DIED.

EICHBAUM -- On Sunday morning, Dec. 30, at 7 o'clock, WILLIAM EICHBAUM, in the 81st year of his age.

Note: William Eichbaum served as the Postmaster of Pittsburgh during part of the time when Sidney Rigdon is known to have received mail at that postoffice. The statement of Eichbaum's widow in this regard was taken by the Rev. Robert Patterson, Jr. on Sep. 18, 1879.

Who Wrote the Book of Mormon?

Washington Co., Pa.            
March 26, 1869.            

Some time since, I became the owner of The Book of Mormon, I put it into the hands of Mr. Joseph Miller, Sr., of Amwell Township. After examining it, he makes the following statement concerning the connection of Rev. Solomon Spalding with the authorship of The Book of Mormon,

Mr. Miller is now in the seventy-ninth year of his age. He is an Elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. His judgment is good, and his veracity unimpeachable. He was well acquainted with Mr. Spalding, while he lived at Amity. He waited on him during his last illness. He made his coffin, and assisted to bury his remains where they now lie, in the Presbyterian graveyard at Amity. he also bailed Mr. Spalding's wife when she took out Letters of Administration on his estate.

Mr. Miller's statement may be relied upon as true.

J. W. Hamilton    
(pastor, Presbyterian Church)    

 


When Mr. Spalding lived in Amity, Pennsylvania, I was well acquainted with him. I was frequently at his house. He kept what was called a tavern. It was understood that he had been a preacher, but his health failed him and he ceased to preach. I never knew him to preach after he came to Amity.

He had in his possession some papers which he said he had written. He used to read select portions of these papers to amuse us [of] evenings.

These papers were detached sheets of foolscap. He said he wrote the papers as a novel. He called it The Manuscript Found, or The Lost Manuscript Found. He said he wrote it to pass away the time when he was unwell; and, after it was written, he thought he would publish it as a novel, as a means to support his family.

Some time since, a copy of The Book of Mormon came into my hands. My son read it for me, as I have a nervous shaking of the head that prevents me from reading. I noticed several passages which I recollect having heard Mr. Spalding read from his Manuscript. One passage, on page 148 (the copy I have is published by J. O. Wright & Co., New York) I remember distinctly. He speaks of a battle, and says the Amalekites had marked themselves with red on their foreheads to distinguish them from the Nephites. The thought of being marked on the forehead was so strange, it fixed itself in my memory. This, together with other passages, I remember to have heard Mr. Spalding read from his Manuscript.

Those who knew Mr. Spalding will soon all be gone and I among the rest. I write that what I know may become a matter of history; and that it may prevent people from being led into Mormonism, that most seductive delusion of the devil.

From what I know of Mr. Spalding's Manuscript and The Book of Mormon, I firmly believe that Joseph Smith, by some means, got possession of Mr. Spalding's Manuscript, and possibly made some changes in it and called it The Book of Mormon.

JOSEPH MILLER, Sr.    

Note 1: This article was reprinted in the Historical Magazine, for August, 1869.

Note 2: Miller gave at least four additional statements on this same topic: the first was dated: Mar. 30, 1879, the second about Dec. 1881, the third on Jan. 20, 1882, and the last on Feb. 13, 1882.

Note 3: The essence of the 1881 Joseph Miller interview is reproduced in Chapter 10 of Sarah Jane (Harris) Kiefer's Genealogical and Biographical Sketches of the New Jersey Branches of the Harris Family in the United States (Madison, WI: Democrat Printing Company, 1888). According to Kiefer, "Mr. Miller died 12 April 1885, aged ninety-five years." An 1882 reprint of this article may be found on pp. 742-743 of the CD-ROM review copy of Wayne Cowdrey et al., The Spalding Enigma, (Los Angeles: 2000), along with the other four Joseph Miller statements.

Solomon Spalding Again.

Messrs. Editors: --

Here on business with the Government, I have accidentally found, in the Wheeling Intelligencer of the 8th instant, an article copied from your paper, under the caption, "Who Wrote The Book of Mormon?" The statement of Joseph Miller, Sr., enclosed in the communication of your correspondent, J. W. Hamilton, carries me back, in memory, to scenes and occurrences of my youth, at the pleasant old Village of Amity, in your County; and are corroborative, in some measure, of their conjectures as to the real author of that curious production, the "Mormon Bible."

With a view to throw some additional light upon a subject which, in the future, if not at present, may possess historical importance, I have concluded to employ a leisure hour in giving you some of my recollections, touching the Lost History Found, and its author.

In the [Fall] of 1814, I arrived in the village of "Good Will:" and, for eighteen or twenty months, sold goods in the store previously occupied by Mr. Thomas Brice. It was on the Main-street, a few rods West of Spalding's tavern where I was a boarder.

With [both] Mr. Solomon Spalding and his wife, I was quite intimately acquainted. He was regarded as an amiable, inoffensive, intelligent old gentleman, of some sixty winters; and as having been formerly a Teacher or Professor in some eastern Academy or College; but I was not aware of his having been a preacher or called "Reverend." He was afflicted with a rupture, which made locomotion painful, and confined him much to his house. They possessed but little of this world's goods; and, as I understood, selected Amity as a residence, because it was a healthy and inexpensive place to live in.

I recollect, quite well, Mr. Spalding spending much time in writing on sheets of paper (torn out of an old book), what purported to be a veritable history of the nations or tribes who inhabited Canaan when, or before, that country was invaded by the Israelites, under Joshua. He described, with great particularity, their numbers, customs, modes of life; their wars, stratagems, victories, and defeats &c. His style was flowing and grammatical, though gaunt and abrupt -- very like the stories of the "Maccabees" and other apocryphal books, in the old bibles. He called it Lost History Found, -- Lost Manuscript, or some such name: not disguising that it was wholly a work of the imagination, written to amuse himself, and without any immediate view to publication.

I read, or hear[d] him read, many wonderful and amusing passages from different parts of his professed historical records; and was struck with the minuteness of his details and the apparent truthfulness and sincerity of the author. Defoe's veritable Robinson Crusoe was not more reliable.

I have an indistinct recollection of the passages referred to by Mr. Miller, about the Amalekites making a cross with red paint on their foreheads, to distinguish them from their enemies in the confusion of battle; but the manuscript was full of equally ludicrous descriptions. After my removal to Wheeling, in 1818, I understood [note: from Dr. Cephas Dodd, perhaps] that Mr. Spalding had died and his widow had returned to her friends in northern Ohio or western New York. She would naturally take the manuscript with her. Now, it was in northern Ohio, probably in Lake or Ashtabula County, that the first Mormon prophet, or impostor, Jo Smith, lived and published what he called The Book of Mormon, or the "Mormon Bible." It is quite probable therefore, that, with some alterations, The Book of Mormon was, in fact, The Lost Book, or Lost History Found, of my old landlord, Solomon Spalding, of Amity, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

I have also a recollection of reading, in some newspaper, about the time of my removal to California, in 1850, an article on this subject, charging Jo Smith, directly, with purloining or, in some improper way, getting possession of a certain manuscript which an aged clergyman had written for his own amusement, as a novel, and out of it making, up his pretended Mormon Bible. Smith's converts or followers were challenged to deny the statement. Both the date and the name of the paper I have forgotten. Possibly, in your own file of the Reporter, some notice of the matter may be found to verify my recollection.

Many changes have occurred in old "Cat Fish's Camp," as well as in Amity, since I first knew them. Mr. Joseph Miller, Sr., is I presume, my old friend Jo Miller, with whom, in about 1815, I had many a game of house-ball, at the East side of Spalding's tavern. If so and this article meets his eye, he will [recollect] the stripling who sold tape and other necessaries in the frame house, nearly opposite old Ziba Cook's residence, in Amity. He was then in the prime of life; always in good humor; told a story well; a good shot with a rifle; and the best ball-player in the crowd. When he and I happened to be partners, we were sure to win. I wish him many happy days in a green old age --

If any of these desultory recollections of the olden time can aid, in any way, the truth of history and the suppression of a miserable [imposture], use them as you deem proper, either in print or in the waste basket.

Respectfully,      
REDICK M'KEE.

Note 1: Redick McKee supplied additional information on Solomon Spalding, etc., in a letter to Robert Patterson, Jr., dated April 15, 1879, as well as in a second letter published in Patterson's Presbyterian Banner on Nov. 15, 1882. McKee also wrote a lengthy letter to Arthur B. Deming on the same topic, dated Jan. 25, 1886.

Note 2: Robert Patterson, Jr. published Redick McKee's obituary in the Presbyterian Banner on Sep. 22, 1886.

                        From the Montrose Republican.

JOSEPH  SMITH.

[Beginning is largely illegible -- tells of Smith's blessing a corn field that froze, etc.] ... He was very poor at that time and with several visionary companions was a good deal engaged in digging for money at some place or places near the Susquehanna river.... In those days, Smith was more celebrated for lying than for any other quality, unless it was ignorance, and perhaps a sort of low cunning."

[Smith and Martin Harris ate cornmeal while translating the golden plates]... Emma Hale used a canoe to escape down the river [when she eloped]....


Note 1: Unfortunately this important article is practically unreadable from a microfilm print-out. There is no indication from which issue of the Montrose Republican this was reprinted, though perhaps it was from the summer of 1870. The editor of the Gleaner adds on parts of a second article, also reproduced from the Montrose Republican -- this appears to be an account of Smith walking on the water near Colesville.

Note 2: Some of the anecdotal material in this article was preserved in Emily C. Blackman's 1873 book, The History of Susquehanna County. See also Frederic G. Mather's "The Early Mormons" in the July 29, 1880 issue of the Binghampton Republican.

First Baptist Church of Pittsburgh
Historical Notice by Rev. John Winter.

... When Holland Sumner dealt with Rigdon for his bad teachings, and said to him, "Brother Rigdon, you never got into a Baptist Church without relating your Christian experiences," Rigdon replied, "When I joined the church at Peters Creek I knew I could not be admitted without an experience, so I made up one to suit the purpose; but it was all made up, and was of no use, nor true." This I have just copied from an old memorandum, as taken from Sumner himself...


Note: The full title and content of the above article are unknown. The text was taken from an excerpt published by Robert Patterson, Jr. in 1882. This issue of the Pittsburgh Baptist Witness is currently being researched. The full text and exact masthead will be posted here when a proper transcript has been made.

...Sidney Rigdon, when quite a boy, living with his father some fifteen miles south of Pittsburgh on a farm, was thrown from his horse, his foot entangled in a stirrup and dragged some distance before relieved. In this accident he received such a contusion of the brain as ever after seriously to affect his character and in some respects, his conduct. In fact, his brother always considered Sidney a little deranged in his mind by that accident. His mental powers did hot seem to be impaired, but the equlibrium in his intellectual exertions seemed thereby to have been sadly affected. He still manifested great mental activity and power, but he was to an equal degree inclined to run into wild and visionary views on almost every question. Hence he was a fit subject for any new movement in the religious world...


Note: The full title and content of the above article are unknown. The text was taken from an excerpt published by Robert Patterson, Jr. in 1882, in which Patterson cites it as coming from "A. H. Dunlevy, of Lebanon, Ohio, who, giving as his authority Dr. L[oammi] Rigdon, of Hamilton, Ohio." Anthony H. Dunlevy was evidently either the brother or the nephew of Dr. John C. Dunlevy, Loammi's medical partner in Warren Co., Ohio. This issue of the Pittsburgh Baptist Witness is currently being researched. The full text will be posted here when a proper transcript has been made.

A  PECULIAR  GENIUS.
_______

Death of Sidney Rigdon, Joe Smith's Successor --
Some Facts About His Life.

On Friday last there died at Friendship, Allegany county, N. Y., Sidney Rigdon, in the eighty-fourth year of his age.

He was a person who had a peculiar history, and one not without interest to Pittsburghers. He was born near Piney Fork, this county, and reached maturity near the place of his birth. When about twenty-five years old, he entered the ministry in the Baptist Church, and was for some time pastor at the First Baptist Church, corner of Third and Grant streets. Becoming dissatisfied with the faith, he with Alexander Campbell and a Mr. Church, of this city formed the "Campbellite" or "Christian" church, which at one time had a considerable number of adherents in this section of the country.

Some time after he went to Ohio and organized a congregation according to the new faith. There he met Elder Parley Pratt, of the Mormon church, in debate, and becoming worsted joined the Mormons and took his congregation with him. They went to Courtland [sic - Kirtland?], Ohio, where a Mormon congregation was organized. From that they were forced to go to Western Missouri, and, finally, by persecutions were driven to Nauvoo. There Mr. Rigdon staid until within six or seven months of Joe Smith's death, when, becoming dissatisfied with polygamy, he returned to Pittsburgh. Hearing of Smith's death, and that he was appointed his successor, Mr. Rigdon returned to Nauvoo. On the day appointed for choosing Smith's successor, Mr. Rigdon told the congregation that, if he was elected he would not only prohibit polygamy, but expel every one who practiced it. He then asked the audience if they desired to have him for President that each man hold up his right hand. Not a hand was raised. Brigham Young then told the audience that he was Smith's successor, and if elected he would carry out his ideas. He was unanimously elected.

Mr. Rigdon again returned to Pittsburgh, and tried to establish a church. Not succeeding he moved to the Genesee Valley, N. Y., and has there remained up to the time of his death, a period of about thirty years. After abandoning his religious ventures he devoted himself to the study of geology, and supported himself in a great measure by lecturing upon that science. He is said to have been much respected in his community, as a law-abiding, conscientious citizen.


Note: This article was reprinted in the Chicago Tribune of July 25, 1876. No follow-up news items have yet been discovered in those newspapers.

A  FOUNDER  OF  MORMONISM.

DEATH OF SIDNEY  RIGDON -- HIS CONNECTION
WITH THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE MORMONS.

The early history of Mormonism is intimately blended with the history of this county and of Western Pennsylvania, the Book of Mormon -- the bible of the polygamists -- having been printed in this city, and two of the most noted founders of the "twin relic" having had "a local habitation and a name" in our midst. Solomon Spalding, the author of the Book of Mormon, lived in this city from 1812 to 1814, when he removed to Amity, Washington County, where he died and was buried. Sidney Rigdon, who died in Friendship, Alleghany County, N. Y., on Friday last, was born in St. Clair Township, this county, Feb. 19, 1793. The manuscript of the Book of Mormon was set up in a printing office in Pittsburg in 1812, with which young Rigdon was connected. Soon after getting possession of a copy of Spalding's manuscript he left the printing office and became a preacher of doctrines peculiar to himself and very similar to those afterward incorporated into the Book of Mormon. He gained a small number of converts to his views, when about 1829 he became associated with Joseph Smith. It is asserted that through Rigdon's agency Smith became possessed of a copy of Spalding's manuscript. Smith and Rigdon then set about to establish a Church having at first vague and confused ideas as to its nature and design, but with the Book of Mormon as their text and authority, they began to preach this new gospel; and Smith's family and a few of his associates, together with some of Rigdon's followers, were soon numerous enough to constitute the Mormon Church, as it was styled by the people around them, or the Latter Day Saints, as they presently began to call themselves. The Church was organized in Manchester, New York, in 1830.

The following year the believers were led by Smith and Rigdon to Kirtland, Ohio, which was to be the seat of the New Jerusalem. Here converts were rapidly made, and Smith and Rigdon established a mill and store, and set up a bank without a charter, of which Smith appointed himself President and made Rigdon cashier. The neighboring country was flooded with notes of a very doubtful value, and in consequence of this and other business transactions, in which Smith and Rigdon were accused of fraudulent dealing, a mob, on the night of March 22, 1832, dragged the two prophets from their beds and tarred and feathered them. About a year afterward a government for the Church was instituted, consisting of three Presidents, Smith, Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams, who together were styled the First Presidency, a revelation from the Lord having declared that the sins of Rigdon and Williams were forgiven, and that "they were henceforth to be accounted as equal with Smith in holding the keys of His kingdom."

In January, 1838, the bank at Kirtland having failed, Smith and Rigdon, to avoid arrest for fraud fled in the night, pursued by their creditors, and took refuge in Missouri. The Mormons soon became involved in quarrels with the Missourians, and toward the close of 1838 the conflict assumed the character and proportions of civil war. The Militia of the State was called out, and Rigdon and Smith were charged with treason, murder, and felony. Rigdon was released on a habeas corpus. Shirtly after this Rigdon and Smith established themselves in Illinois and built the City of Nauvoo.

After the death of Joe Smith, Sidney Rigdon aspired to succeed him as head of the Church, but Brigham Young was chosen First President, and Rigdon being contumacious, was cut off from the faithful, cursed, and solemnly delivered to the devil "to be duffeted in the flesh for a thousand years." Having thus been turned out of the fold, Mr. Rigdon returned to Pittsburg and tried to establish a church. Not succeeding, he moved to the Genesee Valley, New York, and has there remained up to the time of his death, a period of about thirty years. After abandoning his religious ventures, he devoted himself to the study of geology and supported himself in a great measure by lecturing upon that subject. He was in the eighty-fourth year of his age, and is said to have been highly respected by his neighbors during the declining years of his life.


Note 1: This obituary article was widely circulated in reprints. See, for example, the New York Times for July 24, 1876. Another, more accurate, set of obituaries sprang from the pens of Disciples of Christ writers Isaac Errett and Thomas Dille -- see the Cincinnati Christian Standard of Aug. 5, 1876 for a lengthy example. A locally-generated obituary was published in the NY Friendship Register of July 18, 1876.

To the Editor of the Pittsburgh Telegraph:

I observe that several papers besides the TELEGRAPH notice the late Sydney Rigdon. Rigdon was a curious genius, more knave than fool. I will never forget the first and only time that I was ever in his company. A friend had purchased a farm upon Sugar Creek, Crawford county, who wished me to go up to Meadville for him, and have the title examined, and if all right, to make the first payment upon it. This was about the middle of March, 1836. While in Meadville flaming posters were placed all over the town stating that at a certain hour, at the Court House, Sydney Rigdon would deliver a discourse upon Mormonism and how Joe Smith became the Mormon prophet. Upon arriving at the Court House, I found myself somewhat late, as Mr. Rigdon was upon his feet and speaking. The audience was large, and he was telling it a wonderful rigmarole of an eagle arising in the East and flying to the West, and of the [rod] of Ephraim breaking the staff of Jacob, &c., when the people got restless and broke in with, "Mr. Rigdon, we want to hear all about the Mormon bible, and where Joe Smith got it."

This call brought Sydney to a stand still, when he said: "Well, I will tell you all about it. Joe Smith some few years previous was a poor boy who, to earn a living, herded cattle in Ontario county, New York. He was a good boy, and one day while herding cattle he fell into a trance, when the angel Gabriel appeared to him and told him that he was the chosen of God, appointed to be His prophet to reveal mysteries to the world that had been kept hidden to the present time, and for him to go to a particular spot, which he designated and dig, that he would there find a revelation from God, which he was to proclaim to the world. Joe, when he awoke, was so forcibly impressed with the heavenly vision that he started off directly for a mattock and shovel, and went to work at the place. After getting down about waist deep Joe came to a nice square stone box. The four sides and bottom were each eighteen inches square. The top was wider, projecting an inch or so over the sides, so as to throw off water. In the center was a large iron ring into which a man could comfortably put his hand. After clearing out all the earth from around it, Joe laid hold of the ring to pull it out and get it up; but there was no moving it. Joe tugged and tugged and tugged (his exact words) but move it wouldn't. When he raised himself up out of the hole and threw himself down upon his face to wonder over its stubbornness, the fact came to his remembrance that the angel told him that he was to take up the box when he was exactly twenty-one years of age, and that that day he was only twenty. So Joe turned to and filled up the hole and carried back his shovel and hoe and waited another year with great patience, until the eventful hour arrived when he returned in full faith that he was no[w] to receive a crown of rejoicing. The earth was again taken out of the hole, the box cleared off, and he again laid hold of the ring, when (with a graceful wave of his right hand, making a circle in the air, bringing it down past his face to his left side), it just came up like that."

When the box was once safe upon deck every one then was anxious to hear what was in it, when we were told that it contained fourteen gold plates, covered with mysterious characters, together with the sword of Gideon and the spectacles of Samuel the prophet! Joe, he said, was a very illiterate man, was unable either to read or write; but when he put on his nose the prophet's spectacles, and took the gold plates one by one, letter by letter and word by word presented themselves, and with the aid of an amanuensis the Bible that he held in his hand was a literal translation of the writing upon the gold plates. 

As a good many were putting questions to Sydney, the writer's question to him was, "Had he seen the contents of the mysterious box, and what kind of a sword was it that could be packed away in an eighteen inch box?" But Sydney had seen nothing. "But here," he said, turning to the back of the Bible, "are the sworn statements of those who have seen it." To the question, "What eventually became of the box?" we were told that Joe, after having had the mysteries that he was to proclaim translated into English, packed away everything again in the box and put it back where he got it.

As the programme stated that Sydney, like the Apostles of old, was to address us "in tongues," at this stage of the proceedings a sharp, little man to my right, in spectacles, who, I was afterwards told, was a Professor in Allegheny College, said, "Mr Rigdon, I believe you to be a good German and Greek scholar, and after you have spoken to us in those languages, I want you to speak to us in five or six other languages, giving a list of them." This proposition was a stumper which closed up poor Sydney, who, after looking all around him, declared us to be such a set of unbelievers that he wouldn't open his mouth to us again that day, and he sat down with his head upon his breast. Then a lawyer to my left, said to be called Potter, put his hand in his coat tail pocket and brought out a handful of shelled corn, which he flung all around Sydney's head and shoulders, but Sydney neither looked up nor moved. An old gentleman with a small Bible in his hand, called Col. Cochran, here arose, and after a word to the audience, pitched into Sydney. "To think," he said, "that a man who had once been a minister of God joining with an imposter to delude the simple and weakminded that he might be a big and looked up to man among them, is horrible!"

Sydney bore a long, excoriating address without ever looking up or speaking. I left him surrounded by a volunteer guard, who promised to see him off without letting him be mobbed. As Brigham Young has had a great many "latter day revelations," I thought that I would give you Joseph Smith's first one, as told by Sydney Rigdon.
                                    RURAL.


Note: The "Rural" who write this letter to the Pittsburgh Telegraph was identified as being John T. Murdock by Rev. Robert Patterson, Jr.

How to Solve the Mormon Problem

... The only way -- is for the U. S. government to help Joseph Smith Jr., the son of the prophet, to assert his leadership and establish himself in the very Lion-house of the usurper, Brigham. In making this suggestion, the other day, we pointed out that young Joseph is the legitimate successor of his father, nominated by inspiration for the office and duly ordained, that the Mormons themselves confess the fact, admit that Brigham tricked the Smith boys out of their rights,  *  *  * and that they have always looked on young Joseph with respect and even with reverence  *  *  * When Joseph visited Salt Lake City, he was treated with the highest respect by the people, nor was it denied by any one that he was the true high priest, prophet and revelator, and would some day come back to rule over the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Well, with the death of Brigham that day has arrived if young Joseph has the pluck to assert himself.  *  *  * In this juncture the advent of a genuine leader, the legitimate successor, claiming inspiration, and able to cry, "thus saith the Lord," to a people who believe he has the right, would have a profound and decisive effect, Coming as he would with an accession of adherents to swell the Mormon body and heal a division of thirty years' standing, he ought surely to succeed, if he exhibits half the ability and worldly wisdom of his father.  *  *  * The capture of the Utah Mormons by Joseph Smith of Illinois would insure the downfall of poligamy, and this would be the elimination of the only feature of Mormonism to which the United States has any objection. The Josephites of Illinois, of Iowa, of Pittsburg, are as good and law abiding citizens as the members of any other denomination, and possess no social customs that keep them separate from the rest of the world. With Joseph Smith ruling the Mormon church, Utah would be as open to outside settlement as any other territory.  *  *  * It might prove a very brilliant act of statesmanship for President Hayes to appoint Joseph Smith, Jr., governor of Utah, and thus give him the vantage from which he might conquer the place his father bequeathed him, and peacefully and lawfully root out that relic of barbarism -- poligamy -- from the only spot in the United States where it flourishes." "Let it (the government) keep sternly on in the good work of punishing the Mountain Meadows murders...


Notes: (forthcoming)

It will be gratifying to the whole country to learn on the 6th inst. the Supreme Court at Washington unanimously affirmed the constitutionality of the act of Congress prohibiting polygamy in the Territories. The decision of the court in Utah, in which a Mormon was convicted of bigamy, was affirmed. It only remains for the Government to enforce this righteous law.  

Notes: (forthcoming)

POLYGAMY  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION.

The decision of the U. S. Supreme Court, rendered on the 6th inst. and briefly reported in last week's BANNER, deserves more than a passing reference which was all we could then give it. Like most other evils, polygamy dies hard, and its death struggle is not over. A great point, however, has been gained in the fact that the Third District Court of Utah, in whose jurisdiction this test case originated, and on appeal the Supreme Court of Utah Territory, and on further appeal the Supreme Court of the United States have all decided, as indeed would seem to have been inevitable, that the law of Congress, enacted in 1862, prohibiting bigamy in the Territories, is constitutional. This law provided that "every person having a husband or wife living, who marries another, whether married or single, in a Territory or other place over which the United States have exclusive jurisdiction, is guilty of bigamy, and shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500, and shall be imprisoned for a term of not more than five years." In this statute nothing is said of polygamy, or, as the Mormons designate it, "plural marriage;" but as, according to other precedents, the "plural" husband may be punished for each offence, the subject must be one of peculiar interest in Utah just now for those miscreants who have "pluraled" from ten to twenty times.

It only remains that so righteous a law should be rigorously and impartially enforced, and this foul blot upon our national honor will soon be removed. For twenty years these culprits have defied the laws and authority of the United States, and have added to their licentiousness uncounted acts of violence and cruelty. Some of the most revolting murders have been indubitably fastened upon the Mormon leaders, as in the noted case of the Mountain Meadow massacre. The wretched plea of "religious requirement" as a cover for their crimes, but renders them more revolting. Possibly another Mormon exodus may result from this decision of the Supreme Court, and some unfortunate Mexican province may be the next theatre for the display of their so-called religion. But if they remain upon American soil, they should be compelled to obey American laws or suffer the penalties of their infraction.


Note 1: Publicity given the U. S. Supreme Court's 1879 positive decision on the legality of the "bigamy" law quickly placed the "Mormon Question" back on the front pages of American newspapers, including those in Pennsylvania. For ten years the momentum had been building among the non-Mormon easterners to do something about this "question." With the completion of the railroad through Utah, the death of Brigham Young, and the political irritation generated by the Utahans continued push for statehood, it was inevitable that the legal, religious and political situation of the Mormons would be thrown back into the pages of the popular press in a major way at the end of the 1870s. The Supreme Court's decision was the spark that ignited a ten year blaze of news articles on the Mormons in American papers.

Note 2: While most American newspapers of the period confined their reporting on this topic to matters closely related to the battle over Mormon polygamy, the papers of the Pittsburgh area contributed numerous secondary reports on relevant historical figures like Sidney Rigdon and Solomon Spalding, both of whom had once lived in the city. It was this batch of 1879 Pennsylvania news articles, coupled with the several related articles written by James T. Cobb for the Salt Lake Tribune during 1879 that brought the Spalding authorship matter back before the public attention and resulted in several interesting developments in the "Spalding theory" during the early and mid 1880s. See, for example, the effect of Cobb's research in the Feb. 5, 1879 issue of the Washington Reporter and Albert Creigh's lengthy article in the Feb. 12, 1879 issue of the Banner.

Origin of Mormonism.
_____

For the Reporter.

(Dr. W. W. Sharp, of Amity, this county, has prepared a statement concerning early Mormonism, for James T. Cobb, Esq., of Salt Lake City, which he has kindly placed in our hands for publication, as follows:)


In view of the magnitude of the Mormon delusion, and of the serious complications it is likely to cause in the near future, by its relations to our government, every thing conected with its origin and history, challenges an almost universal interest.

The author of the "Manuscript Found," which doubtless suggested the Book of Mormon, and occupied so important a position in its conception, design and execution, lived and died in Amity, Pa. The old frame house he occupied is still tenable, and his grave in the old cemetery attracts many a curious visitor. A stone still marks the foot of the grave with one of its bold initials obliterated. Time has reduced the headstone to small particles of dust, while many a fragment of it adorns the cabinets of the antiquarians. About eighteen years ago, the writer, by carefully replacing the broken pieces, obtained a fragmentary copy of its inscription, a part of which was a four-line stanza, commencing as follows:

"A seraph tuned his sweetest lay." But we have a living witness -- Joseph Miller -- a veteran of the war of 1812. A Christian gentleman of undoubted veracity, with mind and memory remarkable for their prolonged preservation, and singularly free from any signs of senility. I had an interview with Mr. Miller two days ago. Found him well and hearty barring some muscular disability, and as ready to crack a joke or fling a repartee as ever. He said, if he lived till to-day, (Feb. 1) he would be 88 years old.

I asked him to give me all the information he could from his personal knowledge of Rev. Solomon Spaulding and his family, his recollections and impressions, from association with him, with reference especially to his object in writing the "manuscript found," and its subsequent misuse by the founders of the Mormon sect. Prefacing his reply with the remark that he would not intentionally say one word that he did not believe to be strictly true; he proceeded deliberately, to make in substance, the following statement:


I was well acquainted with Mr. Spaulding while he lived in Amity, Pa. I would say he was 55 to 60 years of age; in person, tall and spare, and considerably stooped, caused in part, I think, from a severe rupture. His hair was quite gray. He was chaste in language and dignified in manner, becoming his profession. I never heard him preach, think he never preached at A.; said he had quit preaching on account of ill health. He kept a public house or tavern of the character common at that day. He died of dysentery in 1816, (in the fall, I think), after an illness of six or eight weeks. Dr. Chephas Dodd attended him.

I watched with him many nights during this illness. After he died I made his coffin and superintended his burial. One night when near his end, he told me he thought he should die, and requested me to assist his wife in settling his estate; accordingly I, with Col. Thomas Venom went on her bond as administratrix, and I helped her close it up.

Mrs. Spaulding was intelligent and of pleasing manners, with fair complexion, and say, from 35 to 40 years of age.

A child of fair complexion and about 14 years of age, lived with them here, think she was their daughter as she bore the Spaulding name.

Mr. S. was poor but honest. I endorsed for him twice to borrow money. His house was a place of common resort especially in the evening. I was prosecuting my trade (carpenter) in the village and frequented his house. Mr. S. seemed to take delight in reading from his manuscript (written on foolscap) for the entertainment of his frequent visitors, heard him read most, if not all of it, and had frequent conversations with him about it.

Sometime ago, I had in my possession, for about six months, the book of Mormon and heard most of it read during the time. I was always forcibly struck with the similarity of the portions of it which purported to be of supernatural origin to the quaint style and peculiar language that had made so deep an impression on my mind when hearing the manuscript read by Mr. S. For instance, the very frequent repetition of the phrase, "and it came to pass." Then on hearing read the account from the book of the battle between the Amalekites and the Nephites, in which the soldiers of one army had placed a red mark on their foreheads to distinguish them from their enemies, it seemed to reproduce in my mind not only the narrative, but the very words as they had been impressed on my mind by the reading of Spaulding's manuscript.

The object of Mr. S. in writing the manuscript found as I understood, was to employ an invalid's lovely imagination, and to supply a romantic history of those last [sic, lost?] races or tribes, whose true history remains buried with their dust beneath those mysterious mounds, so common in a large portion of our country.

Its publication seemed to be an after thought, most likely suggested by pecuniary embarrassment. My recollection is that Mr. S. had left a transcript of the manuscript with Mr. Patterson, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for publication, that its publication was delayed until Mr. S. would write a preface, and in the mean time the transcript was spirited away and could not be found. Mr. S. told me that Sidney Rigdon had taken it, or that he was suspicioned for it. Recollect distinctly that Rigdon's name was used in that connection.

The longer I live the more firmly I am convinced that Spaulding's MS. was appropriated and largely used in getting up the Book of Mormon. I believe, that leaving out of the book the portion that may be easily recognised as the work of Joe Smith and his accomplices that Solomon Spaulding may be truly said to be its author. I have not a doubt of it.

If my life has been prolonged, that I might assist in exposing so base a fraud, and if I shall be permitted to see this abominable delusion dispelled, I shall console myself with the thought that I have not lived in vain.

At the close of the interview I dined with my old life long friend, (we call him uncle Joe) and after a few parting words I was on my way home feeling that it is seldom one enjoys so much pleasure and profit as I had in this interview.   W. W. SHARPE.
February 1st, 1879.


Note: This letter by W. W. Sharpe was re-published (with slight changes) in the Pittsburgh Telegraph of Feb. 6, 1879. The content of Joseph Miller's 1879 statement corresponds in most respects to the one published ten years before in the Daily Evening Reporter on Apr. 8, 1869.

The little town of Amity, a few miles up the Monongahela River, was the birth place of Mormonism. For many years Sidney Rigdon was thought to have written the Book of Mormon, afterward elaborated by Joe Smith, and made the basis of the faith or system of the Utah Colony, but some investigations lately made at Amity by Dr. W. W, Sharp, under authority from Salt Lake City, have brought out a new story about the origin of the book. Dr. Sharp writes as follows to the Reporter of Washington, Pa.

The author of the "Manuscript Found," which doubtless suggested the Book of Mormon, and occupied so important a position in its conception, design and execution, lived and died in Amity, Pa. The old frame house he occupied is still tenable, and his grave in the old cemetery attracts many a curious visitor. A stone still marks the foot of the grave with one of its bold initials obliterated. Time has reduced the headstone to small particles of dust, while many a fragment of it adorns the cabinets of the antiquarians. About eighteen years ago, the writer, by carefully replacing the broken pieces, obtained a fragmentary copy of its inscription, a part of which was a four-line stanza, commencing as follows:

"A seraph tuned his sweetest lay." But we have a living witness -- Joseph Miller -- a veteran of the war of 1812. A Christian gentleman of undoubted veracity, with mind and memory remarkable for their prolonged preservation, and singularly free from any signs of senility. I had an interview with Mr. Miller two days ago. Found him well and hearty barring some muscular disability, and as ready to crack a joke or fling a repartee as ever. He said, if he lived till to-day, (Feb. 1, 1879) he would be 88 years old.

I asked him to give me all the information he could from his personal knowledge of Rev. Solomon Spaulding and his family, his recollections and impressions, from association with him, with reference especially to his object in writing the "manuscript found," and its subsequent misuse by the founders of the Mormon sect. Prefacing his reply with the remark that he would not intentionally say one word that he did not believe to be strictly true, he proceeded deliberately to make, in substance, the following statement:

I was well acquainted with Mr. Spaulding while he lived in Amity, Pa. I would say he was 55 to 60 years of age; in person, tall and spare, and considerably stooped, caused in part, I think, from a severe rupture. His hair was quite gray. He was chaste in language and dignified in manner, becoming his profession. I never heard him preach, think he never preached at A.; said he had quit preaching on account of ill health. He kept a public house or tavern of the character common to that day. He died of dysentery in 1816 (in the Fall, I think), after an illness of six or eight weeks. Dr. Chephas Dodd attended him.

I watched with him many nights during this illness. After he died I made his coffin and superintended his burial. One night when he was near his end, he told me he thought he should die, and requested me to assist his wife in settling his estate; accordingly I, with Col. Thos. Venom went on her bond as administratrix, and I helped her close it up.

Mrs. Spaulding was intelligent and of pleasing manners, with fair complexion, and say, from 35 to 40 years of age.

A child of fair complexion and about fourteen years of age, lived with them here, think she was their daughter as she bore the Spaulding name.

Mr. S. was poor but honest. I endorsed for him twice to borrow money. His house was a place of common resort especially in the evening. I was prosecuting my trade (carpenter) in the village and frequented his house. Mr. S. seemed to take delight in reading from his manuscript (written on foolscap) for the entertainment of his frequent visitors, heard him read most, if not all of it, and had frequent conversations with him about it.

Some time ago I had in my possession, for about six months, the book of Mormon, and heard most of it read during the time. I was always forcibly struck with the similarity of the portions of it which purported to be of supernatural origin to the quaint style and peculiar language that had made such a deep impression on my mind when hearing the manuscript read by Mr. S. For instance, the very frequent repetition of the phrase, "and it came to pass." Then on hearing read the account from the book of the battle between the Amalekites and the Nephites, in which the soldiers of one army had placed a red mark on their foreheads to distinguish them from their enemies, it seemed to reproduce in my mind not only the narrative, but the very words, as they had been impressed on my mind by the reading of Spaulding's manuscript.

The object of Mr. S. in writing the "Manuscript Found," as I understood, was to employ an invalid's lonely imagination, and to support a romantic history of those l[o]st races or tribes, whose true history remains buried with their dust beneath those mysterious mounds so common in a large portion of our country.

Its publication seemed to be an afterthought, most likely suggested by pecuniary embarrassment. My recollection is that Mr. S. had left a transcript of the manuscript with Mr. Patterson, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for publication, that its publication was delayed until Mr. S. would write a preface, and in the meantime the transcript was spirited away and could not be found. Mr. S. told me that Sidney Rigdon had taken it, or that he was suspicioned for it. Recollect distinctly that Rigdon's name was used in that connection.

The longer I live the more firmly I am convinced that Spaulding's MS. was appropriated and largely used in getting up the Book of Mormon. I believe, that leaving out of the book the portion that may be easily recognised as the work of Joe Smith and his accomplices, that Solomon Spaulding may be truly said to be its author. I have not a doubt of it.

Note: This letter by W. W. Sharpe was taken (with slight changes) from the Daily Evening Reporter of Feb. 5, 1879. The Telegraph's reprint undoubtedly received a wider circulation than did the original article, and it is certain that Salt Lake City journalist James T. Cobb was pleased to see Miller's statement regarding the Spalding authorship reach a large readership.

A  QUESTION  OF  AUTHORSHIP.

A correspondent of the Washington, Pa., Reporter, Dr. W. W. Sharp, has given an interesting account of his attempt to investigate the origin of the Book of Mormon. It is nothing less than surprising to find able editors, even of city journals characterizing Dr. Sharp's statement as "a new story about the origin of the book." As we have said, the account is interesting, but its interest consists wholly or chiefly in the fact that the writer repeats with apparent fidelity the narrative of an aged though still competent witness respecting facts often before related. That the book out of which the Book of Mormon was concocted was the work of the Rev. Solomon Spaulding, a Congregationalist clergyman, has been frequently asserted with the allegation of evidence more or less satisfactory. Mr. Spaulding, disqualified for his professional labors by ill health, spent the last two years of his life in the village of Amity, in this State, where, it seems, he kept a decent public house or tavern for subsistence. He died in 1816, and Dr. Sharp has lately conversed with an old man, Mr. Miller, who knew him well, and who retains a distinct recollection of the style and general tenor of the manuscript which has been so often mentioned as the source of the book of Mormon. The style of the manuscript which was an imitation of the style of the King James version of the Bible, and the tenor of it was a romantic history of those lost races or tribes who formerly inhabited this country, and of whom the mysterious mounds of the Mississippi valley are supposed to be the remains. Mr. Miller has seen the Book of Mormon, and not only the style recalled the Spaulding manuscript, but he at once recognized the tribal name of the Nephites as a name used in the romance. Othervdetails proving the general identity of the two books were attested years ago by other persons who knew Spaulding and had read or heard his novel.

Spaulding no doubt wrote the story merely for his own amusement, but the interest with which his neighbors listened to the reading of it, or some cause, seems to have raised in the hope of profit from its publication. At any rate, there is no doubt that a copy of the manuscript was placed in the hands of Mr. Paterson, of Pittsburg, for the purpose of being printed -- that Sidney Rigdon, afterwards so closely associated with Joe Smith in the promulgation of his pretended revelation, was on terms of intimacy with Mr. Patterson -- and that the manuscript suddenly disappeared. Theree must be several persons in the city of Pittsburgh able to say whether these statements are correct, and it seems therefore worth while to repeat them once more with the view of having them attested or denied. We have already seen that the account of the Spaulding origin of the Mormon book is not universally known. A great English writer, Mr. Stuart Mills, has spoken of the rise and progress of Mormonism as perhaps the most remarkable phenomena of the nineteenth century. Whether this be a just estimate or not, there can be no question about the singular curiosity which attaches to the subject. In the light they reflect upon the operation of superstition in remote ages the facts are most significant and instructive, while as mere illustrations of the obscurities and difficulties which attend the historical investigation of origins, both religious and national, Mormonism already offers problems worthy of the most earnest attention.


Note: No copy of this issue of the Commercial Gazette has yet been located for transcription. The text was taken from a reprint published in the Mar. 6, 1879 issue of the Salt Lake Tribune. This Feb. 8th item was responded to by the Rev. Robert Patterson, Jr., in the paper's issue of Feb. 17, 1879.

To the Editor of the Telegraph.

In your issue of yesterday you published an article in relation to the "Book of Mormon," in which the name of Sidney Rigdon naturally appeared. That man was a popular preacher in his day. There are a few, and but a few, now living, who were men and women in those days, and heard him preach. His manner is just as fresh in my mind to-day, as when in my boyhood I heard him preach in the old Baptist church, on the corner of Third and Grant Streets. It was an old one-story frame building, standing on the spot now occupied by the Universalist church. He must have been an extraordinary man, for the house was always filled to hear him. He was truly eloquent, and used the most elegant language, at least I thought him certainly the best preacher in the city. He preached three times every Sunday throughout the year, and such a thing as "hay fever" was a disease unknown in all our orders. It is greatly to be regretted that such a dreadful plague has of late years been afflicting our preachers, many of them leaving their posts for rural scenes, and some of them taking refuge in Europe from the attacks of the terrible scourge! It is certain that then, as well as now:

"Dangers stood thick through all the ground.
  To push us to the tomb
And fierce diseases waited round
  To hurry mortals home." Yet they stood up like men and soldiers, and faced the dangers, and if they found that any disease got hold of them, they would leave the pulpit for the care and comfort of their homes and struggle with the monster there, where their wives and children could minister to their wants. How changed the times!

Mr. Rigdon had at [that] time some difficulty with his church, what it was I never knew; but whatever it was, he [left] the church for a season. The people called him back again, and on the Sunday morning following his return he preached from the following text.

"I came unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for. I therefore ask for what intent you have sent for me?" In the afternoon at 3 o'clock, from the text: "For I am determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified," and in the evening: "Tell me, if you will deal kindly and truly with my Master, and if not, tell me so that I may turn to the right hand or to the left."

It is not far from sixty years since these sermons were preached, and, to this day, I picture the man in my memory, as he stood in the pulpit pouring forth the strains of fervid eloquence to a house full to repletion, as if it were only yesterday.

One Sunday he preached three sermons from the following text (quoting from memory, I may not give the exact language of scripture) "And in the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom that shall not be left to the hands of other people, but it shall break in pieces all other kingdoms and shall stand forever." No one ever tired under him, although he would preach more than an hour.

After he turned Mormon it was supposed that he had something of the kind in his mind when he preached from that text. Be this as it may, they were three excellent sermons. I would like to know how [many of those] living at this day heard him on [these] occasions? Oh how many thousands are now sleeping in our "silent cities of the dead" who were among the busy ones thronging our thoroughfares in the days of Sidney Rigdon!

PITTSBURGH, February 7, 1879.


Note 1: The exact date of this letter's publication remains uncertain. It may have been printed the day before, or the day after Feb. 8, 1879.

Note 2: The First Baptist Church of Pittsburgh began as a small congregation in 1812, the same year Solomon Spalding arrived in that town. In 1820 the members built a modest frame building at the corner of Third Avenue and Grant Street. It was here that the Rev. Sidney Rigdon served his pastorate in 1822 and 1823. The present stone chapel was erected in 1867 at Fourth Avenue and Grant Street. An extension was constructed in 1876, placing the chapel's new front door on Ross Street, as it remains today.

Note 3: It is interesting that the correspondent recalled Rigdon preaching a proto-Mormon sermon in Pittsburgh as early as 1822-23. The Rev. Samuel Williams reported also hearing that Rigdon was preaching an early version of the Campbellites' adult immersion for the remission of sins at about this same time. This tenet (still new and controversial when introduced on a wide scale by Rev. Walter Scott in the fall of 1827) was a key teaching in the 1830 Book of Mormon.

THE  MORMON  PROBLEM.

In another column will be seen what there is much reason to believe is a true history of the origin of the Mormon Bible." It will be read with the closest attention.

Polygamy was not one of the original features of the delusion, but was afterwards engrafted upon it. And to this day the Mormon emissaries in Europe are careful to conceal their peculiar and distinct views with regard to marriage; otherwise they would prevent their success in obtaining new recruits almost altogether. It is only after their arrival in Utah that the greater part of deceived Europeans learn how purity, law and decency have been set aside in the matter of marriage, John Taylor, now President of the Mormon Church, when in France in 1853, although he then had no less than five wives, denied the existence of polygamy among the Mormons, and had a denial printed in pamphlet form in French and circulated in large numbers. Now this same John Taylor declares that the revelations concerning polygamy came directly from heaven; that is his religion, and neither Congress nor the Supreme Court of the United States which declared the act of 1862 forbidding polygamous marriages in the territories of the United States constitutional, will have no effect except to unite, confirm and strengthen Mormons in their faith. And it is well known that leading Mormons have taken additional wives since the decision of the Supreme Court was given. In direct contempt of the opinion of the court, John W. Young has married his fifth wife, James Welch his second wife and John White his third wife. At the same time Mormon women are beseiging the President and others in authority and Delegate Cannon and representatives of the Mormon Church are petitioning for amnesty and promising obedience to the law.

In view of the state of things it is not strange that a petition has been addressed to Congress by the anti-polygamists in Utah, praying that instead of rendering the law against polygamy more lenient, Congress would amend the act of 1862 by making living together in polygamy under the general reputation of marriage sufficient to constitute the offence, as otherwise the statyte will be practically inoperative. In this movement the law-observing and purity-loving people of Utah should have the co-operation of all opponents of the iniquitous institution, in all parts of the country. Thorough work should be made in delivering the people of the United States from the charge of tolerating a degrading system of concubinage. Too much confidence must not be placed in Congress, without watchfulness on the part of the people; its members ought to be made to feel that the public eye is always upon them, and they will be held to strict account for neglect of duty.

---

MORMONISM.
_____

BY ALFRED CREIGH, LL., D.
_____

The recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, sustaining the constitutionality of the law of Congress, enacted in 1862, punishing bigamy in the Territories with fine and imprisonment, has attracted public attention anew to the most stupendous delusion of the nineteenth century. Thank God for the decision! It is a step in the right direction to crush out a system destructive of good morals, patriotism, the marriage relation and the principles of liberty.

The facts in regard to the origin of the Book of Mormon have been frequently published. They were detailed by the present writer in his "History of Washington County," published in 1870. Briefly they are as follows:

Rev. Solomon Spaulding, a graduate of Dartmouth College, became a resident of New Salem (sometimes called Conneaut), in Ashtabula County, O., in the early part of the present century. Here he was compelled by the state of his health to desist from active labors. To occupy his hours of leisure, he amused himself by writing a historical romance, containing a record of the wanderings and the varied fortunes of the race that reared the mounds so numerous throughout the West, and many of which were to se seen in the vicinity of his residence. This was about the year 1812. The romance, purporting to be written by one of the lost race and to have been recovered from the earth, was entitled the "Manuscript Found." Mr. Spaulding, as his work progressed, frequently read it to his neighbors, many of whom became interested in it and familiar with the events and names recorded. From New Salem Mr. Spaulding removed to Pittsburgh and deposited his manuscript in the printing office of Mr. Patterson for examination, with a view to publication. It is supposed that Sidney Rigdon, one of the originators of the Mormon delusion, had come across this manuscript whilst in the office, became acquainted with its contents, and possibly made or obtained a copy of it. After some time the manuscript was returned to Mr. Spaulding, who soon after removed to Amity, Washington County, Pa., where he died in 1816. About 1830 the Book of Mormon appeared; a Mormon preacher visited New Salem and in a public meeting read copious extracts from the book, which were immediately recognized by the older inhabitants present as the identical work of Mr. Spaulding; and his brother, being present, arose on the spot and with tears expressed his sorrow that the work of his sainted brother should be used for so shocking a purpose. The inhabitants of New Salem held a meeting and deputed one of their number, Dr. Hurlbut, to repair to Monson, Mass., where Mr. Spaulding's widow (who had married a Mr. Davidson) resided, to obtain the original manuscript for comparison with the Mormon Bible. This was in 1834. Mrs. Davidson afterwards wrote a full statement of the facts, of which the above is but an outline. This statement (given in full in the "Hist. of Wash. Co." pp. 91-93, was published in 1839, and elicited from Mr. Rigdon the year a published denial of all knowledge on his part of Mr. Spaulding's manuscript. In connection with Mrs. Davidson's statement, a letter from Joseph Miller, Sr., dated March 26, 1869, is given in the "History above referred to. Mr. Miller (still living at Amity, being 88 years of age) was well acquainted with Mr. Spaulding, waited on him in his last illness and assisted at his burial. Mr. Miller had heard Mr. Spaulding read portions of his novel entitled the "Manuscript Found," and afterwards on hearing the Book of Mormon read, recollected several passages as the same he had heard Mr. Spaulding read. One passage he remembers distinctly, where the Amalekites had marked themselves with red on the foreheads to distinguish them from the Nephites. The singularity had fixed it in his memory.

To the testimony of which the above is a brief sketch, the following facts may be added as not devoid of interest in connection with the history of this colosal fraud:

Mr. McKinstry, a son of the late Dr. McKinstry of Monson, Mass., and the grandson of Rev. S. Spaulding, says that his grandmother came East from Ohio to live with her daughter at Monson many years ago, bringing the manuscript of his grandfather's romance with her. Before her death a plausible young man from Boston came to see and get the Spaulding writing. It was a time of considerable excitement concerning the Mormons, and he claimed to represent some Christian people who wanted to expose Mormonism. He therefore begged the loan of the manuscript for publication. Much against the wishes of Mrs. Dr. McKinstry, the daughter of Mrs. Spaulding (now Davidson) she consented to let her husband's unpublished romance be taken away. Nothing was ever heard of it again, and the family have always considered that the bland young gentleman was an agent of Brigham Young to destroy this convincing evidence that Joe Smith's Mormon Bible was of very earthly origin.

The widow of Mr. Spaulding and her daughter, Mrs. Dr. McKinstry, had compared the Mormon Bible with the romance of the "Manuscript Found," and stated that they were essentially the same -- that the similarity was so overwhelming as to leave no doubt on their minds but that Joe Smith or Sidney Rigdon had copied it in full and made out of it bodily, the divine revelation -- as a special revelation from God on plates of gold engraven by his own hand -- and that after being translated they were taken back to heaven.

The Springfield (Mass.) Republican gives its testimony in these words: The story of how the Rev. Mr, Spaulding came to prepare his romance, which Mr McKinstry remembers as a child to have seen, is very interesting. Mr. Spaulding was out of the active ministry in Ohio, and employed his leisure moments in weaving a romance. It was at the time when the Mound Builders were creating wild excitement and interest -- the implements of cookery and war being unearthed showing the existence of a forgotten race. This furnished the inspiration for the chronicles of the story writen. He entitled the production the "Manuscript Found," the idea being that the romance written by Mr. Spaulding was dug up out of one of the mounds in the region. It was a history of Ancient America, not all written at once, but as leisure and fancy occurred to him, Mr. Spaulding would add to it. His writing was no secret in the neighborhood. In that then frontier region, with few opportunities for literary enjoyment. Rev. Mr. Spaulding was prevailed upon to read to his neighbors. It was written in Bible phraseology and made as quaintly old as possible, so as to carry out the idea of its alleged mound origin.

I might add in this connection that Joe Smith was born on Vermont in 1805, and his friends claim that when he was fifteen years of age he was informed by an angel in a vision of the apostacy of the Primitive church. On September 22, 1827 he received from the hands of a messenger from the Lord the golden plates containing the ancient history of this continent, written by various prophets and concealed by Morni [sic] in the year 420. He was informed that he was the chosen instrument to restore God's church to its former purity and holiness. Accordingly he proceeded to translate the golden plates and the church was organized in 1830.

Three witnesses, viz: Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris, testify that an angel of God came down from heaven and he brought and laid before our eyes that we beheld and saw the plates and the engraving thereon;" and I may add, to complete the imposture, that Joe Smith exhibited these plates to Christian Whitmer, Jacob Whitmer, Peter Whitmer, Jr., John Whitmer, Hiram Page, Joseph Smith, Sr., Hiram Smith and Samuel H. Smith, and that they "had the appearance of gold and the engraving was of curious eorkmanship and was handled by their own hands."

We can readily account for the reason why the Whitmers and the Smiths are the principal witnesses -- because the book itself says that "Morni, a son of Mormon, was authorized to show the plates unto those who shall assist to bring forth this work and unto three shall they be shown (viz: Cowdery, Whitmer and Harris) by the power of God wherefore they shall know of a surety that these things are true."

Such is the stupendous fraud and imposture which has been imposed not only on the American people, but upon foreign countries to which emissaries have gone, bringing back ignorant people by the ship load to become American citizens.


Note 1: Alfred Creigh's article in the Banner was quickly reprinted in the Feb. 14th issue of his home-town paper, the Washington Reporter. For Alfred Creigh's earlier account of the Spalding claims for Book of Mormon authorship see pp. 89-93 of his 1870 History of Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Note 2: The John A. McKinstry statement in the Springfield Republican, referred by Mr. Creigh is known by its reprint in the New Haven Connecticut Palladium of Sep. 3, 1877. The same reprint was also carried by the Syracuse Journal on that same date. Creigh's paraphrase of the McKinstry statement changes the original wording considerably. Also, it should be noted here that the 1877 McKinstry statement conflates the two separate visits of D. P. Hurlbut (in 1833) and Jesse Haven (in 1839) into a single, somewhat jumbled account.

Note 3: Rev. Robert Patterson, Jr., the secondary "editor and proprietor" of the Banner Robert Patterson, Jr., was at least marginally involved in investigations of the Spalding claims as early as November of 1878, when the Rev. Samuel Williams contacted Patterson about his father's contact with Spalding in Pittsburgh c. 1812-1816. Through Williams Patterson soon came into contact with the highly motivated Spalding claims researcher, James T. Cobb of Salt Lake City and much of Cobb's enthusiasm for this line of research seems to have quickly rubbed off onto Patterson. Whether Patterson solicited the Feb. 12, 1879 article from Creigh, or whether it was Creigh who first approached Patterson on that matter remains unknown. At the very least the interests of both Creigh and Patterson regarding the Spalding authorship claims appear to have converged early in 1879. For a contemporary letter by Patterson on this subject, see the Commercial-Gazette of Feb. 17, 1879. From this point forward it was Robert Patterson, Jr. who carried forward most of the new research on the Spalding authorship claims (at least he was the primary researcher of this subject in western Pennsylvania in the early 1880s). For example, in August of 1879 Patterson was inspired to seek out and interview the aging D. P. Hurlbut at Gibsonburg, Ohio and obtain a statement from him (printed in the Leader in Feb. 1880 ) regarding the man's involvement in the 1833 effort to recover the writings of Solomon Spalding. It was probably his frustrations and subsequent realizations, developing out of his failed effort to obtain useful information from Hurlbut that motivated Patterson to continue and expand his search for the facts underlying the old Spalding claims.

Mormonism  By  Spaulding.
_____

We publish in this issue the facts in relation to the origin of the Book of Mormon. It is a curious piece of history which persons yet living can verify. It is due to those who have been deceived by this imposture; to the country under whose institutions it has become so powerful and so insolent, and to christianity which it presumes to supplant as "the church of the latter day saints of Jesus Christ," that some permanent memorial shall be erected to identify and make clear the time, place and circumstances of [its[ origin. Solomon Spalding, as a man or a preacher, is not entitled to any special notice save as the innocent author of a system of religion [which it is fair?] to do a great amount of harm to us as a people and a government. The system is a fraud, although it claims a divine origin, and while the living witnesses of this imposture still exist, [some?] efforts should be made to mark the spot where its author lies, in such a manner as will identify it as a historical fact. In a few years the grave of Spaulding will only be known by tradition, nothing being left to mark the place. The living witnesses will have died, and then in time, it may be a question in the minds of many whether such a man really lived, and whether the origin of the Book of Mormon is not a fiction. In the name of christianity which it shames, a monument should be reared as a protest against the imposture which threatens to mislead so many simple-minded people, and to involve our country in evils of the greatest magnitude. The different christian churches should unite and place a durable monument of granite upon the grave of Spaulding as a permanent memorial which will remind the people of the outrages and crimes perpetrated in the name of a religion which claims to be divine. The christianity of Washington county owes it to itself and the country that this memorial shall be solemnly made. A few hundred dollars thus invested will rear a monument which will be permenant portest against the claims of "the latter day Saints" of Utah.

Will not some of our church bodies move in this matter before the living witnesses shall have departed? What is done should be done with.

MORMONISM.
______

BY ALFRED CREIGH, LL. D.

(see the Feb. 12th Presbyterian Banner for this text)

Notes: (forthcoming)

The Mormon Bible.
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To the Editors of the Commercial Gazette:

Having read with interest your editorial of the 8th inst.: A Question of Authorship," I have watched your columns in the hope that some of our older citizens would responf to your very timely suggestion. If, as generally believed, the romance of Rev. Solomon Spaulding, entitled the "Manuscript Found," was surreptitously obtained from a printing office in Pittsburghm about the year 1815, and reappeared in 1830 under the transforming hand of Sidney Rigdon, as the "Book of Mormon," it is reasonable to suppose, as you remark, that "there must be several persons in the city of Pittsburgh able to say whether these statements are correct, and it seems therefore worthwhile to repeat them once more with the view of having them attested or denied." Permit me to add my voice to yours in urging that such of your readers as have facts to communicate on this point would give them to the public at once. Dr. Sharp, to whom you refer, has set an example which should be generally followed and possibly much additional light may yet be shed upon this question of disputed authorship. Its possible influence upon the minds of Mormons themselves should not be forgotten.
                                        R. P.

---

To the Editors of the Commercial Gazette:

Your "Question of Authorship," relating to the origin of Mormonism, in today's issue, leads me to drop you this item. So far back as 1822 the firm of Patterson & Lambdin, (a shade of doubt about the last name of the firm) did business as Publishers, Bookbinders and Booksellers, at the southeast corner of the Diamond and Market street. At the same time Sidney Rigdon, tanner and currier, had his tan-yard and shop on Penn street, on the lot running from Penn Avenue to Allegheny above Ninth street. The shop stood where the Drs. Dicksons' office now is. In 1841 the administrators of my father's estate found among the papers an unpaid note bearing Rigdon's signature. It was not long after 1822 that Rigdon was reported to have gone to Eastern Ohio.

After the Book of Mormon had appeared, it was remembered by many who read it, and by the members of Mr. Spaulding's family, that parts of it were a reconstruction of [his manuscript?] which had been sent to the Patterson [brs.?] I think this firm went out of the publishing part of their business about that time. Putting these things together, it is likely that, in the business transactions between book-binder and tanner, Sidney Rigdon took the Spaulding manuscript to Ohio, and he became the real, whilst Joseph Smith was the ostensible originator of the Mormon fraud. Rigdon was for a time one of the "Twelve Apostles" of that system, but never gave his assent to its teachings on polygamy. He visited Pittsburgh between 1844 and 1850. As a singular coincidence, in 1841, one of the early residents of Pittsburgh told me that she was at a meeting in a Baptist church in Pittsburgh, and on that evening, Sidney Rigdon and Alexander Campbell both dissolved their connection with the Baptist denomination. The influence of both, as founders of schools or religious thought, has been widely extended, although of very different notions and tendencies.   Y.
            PARNASSUS, PA., Feb. 15, 1879.


Note 1: The first letter was written by the Rev. Robert Patterson, Jr., the son of the publisher with whom Solomon had dealings over sixty years previous (and in 1879, the assistent editor of the Presbyterian Banner, published in Pittsburgh.

Note 2: The second correspondent provides valuable information, saying that "Sidney Rigdon, tanner and currier, had his tan-yard and shop on Penn street." A "currier" of those days prepared leather for special use by treating the rawhide with certain chemicals, trimming it to a uniform thickness, and polishing its outer surface. In a c. 1900 account, Sidney's son, John W. Rigdon, mentioned that his father formed a partnership with Richard S. Brooks to open the short-lived tannery. John calls this same Richard (who was Rigdon's brother-in-law) a corroyeur, so it seems likely that Sidney improved upon his previous, undocumented tanning training, to become a leather dresser (currier) as well as a leather maker. When the business was dissolved in 1825, Sidney's partner at that time was Richard's brother, William S. Brooks. All of Sideny Rigdon's Brooks family brothers-in-law probably had some amount of training in the trade, as their father, Jeremiah Brooks, owned and operated a tannery near Warren, Ohio. One such special use would have been the manufacture of leather sheets for book-binding. An example of the early need for curriers in Pittsburgh may be seen in an advertisement in the Mercury for May 20, 1813, reading: "Wanted immediately -- A tanner and currier -- apply at the office of the Mercury." The same paper advertised for "journeyman book-binders" in its issue of Aug. 10, 1814, requesting respondents to apply to "R. and J. Patterson." See also Isaac Craig's letter of Oct. 14, 1882, where he says: "Rigdon had a small tannery on Penn street, near Hand, for the manufacture of book-binders sheep-skins, and supplying these to the office brought him in contact with [Silas] Engles. This impression I obtained from John Sandersen, an old time butcher, who sold sheep pelts to Rigdon."

Note 3: The second correspondent also says, "it is likely that, in the business transactions between book-binder and tanner, Sidney Rigdon took the Spaulding manuscript..." Sidney Rigdon, after he was removed by the orthodox Baptists of Pittsburgh, preached Campbellite doctrines to a small band of seceders at the court house in that city. At some point became a "journeyman tanner" in the Pittsburgh area and was able to work at that occupation after his dismissal from the regular Baptists. Rebecca J. Eichbaum, who knew Rigdon at Pittsburgh, in her 1879 statement, says: "He was connected with the tannery before he became a preacher, though he may have continued the business whilst preaching. Rebecca's statement is confirmed by Rigdon's own 1843 autobiographical sketch, where he states: "Having now retired from the ministry, and having no way by which to sustain his family, besides his own industry, he was necessiated to find other employment in order to provide for his maintenance, and for this purpose he engaged in the humble capacity of a journeyman tanner, in that city, and followed his new employment, without murmuring, for two years." Of course Rev. Rigdon could not have gone to work as a "journeyman" tanner without first having earlier served an apprenticeship in that same trade.

Note 4:As a "currier," Rigdon would have had personal acquaintance with the leather book-binding industry in Pittsburgh. The main questions to be answered are when and where Rigdon first worked as a currier and when Robert & Joseph Patterson (and/or their business associate Jonathan Harrison Lambdin) were first engaged in the book-binding trade in Pittsburgh. For more discussion on this point see the notes accompanying the ad for "tanning and currying" in the Mercury of Nov. 20, 1822. It may be relevant, that in his 1842 interview with Robert Patterson, Sr., LDS Apostle John E. Page was reportedly told that "Sidney Rigdon was not connected with the office" maintained by Patterson for book publishing in Pittsburgh, until "several years" after Solomon Spalding's 1816 death. A likely period for this "connection" would have been in 1824, when Rigdon was a tanner and currier in Pittsburgh and Jonathan Harrison Lambdin was acting on his own as a sales agent for "the Assignees of R. Patterson & Lambdin," in the remaining business of this previously dissolved partnership.

Note 5: The Commercial Gazette was formed in 1877 by the merger of the city's veteran Pittsburgh Gazette and apparently more viable Daily Commercial.

FACT  VERSUS  FAITH.
________

The Book of Mormon and the Spaulding Romance.
________

Documentary Details Demonstrating Their Identity.
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Fanaticism Fighting a Fatal Fact for Fifty Years.
________

"Such a Resemblance Without Plagiarism
Would be a Greater Miracle than all the Rest".
________

To the Editor of the Telegraph:
The most direct and important testimony which has yet been given, bearing upon this question, is the letter of the widow of Rev. Solomon Spaulding, which was published in the Boston Recorder, in its issue of April 19, 1839, only nine years after the appearance of the Book of Mormon. It has been repeatedly reprinted, but there are many of the present generation who have not seen it, and who will peruse it with deep interest. Especially will this be the case in this city and vicinity, which may be regarded as the birthplace of this great imposture. The prefatory note from Rev. John Storrs, at that time (1839) pastor of the Congregational Church in Holliston, Mass., fully explains the occasion for writing this letter, and the appended testimonies of Rev. Messrs. Ely and Austin, of Monson, Mass., emphatically sustain the reliability of Mrs. Davison.

Here follows the text of the original Davison-Storrs
article from the Boston Recorder of   April 19, 1839.

The above has been carefully compared with a transcript taken from the files of the Boston Recorder, to secure an accurate copy of so important a document. A typographical error occurred in the Recorder, in Which "Mormon preacher" was printed "woman preacher." The correction has been made on the authority of Rev. D. R. Austin, who acted as amanuensis for Mrs. Davison.
                                          P.
PITTSBURGH, March 23.


Note 1: The Mar. 27, 1879 Pittsburg Telegraph article was almost certainly written by the Rev. Robert Patterson, Jr., ("P.") in cooperation with Mr. James T. Cobb of Salt Lake City. James T. Cobb could have easily assisted Patterson in obtaining the 1839 Boston Recorder article typescript, since Cobb had several old friends and relatives then living in the Boston area. Cobb was already in contact with Rev. David R. Austin, upon whose "authority" the correctness of the 1839 Davison-Storrs article was verified.

Note 2: This article was reprinted in the Apr. 11, 1879 issue of the Salt Lake Tribune with additional comments by James T. Cobb. Austin refers to the Mar. 27, 1879 Pittsburg Telegraph article in his Apr. 4, 1879 letter to Cobb, wherein he says he had just received "a paper from Pittsburgh. Pa, containing the account I gave... April 1st - 1839... I send you the paper..." Austin's letter and the forwarded news article probably reached Cobb a couple of days before the Tribune of April 11th went to press. The contents of this letter from Rev. Austin letter are also discussed in the Apr. 12, 1879 issue of the Salt Lake Tribune.

As will be seen by the minutes elsewhere, the Historical Society has appointed a committee to take measures to perpetuate the memory of Rev. Solomon Spaulding, a citizen of this county and the author of the so-called Bible of the Mormons. The collection of marvelous statements which make up that wonderful piece of sacred fiction was written, it is generally believed by the above gentleman as a sort of intellectual gymnastic exercise, and to pass away the idle hours, never thinking it would become the standard of faith for a people gathered from all parts of the world controlling one of the richest territories belonging to the United States. The work was never printed, but the manuscript was left to careless hands as a thing of no value. How Joe Smith, the high priest of Mormonism, got possession of it, we have not heard, but it is said that it can be clearly proven that the story which Solomon Spaulding, the Washington county preacher, wrote for fun, is substantially the same that Joseph Smith, the apostle of polygamy, palmed off for gospel. The work of this committee will be, in addition to making this fact well understood beyond quibble, to devise some permanent memorial of the obscure country preacher, who, however unwittingly, shaped the foundation stones for the religion of Utah.


Note: This notice incurred the ire of the editors of the Salt Lake City newspaper, the Deseret News. See the response in that paper's issue of June 23, 1879.

THE  MORMON  QUESTION.

At last hope is awakened that something decisive is about to be done by the Government in relation to the Mormon iniquties which have been such a foul blot on the land. It is well known that the additions to Mormonism are mostly from Europe, obtained for the most part under false pretences, and in expectation of light labor and comfortable living. If this importation can be stopped a long step will have been taken towards solving the Mormon problem.

By direction of the President, Secretary Evarts has sent a letter to our Ministers to Great Britian, Germany, and several lesser powers, protesting against their allowing subjects who are Mormons to leave for the United States. It sets forth that under the laws of this country bigamy is a crime, and that persons leaving foreign countries for the purpose of settling in Utah go there with the intention of violating the laws of this country. Reference is made in the letter to the fact that according to our treaties with these countries they are under obligations not to allow parties to depart from their jurisdiction who are known to have criminal intentions. The President holds that after having given these nations notice, the Mormons coming here as such render themselves liable to prosecution under our criminal laws, and that we will then be justified in refusing them admission to our ports.

In the meantime the Mormons in Utah have made themselves as agreeable as possible to the Labor Investgating Committee. It is reported that during its stay its members were the guests of the Mormons, who furnished carriages in profusion and carried them to places of interest. They visited John Taylor, and looked over the Tabernacle, the Mormon Temple, and then drove out to the Penitentiary to visit Cannon and his co-excutors, who are imprisoned for contempt. There they partook of a collation together and had a good time. They listened to Cannon's version of the story, believed him the victim of judicial bigotry, and promised to use their influence to secure his release and to procure Statehood for Utah. These visitors were so constantly surrounded by much-married saints that Gentiles would not approach them. The Committee and their friends left for San Francisco in the confident belief that they knew all about Mormonism. Loyal citizens are inquiring if the public money is paid to their representatives to encourage a disloyal sect in wrong-doing?

This if true -- and we are afraid it is, is most discreditable to that committee and should be severely rebuked. It is very certain that since the visit of that committee the Mormons have become more defiant and threatening towards other people now resident in Utah.


Notes: (forthcoming)

SECULAR  NEWS.
National.

The London Times having editorially on the 12th inst. objected to the circular of the U. S. Government on Mormon emigration, on the ground that any interference with Mormons would be a kind of inquisition into religious opinions, the attention of President Hays was called to the article, and he is reported to have said that the circular must have been misunderstood, that it does not make the slightest reference to religion, and that it invites the co-operation of foreign governments in discouraging Mormon emigration, for the protection of their own deluded subjects as well as to prevent an influx into this country of persons coming with criminal intent. Whatever other governments may do in the matter, our own government is determined to enforce the laws against bigamy, and in this is entitled to the support of all good citizens.


Notes: (forthcoming)

Any one having a copy of "Mormonism Unveiled," published by the author, E. D. Howe, in Painesville, O., in 1834 (and in 1840), to dispose of, may hear of a purchaser by addressing the PRESBYTERIAN BANNER.

Note: This ad solliciting a copy of Howe's 1834 book was placed on the editorial page of the Banner by the secondary editor, Robert Patterson, Jr. This was before Patterson wrote his chapter on Mormonism for Boyd Crumrine's 1882 History of Washington County. Patterson began researching early Mormon history early in 1879, but, strangely enough, none of his reporting on that subject appeared in the Banner during 1879-1882. Perhaps James Allison, the senior editor of the paper did not see fit to allocate space in the Banner for the publication of articles by Patterson on this particular topic.

In reply to many criticisms, Mr. Smith, the Mormon preacher of Pittsburgh, sends us a small letter of about forty pages, which he requests us to print as 'an act of justice' to him. * * * We have to be just to our readers as well as to Mr. Smith, and can not therefore surrender the space where they have a right to look for news, to the missionary efforts of any sect whatever. It should be sufficient hustice to Elder Smith to say right now and here, as we frankly do, that the evidence by which it is sought to prove that 'Joe' Smith or Sidney Rigdon stole the manuscript copy of Rev. Solomon Spaulding's romance, and made the Book of Mormon out of it, is FATALLY DEFECTIVE. The thing can not be proved. The Mormons SUCCESSFULLY RIDDLE the testimony of those who assert it, and very fairly demand that Spaulding's romance be produced and the comparison made or the slander be dropped. The fact that this romance. though alleged to have remained in Gentile hands, never has been produced, and can not be now, is prima facie evidence that it is not the original of the Book of Mormon.

Note 1: Apostle Thomas Wood Smith (1838-1894) was the chief RLDS Elder in Pittsburgh at this time. Smith was a native of Pennsylvania and probably had some relational ties to those Pittsburgh area Rigdonites who eventually joined with the RLDS. His "Mormon" missionary activities in Pittsburgh aroused the unwelcome attention of several people who were opposed to his religion. Utah journalist James T. Cobb apparently submitted more than one letter or article to the Pittsburgh papers, written opposition of the assertion of Elder Smith and others like him. Robert Patterson, Jr. wrote to Cobb from Pittsburgh on Sept. 6, 1879, saying: "... I cannot find your case on the Rigdons in the Com. Gaz. of Aug. 18. Possibly it was in some other Pittsburgh paper?" Again, on Feb. 28, 1881, Patterson says to Cobb:"I mail herewith Pittsburgh 'Dispatch' of this date with your reply to Mr. T. W. Smith." Apparently the joyrnalistic conversation between Elder Smith and his opponents moved back and forth between the pages of the Leader and those of the Dispatch between 1879 and 1881. Elder Smith had a lengthy letter published in a January 1881 issue of the Leader.

Note 2: It is supposed that Robert Patterson, Jr.'s Aug. 19, 1879 interview with D. P. Hurlbut was published in an issue of the Leader soon after the that paper's Feb. 20th notice regarding the local activities of Elder Thomas W. Smith. The exact date for the appearance of Patterson's interview in the Pittsburgh papers remains unknown.

... I paid him [D. P. Hurlbut] a visit at his home in Gibsonville, Sandusky county, Ohio, in August, 1879, and interviewed him in reference to his connection with the Spaulding manuscript. He said that he did receive the manuscript from the widow of Spaulding in 1834 [sic - 1833?], which manuscript he gave to E. D. Howe of Painesville, P., but declares his entire ignorance of the contents of that manuscript. He says this was the only Spaulding Manuscript he ever had in his possession. Mr. Howe states that this manuscript was not the one known as the 'Manuscript Found,' but was on an entirely different subject...

GIBSONBURG, OHIO, Aug. 19, 1879.      

I visited Mrs. Matilda (Spaulding) Davison at Monson, Mass., in 1834, and never saw her afterward. I then received from her a manuscript of her husband's, which I did not read, but brought home with me, and immediately gave it to Mr. E. D. Howe, of Painesville, Ohio, who was then engaged in preparing his book -- "Mormonism Unvailed." I do not know whether or not the document I received from Mrs. Davison was Spaulding's "Manuscript Found," as I never read it entire, and it convinced me that it was not the Spaulding manuscript; but whatever it was, Mr. Howe received it under the condition on which I took it from Mrs. Davison -- to compare it with the "Book of Mormon," and then to return it to her. I never received any other manuscript of Spaulding's from Mrs. Davison, or any one else. Of that manuscript I made no other use than to give it, with all my other documents connected with Mormonism, to Mr. Howe. I did not destroy the manuscript nor dispose of it to Joe Smith, or to any other person. No promise was made by me to Mrs. Davison that she should receive any portion of the profits arising from the publication of the manuscript, if it should be published. All the affidavits procured by me for Mr. Howe's book, including all those from Palmyra, N. Y., were certainly genuine.

D. P. HURLBUT.      

Note 1: The exact date of this clipping has yet to be determined. For more information regarding the solititation of this Hurlbut's 1879 statement by the Rev. Robert Patterson, Jr. see Patterson's 1881 article in The Leader and the Sept. 15, 1880 issue of the RLDS Saints Herald..

Note 2: In her 1885 statement for Arthur B. Deming, D. P. Hurlbut's wife recalled Robert Patterson having contacted her husband. She there says: "Mr. Patterson a son of the printer Spaulding left his Manuscript with called and took a statement from Mr. Hurlbut about five years ago. I heard him say at that time that Sidney Rigdon was a relative of his and was frequently in their office when the Manuscript Found was there." Unfortunately Maria Hurlbut's 1885 statement does not mention exactly when it was that "Mr. Patterson" came to visit (August, 1879?), nor who was related to Sidney Rigdon. Apparently Robert Patterson, Jr. claimed this family relationship for his own father, the Rev. Robert Patterson, Sr. If the Pattersons and the Rigdons were related, the connection must have been a distant one. Perhaps Sidney Rigdon was somehow related to Patterson's printer, Silas Engles -- who was himself a distant relative of the Pattersons.

Note 3: In 1882 Rev. Robert Patterson, Jr. recalled that "Hurlbut himself informed the present writer Aug. 19, 1879 that he had never seen Mr. Patterson or had any communication with him." This portion of Hurlbut's communication to Patterson is not included in the partial 1880 Pittsburgh Leader article clipping transcribed above.

THE  EARLY  MORMONS.
JOE  SMITH  OPERATES  AT  SUSQUEHANNA.

HIS ADVENT AMONG THE FIRST SETTLERS -- HE MARRIES A DAUGHTER OF A PIONEER
DIGGING IN THE HILLS FOR TREASURE -- PROFESSING MIRACLES AND WINNING
CONVERTS AT HARPERSVILLE.

...There are very trustworthy living witnesses by whom to prove that some of the earlier years of Joe Smith's prophetic career were spent in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, where, in fact his prophesy with the "peek-stone" began. It was hare that the Prophet married his wife, and it was here, on a corner of her ancestral estate, that the spiritual pair, the originator of the Latter Day Saints and the "Daughter of God" settled down to the material occupation of housekeeping. It was here that the first male child in the line of chief of the house of Latter Day Saints was barn; and it is here the first born of the Father of Latter Day Saints and the "Electa Cyria" is buried. The prophesy went forth from Joseph that this son was to be a worker of miracles, who should open the golden Bible while in his swaddling bands, and interpret the hieroglyphics "which no fellah could find out." The young prophet was stillborn, In other words he drove through time to that "undiscovered country" without stopping to feed in this sublunary sphere. He never had any swaddling bands; he never had any colic that his father knew of; he never had any milk roil on his stomach, and what gives more relief when contemplating the ills of human nature, he never cut teeth. Truly the wise die young. The early death of this prophet shows that he was too wise to go into the book publishing business on a limited capital, as a member of the firm of Joe Smith & Son, "peepers," and jobbers in new religion.

Recently a reporter of the Republican visited Susquehanna and other towns on the Susquehanna river for the purpose of authenticating rumors of Mormon history, and interviewed several of the oldest inhabitants. It was a very pleasant work, as they were mostly intelligent and [ ----- wise]. The July sun was scalding hot which suggested that it might have been hot in Joe Smith's days, and turned the prophet's fertile mind to thoughts of "a land that is hotter than this." To our readers who have not seen Susquehanna -- there are even some old people in that county who have not seen [the --- ] Susquehanna, and never rode on a railroad -- a sketch of a few words descriptive of the country as it was and as it is may not be uninteresting in this connection.

Then it was pretty much a dense wilderness, and the primeval pines and hemlocks which grew out of the rocky hills and reached their long shady arms over the narrow, deep valleys, must have made Susquehanna the "Black Hills" of the East. Now the pines, except some left for specimens, are gone. And the woodsman d