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Sidney Rigdon,
The Real Founder of Mormonism 
by: William H. Whitsitt BOOK THE THIRD: THE DISCIPLE PERIOD: Oct. 11, 1823 -- Nov. 8, 1830 (Section IV, pp. 249-353) Contents | Book I | Book II | Book III: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | Book IV | Book V |
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This important and in some directions able person was born at Sharon, Windsor county, Vermont, on the 23rd of December, 1805 (Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and his Progenitors for Many Generations. By Lucy Smith, Mother of the Prophet, Plano, Illinois, 1880, p.53). His family were of Puritan extraction and of unpuritan-like thriftlessness, The father and mother were married at Tunbridge, Orange county Vermont, on the 24th of January, 1796 (Joseph Smith, the Prophet, p.39 and p.41). Here Joseph Smith Sr. was the owner of a small farm, which his wife reports to have been worth about fifteen hundred dollars (ibid. p.54), upon which the newly wedded couple established themselves and lived in comfort for a period of six years. In the year 1802 the father concluded that he would enter upon a new line of business, leasing his farm, he opened a merchant's shop in the town of Randolph, Vermont (ibid. p.43). But Joseph Smith, Sen. was a very indifferent merchant. After a brief season at Randolph he found himself bankrupt, being indebted in the city of Boston for eighteen hundred dollars worth of "store goods" and having nothing wherewithal to pay except "about two thousand dollars in bad debts", and an apocryphal consignment of crystallized ginseng root, which he had sent to China in order to remedy a plague that he had been informed was prevailing in that country. The ship upon which he had set his hopes returned in due season from China, but it brought nothing to the Randolph merchant except a small chest of tea, in return for the venture he had made in it. The debt in Boston and the bad debts about Randolph were enough to swamp his fortunes without any reference to the Chinese plague. Immediately after this venture was forwarded to the Celestial Empire, Mr. Smith closed his shop and returned to his farm at Tunbridge, which his Boston creditors speedily sold for him at the price of eight hundred dollars, and left him with all the world before him where to choose his place of rest (Joseph Smith, the Prophet, pp.51-54). He proceeded to fulfill this privilege; from the year 1803, or at the latest 1804, when he was driven from his farm at Tunbridge, until the year 1815 he effected seven different removals, the last of these to Palmyra in Wayne county, New York. Among the places that were honored by the residence of the family during this gypsy period of their existence were Royalton on two occasions, Sharon, Tunbridge and Norwich in Vermont, and Lebanon in New Hampshire. At Sharon, Vermont, Solomon Mack, the father of Mrs. Smith, provided for the household a temporary refuge on a farm which Joseph Smith, Sr. is said to have rented from his father-in-law. This appears to have been the most comfortable haven they found during the gypsy epoch; it was likewise the place longest occupied, for Mrs. Smith reports that they continued for several years in Sharon (Joseph Smith, the Prophet, p.58). During the summer months Mr. Smith employed what slender energies he possessed in the business of farming: in the winter season he taught school. While he was thus engaged his fourth child -- the third son -- was born on the 23rd of December, 1805, and in honor of his sire, was christened Joseph Smith, Jr. Notwithstanding the very natural exertions which in her biographical sketches the mother of the household puts forth to represent agreeably their circumstances, it is evident from her narrative that the fortunes of the family bad fallen to the lowest ebb. In addition to the burdens of poverty they were also compelled to bear the heavier burdens of worthlessness and vulgarity. [Lucy] herself was a notably credulous person, and perhaps not without a measure of cunning. The weakness she displayed for the ravings of extravagant religious exhorters (pp. 48-49) was resented by the family to which her husband belonged (pp. 56-7), but she contrived to gain an influence over him which they could not easily correct and it was no great while until he was walking comfortably upon as low a plane as her own. In the year 1811 occurred their removal to Lebanon, N.H. and not long afterwards a visitation of typhoid fever brought much affliction in its train. The attack which young Joseph suffered was of brief duration "something like two weeks", but the effects it left in its train were very serious. He was seized with fever sores, which first attacked his breast near the shoulder, and then shifted to his leg. The attending surgeons suggested the propriety of amputation, but that motion being overruled, they were content with the removal of a large portion of the decayed bone, and the patient accomplished a satisfactory recovery (Joseph Smith, the Prophet, pp.64-68). From the effects of this operation Joseph was ever afterwards able to procure exemption from the burdens of military service (Ibid. p.237). When he was recovering from his tedious and painful illness the family were visited by Jesse Smith, the eldest brother of Joseph Smith, Sr., who at the moment was residing at Salem, Massachusetts. Being moved by the situation of his nephew he took Joseph to his home for a visit, where. the sea breezes were of benefit to his health. This sojourn in Salem bore fruit in coming years. It was perhaps the occasion of the violent prejudices which Jesse Smith entertained for Mormonism after it came forth in the year 1830 (Ibid. pp.163-5). It is likely that he had formed too just an estimate of his nephew during the period of convalescence to permit him to conceive any considerable amount of respect for an enterprise where he might be concerned. It is also possible that this youthful. acquaintance with Salem was one of the main reasons that induced the prophet to honor that venerable town with a visit and a revelation in the year 1836. According to Mr. Remy the company of Sidney Rigdon, Hyrum Smith and Oliver Cowdery cheered and aided Mr. Smith on this occasion, which however, was only to a moderate extent successful (Remy and Brenchley, vol. I p.307). The revelation that was vouchsafed for the benefit of Salem is dated on the 6th of August 1836 (O. Pratt's edition of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, section 111). Whether the family acquired a taste for fortune telling and the seeking out of lost treasures during the years of their gypsy existence in Vermont and New Hampshire cannot now be determined with certainty. The legend concerning certain treasures which Capt. William Kidd the pirate was fabled to have concealed in some unknown locality before his capture at Boston was still rife in New England and other portions of the country. It is possible that already before their exodus to New York they had been excited by these wonderful stories and had already learned the use of the divining rod, by means of which the abiding place of lost mineral substances, it was believed, might be pointed out. In his Autobiography, the prophet informs the public that his father removed from New England to New York when he was in the tenth year of his age (Pearl of Great Price, p.56). If this statement be correct they entered Palmyra sometime during the summer of 1815. Mr. Pomeroy Tucker (Origin and Progress of Mormonism, D. Appleton & Co. 1867), who claims to be an eye-witness, declares that upon his arrival Joseph Smith Sr., opened a shop under the legend of "cake and beer", and did business on a small scale, occasionally varying his industry by performing jobs at common labor in the garden and harvest fields of the villagers. The frequency with which mention is made of their employment in the task of opening wells is believed to indicate that at this early season of their sojourn in New York the divining rod was chiefly employed in searching after hidden streams of water, which they would induce the proprietors of the soil in any given instance to employ their services to render available by sinking a well. Mrs. Smith makes no allusion to the shop for cake and beer, but rather claims for herself the honor of sustaining the household by her skill at painting oil cloth coverings for tables and stands. She says that she set up in that business and did extremely well, supplying all the provisions for the family and gradually replenishing the depleted household furniture (Joseph Smith, the Prophet, p.73). Referring once more to the Autobiography of the Prophet, it will be perceived that about four years after their entrance into Palmyra, Joseph Smith, Sr. removed into the adjoining township of Manchester (P.G.P. p.56). This period bridges down the history to the spring or summer of the year 1819. Lucy Smith is authority for the information that her husband had contracted with a land agent for one hundred acres of land, the price of which he agreed to discharge in three equal annual payments. The family were never able to fulfill the conditions of this contract; after holding the property for ten years and building two houses upon it they were at length forced to surrender it some time in the early portion of the year 1829 (Joseph Smith, the Prophet, p. 137). All accounts except that of Lucy Smith are agreed that the husbandry of the Smiths while occupying this farm was of the most slovenly type. The second house built, composed of wood and of the style commonly known as a frame house, was never completed by them, although it was commenced and nearly half constructed by their eldest son, Alvin Smith, prior to his death on the 19th of November 1826 (Ibid. p.90). In the year 1820, when Joseph Smith Jr. was approaching the twentieth year of his age, there was a considerable degree of religious excitement abroad, in which the family were, most of them, involved. By some means which are not recorded the Mother, whose early leanings were decidedly towards the Methodists, was induced to attach herself to the Presbyterian communion; her example was by Hyrum her oldest living child, by Sophronia, her eldest daughter, and by Samuel Harrison Smith, at the time just turned of his twelfth year. But Joseph found that the Methodists pleased his fancy more, accordingly he resisted the power of his mother's influence and example and persistently leaned towards that sect. In the year 1838, while engaged in setting forth the details of his life, he allows that "his mind became somewhat partial to the Methodist sect, and he felt some desire to be united with them (P.G.P., p.57). Mr. Tucker affirms that he joined as a probationer of the Methodists, but soon withdrew (Origin and Progress, p.13). It is not too much to claim that throughout his life he did not quite succeed in outgrowing these early Methodist preferences. There will be more than one occasion to refer to their effect upon his teachings and conduct in the subsequent portion of this history. |
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When the newspapers are solicitous of patronage from the advertising public they will often set forward the maxim that "there is nothing pays like printer's ink." This maxim was supported by the experience of Mr. Smith. Different journals had proclaimed his peculiarities so industriously that the accounts they supplied must have reached the eye of Mr. Rigdon at Pittsburgh. At this moment indeed, his eye was broad awake for notices of a genius like the youthful prodigy in New York. Rigdon had succeeded in acquiring possession of Spaulding's Book of Mormon about the first of January 1823, at which date the firm of Patterson and Lambdin was caught in the wreck of bankruptcy. It was natural that he should now engage his mind upon the evolution of a plan by means of which the most effective use could be made of the work. Several years would pass by before the labor of adapting it to the purpose that sat next to his heart could be accomplished; but when this service was achieved he would urgently desire a channel through which it might be commended to the attention of the public in the guise of a sacred revelation. It is hardly possible that he could have anticipated that the person who should be selected to discover it would be in a situation to command a sufficient amount of money to put the work through the press. But Sidney considered that he would encounter no heavy difficulty in raising the requisite pecuniary advances for that end and in case the public could be led to believe that the manuscript had been once discovered and proclaimed as undoubtedly containing the record of divine communications to mankind. It was imperative, however, that the book as it left his own hands should first be transcribed. If it were exhibited, especially in Ohio or in Pennsylvania with large sections of it composed in his hand-writing there was reason to fear that some of those who might examine it would recognize the character by which circumstance it was plain to foresee that his name and scheme would both be blasted. Furthermore, if the person who professed to have exhumed it should give the public to understand that the foolscap upon which Messrs. Rigdon and Spaulding had composed their effusions was the same as he had found underneath the surface of the earth, the cheat would be apparent both by reason of the English characters and also by reason of the fact that the writing materiel we now employ was not in use during the presumably remote age of Nephi and the other saints of the Mormon calendar. Such, therefore, was the nature of the problem which Rigdon was called to solve; he must find a person who would not only be willing to discover the Book of Mormon, but would also have it in his power to cause it to be copied into another hand. It is questionable whether he would have permitted any portion of his own chirography to go before the eye of a printer who resided at even so remote a distance as Palmyra, N.Y. Detection would be destruction, and he must avoid it by all the means at his disposal. Accordingly it will appear farther on that as soon as Oliver Cowdery had finished transcribing the last word of his manuscript in 1829, it was forthwith delivered into the hand of the angel, and was never seen again. Speaking of the fabulous "plates," Joseph Smith says: "According to arrangements the messenger called for them; I delivered them up to him and he has them in his charge until this day, being the 2nd day of May 1838." (P.G.P., pp.67-8). The arrangements here alluded to for the return of the original document to the hand of Rigdon were doubtless precise and binding, and he was on the ground at the earliest moment when it was possible for him to reclaim it. Joseph Smith was the master of a greater amount of vigor than Mr. Rigdon could have anticipated that such a specimen of humanity should display; nay he was more vigorous than was any way agreeable to Sidney. He not only was able to hoodwink Martin Harris into the preposterous measure of paying the printer, and by that means to bring forward the Book of Mormon without imposing a particle of that kind of labor and sacrifice upon his principal, but he also was agile enough, in consequence of this achievement and of his remarkable capacity in other regards, himself to vault into the position of leadership, forcing the man who really was at the head of the movement to assume the second position. This posture of affairs was galling to Rigdon's vanity, and to his relish for supremacy, but Joseph had fairly deserved his advantage, and he was always skillful enough to assert it. In describing a passage at arms that befell between them in Missouri, many years after the events that transpired in New York, an old Mormon leader adds: "After that, Rigdon never countermanded the orders of the Prophet to my knowledge -- he knew who was boss". (Life and Confessions of John D. Lee, St. Louis 1877, p.78). Could Sidney have been made aware that he was now engaged in choosing a master instead of a tool there is reason to suspect that he would have looked elsewhere for an agent to help on his project, leaving Joseph to continue the amusement of treasure-seeking among his numerous dupes about Manchester and South Bainbridge. The session of the Redstone Association during the first days of September 1823 would be an occasion of special interest to Rigdon. The church in Pittsburgh over which he then presided, by his arts and efforts to betray it into the power of Mr. Campbell, had been divided into factions. It was likely that he had already procured the excommunication of the party which resisted his own and Mr. Campbell's wiles. The battle would again be joined and waged at the Association, and he naturally solicitous about the result. The conflict was more interesting than he anticipated. The favor of the body was clearly distracted towards his adversaries, as was to be expected; but in addition to this calamity the attention of the body was fixed upon the machinations of Mr. Campbell himself, whether in Pittsburgh or elsewhere, and that gentleman was compelled to resort to flight in order to avoid something worse (Richardson, Memoirs of A. Campbell II, pp.68-70). After the adjournment of the Association Mr. Rigdon would make his way towards the northern part of New York with a view to cultivate the acquaintance of Joseph Smith, Jr. His first interview with that person is described as having occurred on the night of the 21st and the day of the 22nd of September 1823. When about the year 1838 Joseph sat down to compose his Autobiography, his brilliant imagination transfigured Sidney into an angel called Nephi, who came down through the ceiling that night in a halo of celestial light. All of the earlier copies of the Autobiography gave this appearance to Nephi, but in the recent editions the honor has been transferred to Moroni. Either designation would suit Mr. Rigdon equally well; he had composed "the small plates of Nephi" as well as the Book of Moroni, and it was not singular that upon occasion each of these names should be applied to him. The angel Nephi was likely also visible to the other members of the Smith household. Lucy Smith informed her neighbor, Mrs. Abigail Harris that "she thought he must be a Quaker, as he was dressed very plainly (Howe, p. 253). When she came to the task of composing the "Biographical Sketches" of her son she merely describes the public accession of Rigdon to the movement, and passes over in silence the fact that he was ever before under her roof (p. 179). Discarding the pictorial covering in which the prophet has shrouded his first contact with the angel Nephi (Moroni), it is likely that Sidney and Joseph took a bed together in the hovel of the family and almost throughout the night of the 21st of September, the former kept his associate awake describing the details of his plan and the part which Mr. Smith was expected to bear in it. A complete understanding would be reached respecting even the minutiae of it so far as these could be calculated in advance. The next day the angel Nephi found his way southward with all convenient speed, since he had an engagement to accompany Alexander Campbell to a religious jousting at Washington, Ky., which was appointed to be opened on the 14th of October. Most of the subsequent communications between Rigdon and his colleague in New York, it may be presumed, were transacted by epistolary communication until the month of September 1827, when Sidney would find it essential to come in person and deliver his now modified Book of Mormon. Of course the position is not advanced that it was impossible that Rigdon should have resorted to Manchester during the progress of the four years that intervened; it is only claimed that everything that was meanwhile undertaken in this interest could have been effected by the aid of epistolary correspondence. |
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In his Autobiography Joseph remarks: "I soon found out the reason why I had received such strict charges to keep safe the plates, and why it was that the messenger had said that when I had done what was required at my hands he would call for them; for no sooner was it known that I had them, than the most strenuous exertions were used to get them from me; every stratagem that could be invented was resorted to for that purpose; the persecution became more bitter and severe than before, and multitudes were continually on the alert to get them from me if possible; but by the wisdom of God they remained safe in my hands" (P.G.P, p. 67). The nature of this persecution will be apparent, when it is brought to mind that the Smiths -- and none of them more decidedly than Joseph -- were a thriftless unkempt tribe who at all times were much involved in debt (Howe, p. 260). When therefore the legion of creditors of himself and other members of the family were given to understand that Joseph had succeeded in procuring a generous amount of the precious metal, the possibility was forthwith apparent of recovering upon a number of old executions which had been returned by officers appointed to effect distraint with the notification that no property could be found for the purpose. This was one of the natural results of the gushing announcements regarding "Plates of Gold" which the family, it is conceivable, had not previously taken into the account. Early perceiving that too much had been fabled in this direction, and fearing that a constable armed with a search warrant might come upon the spot where he had bestowed the manuscript and obtain possession of it, Joseph is said to have given out, "that he had not got any such book, nor never had such an one" (Howe, p. 246). The cupidity of a number of his neighbors was also excited, a phenomenon which has commonly accompanied any important discovery of the precious metals, whether in New York or elsewhere in the world. Willard Chase was particularly disturbed by discontent. Joseph had retained the seer-stone in his keeping, since the year 1825 and Mr. Chase believed that the gold, which he little doubted Joseph had obtained, was procured by that instrument. Indeed he does not hesitate to declare that young Smith confessed in his hearing that he was indebted that way: "He then observed that if it had not been for that stone (which he acknowledged belonged to me), he would not have obtained the book." (Howe, p. 246). Whether Smith ever yielded this point is highly problematical; the angel Rigdon stood him in the stead of this valued instrument, in such concerns as had any reference to the manuscript. But Chase was nevertheless firmly assured that the discovery had been accomplished through the agency of his wonderful stone, and to a corresponding degree he was clear and intense in the persuasion that it was only fair that Joseph should divide the proceeds. It was not long, therefore, until he had collected a body of men, and reinforced their strength by the presence and arts of a conjurer, who were intent upon capturing the "plates" in the teeth of opposition. (Joseph Smith, the Prophet, p. 109). His lieutenant, and the second ringleader in this enterprise, was another close neighbor whom Lucy Smith designates by the Christian name alone, namely "Sam." This person is suspected to be none other than Mr. Samuel T. Lawrence, who it has been shown also had a serious grievance to nurse against young Smith. Joseph was apprised of the gathering of this mob through the exertions of his wife, who rode to Macedon, where he was engaged in opening a well, with the design of earning by the success a sufficient amount of money to pay for the construction of a chest with a lock and key. Returning with her in much haste to his father's house, he set out just after nightfall to reach the spot where he had left the manuscript in the forest. Chase and his party were on the alert; they waylaid him and came near accomplishing their object. After that danger had been evaded, Hyrum Smith, who was married about a year previously and had set up at housekeeping not far away, was induced to favor his brother with the loan of a chest which he had in the family, perhaps as a portion of his wife's dowry. (Joseph Smith, the Prophet, pp. 108-112). Lucy Smith supplies an account of two other efforts that were made by mobs of greater or smaller proportions to capture the "Gold Bible" from her son. In the last of these the movements of the party were directed by a rival of Joseph's; Miss Chase, a sister of Willard's, had become an adept in the use of a piece of green glass, as related on a former page, and came perilously near to success in pointing out the precise spot where the manuscript had been hidden (Joseph Smith, the Prophet, p. 115). Young Smith was likewise exposed to an annoyance from the innocent curiosity of his neighbors. For example, Pomeroy Tucker mentions an escapade that was enacted by a couple of these (William T. Hussey and Azel Mandr[ake]), (Origin and Progress, pp. 31-2). He relates, "They were notorious wags, end intimately acquainted with Smith. They called at his residence, and strongly importuned him for an inspection of the golden book, offering to take upon themselves the risk of the death penalty denounced. Of course the request could not be complied with; but they were permitted to go to the chest with its owner, and see where the thing was, and observe its shape and size, concealed under a thick canvas. Smith with his accustomed solemnity of demeanor, positively persisting in his refusal to uncover it; Hussey became impetuous, and suiting his action to his word, ejaculated, 'Egad, I'll see the critter, live or die.' And stripping off the cover a large tile brick was exhibited. But Smith's fertile imagination was equal to the emergency. He claimed that his friends had been sold by a trick of his own; and 'treating' them with the customary whiskey hospitalities, the affair ended in good nature." This same Mr. Hussey has been set in the pillory by Lucy Smith as the leader of a mob who a few years later had collected at a point between the family residence and the town of Palmyra in order to play a vicious prank upon her son, but his courage was displayed so brilliantly in the affair that it fell out entirely to the discomfiture and ridicule of his enemies (Joseph Smith, p.150). It is possible that the incident here given from Tucker might be the basis of the shining exploit related with so much satisfaction by the mother of Smith. After a survey of all the facts that are now accessible it must be allowed that during the period which elapsed between September and December of the year 1827, though Joseph was exposed to a degree of annoyance, there was nothing in it [at] all which remotely resembles a religious persecution, Nevertheless, the whole tribe of the Smiths were eagerly looking out for the honors of martyrdom, and it was not singular that they should interpret in this light the disturbances that then befell their repose. In his Autobiography, Mr. Smith represents that "the persecution became so intolerable, that he was under the necessity of leaving Manchester, and going with his wife to Susquehanna county in the State of Pennsylvania." (P.G.P. p.63). A more rational, and to appearance every way trustworthy explanation of the cause which led to the removal of Smith to Pennsylvania in the month of December 1827 is given by the testimony of Peter Ingersoll in the volume of Mr. Howe. After the elopement of his daughter in January 1827, Isaac Hale says, Emma wrote to me inquiring whether she could take her property, consisting of clothing, furniture, cows, etc. I replied that her property was safe and at her disposal. In a short time they returned, bringing with them a Peter Ingersoll, and subsequently came to the conclusion that they would move out, and reside in a place near my residence (Howe, p. 263). Peter Ingersoll describes the visit to which Mr. Hale here alludes, in the following terms: In the month of August 1827, I was hired by Joseph Smith, Jr. to go to Pennsylvania, to move his wife's household furniture up to Manchester, where his wife then was. When we arrived at Mr. Hale's in Harmony, Penn., from which place he had taken his wife, a scene presented itself, truly affecting. pretensions to that respect were all false. He then promised to give up his old habits of digging for money, and looking into stones. Mr. Hale told Joseph if he would move to Pennsylvania and work for a living, he would assist him in getting into business. Joseph acceded to this proposition. I then returned with Joseph and his wife to Manchester..." Joseph told me on his return, that he intended to keep the promise which he had made to his father-in-law; but said he, it will be hard for me for they will all oppose, as they want me to look in the stone for them to dig money; and in fact it was as he predicted. They urged him day after day, to resume his old practice of looking in the stone. He seemed much perplexed as to the course he should pursue. In this dilemma he made me his confidant, and told me what daily transpired in the family of the Smiths" (Howe, pp. 234-235). It will appear from the above that the marriage of young Smith upon which Mr. Rigdon had set so many hopes came within a little of defeating the scheme which the couple had been nursing for the last four years. Joseph had formed an alliance above his station; he was pleased with the fortune which made him the son-in-law of a man of good estate and of respectability, and was seriously disposed for a season to break with his past history and associates and to become a decent gentleman. But after the return from Harmony in the month of August 1827 only a few weeks would intervene until Mr. Rigdon was expected upon the scene to deliver the manuscript which he had so long promised, and considering the entreaties and the influence of his family, Joseph must have found it highly difficult to refuse the treasure. Sidney on his part would not wish to hear of any such thing as a reconsideration; the young man was therefore forced into a situation which had meanwhile become in a sort distasteful to his feelings. Moreover it would be urged that it was entirely possible for him to keep his promise to Mr. Hale, even though he should consent to discover and to bring forth the "Golden Bible." The promise had no reference to any other specification than the disuse of the seer-stone; and there was no occasion whatever for the exhibition of that instrument in this business. In few words, Mr. Rigdon must have been so earnest in his persuasions and was supported in them so industriously by the other members of the Smith family, that the virtuous resolutions of the young man were quite broken down, and he consented to the arrangement. The above declaration of Ingersoll also demonstrates that Smith was preparing to fix his residence in Pennsylvania even before the date when he was placed in charge of the manuscript, and that he would have removed thither in case there had been no kind of annoyances consequent upon his decision to keep his contract to become a fellow laborer with Rigdon in the business of bringing forth the "fullness of the gospel." He had been too long leading the miserable life of a gypsy to permit the opportunity that was kindly offered by Mr. Hale to enter upon a comfortable property and a worthy social station, to pass by unimproved. Consequently, it must be maintained that it was not religious persecution, but on the contrary, a valued stroke of good fortune, which carried Mr. Smith to Pennsylvania. In preparation for the journey young Smith esteemed it was necessary to provide with especial concern for the manuscript. It was placed in a box, which when it was exhibited to Mr. Hale at the end of the journey, he says "had to all appearances, been used as a glass box of the common window glass" (Howe, p. 264). Lucy Smith adds that he nailed up the "plates" in this box, and then put it into a strong cask; and after filling the cask with beans, headed it up again (Joseph Smith, p. 120). Orson Pratt has related an incident that fell out on the way to Harmony. He says that Joseph "had not gone far before he was overtaken by an officer with a search warrant, who flattered himself with the idea that he should surely obtain the plates; after searching very diligently he was sadly disappointed at not finding them. Mr. Smith then drove on, but before he got to his journey's end he was again overtaken by an officer on the same business, and after ransacking the wagon very carefully, he went his way as much chagrined as the first, at not being able to discover the object of his research" (Remarkable Visions, p. 6). It was perfectly natural that many citizens to whom Joseph was indebted for amounts which were of considerable importance to them, should be unwilling to permit him to slip away with a large amount of gold, such as common fame gave him the credit of having in possession, without making an honest effort to collect the money that was justly due them. No blame can attach to them for resorting to the use of a search warrant under these conditions. Lucy Smith, after her usual fashion magnifies these harmless and peaceful occurrences into a mob of fifty men (Joseph Smith, p. 120). True to his promise, upon his arrival at Harmony in December 1827, Mr. Hale provided Joseph with a place of residence. Emma Smith affirms that her husband purchased the place of her eldest brother Jesse Hale off her father's farm (Tullidge, Joseph Smith, the Prophet, p. 79): but this claim sounds wholly preposterous. Joseph was not then in a situation to buy even so much as his dinner. He had been able to affect his removal to Pennsylvania, only by means of the simplicity of Martin Harris in presenting him the sum of fifty dollars to pay his expenses (Howe, p. 246); and besides, it is not to be conceived that he would make an effort to purchase a landed estate which he anticipated (he would) in the progress of events come to receive by inheritance. It seems more reasonable to suppose that Jesse Hale, who who had built a residence on a portion of his father's domains, was now deceased or had removed elsewhere, and that the old gentleman, eager to aid his daughter, permitted her to enter this domocile until further arrangements might be effected. They retained the house of Jesse Hale until the Book of Mormon was issued in the spring of the year 1830. |
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When young Smith went. to request Willard Chase to supply a chest for the purpose of securing the "plates" he expected soon to receive, he told him that he was "commanded to keep the book two years without letting it come to the eye of any one but himself" (Howe, p. 245). The casual statement here given forth, sheds an amount of light upon the nature of the plan(s) which had been elaborated for bringing the work before the public. The manuscript was then considered as something quite too sacred to be connected in any way with the seer-stone. No idea of that sort entered the mind of Joseph until other resources upon which he had firmly fixed his thoughts had come to naught. Another allusion to his maiden scheme may be seen in the testimony of Mr. Isaac Hale. Referring to the advent of the young man at Harmony, and the box of "plates" which he had brought, Hale adds: "I inquired of Joseph Smith, Jr., who was to be the first who would be allowed to see the Book of Plates? He said it was a young child" (Howe, p. 264). A third allusion is made to this first plan in the evidence of Sophia Lewis. She states that she heard Smith say "the Book of Plates could not be opened under penalty of death, by any other person but his (Smith's) firstborn child, which was to be a male" (Howe, p. 269). The next tidings of the young child and of Joseph's scheme respecting him is conveyed by Martin Harris. For a considerable period prior to the discovery of the boasted treasure Mr. Harris had been mentioned in the character of a prominent member of the "Gold Bible Company" (Howe, p. 251 & 255). He had already invested fifty dollars to purchase for young Smith a suit of black clothes, and fifty dollars more to assist his removal to Pennsylvania, besides perhaps many other smaller sums of which no record has been retained. It was a distinguished reward for Martin, when Joseph was at last able to announce that he had been entrusted with the manuscript. Then for the first time it was in his power to look into the faces of his family and of his more respectable neighbors, with a sort of assurance that he was not as they represented the silly victim of a charlatan, but that in the teeth of their sneers there was after all a basis of fact underneath the project. Even his wife, Lucy Harris, who hitherto had the honor to stand in opposition, was disposed to listen as well as her deafness would allow. If there was really any profit in the speculation, she was eager to he a shareholder. Lucy Smith declares that Mrs. Harris came with her husband to visit Joseph, and the pair passed a night together in the hovel of the Smiths. As an earnest of what might follow in case a witness was given to her of the actual existence of the "plates," Mrs. Harris then left in the hands of young Smith the sum of twenty-eight dollars, which she had received as a dying gift from her mother (Joseph Smith, the Prophet, p. 119). When in the month of December 1827 at the expense of Harris, young Smith accomplished his removal to the residence of his wife's father in Pennsylvania, Martin was naturally in a high state of concern regarding the fortune of his venture and the promotion of his interests in the wonderful "plates." It was therefore agreed that he should speedily follow Joseph, that he might look after his business in person. The interval was employed by Joseph in concocting a series of pretended transcripts drawn from the pretended hieroglyphics on the "plates." Having failed to obtain a sight of the "plates" when they first appeared at Manchester, Mrs. Harris, like the sensible matter of fact person that she was, repented the twenty-eight dollars which she is reported to have invested in the speculation, and strove to prevent her husband from venturing any portion of his own shekels that way. It was a part of her plan to keep him at home and to disappoint his intention of visiting Pennsylvania in February 1828; or if he was bent upon executing his intention, she conceived it would be safer that she should bear him company. Martin, however, was shrewd enough to circumvent her cares, by departing suddenly and without her knowledge, in the much more agreeable company of Mr. Hyrum Smith (Joseph Smith, the Prophet, pp. 120-131). Arrived at the house of Joseph, Harris was made fully acquainted with the method in which he proposed to proceed with the translation. His report of the matter is thus detailed by an eyewitness: "In the Spring of 1829" (an error; it was the month of February 1828) "Harris went to Pennsylvania, and on his return to Palmyra, reported that the Prophet's wife, in the month of June following would be delivered of a male child that would be able when two years old to translate the Gold Bible. Then, said he, you will see Joseph Smith, Jr. walking through the streets of Palmyra, with a Gold Bible under his arm, and having a gold breastplate on, and a gold sword hanging by his side. This, however, by the by, proved false" (Howe, pp. 246-7). By means of the above showing, it will be clear that the earliest provision was to the effect that Smith should quietly seat himself at the residence and transcribe the voluminous document of Rigdon according to contract, but should all the while give the public to understand that he was only setting down the words one by one at the inspired dictation of an infant that had been miraculously endowed with sight and power" to decipher the characters of the "Reformed Egyptian language" and to render them into a language which as yet itself had not acquired the ability to control. Everything considered, this was by no means an ill conceit. The vulgar people, whom alone he could expect to reach, are commonly predisposed to feel a superstitious regard for the divinity they are apt to conceive communicates with young children. In case Rigdon had a hand in suggesting this provision, it is possible the case of the youthful prophet Samuel was present in his thoughts. Joseph was so much delighted with the plan, that he must have often spoken of it in the circle of his associates at Harmony. Joshua M'Kune affirms that "Joseph Smith, Jr. told him that Smith's firstborn child was to translate the characters and hieroglyphics upon the plates into our language" (Howe, p. 267). Meanwhile Martin Harris having duly obtained his budget of specimens, set forward with the most hopeful spirits in the world to astonish the learned with a sight of the singular find. The first person there is any record of his having consulted was the Rev. John A. Clark, D.D, rector of the Episcopal Church of Palmyra. At a subsequent season Dr. Clark set down the substance of his reminiscences, in the Episcopal Recorder newspaper of Philadelphia. It is clear from his relation, that the transcripts were brought forward in his presence by Mr. Harris, who during the same interview had much to communicate regarding the destiny and service of Smith's first-born child (Gleanings by the Way, By Rev. John A. Clark, D.D., Philadelphia 1842, pp. 222-229). Lucy Smith declares that Martin's wife, through the co-operation of a certain Mr. Dikes of Palmyra, was able to gain possession of the [pretended] hieroglyphics for a sufficient length of time to secure a copy of them, in which service Dikes was so efficient that Mrs. Harris rewarded him with the hand of her daughter, which hitherto she had resolutely denied him. It would be a discovery of considerable interest and of some importance if this copy or any other that might have been retained could be produced for the purpose of comparing it with the specimens that are found published in many of the works relating to the subject. These first appeared in "The Prophet," a Mormon journal edited by Elder Samuel Brannan and printed in New York some time prior to the death of Smith; and again in the Millennial Star for August 13th, 1853. They agree ill enough with the description of them given from memory by Professor Anthon in the year 1834 (Remy and Brenchley, volume II, p. 532 and Howe, pp. 271-2). As the characters appeared to Professor Anthon, they stood in perpendicular columns "like the Chinese mode of writing," and the whole ended in a rude representation of the Mexican zodiac. The writing which the Mormons have pretended was a delineation of the original transcript, is set down in horizontal columns, and there is nothing in it which answers to the zodiac. Not content with the adverse judgment of the Rev. Dr. Clark, Mr. Harris took his specimens and his journey to the city of New York, where they were submitted to the examination of the Hon. Luther Bradish (Tucker, Origin and Progress, p. 42), Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell and Prof. Charles Anthon. None of these gentlemen, nor any other authority who had the honor to be consulted has left behind any record of the transaction except the Rev. Mr. Clark and Professor Anthon. The latter became responsible for two separate accounts which unhappily do not agree in every detail (Letter to E. D. Howe and letter to Rev. T. W. Coit of New Rochelle, New York. The former is given in Howe, pp. 270-273, and the latter may be seen in Bennett's History of the Saints, p. 112, and in Clark's Gleanings by the Way, pp. 232-238). The only point of important difference between these two reports relates to the question whether Professor Anthon allowed himself to furnish Harris a written certificate. In the communication to Mr. Howe, dated February 17, 1834, he says that the person who interviewed him "requested an opinion from me in writing, which of course I declined giving," while in the letter to Mr. Coit, dated April 3, 1841, he says "that he save his opinion in writing to this man, that the mark on the paper appeared to be merely an imitation of various alphabetic characters and had no meaning at all, connected with them." As might be anticipated the account which Mr. Smith supplies of the occurrence differs in some things from both of these. Citing at least professedly, the language of Harris as verbally reported to him, Joseph deposeth as follows: I (Harris) went to the City of New York, and presented the characters which had been translated, with the translation thereof to Professor Anthon, a gentleman celebrated for his literary attainments. Professor Anthon stated that the translation was correct, more so than any he had before seen translated from the Egyptian. I then showed him those which were not yet translated, and he said they were Egyptian, Chaldaic, Assyric and Arabic, and he said that they were the true characters. He gave me a certificate, certifying to the people of Palmyra that they were true characters, and that the translation of such of them as had been translated was also correct. I took the certificate and put it into my pocket, and was just leaving the house, when Mr. Anthon called me back, and asked me how the young man found out that there were gold plates in the place where he found them. I answered that an angel of God had revealed it unto him.
"The best laid schemes o' mice and men Joseph was destined to experience the sorest disappointment both in the character of translator and of expectant parent. The child upon whose life and assistance he had fixed so many hopes was appointed to a miscarriage. Sophia Lewis testifies: I was present at the birth of this child, and it was still-born, and very much deformed (Howe, p. 269). Joshua M'Kune also declares, this child was not permitted to live, to verify the prediction relative to his part in the work of translating the "plates" (Howe, pp. 267-8). Returned from his visit of exploration in New York City, Martin would be unable to find rest until he had gone to Pennsylvania, that he might report to Smith the result of his conferences with the "learned." This time Mrs. Harris was on the alert and determined to prevent her husband from performing the journey alone. The notion had come into her head that Joseph had laid a scheme to become the owner of her husband's comfortable property, and she was inclined to suspect that he would be fully equal to the task of hoodwinking Martin. If the worst of her fears should be fulfilled, she was solicitous to make sure of her dowry rights before the estate which she had industriously contributed her share to amass should be foolishly compromised by the [unadvised] engagements of her husband. Evidently it was a very unwelcome arrangement for Mr. Harris to be burdened with the presence of his spouse; but she had set her purpose to perform the journey, and there was no choice but. submission to her demands. Mrs. Harris intended to push Joseph to the wall, and compel him either to exhibit the "plates" or to confess that he did not have them. If she could demonstrate to the satisfaction of Mr. Harris that the whole business was a base imposture, he might be easily released from the toils which had been placed about him. Wherever on the way her husband was minded to draw forth his transcripts from the "plates," she was sure to meet the display by calling attention to her own copy of the document, for the purpose of proving that Smith did not. enjoy a monopoly either of divine commerce or of Egyptian learning (Joseph Smith, p. 122). Lucy Smith adds that "As soon as Mrs. Harris arrived at Joseph's she informed him that her object in coming was to see the plates, and that she would never leave until she had accomplished it. Accordingly, without delay she commenced ransacking every nook and corner about the house -- chests, trunks, cupboards &c.: consequently, Joseph was under the necessity of removing both the breastplate and the record from the house and secreting them elsewhere. Not finding them she concluded that Joseph had buried them, and the next. day she commenced searching out of doors, which she continued to do until about two o'clock P.M.... The woman was so perplexed and disappointed in all her undertaking, that she left the house and took lodging with a near neighbor... While this woman remained in the neighborhood, she did all that lay in her power to injure Joseph in the estimation of his neighbors -- telling them that he was a grand impostor, and that by his specious pretensions he had seduced her husband into the belief that he (Joseph Smith) was some great one, merely through a design upon her husband's property." (Joseph Smith, pp. 122-3). Following closely upon the heels of his bereavement in the matter of his firstborn child this visit of Mrs. Harris must have been a painful trial to young Smith. His spirits were nearly crushed by that blow. The better element in his composition was about to declare itself, causing him to turn away from Rigdon and his project. Evident signs of this condition of his temper may be perceived in a remark which at this juncture he uttered to his brother-in-law, Mr. Alva Hale, to the effect that "he was deceived himself, but did not intend to deceive others" (Howe, p. 268). On another occasion, addressing himself to Mr. Levi Lewis, a relative of his wife's, Smith said "With regard to the plates, God had deceived him" (Howe, p. 269). This statement referred to the scheme in which the agency of his young child was expected to be employed as a pretext. It was a common topic of [observation] in the circle to which he belonged; in a conversation with the Rev. Nathaniel C. Lewis, Smith alluded to it once more in excuse for the fact that he had not brought forward the enterprise with greater rapidity (Howe, p. 269). Under favor of the mournful [casualty] and of the accompanying depression of Joseph, the Hale family put forth all their influence and exertions to induce him to break off his connection with the entire project. Their wishes were rewarded with a fair degree of success. His wife had now joined her solicitations to those of her kindred, and of that section of the community who were concerned for the prosperity of the recently married pair. His resolution for the time being was quite broken down; as Martin Harris reports, "Joseph had given it up." Possibly it was with reference to this adverse conclusion on his part that young Smith made the visit to the Rev. Mr. Lewis of which that gentleman gives mention in the following language: "At one time he came to my house and asked my advice whether he should proceed to translate the Book of Plates or not. He said that God had commanded him to translate it, but he was afraid of the people" (Howe, p. 266). The opportune appearance of Harris upon the scene put a speedy end to all of these doubts and virtuous promptings. Martin in later years was in the custom of extolling the value of the service which he was permitted to accomplish by his presence immediately after the death of the young child, Ezra Booth relates the following version of his conversation: "Joseph Smith, Jr., Sidney Rigdon, Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris, may be considered as the principals in this work; and let Martin Harris tell the story, and he is the most conspicuous of the four. He informed me that he went to the place where Joseph resided, and Joseph had given it up, on account of the opposition of his wife and others; but he told Joseph 'I have not come down here for nothing, and we will go on with it'" (Howe, pp. 182-3). The main outlines of this version are believed to be entirely correct. When Joseph would plead that God had deceived him in the matter of the young child, and declare his intention [of refusing] to lend his assistance any further, Martin's thoughts would be fixed upon the value in sterling coin of the golden plates which he assuredly believed his young friend had discovered, and he could not make friends with the notion of losing so much of precious [lucre] merely for the behoof of an infant which had not rightly come into the world. He remind[ed] Smith that he had already invested a considerable sum in the venture and that he had a pecuniary right to insist that it be carried forward at least to such a point as to render him financially whole. Joseph was unable to resist the force of these considerations. Consequently after the fortnight was concluded in which it pleased Mrs. Harris to remain in the vicinity it was arranged to get quit of her presence and persecutions by his returning with her to Palmyra. If Lucy Harris fancied she had now gained a triumph and delivered her lord from the snare of the fowler, she was much mistaken. No sooner had he set her down before her hearthstone, but he returned post-haste to Pennsylvania, in order to continue the labor of assisting Joseph which he had already begun while his wrathful spouse was pouring out her fury in the ears of the people of Harmony (Joseph Smith, the Prophet, p. 124). |
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Mr. Rigdon was the owner of a vulgar literalistic conceit regarding the continued existence of the apostle John on the earth, which he had contrived without any right permission to borrow from the words directed by our Savior to the beloved disciple as found recorded in John 21:21-23. It would have been too great a stretch of self denial for him to avoid airing this notion in the Book of Mormon. He makes an opportunity for that business in the course of a prophecy in which Nephi is supposed accurately to describe the condition of the world in the year 1830, and the rising up of the true church. In his vision of these times and things Nephi gets his attention directed to a very extraordinary phenomenon as follows: And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, saying, Look! And I looked and beheld a man, and he was dressed in a white robe; and the angel said to me, behold one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb... And Nephi, heard and bear record that the name of the apostle of the Lamb was John, according to the word of the angel" (1 Nephi 14:10-27). The imagination of Smith was naturally much excited by what he found here it was exactly vulgar enough for his taste. He turned to the passage in the last chapter of the gospel according to John and concluded that it was easily possible to improve upon the notion of Rigdon. The result was a curious creation enough in the form of a direct revelation given to Smith and Cowdery, which was yet represented to have been composed by the apostle John and written upon parchment. The title of the effusion is worth noting in full: "Revelation given to Joseph Smith, Jun. and Oliver Cowdery, in Harmony, Pennsylvania, April 1829, when they desired to know whether John the beloved disciple, tarried on earth. Translated from parchment, written and hid up by himself" (D.&C., Sect. 7). The parchment thus fortunately recovered and deciphered, reveals the astounding fact that not only John, but also Peter and James had contrived to escape the touch of death; the whole triumvirate were still existing in the flesh, and occupied in deeds of righteousness somewhere about the earth. Here was indeed a strong advance upon the simplicity of Mr. Rigdon. Is it possible to suggest a feasible explanation of the fresh conceit of Joseph? The most reasonable suggestion in this connection would point to the passage at 1 John 5:8, which refers to the fact that "there are three that bear witness in earth." No doubt this explanation would inflict a colossal abuse of the words of scripture, but the man who never could persuade himself to adopt the conclusion that Elias and Elijah were one and the same person was capable of almost any stretch of exegesis. It is therefore not unfair to presume that the word regarding the three that bear witness in earth was floating somewhere about in Joseph's brain. To correspond with the three witnesses whom he had thus adroitly created from the circle of Christ's apostles, Mr. Smith was afterwards good enough to provide three others from the ranks of the Nephite church for the special secret service and consolation of that body of Christians (3 Nephi ch. 23). The above revelation is further noteworthy as being the last experiment that Mr. Smith ever made with parchment; it was also the first. When his hand became practiced in such matters he never deigned to accommodate himself with anything below a direct call upon the Deity in the holiest place, if a revelation was wanted, whether regarding things past, present or to come. It is only fair to add that Mr. Smith later found a great many occasions for the assistance of Peter, James and John, whom he had thus rescued from their graves and given an indefinite lease upon temporal existence. A second incident of this period befell when Mr. Cowdery had completed the labor of re-transcribing the Book of Lehi. It has already been shown how the copy of this book of Lehi, which Mr. Harris had made, was abstracted from his drawers at Palmyra, N.Y. Joseph was at the moment clear in the conviction that Martin's conduct in that transaction could only be rightly described as treason (D.&C., 10:6). He could invent no other way to interpret the recent demand which that gentleman had advanced in favor of a further "witness." (D.&C., 5:1). The circumstance that Mr. Harris had finally turned away and refused to perform the duties of secretary any more, even after the witness of hoary prophecies had been imparted to confirm his faith, was inexplicable upon any other supposition, This judgment prevailed for many years among the Mormons, and brought to Mr. Harris a deal of cruel and unjust suspicion. Even recent and intelligent authors who might be expected to stand above the clamors of vulgar prejudice sometimes are not ashamed to describe his misfortune as an act of "perfidy" (Tullidge, Life, p. 33). That kind of weakness may be pardoned in such a garrulous grandam as Lucy Smith, but men of sense are under obligations to judge better; Martin Harris was as thorough and as honest a fool as Joseph could reasonably desire. He had many faults, but treachery was not one of them. These suspicions of Martin's faithfulness caused Mr. Smith to apprehend that at some future day the transcript of Harris would be paraded before the public for the special purpose of confounding the friends of this movement, and he decided to circumvent that scheme at the outset. His plan was to re-transcribe the book of Lehi, and to insert it into the Book of Mormon under another title, namely, as the First Book of Nephi. Mr. Smith pretended to fear that if he should produce another copy of Rigdon's Book of Lehi, that the persons who had the transcript of Martin Harris in their keeping; would alter it and thus seek to embarrass him (D.&C., 10); but the chief obstacle, it may be deduced, lay in the opposite direction. He had not been content to produce a simple transcript of the document as Rigdon placed it in his hands; everywhere he had made alterations according to his own sweet will, especially where he deemed it of consequence to insert any passage that might later be interpreted with reference to his own personal advantage and promotion above the position which be foresaw must be occupied by his colleague. In fact there is good reason to conclude that Joseph had assumed to put himself forward as a sort of second editor of the performance of Mr. Spaulding; he was by many degrees too vigorous and alert to permit this opportunity to pass unimproved. His situation was one of conspicuous advantage, and Sidney was a simpleton if he supposed that his co-laborer did not have sense and strength enough to make the most of it. If the issue that now lay before Joseph had related to nothing else than a faithful reproduction of the words of Rigdon's manuscript, he might have snapped his fingers in the faces of all his antagonists, whether real or imaginary. But Mr. Smith had an evil conscience at this point. He had caused so many alterations of the original to be inserted into the copy made by Mr. Harris, that he could not remember them all, much less the connections where they were severally inserted, and the exact words in which they were expressed. This is believed to have been the chief source of his alarm at the disaster which befell his secretary. In order to carry into execution his scheme regarding a change of name for the Book of Lehi, Joseph found himself impelled to resort once more to the benefits of direct divine communication. The revelation bearing upon this business did not come till the first days of May 1829 (D.&C,, Sect. 10). Oliver Cowdery had already completed the labor of re-transcribing the Book of Lehi, as may be seen from the allusion to the apostle John that was cited above, The revelation bearing on this matter therefore was not vouchsafed in advance, but it was rather post eventum; it served no other purpose than to explain and to justify the reason which Mr. Smith had invented and was now in the act of applying concerning a change of name of that book to the First Book of Nephi. That was a simple and effective scheme. Supposing that some evil disposed person had carefully preserved and even artfully altered the copy that had been abstracted from the keeping of Harris, it would be of no avail to present it for purposes of comparison after the publication of the Book of Mormon, for Mr. Smith had been duly careful to provide in advance an answer to cavils of that kind. The only writing in the volume with which it would show any resemblance had now been christened by a different title. Whoever wishes to investigate this procedure of Mr. Smith may find the materials for reaching a conclusion in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants 10:30-45 cf. the address "To the Reader" that was placed before the first edition of the Book of Mormon. In both of these pieces Joseph gives us obscurely to understand that after the casualty which chanced to Mr. Harris he was instructed to resort to the large plates of Nephi by which was intended the original document as it came from the hand of Spaulding before Mr. Rigdon had undertaken any abridgment of it. But on perusing the First Book of Nephi it will be found that it claims just the same to be taken from the "small plates" or the abridgment of Rigdon (1 Nephi ch. 6). In point of fact the "large plates" of Nephi, to which reference is made by Smith were represented as being sealed up; in all probability he never obtained a sight of them, since Rigdon would find it convenient to retain them in his own possession. That Smith really did nothing else than procure the re-copying of the Book of Lehi under the title of the First Book of Nephi, is likewise confirmed by the circumstance that the printed work gives the public plainly to understand that the "small plates" of Rigdon's abridgment extend from the beginning down to the close of the Book of Omni (Omni 1:30). Orson Pratt in a footnote appended to D.&C., 10:41 also confesses that Smith caused Cowdery to rewrite the "small plates of Nephi." Nevertheless the very apparent procedure of Smith's has served to confuse the minds of students to a large degree. Few of the authors who have treated this part of the subject have paused to trace him to his hiding place, and to show that no other change was effected beyond the simple alteration of titles which has been above explained. Another important incident in connection with Section 10 of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants may be seen in the circumstance that it contains the earliest mention of the Urim and Thumim. Nowhere in contemporary literature is there the slightest allusion to this famous instrument prior to the first days of May 1829 (D.&C., 10:1). Subsequent historians and reminiscences it is conceded often speak of it as having been found in the same receptacle which contained the "plates," but no strictly contemporary utterance has a word to say regarding it. The Urim and Thummim was evidently an afterthought. It is out of the question that it should have been discoursed or dreamed of at the outset. For, it will be remembered that the earliest scheme of Joseph had reference to the powers and inspirations of his firstborn child. When this resource failed he was constrained to look about for another, and the first that occurred to him was the old and favorite wizard stone. This did service throughout the period when Mr. Harris was employed in the character of secretary. Emma Smith likewise alludes to its use when she would come to render assistance to her husband after the departure of Harris (Tullidge, Life, p. 793). But the time had now arrived when it was considered a degrading idea that the divine record upon which he professed to be employed should be brought into connection with anything so earthly as the disreputable stone. Joseph had freely remarked to his brother-in-law that "this peeping was all d-----d nonsense" (Howe, p. 263), and Alva Hale, who to all appearance felt contempt for him may have been ungracious enough at times to remind him of this admission. In short, things had attained to such a pass that it was found convenient to multiply the wizard stone by two and christen it the Urim and Thummim. There can be no question that this was a very happy conceit; Mr. Smith was a genius in the way of expedients. By this change he not only got quit of the jeers of his neighbors, but also succeeded in imparting a sort of mysterious antiquity and sanctity to the instrument which had served him so well. But it remained the same old stone all the way. Willard Chase had a longing and lively interest in it as his personal property, with which upon occasion it might be possible for himself or certain members of his own family to enact marvels as well as the Smith family. Accordingly after the publication of the Book of Mormon he made a strong effort to recover his treasure: "In April 1830," says Willard, "I again asked Hyrum for the stone which he had borrowed of me; he told me I should not have it for Joseph had made use of it in translating his Bible" (Howe, p. 247). It was but a brief season after the adoption of this genial conceit, until Joseph decided to introduce the Urim and Thummim into the Book of Mormon. Oliver was laboring with energy and making decided progress; when he arrived at Mosiah 8:13, Mr. Smith thought it would be in order to drop a hint there, and he accordingly dictated something about certain "interpreters" which "no man can look into except he be commanded, lest he should look for what he ought not, and he should perish." A few chapters farther on these "interpreters" are described as "two stones which were fastened into the two rims of a bow" (Mosiah 21:13). When the scheme had been carried to this extent the (disreputable) old wizard stone became one of the select relics of Mormonism, and it would be in vain for Willard Chase to plead his rights in the premises. Joseph Smith had been invited to settle himself in Pennsylvania in December 1827 on the faith of a promise that he made to Mr. Isaac Hale to the effect that he would "give up his old habits of digging for money and looking into stones" (Howe, p. 235). His respected father-in-law understood him to go even farther; he says "Smith stated to me that he had given up what he called 'glass-looking,' and that he expected to work hard for a living, and was willing to do so" (Howe p. 264). But the description that has been given above regarding his occupations since the date of his establishment at Harmony will show that he had kept this promise very ill. To be sure there were no further expeditions to search of fabulous mines of silver or gold, but Mr. Smith continued to employ his wizard stone, and if possible, he was accomplishing less towards the support of his family than he had been accustomed to perform in Manchester. It is plain that Mr. Hale must have had small patience left for his benefit; the crops of 1828 had teen virtually lost through the engagement with Mr. Harris from the middle of April to the middle of June of that year; and now the crops of 1829 were going the same way through the closer engagement with Oliver Cowdery. It would be natural for Mr. Hale to reflect that if Smith had come down to want, the result was due to his own indolence. He would therefore be little inclined to give additional assistance to his worthless and unreliable son-in-law. The resources which Oliver Cowdery had brought from his school in Manchester would be speedily exhausted by the drafts which Joseph was compelled to make upon them; it was a daily pressing inquiry by what means they should obtain food and raiment until the labor of transcribing might be completed. There was no lack at all of inspiration and revelation, but good coined money was exceedingly hard to come by. The first resource to which young Smith applied himself was the exchequer of the Knight family at Colesville. Joseph Knight, Sr. who had taken such a lively interest in the "plates" as to traverse the breadth of the State of New York to be present when they were delivered into the hands of Smith in September 1827, had not yet escaped from the [coils] of his charmer. The "honest old Dutchman" Mr. Josiah Stowel had also thrown away a deal of money in the fabled gold mine at Harmony, and he had not yet quite come to his senses. Joseph was able to procure a horse from him in return for his own note of hand which there is every reason to believe was never paid. (Tullidge pp. 24-5). Mr. Jonathan Thompson was likewise hoodwinked to the extent of a yoke of oxen (Tullidge, p. 85). Both of the above were valuable though unwilling contributions to the expenses of the Book of Mormon; but neither Stowel nor Thompson could be induced to become members of the Mormon community. On the contrary, Joseph Knight and his family later became devoted adherents of the new church and followed the fortunes of the prophet to the ends of the earth. Polly Knight, the wife of Joseph Knight, Sr., was dragged away to Missouri, where she died shortly after her arrival in the month of August 1831, greatly to the surprise of the faithful who had a firm conviction that death should never visit that favored shore. Mr. Smith was present at the funeral (Tullidge, Life, p. 126). Smith translates the appeal he must have made to Joseph Knight, Sr., into the following rather decent form: About the same time came an old gentleman to visit us, of whose name I wish to make honorable mention -- Mr. Joseph Knight, sen., of Colesville, Broome county, N. Y., who having heard of the manner in which we were occupying our time, very kindly and considerately brought us a quantity of provisions, in order that we might not be interrupted in the work of translation by the want of the necessaries of life; and I would just mention here as in duty bound, that he several times brought us supplies (a distance of at least thirty miles) which enabled us to continue the work, which otherwise we must have relinquished for a season" (Tullidge, Life, p. 67). But the aid which Knight of Colesville was in a situation to extend did reach as far as the necessities of his beneficiaries. The next effort was directed towards the Whitmer family, who resided about 25 miles from Manchester, N.Y., in the adjoining county of Seneca. Lucy Smith claims the merit of having introduced her son to the Whitmers as well as to Oliver Cowdery (Joseph Smith, p. 145). She gives us to understand that there was no acquaintance between the two families prior to the visit which herself and her husband made to Pennsylvania in the autumn of the year 1828. On this journey they passed a night with the Whitmers and explained to them all the facts and happenings respecting the "record." When his pecuniary embarrassment was no longer tolerable Joseph wrote an epistle to Mr. David Whitmer, "requesting him to come immediately with his team, and convey himself and Oliver to his own residence" (Joseph Smith, p. 143). Mr. Smith leaves out of view every account of any preliminary arrangements and supplies the following notice of the transaction: "Shortly after commencing to translate, I became acquainted with Mr. Peter Whitmer of Fayette, Seneca county, N. Y., and also with some of his family. In the beginning of the month of June (1829) his son David Whitmer, came to the place where we were residing, and brought with him a two horse wagon, for the purpose of having us accompany him to his father's place, and there remain until we should finish the work. He proposed that we should have our board free of charge, and the assistance of one of his brothers to write for me, as also his own assistance when convenient (Tullidge, Life, p. 68). The task was within two or three weeks of completion at the date when this removal was accomplished. Another important incident belonging to the period of Oliver Cowdery's engagement in the labors of an amanuensis will be treated in the next chapter. continue reading on: p. 354 |
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last revised Feb. 21, 2006