THE  MORMON  BIBLE.
_________

I find in my scrap-book, set down thirty years ago, an item which may be of interest at the present time, when the Mormon problem is evidently approaching a civilized solution. The truth of the statement herein given was vouched for in my presence by a man who was above deceit. The origin of the "Book of Mormon," so called, has been a puzzle to many, much of it being evidently the production of a cultivated mind, and yet springing to light from the hands of illiterate men.

It was written in 1812-13, as a literary recreation, by Rev. Solomon Spalulding, a graduate of Dartmouth College, at that time residing in New Salem, Ohio; and, as he wrote it, it professed to be a historical romance of a lost race, the remains of whose numerous mounds and inscriptions [sic] are found on the banks of the Ohio. After the work had been completed, the author had thoughts of having it printed, and for that purpose he gave the manuscript into the hands of a printer, in whose office it remained for several years, but the design of printing was not carried into execution.

As foreman [sic] in the printing office where Mr. Spaulding's romance was lodged, was employed Sidney Rigdon, who afterwards figured conspicuously in Mormon history; and there is no doubt that he copied the manuscript, and subsequently gave it to Smith. Upon the appearance of the Book of Mormon in 1830, there were those living to whom Mr. Spaulding had read parts of his romance, and they recognized the verbiage in the book. Upon search, the original manuscript was found among the papers of the deceased clergyman, and on comparison, the Mormon Bible proved to have been not materially altered from this parent text. Of course this discovery soon made considerable talk. A great many people went to see the manuscript, and at the expiration of a few weeks it mysteriously disappeared. As there was a Mormon preacher in New Salem at the time, with proselytes at his heels, the mystery of the disapperance was not very deep.   Correspondence N. Y. Ledger.


Note: The above item, from the writer's "scrap-book" appears to be a somewhat extended paraphrase of an article that originally appeared in the Boston Advertiser in April of 1839. In the process of the telling and re-telling of this old story, Sidney Rigdon gets promoted from, at first having a "connection" with the printing office where Solomon Spalding's manuscript was taken; to being a journeyman printer there; and finally, to being the foreman of the shop! There is absolutely no historical evidence to indicate that Rigdon ever worked in the printing trade. As for the allegation that "a great many people went to see the manuscript" while it was being exhibited in New Salem, Ohio -- that too is a gross exaggeration of the probable facts. In the final days of December, 1833, the ex-Mormon preacher D. P. Hurlbut reportedly displayed in public, in and around Geauga Co., Ohio, what he claimed was Spalding's "Manuscript Found." There is no testimony on record saying that he ever exhibted that document in New Salem (or Conneaut, as the place was being called by 1833). The manuscript Hurlbut was displaying in Geauga Co. did quickly disappear from public view. Also, he is known to have taken another Spalding manuscript to Conneaut, at the end of Dec. 1833, and to have shown it to a small number of people there. This document survived in the keeping of Painesville newspaper editor Eber D. Howe throughout the year 1834 and was subsequently misplaced among his news office files. The writer of the above article has either conflated these two incidents of manuscript exhibition, or, more likely, has simply exaggerated yet another part of the old report from the Boston Advertiser. See also a reprint in the Salt Lake Tribune of May 02, 1874, which attributes the article to "S. C. Jr."

MOUNTAIN  MEADOW  MASSACRE.
_________

Something About an Almost Forgotten Crime -- John D. Lee's
Dreadful Secret -- The Worst Villain That Ever Went Unhung --
Even the Navajoes Rejoice at His Arrest.
_______

For weeks past the telegraph dispatches from Salt Lake have contained allusions to the Mountain Meadow massacre, and a few days since it was announced that John D. Lee had been arrested, and that in due time he would tell all he knew about it. Whether he will do so remains to be seen, but it is predicted by many that he never will tell all, for if he did, the people would be so outraged by his confessions that they would tear him limb from limb.

SCENE  OF  THE  MASSACRE.

The scene of the horrible massacre at Mountain Meadow is situated about three hundred and fifty miles west of south from Great Salt Lake City, on the old emigrant route leading to Los Angeles, California. In the spring of 1859 Judge John Cradlebaugh, who at that time was the federal judge of the district in which the Mountain Meadow was located, determined to make an effort to, if possible, expose the persons engaged in the massacre. General Johnson, who afterward went into the confederate army, and was killed at the battle of Shiloh, was in command of the troops in Utah at the time, and sent a detachment of troops with Judge Cradlebaugh. The command went as far south as the Santya Clara -- a clear, bright and rapid river, some twenty-five miles beyond the Mountain Meadow, where it camped and remained about ten days.

AN  INDIAN  CHIEF'S  STORY.

During the stay there Judge Cradlebaugh was visited by the Indian chiefs of the section, who gave him their version of the massacre. They admitted that a portion of their men were engaged in the massacre, but were not there when the attack commenced. One of them told Judge Cradlebaugh that after the attack had been made a white man came to their camp with a piece of paper, which, he said, Brigham Young had sent, that directed them to go and help whip the emigrants. A portion of the band went, but, said the old liar, they did not assist in the fight. He gave, as a reason, that the emigrants had long guns and were remarkably accurate marksmen. He said that his brother (the chief's name was Jackson) was shot in the hip while running across the meadow at a distance of two hundred yards from the corral where the emigrants were. He said the Mormons were all painted to look like Indians. This chief said the Indians got a part of the clothing taken from the train, but that the Mormons took all the guns, horses, cattle and wagons. He gave the names of John D. Lee, President Haight and Bishop Higbee as the big captains. It might be proper here to remark that the Indians in the southern part of the territory of Utah are not numerous, and are a very low, cowardly set, very few of them being armed with guns. They are not formidable, and it was the general impression of those forming Judge Cradlebaugh's party, that all the Indians in the southern part of the territory would, under no circumstances, carry on a fight against ten white men.

THE  EMIGRANT  TRAIN.

The company was composed of about thirty families, and one hundred and thirty to one hundred and forty persons, principally from Johnson county, Arkansas. It is generally conceded that the company was abundantly supplied with traveling and extra horses, cattle, etc. They had thirty good wagons, and about sixty mules and horses, and six hundred head of cattle -- some of the cattle blooded stick. The emigrants arrived in Salt Lake valley in the latter part of July, and traveled south, stopping for several days at Provo City [Corn] creek, Fillmore and Sevier river. The train reached the Mountain Meadow on the second or third of September, 1857, and halted, determining to remain until the following Monday, on which day the attack was made upon them.

THE  FIRST  ATTACK.

The first attack was made by going down the ravine, then following up the bed of the spring to near it, then at daylight firing upon the men around the camp-fires, in which attack ten or twelve of the emigrants were killed or wounded, the stock of the emigrants having been previously driven behind the hill and up the ravine. The emigrants soon got in condition to repel the attack, shoved their wagons together, subk the wheels in the earth and threw up quite an intrenchment. The fighting afterward continued as a siege, the assailants occupying the hill, and firing at any of the emigrants that exposed themselves, having a barricade of stones along the crest of a hill as a protection. The siege was continued for five days, the besiegers appearing in the garb of Indians. The Mormons and Ondians, seeing that they could not capture the train without making some sacrifices of life on their part, and getting weary of the fight, resolved to accomplish by strategy what they were not able to do by force. The fight had been going on for five days, and no aid was received from any quarter, although the family of Jacob Hamlin, the Indian agent of the United States, and a Mormon, was living at the upper end of the valley, and within hearing of the reports of the guns; and the town of Cedar City, with from five hundred to eight hundred inhabitants, was not more than twenty-five miles away.

HOPE  OF  RESCUE.

A wagon appeared containing President Haight and John D. Lee, among others of the Mormon church. They professed to be on good terms with the Indians, and represented the Indians as being very mad. They also proposed to intercede, and settle the matter with the Indians. After several hours of parley, they having apparently visited the Indians, they gave the ultimatum of the savages, which was that the emigrants should march out of their camp, leaving everything behind them, even their guns. It was promised by the Mormon bishops that they would bring a force and guard the emigrants back to the settlement.

THE  FATAL  TRAP  SPRUNG.

The terms were agreed to; the emigrants being desirous of saving the lives of their families. The Mormons retired and subsequently appeared at the corral with thirty or forty armed men. The emigrants were marched out, the women and children in front, and the men behind, the Mormon guard being in the rear. When they had marched in this way about a mile, at a given signal the slaughter commenced. The men were most all shot down at the first fire from the guard. Two only escaped, who fled to the desert, and were followed 150 miles before they were overtaken and slaughtered.

The women and children ran on, two or three hundred yards farther, when they were overtaken, and with the aid of the Indians they were butchered in a most cruel manner. Seventeen only of the small children were saved, the eldest being seven years. Thus, on the 10th day of September, 1857, was consummated one of the most cruel, cowardly, and bloody murders known to history.

JUDGE  CRADLEBAUGH'S  INVESTIGATIONS.

Judge Cradlebaugh proposed to hold an examining court, bit as orders were issued that the military should not be used in protecting the courts, his plans had to be abandoned. While at Cedar City, however, the judge was visited by a number of Mormons, apostates, who gave him every assurance that they would furnish an abundance of evidence in regard to the matter, so soon as they were assured of military protection. In fact, some of the persons engaged in the act came to see the judge in the night, and gave a full account of the matter, intending, when protection was at hand, to become witnesses. They claimed that they had been forced into the matter by the bishops. Their statements corroborated what the Indians had previously said. The deputy United States marshals during their trip, succeeded in finding twelve of the surviving children. They were all found in the custody of the Mormon families, who, however, claimed to have purchased them from the Indians. Some of the children related the circumstances of the butchery. One of them said to Judge Cradlebaugh: "Oh, I wish I was a man; I know what I would do; I'd shoot Mr. Lee; for I saw him shoot my mother."

A  MONUMENT.

During Judge Cradlebaugh's excursion to the scene of the massacre he discovered that the remains of the victims had never been buried -- although two years years had passed since the slaughter. At a later period a detachment of troops, under command of Major General Carlton, gathered the remains together and buried them near the spring beside which they were encamped when attacked by the Mormons. At the time he was there, he erected a monument to the memory of the dead. It was constructed by raising a large pile of rock in the form of a cone, in the centre of which was erected a beam twelve of fifteen feet in height. On one of the stones he caused to be engraved, "Here lie the bones of 120 men, women and children, from Arkansas, murdered on the 10th day of September, 1857." Upon a cross-tree on the beam, he caused to be painted, "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, and I will repay." A year or two later the monument was destroyed -- not one stone being left on another.

TESTIMONY  OF  CAPTAIN  R. P.  CAMPBELL.

Captain R. P. Campbell, of the United States army, in his report of the expedition to the scene of the Mountain Meadows massacre, says:

"Here I found human skulls, bones, and hair scattered about, and scraps of clothing of men, women, and children. I saw one girl’s dress, apparently that of a child of ten or twelve years of age. These were the remains of a party of peaceful inhabitants of the United States, consisting of men, women, and children, and numbering about one hundred and fifty, who were removing with their effects from the state of Arkansas to the state of California. These emigrants were here met by the Mormons (assisted by such of the wretched Indians of the neighborhood as they could force or persuade to join,) and massacred, with the exception of such infant children as the Mormons thought too young to remember or tell of the affair. The Mormons had their faces painted so as to disguise themselves as Indians. The Mormons were led on by John B. Lee, then a high dignitary in the self-styled church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and Isaac Haight, now a dignitary in the same. This affair began by a surprise. The emigrants were encamped near a spring from which there is a ravine. Along this ravine the Mormons and Indians crept to the spring during the night. When the emigrants arose in the morning, they were fired upon, and some twelve or fifteen of them killed. The emigrants then seized their arms, and defended themselves so bravely that, after four days, the Mormons and Indians had not succeeded in exterminating them. This horrid affair was finished by an act of treachery. John D. Lee, having washed the paint from his face, came to the emigrants and told them that if they would surrender themselves, and give their property to the Indians, the Mormons would conduct them back to Cedar City. The emigrants then surrendered, with their wives and children. They were taken about a mile and a half from the spring, where they, their wives, and their children (with the exception of some infants) were killed. These facts were derived from the children who did remember and could tell of the matter, from the Indians, and from the Mormons themselves. This affair occurred in the month of September, 1857.”

This man, Lee, who has just been arrested, has never denied, we believe, that he was present at the massacre, but pretended that he was there to prevent bloodshed; but incontestible evidence implicates him as the leader of the murderers. The surviving children, some of whom are still in Mormon families in Southern Utah, point him out as the fiend who killed their mothers and fathers, and it is a matter of wonder that these children haven’t been butchered, too, years ago. No longer than a year ago one of these children recognized a jewel on a Mormon woman which had been the property of the child’s mother before the massacre. Governor Arny, now in this city, says that the Navajo chiefs, who are accompanying him to Washington, were overjoyed when told by the interpreters of Lee’s arrest. They charged him with having murdered emigrants and prospectors, crossing from Colorado and New Mexico into Southern Utah, and then laying it to the Navajos. They also say that Lee led the party, last summer, which assassinated three of their tribe on the Colorado river.


Note: Most of the above article was reprinted in the Topeka Daily Commonwealth of December 2, 1874.

Colonel McClure, of the Philadelphia Times, has been seeking for information of Joe Smith, in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, where the father of Mormonism planned and first preached the new religion. Smith was a lumberman, but was too lazy to work steadily. He preferred to get money as a "peeper," or man who pretended to possess the gift of telling where minerals and water could be found. He had a green stone that was regarded by the superstitious people as a wonderful talisman, and credence was generally given to his stories of supernaturalism. Deep pits still mark the spot where, under his direction, a man spent thousands of dollars digging for mythical treasure. Smith married a girl against her father's wishes, and went away to become a farmer, but was too shiftless, and soon returned to be supported by his father-in-law. His Mormon scheme was laid there, and the Book of Mormon written, but hardly any converts were made in the region where he was well known.


Note 1: Possibly the "Col. McClure" who is mentioned in the above news report was in some way related to the residents of McClure hamlet, on Oquaga Creek in Broome Co., New York. It was in that vicinity that Oliver Harper was murdered on May 11, 1824. Mr. Harper (who had financed extensive money-digging operations in that region), had recently sold a large quantity of timber (or lumber) taken from his property and was evidently murdered for the cash he was then carrying. Oliver Harper's widow continued her husband's money-digging operations -- with both Joseph Smith, Sr. and Joseph Smith, Jr. participating with her and others in an 1825 treasure-seeking agreement.

Note 2: The information published in the Philadelphia Times, regarding Joseph Smith, Jr.'s work at lumbering (as well as his possessing a green seer stone), appears to rely upon the testimony of Mr. J. B. Buck, as published in Emily C. Blackman's 1873 book, History of Susquehanna Co. on p. 577. Buck's testimony places Joseph Smith, Jr. in the Susquehanna region, "lumbering" as early as "1818, some years before he took to 'peeping', and before [money] diggings were commenced under his direction."

The Presbyterian Observer throws new light on the authorship of the Book of Mormon. The book, it says, has commonly been credited to the Rev. Solomon Spalding, a Presbyterian minister -- a romance purporting to give the origin and history of the American Indians. He sought to find a publisher for his story in Pittsburg, but was unsuccessful. The author died a few years later. The manuscript of this story unaccountably disappeared, Though it was generally believed that one Sidney Rigdon, a printer [sic], afterward a Mormon bishop, got possession of the same, altered and added to it, and, thus altered and amended, was sent forth to the world as the Mormon Bible. This point is explained by the following letter from Mr. James Jeffries, of Hartford county, Md., whose boyhood was spent a few miles from Pittsburgh. He says:

"I know more about the Mormons than any man east of the Alleghanies, although I have given no attention to the matter for twenty-five years. I did not know I was in possession of any information concerning the origin of the Book of Mormon unknown to others. I supposed that as Rigdon was so open with me, he had told others the same things.

Forty years ago I was in business in St. Louis. The Mormons then had their temple in Nauvoo, Ill. I had business transactions with them. Sidney Rigdon I knew very well. He was general manager of the affairs of the Mormons. Rigdon, in course of conversation told me a number of times there was in the printing office, with which he was connected in Ohio, a manuscript of Rev. Spalding, tracing the origin of the Indian race from the lost tribes of Israel: that this manuscript was in the office for several years; that he was familiar with it: that Spalding had wanted it printed, but had not the money to pay for the printing: that he (Rigdon) and Joe Smith used to look over the manuscript and read it over Sundays. Rigdon and Smith took the manuscript; and said: 'I'll print it,' and went off to Palmyra, N. Y. I never knew the information was of any importance; thought others were aware of these facts. I do not now think the matter is of any importance. It will not injure Mormonism. That is an "ism," and chimes in with the wishes of certain classes of people. Nothing will put it down but the strong arm of the law."


Note: The Presbyterian Observer report adds nothing substantial to the lengthier and more detailed article on this subject published in the Presbyterian Banner of Feb. 13, 1884. Numerous papers reprinted the Presbyterian Observer's shortened report, including the Colorado Alamosa Journal of April 10, 1884, etc.

MORMONS  IN  PENNSYLVANIA.
_______

Reminiscences of the Times When the Sect Was in Its Infancy.

It would surprise many of the present generation to be told that at one time this lower corner of Armstrong, as well as the upper end of Westmoreland County, was literally infested with Mormons; yet such is the fact. In the fall of 1842 a number of Mormons floated down the Allegheny River on a rude raft. The party was composed of old and young, men, women and children, and at what is now White Rock Station, on the Valley road, a stop was made. Winter began about this time, and the party concluded to make that point temporary headquarters and sepnd the winter there. Joseph Smith and his brother Hiram visited the party while they were located there, and under their instructions the work of proselyting was vigorously begun. A man named Nicholson keaded the White Rock branch of the order, and his influence was soon apparent. Converts were made rapidly, and in a short time scores of persons from every walk in life had accepted the faith of the Mormons.

When the springtime came almost every person in the immediate neighborhood had been convinced that their future salvation depended on their adherence to the doctrine of Joseph Smith, and a large party agreed to accompany his followers into the Western wilds. Others remained with the intention of joining the main body when they had entered into their promised land. A correspondence was carried on between those who had gone before and those who were left behind, and your correspondent was to-day allowed the privilege of examining some of the time-stained missives which were sent back to strengthen the faith of the followers who were left behind. The person to whom these letters were addressed has long since been gathered to his fathers, but his wife and children are still natives of this county.

One letter is dated Nauvoo, Ill., August 10, 1884, and is as follows:

"Your health of soul and body is my joy, and, if you live in Christ, then is my joy full. We are glad to hear that you are in good health. This we learn from Brother John Greer, who came to this place in good health and fine spirits, just in time to attend our Conference, which was held on Tuesday, to set the wheels of the Church in motion; for since the death of Joseph Smith, we have been almost like sheep having no shepherd, running to and fro, picking a little pasture wherever we could get, and waiting for the Twelve to return. Brother Rigdon and nine of the twelve having returned, a conference of the whole Church was held on Thursday. There was a vast concourse of people -- I should think nearly 10,000. The twelve were called to stand in their proper places, and Joseph's counselors, S. Rihdon and A. Lyman, were called to the stand on their right, and on their left, that they might aid and cooperate with the twelve in carrying the gospel to all nations.  *  *  *

"You must not let your faith fail you because Joseph Smith has been killed by wicked men. No; he told the brethren, and others not members of the Church, that he was going as a lamb to the slaughter; yet he was as calm as a summer's morning. He said that his time was come; but the brethren did not seem to realize the truth till after the fatal deed was committed, and then they remembered what he had told them. Had the brethren had the least idea that he would have fallen as he did they would never have allowed him to go to Carthage. When Joseph fell he cried out: 'O, my God!' Then his spirit took its flight. Brother Sidney says he saw our beloved prophet in a vision which he had opened to him in connection with one he and Joseph had on the 16th of February, 1832, which you will find recorded in the Book of Covenants."

The letter is signed "Thomas Hickenlooper," and is written in a bold, clear hand. The writer was a local magistrate here prior to his departure for the West, and he was a highly respected citizen. In other letters he speaks of the intentions of the Mormons to seek refuge still further West, and says that there was a probability of them going to California. He also inquires particularly after the welfare of other converts to the faith who remained behind, and exhorts them to be firm and fear not. In the neighborhood of Bigdad there are still a number of persons who embraced the faith in the early days, and who still believe in the doctrines then taught them, as well as the institution of polygamy, which, of course was established subsequent to their location here. Within a radius of ten miles others can be found, and among them are persons who tried the Mormon life in the wilderness with unsatisfactory results. And, again, there are those who were once residents of this section, who have withstood all the hardships of the early days and are now with their descendants spending their last days in Mormonland, if not contented with their lot, at least uncomplaining. -- Leechburg Letter to Pittsburgh Dispatch.


Note: The "Thomas Hickenlooper" whose letter appears reproduced above, was mentioned in the Nauvoo Times and Seasons of Aug. 15, 1843, as being chosen to the office of presiding elder in the Leechburg LDS branch, at a conference held there on May 10th, 1843, supervised by William Smith, the brother of Joseph Smith, Jr. Leechburg, is located in southern Armstrong County, approximately 28 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

In the Library Magazine for November Mr. Alfred H. Guernsey writes a brief paper, principally derived from a letter in the New York Independent, relating to the work "The Lost Manuscript," by Solomon Spaulding, which has been believed to be the source from which Joseph Smith got his "Book of Mormon." A [musky?] manuscript, thus entitled, and undoubtedly the work of Solomon Spaulding, has turned up at Honolulu, in the Sandwich Islands, as narrated in this paper. But, as we think can be clearly established, this extant Honolulu manuscript is not the one which fell into the hands of Sidney Rigdon and Joseph Smith, and which furnished the idea of the Book of Mormon. It is quite likely that Spaulding became dissatisfied with this manuscript, and wrote a wholly new one, which fell into the hands of Smith and his confederate. The whole matter, when fairly sifted, will form a curious chapter in literary history. The Library Magazine contains many other valuable articles by eminent authors. Published by John B. Alden, 393 Pearl street, New York, at the low price of $1.50 a year.


Notes: (forthcoming)