of sustenance.

2. Now Walters, the Magician, was a man unseemly to look upon, and to profound ignorance added the most consummate imprudence, -- the summons of the idle and slothful, and produced an old book in an unknown tongue, (Cicero's Orations in latin,) from whence he read in the presence of the Idle and Slothful strange stories of hidden treasures and of the spirit who had custody thereof.

3. And the Idle and Slothful paid tribute unto the Magician, and besought him saying, Oh! thou who art wise above all men, and can interpret the book that no man understandeth, and can discover hidden things by the power of thy enchantments, lead us, we pray thee to the place where the Nephites buried their treasure, and give us power over "the spirit," and we will be thy servants forever.

4. And the Magician led the rabble unto a dark grove, in a place called Manchester, where after drawing a Magic circle, with a rusty sword, and collecting his motley crew of latter-demallions, within the centre, he sacrificed a Cock (a bird sacred to Minerva) for the purpose of propiciating the prince of spirits.

5. All things being ready, the Idle and Slothful fell to work with a zeal deserving a better cause, and many a live long night was spent in digging for "the root of all evil."

[6.] Howbeit, owing to the wickedness and hardness of their hearts, these credulous and ignorant knaves, were always disappointed, till finally, their hopes, although frequently on the eve of consummation -- like that of the hypocrite perished, and their hearts became faint within them.

7. And it came to pass, that when the Idle and Slothful became weary of their nightly labors, they said one to another, lo! this imp of the Devil, hath deceived us, let us no more of him, or peradventure, ourselves, our wives, and our little ones, will become chargeable on the town.

8. Now when Walters the Magician heard these things, he was sorely grieved, and said unto himself, lo! mine occupation is gone, even these ignorant vagabonds, the idle and slothful detect mine impostures. I will away and hide myself, lest the strong arm of the law should bring me to justice.

9. And he took his book, and his rusty sword, and his magic stone, and his stuffed Toad, and all his implements of witchcraft and retired to the mountains near Great Sodus Bay, where he holds communion with the Devil, even to this day.

10. Now the rest of the acts of the magician, how his mantle fell upon the prophet Jo. Smith Jun. and how Jo. made a league with the spirit, who afterwards turned out to be an angel, and how he obtained the "Gold Bible." Spectacles, and breast plate -- will they not be faithfully recorded in the book of Pukei?

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The Gem. -- We are indebted to the politeness of a friend, for the perusal of the 2d No. (2d Vol.) of this paper -- it is much improved in size as well as matter. We observe some elegant extracts from Foreign Journals -- this course we like; as good matter seldom gains by unskilful garbling. We wish the editors success, and hope they will double their diligence.


Note 1: Some students of Mormon history have attempted to distill a number of hard facts regarding Joseph Smith, Jr. from Abner Cole's fanciful pronouncements. His "Book of Pukei" should be read as sarcastic innuendo more so than as any attempt to record accurate history. Cole's sardonic lines may "reflect" some occasional truth, but that "reflection" has clearly passed through the less than objective mental filter of the man who published the Reflector.

Note 2: Various LDS apologists have asserted that it was D. P. Hurlbut, in 1833, who first tried to convince the reading public that Joseph Smith, Jr. was a man of poor repute in his home region, in and around Palmyra, New York. Clearly that is not the case: Hurlbut had several mud-slinging predecessors, among whom Abner Cole ranks atop the list. All evidence points to their journalistic "mud" sticking to its ill-reputed subject, more often than not. Cole reports that, "the Idle and Slothful" (Palmyra area men not gainfully employed in steady jobs) "fell to work with a zeal deserving a better cause," (were unusually motivated to commit their labors to a common task) "and many a live long night was spent in digging for "the root of all evil" (digging for buried money after dark). This may be the first published allusion to "the prophet Jo." (Joseph Smith, Jr.) being actively engaged in money-digging in the Palmyra area -- and of a gradual evolution away from his acting as a conjurer/discerner of treasure spirits in "dark groves," to his serving as an oracle for angelic visitations in sacred groves.

Our citizens were considerably agitated on the morning of the 19th inst. by the strange appearance of a strange animal, whose manner was very little different from that of the famous Lorenzo Dow -- who introduced himself to the notice of a gazing multitude, by raising his stentorian voice to a surprising height, and continued pouring forth his melody, until driven from his station by the rains of heaven (which were not very congenial to the of the itinerant) falling upon his uncovered head in torrents -- and warning him to "flee from the wrath to come" -- whereupon he 'took up his sack and walked,' declaring his command to "preach the gospel to every creature" (at the methodist 'meetin house') and to "all the earth, in the highways, and on the house tops." We know not whether he is a follower of Jemima Wilkinson, JO SMITH, jun. or the devil -- We are however credibly informed, that at a disorderly meeting on Sunday evening at the MARKET one of JO's greatest apostles, gave decided tokens of entire approbation.

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==> It has been reported that one if the "Gold Bible" witnesses has been in the habit of whipping and otherwise mal-treating his wife for the sole purpose of making her a proselyte to the faith according to JO SMITH.

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We have been informed that a "Gold Bible" apostle lately undertook to anathematise an infidel!!!

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Phosphorus. -- This is a simple elementary substance... In atmospheric air it is luminous at common temperatures without emitting heat... This substance may... be obtained from burnt bones, finely powdered (on which is poured strong sulphuric acid)... Many and amusing are the experiments made with this substance...


Note 1: Editor Cole had commented on "Crazy" Dow's preaching before -- see his issue of Sept. 2, 1829. The whereabouts of the "stentorian voiced" Rev. Sidney Rigdon are unaccounted for, from March to mid June, 1830. However, on June 19, 1830, Rigdon was reportedly in Mentor, Ohio, and was not preaching in the Methodist church at Palmyra. See the Ontario Messenger of Dec. 22, 1831 for Rigdon's first documented preaching in the region "round about" Palmyra. Visiting New York City journalist James G. Bennett, in 1831 uncovered local memories of earlier, undocumented Rigdonite visitations, however.

Note 2: The "Gold Bible apostle" here referred to is Martin Harris. His wife subsequently retained the legal services of Lyman Cowdery, Esq. in attempting to protect herself and obtain some justice in the wife-battering affair -- see "Mother Lucy's" 1853 recollections, as well as other near contemporary reports of Martin Harris' episodes of spousal abuse.

Note 3: For an exemplary "amusing experiment" involving phosphorus, see Patriarch William Smith's 1849 account of how the Mormon leader James J. Strang made serruptitious use of the glowing substance in a darkened room: "The phosphorus then gave a most brilliant light upon the heads of the saints. The Holy Ghost was poured out in this way, and the sign given that Strang was a prophet." Elder J. J. Moss, who observed the advent of Mormonism at Kirtland, Ohio, provided his opinion of how the luminous angels observed thereabouts (David Whitmer saw one at the Temple) might have been similarly manufactured: "The Morley family would invite strangers... to stay with them all night & every one that stayed however strong their opposition before were baptized the next morning. Having studied in my boyhood the Black Art Ledgerdemain & jugling I had my suspicions aroused... & I told how Angels could be manufactured & strange wonders made to appear in the night & from that time forth invitations to stay over night ceased to be given & no more converts were made in that way..." etc., etc.

A hungry lean-faced villain,
A mere anatomy, a mountebank,
A thread-bare juggler and a fortune-teller;
A needy, hollow-eyed, sharp-looking wretch,
A loving dead man, this pernicious slave,
Forsooth took on him as a conjurer;
And gazing in mine eyes, feeling my pulse,
And with no face, as it were out-facing me,
Cries out, I was possessed. -- Shakespeare. The age of miracle has again arrived, and if the least reliance can be placed upon the assertions, daily made by the "Gold Bible" apostles, (which is somewhat doubtful,) no prophet, since the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, has performed half so many wonders as have been attributed to that spindle shanked ignoramus JO SMITH. This fellow appears to possess the quint essence of impudence, while his fellow laborers are not far behind him in this particular -- they go from place to place disturbing in a greater or lesser degree, the peace of the community -- denouncing dire damnation on such as may with hold their approbation from one of the most ridiculous impostures, ever promulgated.

JO's greatest as well as least miracle, as narrated by St. Martin, is his 'casting out a devil,' of uncommon size from a miserable man in the neighborhood of the "great bend" of the Susquehannah. The whole family of spirits, who are said to have possessed the fair Magdalene, were mere children, when compared to the imp in question. Such was his malignant disposition that before JO took him in hand, he had nigh demolished the frail tenement which had for a long time afforded him a comfortable shelter -- the flesh was "about to cleave from my bones" -- the muscles, tendons &c. could no longer perform their different functions -- the habitation of Satan, was about to be laid open to the light of day, when the prophet interfered -- went to prayer -- the demoniac had faith -- the devil was routed, and nature resumed her accustomed order.


Notes: (forthcoming)

Blank Deeds, Bonds and Mortages, and Justices Blanks; Poems by Wm. Ray, and Charlotte Temple, for sale at No. 62 Seneca St. by   F. COWDERY.
  June 30, 1830.

P. S. -- Gentlemen friendly to the re-commencement of the CHRONICLE, forthwith, are requested to leave their names with the Editor, at 62 Seneca street. A general settlement of old accounts, is also very desirable, instanter.


Note 1: It appears that B. Franklin Cowdery was reduced to placing ads in the columns of his enemy's Gazette in order to drum up business for the languishing Geneva Chronicle. Since he does not here mention any job printing services available at his office, that may indicate that he had lost the least on his press, or that it had for other reasons gone out of operation.

Note 2: Although the Geneva Chronicle was not permanently revived, Cowdery was able to join forces with the celebrated Timothy C. Strong to start up a new paper in Geneva, the Independent American. See Strong's "Prospectus" in the Gazette of July 6th and in other regional papers that same month. Cowdery stayed on another year in Geneva and then abandoned the equally unsuccessful Independent American.

THE BOOK OF PUKEI. -- Chap. 2.

Contents. -- 1. the idle and slothful reverence the prophet. -- 2 The prophet reveals to them the first appearance of the spirit. -- 3 Its adminition and promises. -- 4 Description of the spirit. -- 5 Mormon -- the ten tribes. -- 6 Their migration -- wars -- extinction. -- 7 Gold Bible and contents. -- 8 spectacles -- breastplate -- Oliver, &c.

1. And it came to pass, that when the mantle of Walters the Magician had fallen upon Joseph, sirnamed the prophet, who was the son of Joseph; that the "idle and slothful" gathered themselves together, in the presence of Joseph, and said to him, "lo! we will be thy servants forever, do with us, our wives, and our little ones as it may seem good in thine eyes."

2. And the prophet answered and said, -- "Behold! hath not the mantle of Walters the magician fallen upon me, and I am not able to do before you my people great wonders, and shew you, at a more proper season, where the Nephites hid their treasures? -- for lo! yesternight stood before me in the wilderness of Manchester, the spirit, who, from the begining, has had in keeping all the treasures, hidden in the bowels of the earth,

3. And he said unto me, Joseph, thou son of Joseph, hold up thine head; do the crimes done in thy body fill thee with shame? -- hold up thine face and let the light of mine countenance shine upon thee -- thou, and all thy father's household, have served me faithfully, according to the best of their knowledge and abilities -- I am the spirit that walketh in darkness, and will shew thee great signs and wonders."

4. And I looked, and behold a little old man stood before me, clad, as I supposed, in Egyptian raiment, except his Indian blanket, and moccasins -- his beard of silver white, hung far below his knees. On his head was an old fashioned military half cocked hat, such as was worn in the days of the patriarch Moses -- his speech was sweeter than molasses, and his words were the reformed Egyprian.

5. And he again said unto me, "Joseph, thou who hast been surnamed the ignoramus, knowest thou not, that great signs and wonders are to be done by thine hands? knowest thou not, that I have been sent unto thee by MORMON, the great apostle to the Nephites -- Mormon who was chief among the [lost] ten tribes of Israel?

6. Knowest thou not that this same apostle to the nephites conducted that pious people, who could not abide the wickedness of their brethren, to these happy shores in bark canoes, where after fighting with their brethren the Lamanites, a few hundred years, became wicked themselves, when God sent the small pox among them, which killed two thirds of them, and turned the rest into Indians?

7. Knowest thou not, thou weak one of the earth, that this same Mormon wrote a book on plates of gold, in the language I now speak, of and concerning the aforesaid Nephites and their brethren the Lamanites, and their treasures, (including a box of gold watches on which thou shalt hereafter raise money,) and knowest thou not, that thou art greater than all the "money-digging rabble," and art chosen to interpret the book, which Mormon has written, to wit, the gold Bible?

8. "And lo! I answered the spirit of the money diggers saying, how can these things be, as I can neither read nor write? And he said unto me[:] 'I will give thee a breast plate, to keep thee from evil, and I will send thee an assistant, even Oliver, the pedagogue.'

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Exemption from taxation. -- A disciple of the "Gold Bible," lately called on an assessor, and demanded an exemption from taxation, to the amount of $1500 -- alleging that he was a Minister of the Gospel, at the same time producing a certificate, signed by Jo. Smith, and Oliver Cowdery, by way of proof -- the course to be taken in this matter has not as yet transpired.

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                                                          From Lyons.
BOOK OF DANIEL. -- Chap. 1.

Now it came to pass, in the 52nd and 53d years of American Independence, and during the reign of the Prophet JOSEPH...

Notes: (forthcoming)

                                                            From Lyons.
BOOK OF DANIEL. -- Chap. 2.

"* * * His faults gently on him!
Yet thus far, give me leave to speak him.
And yet with charity. -- He is a man
Of an obdurant stomach, ever ranking
Himself with princes; One that by suggestion
Tries all the symphonies. --
His own opinion is his law: his heart.
Is crowned with arrogancy, pomp and pride.
He has by fortune gained good favors,
And his words domestic to him serve his will
As't pleases to pronounce their office." -- Shakes.
Oh Daniel! how thine actions differ from the wise and virtuous meekness which distinguished him of thy name in ancient days...

... Nor while the angel of his higher ascent, even into the reposing chamber of virtuous retirement is annoyed with his solicitations flagranti delicto, will the voice of avenging reproof, from the valley of the tower of watchfulness be withheld.

And now be it known unto you, all ye of the "precious knowledge of Mormon," that these are true, even as that some of these things happened after his stay at the house of Tobias. Yea, be it known of a truth, that although great inquiry is daily issuing from his troubled heart yet shall he ramain ignorant of the source of these revelations...


Notes: (forthcoming)

"Punish the Guilty." -- So say the fraternity, but what is the language of their actions? The Niagara Courier informs us that Mr. Orsamus Turner, deputy marshall for the county of Niagara, &c., &c., was escorted from Jail on Friday evening last, in a coach and four, by Peter Besancon, Jr., senior editor of the famous Lockport Balance, &c. and sundry other understrappers of the "handmaid."

This Orsamus Turner, it will be recollected, was imprisoned by Judge Marcy for refusing to testify against his guilty brethren, and immediately thereafter pronounced, by the Craftsman, an "honorable man." He was imprisoned for three offences, thirty days each. How comes be out? -- Elucidator.


Notes: (forthcoming)