This is where Joseph and Emma lived in a small log
house in Harmony. Much of the translation of the
Book of Mormon took place here.
The Cooper Shop
Etching located at the Smith Farm in
Palmyra
The Smith Frame Home
Fireplace in the Smith’s Frame Home
The Kitchen in the Frame Home
The Smith’s Log Home
The Smith’s Log Home
Chapter 4 – A Period of Preparation - 1823-29
Joseph, age 14-17
=
High School
Joseph, age 18-21
=
College
There are 22 known appearances of Moroni to Joseph.
There are eight different accounts of the visit of Moroni
to Joseph Smith.
Concerning Joseph Smith’s life between the time of the
First Vision and the appearance of the angel Moroni, Elder
Gordon B. Hinckley, then a member of the Quorum of the
Twelve Apostles, wrote:
“His manner of living was not greatly different from that of
the ordinary farm boy of his day, except that he was often
referred to as a dreamer and was made an object of
ridicule. But he continued to work on his father’s farm, to
work for others in the area, and to associate with
companions of his own age. Those acquainted with him
describe him as a strong, active boy of cheerful
disposition, who enjoyed wrestling and other sports”
(Truth Restored, 1947, 7).
A Comparison of Moroni’s Four Visits to Joseph Smith on
21-22, September 1823:
First visit of the night:
Called Joseph by Name.
Introduced himself to Joseph.
Told Joseph that God had a work for him to do.
Told Joseph that his name would be known for good and evil among all people.
Told Joseph about the Book of Mormon.
Quoted Old and New Testament prophecies regarding the last days.
Quoted many other passages of scripture.
Offered many scriptural explanations.
Warned Joseph not to show the plates to anyone unless commanded or he
would be destroyed.
Joseph saw in vision the place where the plates were deposited.
The prophecy given by the angel Moroni was
that Joseph’s name “should be had for good
and evil among all nations.” The adversary
will be doing his relentless part with regard
to the negative portion of that prophecy. By
word and deed, faithful Church members
must see to it that the positive portion is
fulfilled (Neal A. Maxwell, But for a Small
Moment, 133).
Second Visit:
• Repeated what he said during the first visit “without the
least variation.”
• Added that great judgments were coming upon the earth,
including desolations such as famine, sword, and
pestilence.
Third Visit:
• Repeated what he had said before.
• Added a caution concerning Satan’s temptation to use the
gold plates to obtain wealth.
• Told Joseph that he must have no other motive than to
glorify God and build the kingdom of God.
Mormon 8:14-15
This scripture states that no one (including Joseph) would be
allowed to get the plates:
1. To “get gain.”
2. “If their eyes were not single to his glory.”
Certainly Joseph was honored to be in Moroni’s presence.
Moroni would have been honored to be in Joseph’s presence as
well.
Remember, Joseph is the head of the dispensation of the
fullness of times!
Fourth Visit:
• Called Joseph by name.
• Related all that he had said the night
before.
• Commanded him to tell his father of the
vision and the commandments he had
received.
Joseph told his father
Lucy Mack Smith’s history of this event added the
following information:
“The messenger whom he saw the previous night, visited
him again, and the first thing he said was, ‘why did you not
tell your father that which I commanded you to tell him?’
Joseph replied, ‘I was afraid my father would not believe
me.’ The angel rejoined, ‘He will believe every word you
say to him’” (History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, ed.
Preston Nibley (1958), 79).
Moroni informed Joseph that if he were not worthy to take the plates in 1827,
then he would no longer have the opportunity. According to Joseph Knight, if
Joseph had done “right according to the will of God,” Moroni would finally give
him the plates in 1827.
Borrowing Knight’s horse and wagon, Smith and his wife, Emma, slipped out
of his parent’s house in the middle of the night to go to retrieve the plates
from the hill after years of anticipation, as commanded by Moroni. Once they
arrived at the hill, Emma apparently waited patiently at the bottom while
Joseph marched to the top to remove the plates from their hiding place. Not
having anything to store the plates in, he pulled them from the ground and
stashed them in the woods, rather than taking them home without a covering
or a safe place to store them. According to Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph brought
the spectacles (including the two smooth stones) home instead of hiding them
with the plates, explaining to his mom that “all is right.” Joseph selectively
showed the spectacles to others within the next two years (From Darkness
Unto Light, 7).
Joseph tried to keep the plates secret and though only a handful of his friends
and family knew about Moroni’s visits and Joseph’s retrieval of the record,
word about the plates slowly got out to local residents in Palmyra.
Some of Joseph’s neighbors, in particular, felt they were entitled to both see
the plates and share in the riches that Joseph could have garnered by their
sale. Willard Chase, who knew Joseph personally and had worked with him on
occasion, later claimed that the angel told Smith that he could not retrieve
the plates until he brought his brother Alvin with him to the hill during one of
his annual visits. After Alvin passed away, Chase claimed, the angel
commanded Joseph to find another person to assist and that “Joseph believed
that one Samuel T. Lawrence [a local resident and fellow money differ] was
the man alluded to by the spirit.” Chase asserted that Lawrence went with
Smith to the hill before 1827 and advised Joseph not to “let these plates be
seen for about two years, as it would make a great disturbance in the
neighborhood.” Chase explained that even though Joseph may have thought
Lawrence was to help him retrieve the plates, Joseph instead took his wife,
Emma, to the hill in 1827 to obtain them (From Darkness Unto Light, 8).
Lawrence may have become embittered after Joseph invited him to the
hill to look for the plates, then proceeded to retrieve them without him.
Though Chase may have made this connection with Lawrence to
perpetuate their claim over the plates, this claim seems possible
because the Smiths worried that Lawrence would want to take the
plates from Joseph the night he retrieved them. In fact, Joseph Sr.
went to Lawrence’s house that night in order to stop Lawrence from
going to the hill and ambushing Joseph Jr. as he pulled the plates from
their hiding place. Knight remembered Joseph directing his father to
“stay till near dark and if he saw any signs of his [Lawrence’s] going you
tell him if I find him there I will trash the stumps with him. Lawrence
apparently never left his house that night, but these accounts offer the
possibility that others knew about the plates and wanted to obtain
them for their own profit---some of whom believed they were rightfully
their own property, such as Chase and Lawrence (From Darkness Unto
Light, 9).
Even Martin Harris remembered that he went to the hill looking for the stone box.
Harris reported that he found the box and he “broke one corner off of the box. He
apparently stated, “Some time this box will be found and you will see the corner
broken off, then you will know I have told you the truth” (From Darkness Unto Light, 9).
David Whitmer would later state, “I had conversations with several young men who
said that Joseph Smith had certainly gold plates.” He supposedly asked, “How do you
know that Joe Smith had the plates?” They replied, “We saw the place in the hill that
he took them out of just as he described it to us before he obtained them (From
Darkness Unto Light, 9).
Local residents expressed confidence in their belief that Joseph had retrieved a set of
plates from the hill because the stone box they were taken from was apparently left
exposed for decades.
Those who were most anxious to take the plates from Joseph were those who had
previously worked with him to find buried treasure in the local area.
Historians have argued that Joseph’s association with treasure digging and the use of
seer stones prepared him for his larger mission as a prophet and seer. Martin Harris
later remembered Joseph’s transition away from treasure seeking when “the angel
told him he must quit the company of money diggers, that there were wicked men
among them. Even though Joseph removed himself from their company, people like
Samuel Lawrence viewed their previous interaction with Joseph as a kind of claim for
sharing in the gold plates with him.
Lucy Mack Smith explained that Chase gathered up approximately a dozen men to
find Joseph’s initial hiding place for the gold plates. The had sent for a conjuror to
come 60 miles to divine the place where the record was deposited by magic art. This
same story was told twenty-five years later by Brigham Young who added that this
conjuror possessed as much talent as any man that walked on the American soil, and
was one of the wickedest men he ever saw (From Darkness to Light, 11).
The conjuror said that he was not afraid of any body and that they would have the
plates in spite of Joseph Smith or all the devils in hell.
Joseph engaged in digging for buried treasure. Joseph’s father,
who saw value in these practices, likely introduced Joseph to them,
but his local peers, some of whom possessed their own stones, also
searched for buried treasure in and around Palmyra with Joseph
(From Darkness Unto Light, 3).
Though these practices were common, the educated classes and
polite society frowned upon them. Joseph’s participation in
treasure seeking eventually led to him being charged with
disorderly conduct.
Though it is unknown whether he was specifically referring to his
money-digging activities, Joseph remembered, “I was left to all
kinds of temptations, and mingling with all kinds of society.”
Whatever his errors or weaknesses may have been, it caused
Joseph to seek after God’s forgiveness.
David Whitmer, who later saw the plates, explained that they appeared to be of gold,
about six by nine inches in size, about as thick as parchment, a great many in number,
and bound together like the leaves of a book by massive rings passed through the
back edges. He said the plates weighed about fifty pounds.
Days later after bringing the spectacles home with the seer stones Joseph returned to
the hill and removed the plates from the log. Traveling home he was attacked by
three different men that he was able to overcome. He passed the plates through the
window of his house to Josiah Stowell who claimed he was the first person other than
Joseph to feel and heft the plates.
As Joseph passed them through the window, Stowell caught a glimpse of the plates
as a portion of the linen was pulled back. Stowell gave the court the dimensions of
the plates and explained that they consisted of gold leaves with characters written on
the sheet. Stowell was in court as a witness in the summer of 1830 after Joseph was
charred with disorderly conduct. He testified under oath that he saw the plates the
day Joseph first brought them home.
Joseph’s thumb was dislocated which his Dad reset for him.
Joseph Knight Sr. recalled that once Joseph had safely hidden the plates, Joseph was
more interested in the “glasses” or the Urim and Thummim then he was the plates.
He declared to Knight that he could see anything and that they were marvelous.
Though he later used the stones for translating he used them for this period of time to
protect the plates.
Lucy wrote that Joseph could at any time ascertain the approach of danger either to
himself or the record and for this cause he kept the stones with him.
Through the spectacles, Moroni communicated to him that men were still plotting to
find and abscond the plates.
Several of his friends and family touched, hefted, and held the plates or the box
where they were stored.
Martin Harris later said he “hefted the plates many times, and should think they
weighted forty or fifty pounds. Most of Joseph’s closest friends and family testified to
touching, hefting, or seeing the plates (From Darkness Unto Light, 15).
Samuel Lawrence came to Joseph’s house demanding that
the plates were at least partially his because he had gone to
the hill in search of treasure with Joseph. Possibly knowing
that Joseph would not negotiate, Lawrence brought with him
a local rodsman, who attempted to use a divining rod to find
the plates. Lawrence and the rodsman walked into the west
room of the home, where the hearth was located. There the
rodsman pointed his rod directly toward the plates and
stated that they were “under the hearth.” After Lawrence
and the rodsman left the house without the plates, Joseph
decided that he needed to move the plates again to avoid
their discovery if Lawrence and the rodsman returned (From
Darkness Unto Light, 16).
“We live in one of the greatest dispensations of all times --- a time
former prophets looked forward to, prophesied of, and, I believe,
yearned for. However, with all the heavenly blessings bestowed upon
us, Satan, ever so real, ever so active, and conflicting messages are
continually bombarding all of us. The angel Moroni warned the young
Prophet Joseph Smith that his name would be known for good and evil
throughout the world (Joseph Smith History 1:33), and never has the
fulfillment of a prophecy been more evident. The Prophet gave his life
for his testimony, and the attacks continue today against the Church
and even the Savior Himself. The reality of the Savior, His atoning
sacrifice, and its universal application for all of us is challenged and
often dismissed as a myth or the baseless hope of a weak and
uneducated mind. Furthermore, the reality of the Restoration of the
gospel in these latter days continues to be challenged. The continual
bombardment of such messages may cause confusion, doubt, and
pessimism, each attacking the fundamental truths we believe in, our
faith in God, and our hope in the future” (Bishop Edgley, General
Conference, “Faith --- The Choice is Yours,” Oct. 2010).
September
st
21 ,
1823
During that four year period (college) George Q. Cannon and John
Taylor testified that Joseph saw all of the Nephite Prophets (Journal
of Discourses vol. 13:47; 17:374-5, 21:94). (Doctrine & Covenants
128:21).
Joseph could not sleep that night. It was late in the night and he was
meditating and pondering about his prayers. He was confident that
he would receive another vision.
“When Moroni appeared to the Prophet, he said that the
stature of his personage was a little above the common
size of a man during his time period” (Remember that the
Smith men were taller than the normal size).
Moroni’s robe was open so that Joseph could see his
chest.
Cal Stevens thought that it was to teach Joseph Smith
about the nature of resurrected beings.
Lorenzo Snow one time said that “There is nothing on
this earth that is more beautiful to gaze upon than a
Celestial, resurrected being.”
He should know, he saw several on many different
occasions.
The prophet on one occasion said that Moroni died and
was later resurrected.
There is an account from George Laub in Saint George
telling that he had heard Joseph Smith say that when
Moroni was an old man, four Lamanites came upon him.
They had been hunting him from one end of the country
to the other. Moroni dispatched the first three, but was
so weary that the fourth one killed him.
Death of Moroni
At a meeting at Spanish Fork, Utah Co., in the winter of 1896, Brother
Higginson stated in my presence that Thomas B. Marsh told him that the
Prophet Joseph Smith told him (Thomas B. Marsh, he being then President
of the Twelve), that he became very anxious to know something of the fate
of Moroni, and in answer to prayer the Lord gave Joseph a vision, in which
appeared a wild country and on the scene was Moroni after whom were six
Indians in pursuit; he stopped and one of the Indians stepped forward and
measured swords with him. Moroni smote him and he fell dead; another
Indian advanced and contended with him; this Indian also fell by his sword;
a third Indian then stepped forth and met the same fate; a fourth
afterwards contended with him, but in the struggle with the fourth,
Moroni, being exhausted, was killed. Thus ended the life of Moroni (The
Fate of Moroni, 1897, Division Archives, Charles David).
Joseph Smith’s silent prayer for
forgiveness in 1823 began like his First
Vision. Yet as he conversed with the
angel in his bedroom that night the
message was a call to action rather than
one of realization, as the First Vision
had been.
Moroni in Manti
Some members of the Church are aware that at the
dedication of the site for the temple in Manti, Utah, the
following incident took place. At a conference held in
Ephraim, Sanpete County, June 25th, 1875, nearly all the
speakers expressed their feelings to have a temple built in
Sanpete County, and gave their views as to what point and
where to build it, and to show the union that existed, Elder
Daniel H. Wells said “Manti,” George Q. Cannon, Brigham
Young, Jr., John Taylor, Orson Hyde, Erastus Snow, Franklin
D. Richards, Lorenzo Young, and A.M. Musse said “Manti
stone quarry,” I have given the names in the order in which
they spoke.
At four p.m. that day President Brigham Young said: “The
Temple should be built on the Manti stone quarry.” Early
on the morning of April 25, 1877, President Brigham Young
asked Brother Warren S. Snow to go with him to the
Temple hill. Brother Snow said, “We two were alone:
President Young took me to the spot where the Temple
was to stand; we went to the southeast corner, and
President Young said: “Here is the spot where the
prophet Moroni stood and dedicated this piece of land
for the Temple site, and that is the reason why the
location is made here, and we can’t move it from this
spot; and if you and I are the only persons that come
here at high noon today, we will dedicate this ground”
(Whitney, 436, Diary of Charles Lowell Walker).
That Moroni dedicated the Manti Temple site is one of the few
statements the Brethren have made connecting a Book of Mormon
figure with a specific current place and action. This aids us in
documenting one of Moroni’s travels and priesthood assignments.
Another reference happened when William McBride, patriarch from
the Richfield Utah Stake, spoke at a prayer meeting in St. George in
January 1881. After recalling many experiences from the Nauvoo
period and quoting the Prophet Joseph Smith on many issues,
Patriarch McBride referred to the route the old Nephites took
traveling to Cumorah from the south and south-west of having to
bury their treasures as they journeyed and finally burying the
records and precious things in the Hill Cumorah; of Moroni
dedicating the Temple site of what we now call St. George,
Nauvoo, Jackson Co., Kirtland, and others we know not of as yet
(Charles Lowell Walker 2:525-26, Diary of Charles Lowell Walker).
Celebration of the 4th of July
An Address by Elder Orson Hyde, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great
Salt Lake City, July 4, 1854.
It was by the agency of that same angel of God that appeared unto
Joseph Smith, and revealed to him the history of the early
inhabitants of this country, whose mounds, bones, and
fortifications speak from the dust in the ears of the living with the
voice of undeniable truth. This same angel presides over the
destinies of America, and feels a lively interest in all our doings. He
was in the camp at Washington; and, by an invisible hand, led on
our fathers to conquest and victory; and all this to open and
prepare the way for the Church and kingdom of God to be
established on the western hemisphere, for the redemption of
Israel and the salvation of the world.
This same angel was with Columbus, and gave him deep
impressions, by dreams and by visions, respecting this
New World. Trammeled by poverty and by an unpopular
cause, yet is persevering and unyielding heart would not
allow an obstacle in his way too great for him to overcome;
and the angel of God helped him --- was with him on the
stormy deep, calmed the troubled elements, and guided
his frail vessel to the desired haven. Under the
guardianship of this same angel, or Prince of America,
have the United States grown, increased, and flourished,
like the sturdy oak by the rivers of water.
Had the United States been as faithful a guardian to the
Latter-day Saints as the angel of God has been to them,
she would never know dissolution, nor be humbled in
dishonor by the decrees of any foreign powers.
I ask no earthly being to endorse this my testimony, or to
adopt it as his own sentiment. A little time will prove
whether Orson Hyde alone has declared it, or whether the
heavenly powers will back up this testimony in the faces
of all the world.
When Justice is satisfied, and the blood of martyrs atoned
for, the guardian angel of America will return to his
station, resume his charge, and restore the Constitution
of our country to the respect and veneration of the
people; for it was given by the inspiration of our God.
What is the significance of the Bible references Moroni quoted to
the Prophet Joseph Smith?
Malachi 3
Isaiah 11
Acts 3:22-23
Joel 2:28-32
All of the passages Moroni quoted point to the same theme:
The coming forth of the Book of Mormon would initiate a
progression of events that would lead to the Second Coming,
The wicked will be destroyed and the righteous will reign on the
earth with Jesus Christ.
In essence, Joseph Smith was being told that the work he was to
do would help usher in Christ’s millennial reign and that the
Savior’s coming would be “soon.”
Do we know what the “other Passages of
scripture” were or what other explanations
Moroni gave?
We gain additional insights on this matter from a letter Oliver
Cowdery wrote to William W. Phelps, which contained an account of
Moroni’s visit to Joseph Smith:
“God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things
which are despised, has God chosen; yea, and things which are not,
to bring to naught things which are, that no flesh should glory in his
presence” (I Corinthians 1:27-28) (Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and
Advocate, Feb. 1835, 79).
In his account, Oliver Cowdery cited Moroni quoting (sometimes only
phrases) from Isaiah 28:21; 29:11-14; and John 10:16 (Messenger and
Advocate, 79-80).
Everyone knows about the “caractors” copied from the plates for
the inspection of the East Coast scholars Samuel Mitchill and
Charles Anthon. MacKay and Dirkmaat have found evidence of
many such copies circulating among the Church members in the
early years. They were used to arouse interest and to substantiate
the reality of the translation. The characters were copied onto
paper used to wrap the text of the Book of Mormon as it went off
to the press. They remind us of the fact that Martin Harris and
Joseph Smith did not know the characters were Egyptian until
after Harris’s New York expedition in February 1828. The language
of the plates could not have come to light until after translation
began in March 1828.
Martin Harris and Joseph Smith were more likely to think the
characters were ancient American, some variety of an Indian
language. They went to Mitchill because he was the
country’s expert on Indian dialects and likely to Charles
Anthon, best known as a classicist, because he also collected
Indian oratory. The authors further suggest that Joseph was
not sure at first if he was the one to translate the plates at all.
He told Joseph Knight he wanted the plates translated, but at
first he may have assumed a learned person would do it. The
passage from Isaiah 29 struck him with such force because it
declared that an unlearned person was to translate (From
Darkness to Light, viii).
Harris’s Trip to the East
In February 1828, Martin Harris hurried from Palmyra, New York to Harmony,
Pennsylvania, to tell Joseph Smith that he had seen the Lord in a vision and
had been told “that he must go to New York City with some of the characters”
(History, circa summer 1832, in JSP, H1:6).
A handful of letters written by Charles Anthon have recently been uncovered
from the archives of Columbia University.
Although Joseph and Martin had not spoken with each other for more than
three months, by February 1828 this vision brought the men together once
again and initiated this foundational event.
Though they did not know at the time, the Book of Mormon would reveal that
this event had been the fulfillment of a prophecy found in the Isaiah 29.
Luther Bradish:
He had lived in Palmyra and was an understandable contact for Harris to
approach first. Martin may have been hoping Bradish could identify the
characters. He likely saw him as friend rather than a specialist, believing
Bradish could help him find scholars to translate the characters. Bradish was
a well known politician in the State of New York. He was not a linguist or a
scholar, but he had enthusiasm for antiquities and archeological discoveries.
All university graduates studied languages, focusing primarily on Greek and
Latin.
Martin did not know what language was inscribed upon the plates. In the
process of translating the plates, Joseph Smith later discovered that the
language inscribed upon the gold plates was “reformed Egyptian.”
Joseph had not yet translated those words from the plates; therefore, neither of them
knew the language that the unfamiliar characters represented. At least one scholar
suggested to Harris, after he visited New York City and elsewhere, that the characters
he presented to him were possible Egyptian.
None of the records describing visits from Moroni claimed that he told Joseph about
the language.
In February 1828 they had yet to find out about the language. Instead, Joseph sent
Harris to New York with the characters with very little information other than the
knowledge that the characters were taken from an ancient American source.
It seems unlikely that Harris was looking for an Egyptian scholar. Even if he had, there
were none in the United States. Although European scholars had begun to use the
Rosetta Stone a few years earlier to better understand Egyptian, none of them were
in America. It is highly unlikely that Bradish would have sent Harris to an Egyptian
scholar. Bradish sent Harris to New York City to have the characters assessed by
scholars of ancient American history.
Professor Samuel Mitchill, Rutgers College:
He was one of the leading scholars on Native Americans in the New York area. Bradish
may have sent Harris to Philadelphia and then New York city to Samuel Mitchill in
particular. Martin had been convinced that he had better go the celebrated Dr. Mitchill
(Bennett, “Mormonites”).
Mitchill carefully examined the characters and made a learned dissertation on them --compared the with the hieroglyphics discovered by Champollion in Europe, and set them
down as a language of a people formerly in existence in the East, but no more (Bennett,
“Mormonites”).
Yet, regardless of his efforts, Mitchill was unable to determine with certainty the linguistic
origin of the characters. Instead, he “confessed he had been unable to understand” them
and sent Harris with a note “requesting (Charles Anthon) to decipher, if possible, the
characters (E.D. Howe, Mormonism Unveiled, 270).
Charles Anthon, Adjunct Professor, Columbia College:
Anthon was educated as a lawyer but began teaching Greek and Latin at
Columbia College in 1820. He was still an adjunct professor in 1828. Unlike
Samuel Mitchill, Anthon had done no significant academic work on ancient
America or Native American languages.
Anthon was eager to examine the paper for Harris, and he most likely had
hopes that he had found another story for his publication. Harris’s visit fit
right within Barker and Anthon’s plan to collect essays about Native
Americans. Barker and Anthon had a business agreement to print materials of
specimens of Indian eloquence for profit.
Years later, Anthon concealed his own financial interest in examining the
characters and instead claimed that the paper was a hoax and that someone
had combined characters from different languages to deceive him. He again
downplayed his involvement by writing two pastors in 1841 and 1844 to
explain what happened when Harris visited him. He also wrote a letter to E.D.
Howe in 1834 as Howe prepared his book Mormonism Unveiled.
Martin Harris’s version of the same events:
He explained that after Anthon examined the characters, Anthon told him
“they were Egyptian, Chaldean, Assyrian, and Arabic, and he said that they
were true characters. Harris wanted a scholar’s witness that the characters
were legitimate and asked Anthon for a certificate of authenticity. Anthon
gave him one certifying to the people of Palmyra that they were true
characters.
Harris explained that as he was leaving Anthon’s office, Anthon called him
back and asked him how Joseph Smith found the gold plates. Martin told him
of Moroni. Anthon asked for the certificate back and then tore it to pieces
saying there was no such thing as ministering of angels and if Martin would
bring the plates back to him he would translate them. Martin informed him
that part of the plates were sealed and that he could not bring them to him.
Anthon replied, “I cannot read a sealed book.”
Anthon’s final words to Martin Harris as he sent him on his way, demanding to have
the book brought to him, later made Anthon the most relevant person whom Harris
had visited in the minds of early Mormons.
Only a short time after Smith translated this passage from the Book of Mormon, early
believers began explaining that the prophecy in Isaiah 29 had been fulfilled through
Harris’s experience with Anthon. Early Mormons say Anthon as the “learned” who
declared that the could not read a sealed book.
Martin Harris traveling to Philadelphia and his interaction with Samuel Mitchell faded
over time as they became more and more irrelevant in comparison to his visit with
Anthon.
According to our earliest sources, the primary reason for his journey to the East with
the characters was to “get them translated” (2013 BYU Church History Symposium by
Michael MacKay titled “Git Them Translated”).
Learning to Translate:
Joseph received the interpreters on September 1827, but there was a
steep learning curve until he began translating “by the gift and power
of God” in the winter of 1828. Nothing was done towards the
translating the record in 1827.
Martin Harris’s failure was a step forward in their progress toward
translating the plates. Once Joseph understood that scholars could not
translate the characters, he realized that with the aid of the Nephite
interpreters, he would translate the plates.
The Lord had prepared spectacles for Joseph to read the book.
The Spectacles:
The frame was not meant to sit on a person’s nose or wrap around their ears;
in fact, the seer stones in the place of the lenses did not even improve one’s
vision in the way glasses were intended.
They were about on half inches longer than those used at the present day, the
lenses not of glass, but of diamonds. Lucy Smith and others called the
spectacles “diamonds” to emphasize that they were more than just rocks --they were seer stones.
Orson Pratt called them crystals, and they were often described as
transparent or clear.
Martin Harris said that they looked like polished marble, with a few gray
streaks and David Whitmer said they were whitish stones (Tiffany,
Mormonism, August 1859, 165-66).
Martin Harris observed that “the two stones set in a bow of silver were
about two inches in diameter, perfectly round, and about five-eighths
of an inch thick in the center.”
The frame for the spectacles were connected to the breastplate with a
single metal rod. They held conveniently in front of the face of the
individual wearing the breastplate, and the person could freely use his
or her hands to do other things while looking into the spectacles.
Joseph Smith later learned that the spectacles had been used by
ancient seers. By at least 1833, Joseph Smith and members of the
Church began using the biblical term “Urim and Thummim to refer to
any seer stone, including seer stones Joseph found before 1827.
Learning to Use the Spectacles:
Four years earlier, Moroni explained to Joseph that the spectacles were
“what constituted seers in ancient or former times and that God had
prepared them for the purpose of translating the book.
Joseph did not seem to understand. He originally used the spectacles
to help protect the plates.
It was not until February of 1828 that Joseph fully realized how
spectacles were supposed to be used.
Joseph Smith told Joseph Knight about the spectacles and related to
him that he could see anything in them, yet he still emphasized his
need to find someone else to translate the plates.
The Book of Mormon Seer Stone:
Joseph seemed to be initially unaware that he had within his
possession a device that could enable him to translate the characters
himself.
Joseph’s use of seer stones before 1827 helps us understand why he
only used the Nephite interpreters to protect the plates. He used the
spectacles to identify or find lost items.
Joseph Smith did not just use the spectacles, he had at least one seer
stone he used as well.
In Alma 37:23 the Lord said I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem, a
stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light.
That seer stone was prepared for Joseph Smith and was apparently
delivered to him in 1822, five years before he was given the spectacles.
Wilford Woodruff stated that it was “the seer stone known as Gazelem
which was shown by the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith to be some
thirty feet under the ground which he obtained by digging a well for
Willard Chase.
Wilford Woodruff valued the stone deeply, recording in his journal on 18
May 1888, which the Manti Utah Temple was dedicated, that he
“consecrated upon the altar the seer stone that Joseph found by
revelation some 30 feet under the earth (Kenney, Wilford Woodruff’s
Journal, 2:144; 8:500).
William W. Phelps taught that Joseph’s original name in the premortal
realm was Gazelem.
Joseph never used that stone in a way that could have helped him understand
how to translate the plates with the spectacles. Instead, he used it to see
visions of people, places, and lost items.
Using the Spectacles:
Lucy Smith recalled that Joseph could see where the plates were located at
any time by looking into the spectacles. Lucy called the spectacles a key. For
this reason, Joseph kept the spectacles with him at all times.
He once saw Emma coming in the spectacles and went out to greet her at the
well in Macedon (Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845, book 5).
Apparently, Joseph learned to see translated text in the spectacles. He
noticed this ability before Martin Harris left on his journey and began
translating the plates in February of 1828. At first, he did not know what to
make of the text that appeared in the stones.
It was not until Martin Harris returned from New York City that he
began translating the plates in earnest. Assuming that what he saw in
the spectacles was the translation of the gold plates, he apparently
sent Harris with a sample of what appeared in the seer stones, hoping
the scholars would verify the translation.
The months between September 1827 and early 1828, when Joseph
copied characters from the plates and had scholars examine them,
served as a time of preparation for Joseph Smith to learn to translate
the plates.
This might be why Oliver Cowdery discovered that it was not as simple
as having possession of the record and a device for translating.
After a few months of preparation and study in 1827, Joseph apparently
fulfilled that requirement and learned to translate.
Martin Harris embraced the characters as evidence for the existence of the
plates and showed them to numerous people, anticipating that they too
would believe that Joseph Smith had the ancient records in his possession.
Lucy Harris was unimpressed. She conjured a plan to duplicate the characters
in order to lessen their impact upon others as Martin showed them his copy of
the characters. She convinced her daughter’s suitor, Flanders Dyke, to sneak
into Martin’s house to find Harris’s copy of the characters and duplicate them.
In return, Lucy Harris agreed to allow Dyke to marry her daughter. A lot of
people saw the characters.
Even though she and her daughter had held the plates in the box, she
eventually doubted that her experience offered her any evidence that the
plates actually existed. She demanded that Joseph show her the plates. She
began a public campaign to discredit him in the community.
While Martin was in Harmony acting as Joseph’s scribe, Lucy Harris had a legal
document drawn up that guaranteed her the rights of one third of Harris’s
property in Palmyra, New York.
Translating with Emma:
Emma and her brother Reuben Hale were the first of a series of scribes that
recorded Joseph’s dictation as he miraculously read the words from the
ancient text as it appeared on the spectacles. Emma became Joseph’s first
primary scribe.
Emma stated, “When my husband was translating the Book of Mormon, I
wrote part of it, as he dictated each sentence, word for word” (Edmund C
Briggs, “A Visit to Nauvoo in 1856,” Journal of Mormon History, October 1916,
454).
In the months before 1829, Emma and Samuel helped Joseph with the
translation (Lucy Mack Smith, History, book 7, 9).
In an interview with Joseph’s son Joseph Smith III, Emma remembered,
“I frequently wrote day after day, often sitting at the table close by
him.” She explained that Joseph used the spectacles to translate, but
not by looking through them at the plates, but instead by placing them
in a large-brimmed hat with which he could block out the light. As
Joseph excluded the light and looked onto the seer stones in the hat,
he dictated the words he saw “hour after hour with nothing between
us.” Emma explained that he was not looking anywhere but at the
stones in the hat; he was not looking at the plates and “had neither
manuscript nor book to read from.”
Latter-day Saint art in the past has depicted the translation by
excluding the spectacles or by showing Joseph looking through them
at the plates. Yet none of Joseph’s scribes left any accounts that fit
those description.
So what was the purpose of having the plates if Joseph left them
covered during the translation?
They represented where the words originated demonstrating their
historicity, and forming a sense of reality about the individuals
described in the Book of Mormon. The plates were in essence the body
for the spiritual words that fell from Joseph Smith’s lips as he
translated. They created confidence in the minds of Joseph and his
family friends. They offered believers something physical and tangible
to understand how and where the text of the Book of Mormon
originated.
Without the plates, the translation was empty, and without Joseph’s
gift, it was not from God.
Emma explained that it would have been impossible for Joseph to
dictate the translation without the power of God and the use of the
spectacles, especially since he was not looking at the plates. Emma
argued that Joseph “could neither write nor dictate a coherent and
well-worded letter; let alone [dictate] a book like the Book of Mormon,”
and yet Joseph dictated passages for hours and days at a time. Emma
went on to explain, “Though I was an active participant in the scenes
that transpired, and was present during the translation of the plates,
and had cognizance of things as they transpired, it is marvelous to me,
‘a marvel and a wonder,’ as much so as to anyone else.” Fascinated by
Joseph’s gift,, she declared, “as [Joseph] dictated each sentence, word
for word,” she recalled, “proper names he could not pronounce, or long
words, he spelled them out, and while I was writing them, if any
mistake in spelling, he would stop me and correct my spelling, although
it was impossible for him to see me writing them down at the time
(Edmund C. Briggs, “A Visit to Nauvoo in 1856,” Journal of History 9
(October 1916):454).
Emma apparently never saw Joseph using the
spectacles and the breastplate together; in
fact, she never even mentioned that she saw
Joseph wearing the breastplate. Martin Harris
and Oliver Cowdery, who were both scribes
and witnesses of the translation process, left
no accounts about the use of the breastplate
during the translation either.
The Breastplate:
William Smith explained that, like the priestly Old Testament breastplate,
“A pocket was prepared in the breastplate on the left side, immediately
over the heart. When not in use the interpreters were placed in the
pocket.
Outside of pulling the straps tighter, the breastplate was neither
adjustable nor easy to work with, and the Book of Mormon explained that
it was large. Frustrated, Joseph apparently stopped using it even before
Emma ever started writing for him. There was no way of adjusting the
spectacles to achieve optimum viewing distances. As an alternative he
placed the spectacles into the bottom of a hat, allowing him to better
control the distance from his eyes to the surface of the stones. The hat
allowed Joseph to move the spectacles up and down as needed so he could
focus on the translation; it also darkened the area around the seer stones
to allow them, as the Book of Mormon explains, to “shine forth in
darkness unto light” (Alma 37:23).
Translating with Martin Harris:
From mid-April to mid-June 1828, Martin Harris stayed at Joseph’s
house in Harmony, recording for him as he dictated the words that
appeared on the spectacles.
Martin Harris marveled that Joseph knew not the contents of the Book
of Mormon until it was translated (Collier and Harwell, Kirtland Council
Minute Book, 21).
The process fascinated him and he was convinced that Joseph’s
dictation was only possible through the power of God.
Once Martin arrived in Harmony in April, he picked up where Emma had
left off and they completed “the Book of Lehi” that Joseph and Emma
had been working on for quite some time.
Harris expressed that he was favored to write direct from the mouth of
Joseph Smith. He described that by the “aid of the seer stone,
sentences would appear and were read by the Prophet and written by
him and when he was finished he would say ‘written,’ that sentence
would disappear and another appear in its place, but if not written
correctly it remained until corrected.”
Though Harris was never able to look into the spectacles like Joseph,
this process forced Joseph to explain to Martin what was happening, as
he required him to change what he had written because it was incorrect
or the text in the spectacles would not change (Deseret Evening News,
13 December 1881).
Martin stayed in Harmony to write for Joseph for around two full
months before returning to his home in Palmyra. Emma had likely
already written the majority of the “book of Lehi” before Harris arrived.
Martin stated that he wrote “about one third of the first part of the translation
of the plates.
Latter-day Saints commonly teach that Joseph Smith used a sheet to veil the
plates while he translated with Martin seems to be something that occurred
before the translation began.
Though Joseph may have used a sheet at one point to hide the plates form
others who were in the room, it was evidently before Harris began writing for
Joseph in April 1828.
It appears that Joseph only used the sheet when he had the plates exposed in
front of him while he transcribed the characters from the plates in the winter
of 1827. John Clark who saw copies of the characters before Harris helped
Joseph with the translation, was the only other person to describe a sheet
being used to separate Joseph and his scribe
Martin Harris apparently saw the spectacles and described the stones
as white, like polished marble, with a few grey streaks.
Martin later explained to Edward Stevenson that as the seer stones
rested in the bottom of a hat “the Prophet would read each sentence
by sentence as Martin wrote.
One local Palmyra resident heard that the glasses were as big as a
breakfast plate. Another claimed that Joseph described them as having
very large round glasses, larger than a silver dollar. Martin explained
the spectacles to be around eight inches long.
Rather than continuing to work with the awkwardly large spectacles,
according to Harris, Joseph began using a single seer stone instead of
the spectacles. For convenience he then use the seer stone. Perhaps
Gazelem, Alma 37:23).
Alvin Smith
“Alvin was a faithful and serious young man, and Joseph
idolized him. Joseph saw in him a guileless person who
lived an upright life. Alvin loved Joseph, too, and was
greatly interested in the sacred record. As death neared he
counseled Joseph: ‘I want you to be a good boy, and do
everything that lies in your power to obtain the record. Be
faithful in receiving instruction, and keeping every
commandment that is given you’ (Lucy Mack Smith,
History of Joseph Smith, 87).
They all wondered if Joseph would ever be obedient
enough to get the plates.
At Alvin’s funeral, Reverend Stockton while preaching the
sermon said that Alvin was lost because he had never been
baptized.
Alvin was buried in the John Swift cemetery (the old
cemetery in Palmyra).
A year later, rumors circulated that his body had been dug
up and mutilated. This rumor bothered Joseph Smith Sr.
so much that he took a few men, went to the grave and
dug Alvin up to see if anyone had tampered with his body.
They found the body in tact and made sure that no one
would be able to dig up the body in the future.
In October 1825, a man by the name of Josiah Stoal hired the
prophet Joseph Smith.
Josiah was already acquainted with the Smith family. He was a
wealthy man who owned over 600 acres of land.
Josiah had a business partner by the name of William Hale. While
working for Josiah, Joseph would later meet Emma.
This was the period of time when Joseph received the nick-name of
being a “money-digger.”
Josiah came to Joseph on account of having heard that he
possessed certain means by which he could discern things invisible
to the natural eye.
It was Joseph Smith Jr. who warned Josiah that his digging for
treasure would be in vain. Joseph was confident that there wasn’t
any treasure to be found.
However, Josiah was inflexible in his purpose and offered high
wages to those who would dig for him in search of the said mine.
Joseph and several others returned with him and commenced
digging.
After laboring for the older gentleman (Josiah) about a month
without success, Joseph prevailed upon him to cease his
operations, which Josiah did.
Josiah was so impressed with the Smith’s and their work ethic that
he later listened to their message about the restored gospel and
joined the Church.
Emma Smith
Emma was born on July 10th, 1804.
She was one of nine children with six brothers and two
sisters.
Emma was about a year and a half older than Joseph.
She was five feet nine inches tall.
She had a beautiful form, long dark hair, brown eyes
(hazel in other records), a dark complexion (olive).
She was meticulous and careful about how she
looked.
Joseph said that she had “splendid physical
development.”
She was a school teacher and a hard-line
Methodist.
She had a beautiful voice and sang in the local
choir.
A lot of men were interested in her!
“Emma was born in Harmony on July 10, 1804. She was
reported to have been a beautiful woman, above average
in size, dignified in body, with ‘bewitching dark eyes’ and
raven hair. She had an attractive personality, intelligent
and capable. For one year she attended an academy for
girls, where she received training in social behavior. It
was said of her that she ‘never used slang and was very
particular about her grammar and choice of words.’ She
had the reputation of being a meticulous housekeeper
and an excellent cook. She, like her mother, was a
member of the Methodist Church, had a good singing
voice, and sang in the village choir” (Ivan J. Barrett,
Joseph Smith and the Restoration).
Joseph’s mother, Lucy Mack Smith, wrote:
“While Joseph was in the employ of Mr. Stoal,
he boarded a short time with one Isaac Hale,
and it was during this interval that Joseph
became acquainted with his daughter, Miss
Emma Hale, to whom he immediately
commenced paying his addresses, and was
subsequently married….”
Joseph called my husband and myself aside
and said, “I have been very lonely ever since
Alvin died and I have concluded to get
married. If you have no objections to my
uniting myself in marriage with Miss Emma
Hale, she would be my choice in preference
to any other woman I have ever seen.” We
were pleased with his choice and not only
consented to his marrying her, but requested
him to bring her home with him and live with
us (History of Joseph Smith, 92-93).
Emma said, “I preferred him (Joseph) to any other man I
knew.”
They eloped against the wishes of her parents.
She was the daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth Hale.
Her family had above average wealth for the time period.
Two reasons why Emma’s parents did not
care for Joseph:
1. His reputation as a money digger
2. His lack of education
Chastised
One time coming back from the hill, Joseph was late for
supper and his father asked him where he had been and
Joseph said that he had just been chastised.
Joseph Smith Sr. was outraged and wanted to know who
had done such a thing to him.
Joseph said “It’s alright father, it was Moroni.
“Oh” was the response of his Father.
As Joseph was correcting his history he talked about the
different visits from heavenly beings in 1823.
He referred to Moroni and Nephi and sometimes he could
not remember which one had appeared to him.
If you or I saw an angel, we most certainly would
remember who it was.
Joseph was in such constant communion with the people
on the other side, that he at times had trouble
remembering which one it was that came to him.
How long before he would get
the plates?
Joseph had no idea!
We sometimes teach this wrong!
As Joseph approached Hill Cumorah, he had
thoughts about the poverty of his family and
the possibility that the plates or the
popularity of the translation would produce
enough wealth to ‘raise him above a level
with the common earthly fortunes of his
fellow men, and relieve his family from
want’ (Oliver Cowdery, Messenger and
Advocate, July 1835, 198).
He saw the plates, the breastplate and the Urim and
Thummim in the cement box.
Oliver Cowdery later mentioned that with a few more years
of erosion to the Hill Cumorah a person would have been
able to see the cement box under the rock.
Joseph was shocked three times and wondered why he
couldn’t get the plates. He was told by Moroni that it was
not enough to be willing to keep the commandments, he
must demonstrate that he could keep the commandments
(Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith, 81).
The four Visits to Cumorah (College)
Visit #1 September 21st, 1823
He saw two visions: The “vision of the
damned” and “the vision of heaven.”
Twenty years later he told his mother in
Nauvoo that the vision of the damned was
horrible beyond words. He said he saw those
who had been overcome by the evil one and
turned over to him.
Joseph Knight Sr. reported that after this failure to obtain
the Nephite record, Joseph asked the angel, “’When can I
have it?’ The answer was the 22nd day of September next
(year) if you bring the right person with you. Joseph
(asked), ‘Who is the right person?’ The answer was, ‘Your
oldest brother,’” meaning Alvin (Dean C. Jessee, “Joseph
Knights' Recollection of Early Mormon History,” BYU
Studies 17, no. 1 (fall 1976): 31).
Katherine Smith reports the same instruction, but she says
the Prophet asked the angel “What shall I do?” The angel
replied, “Come here the next year at this time and bring
your oldest brother with you, and you can receive the
records” (Kansas City Times, 11 April 1895).
Visit #2 September 22, 1824
When Joseph arrived at the Hill Cumorah, Moroni was not
there. He removed the stone, took the plates out of the
cement box and placed them by his side. He then took his
eyes off of the plates and looked back down into the
cement box. He looked back at his side for the plates and
discovered they were gone, he couldn’t find them
anywhere (heart attack!).
He looked back at the depository to find that the rock had
been placed back over the cement box. He removed the
rock again and looked in the cement box and there were
the plates. He reached in to pick the plates up and was
hurled violently back on to the ground.
What an education!
Visits three and four, September 22nd, 1825-26
There is no information on the 1825-26 visits. We don’t know what
happened. We do know that Joseph spent many hours with his family
talking about the things he had learned from Moroni and other heavenly
messengers relative to the people of the Americas.
We do know that Joseph was told to bring the right person to the hill on
visit #4.
Joseph Knight said that Joseph looked into the seer stone and discovered
that the right person was Emma (Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 18th May,
1888).
By the way, the right person is always your “spouse.”
One evening Alvin said, “Now let’s all go to bed because Joseph is tired.
Let’s get up a little earlier tomorrow and work a little harder, then Joseph
will have more time after supper to tell us about these things.
“Long before sunrise on 22 September 1827, Joseph and
his wife hitched Joseph Knight’s horse to Josiah Stowell’s
spring wagon and traveled the three miles to Hill
Cumorah. Leaving Emma at the base, Joseph climbed the
hill for his final interview with Moroni.
Moroni gave him the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and
the Breastplate.
It seemed that Joseph was not to receive the plates until
he was married.
President John Taylor said:
“When Joseph Smith was raised up as a
Prophet of God, Mormon, Moroni, Nephi and
others of the ancient Prophets who formerly
lived on this Continent, and Peter and John
and others who lived on the Asiatic Continent,
came to him and communicated to him
certain principles pertaining to the Gospel of
the Son of God” (Journal of Discourses, 17:374).
Lucy Mack Smith wrote:
“During our evening conversations, Joseph would
occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals
that could be imagined. He would describe the ancient
inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode of
traveling, and the animals upon which they rode; their
cities, their buildings, with every particular; their mode of
warfare; and also their religious worship. This he would do
with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole
life among them” (History of Joseph Smith, 83).
More facts about getting the plates!
Joseph Smith Jr. showed his mother the two
smooth three-cornered diamonds set in glass,
which were set in silver bows connected to each
other like old-fashioned spectacles.
Joseph said that it seemed that Satan had stirred
up the hearts of those who had in any way gotten
a hint of the matter, to search into it and make
every possible move towards preventing the
work.
In 1841 Wilford Woodruff and others were shown
the very seer stone that Joseph had used to
translate much of the Book of Mormon, and
Woodruff exulted, “I had the privilege of seeing
for the first time in my day the Urim and
Thummim.” Woodruff never got to heft, feel, or
examine the plates to know that they were real
(Woodruff, Journal, 27 December 1841, MS 1352,
box 1, folder 2, Church History Library).
Joseph Smith explained that “through the medium
of the Urim and Thummim I translated the record
by the gift, and power of God,” (Times and Seasons
3, no. 9 (1 March 1842).
Those witnesses make the use of the stones the
central part of the translation. They give an account
of Joseph Smith placing various seer stones into a
hat in order to block out the external light. Then
God cause words to appear on the shining stones
that translated the reformed Egyptian text into
English (From Darkness Unto Light, xiv).
Joseph kept the Urim and Thummim constantly
with him, by which he could in a moment tell
whether the plates were in danger.
When Hyrum came, Joseph requested him to get
a chest that had a good lock and key, and to have
it at their house when he got home later that
night.
Willard Chase, a neighboring farmer, along with
other treasure seekers, sent for a sorcerer to come
and find the place where the plates were hidden.
The actual box that the plates were locked in the
first night Joseph received them.
14 inches by
16 inches
On September 22nd, 1827 Joseph hid the plates in a log
and later brought them to his home to be locked in this box.
The pictures of the box are from the Religious Education
Archives at BYU.
Hyrum delivered the chest and lock that night.
When Joseph first took the plates into his hands ,the angel
of the Lord stood by and said:
“Now you have got the record in your own hands, and you
are but a man, therefore you will have to be watchful and
faithful to your trust, or you will be overpowered by wicked
men, for they will lay every plan and scheme that is
possible to get them away from you. And if you do not
take heed continually, they will succeed.
That while they were in my hands I could keep them, and
no man had power to take them away. Beware, and look
well to your ways, and you shall have power to retain them
until the time for them to be translated.”
The night Joseph got the plates he fought off three
different men during the three mile journey. During the
scuffle with the last man he dislocated his thumb which his
dad set for him later that evening.
Some records indicate that this happened after he had
received the plates and while he was working in Macedon.
Emma heard of the plot to get the plates and went to
Macedon and warned him (History of Joseph Smith, 108).
Joseph arrived home speechless, frightened and
exhausted.
What were the different places the plates
were hid?
• A hollow birch log
• A chest in his Father’s home
• Beneath the hearthstone of the family living room
• A pile of flax in the cooper’s loft
• A barrel of beans
• Father Beman’s Ontario glass box
• Emma’s red Morocco trunk
(History of Joseph Smith, 112-13)
Heber C. Kimball, who at this time lived just eighteen miles from the
Smiths and was yet unaware of the Restoration, later recorded:
“I had retired to bed, when John P. Greene, who was living within a
hundred steps of my house, came and woke me up, calling upon me
to come out and behold the scenery of the heavens. I called my wife
Vilate and Sister Fanny Young (sister to Brigham), who was living
with us, and we went out of doors.
It was one of the most beautiful starlight nights, so clear that we
could see to pick up a pin. We looked to the eastern horizon, and
beheld a white smoke arise toward the heavens; as it ascended it
formed itself into a belt, and made a noise like the sound of a mighty
wind, and contained southwest, forming a regular bow dipping in the
western horizon. After the bow had formed, it began to widen out
and grow clear of transparent, of a bluish cast; it grew wide enough
to contain twelve men abreast.
“In this bow an army moved, commencing from the east and
marching to the west; they continued marching until they reached
the western horizon. They moved in platoons, and walked so close
that the rear ranks trod in the step of their file leaders, until the
whole bow was literally crowded with soldiers. We could distinctly
see the muskets, bayonets and knapsacks of the men, who wore caps
and feathers like those used by the American soldiers in the last war
with Britain; and also their officers with their swords and equipage,
and the clashing and jingling of their implements of war, and could
discover the forms and features of the men. The most profound
order existed throughout the entire army; when the foremost men
stepped, every man stepped at the same time; I could hear the steps.
When the front rank reached the western horizon a battle ensued, as
we could distinctly hear the report of the arms and the rush.
“No man could judge of my feelings when I beheld that army of men
as plainly as ever I saw armies of men in the flesh; it seemed as
though every hair of my head was alive. This scenery we gazed upon
for hours, until it began to disappear.
“After I became acquainted with Mormonism, I learned that
this took place the same evening that Joseph Smith
received the records of the Book of Mormon from the angel
Moroni” Quoted in Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C.
Kimball, Collector’s Edition (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1992,
15-17).
Joseph Knight recorded that Joseph Smith told him that the
plates were ten times better than he expected. Joseph
described to him the length, width and thickness of the
plates. Joseph Knight mentioned that Joseph Smith
seemed to be more impressed with the Urim and Thummim
than he was of the plates, for he said, “I can see anything;
they are marvelous” (Backman, Eyewitness Accounts, 72).
Because of Joseph’s involvement with the Josiah Stowell affair near
Harmony (in digging for buried treasure, silver mine), it appeared that
those who worked with Joseph may have felt that any of the group who
found buried treasure (including Joseph) would share it equally with the
others.
Martin Harris stated: “The money-diggers claimed that they had as much
right to the plates as Joseph did, as they were in company together. They
claimed that Joseph Smith had been a traitor, and had appropriated to
himself that which belonged to them. For this reason Joseph was afraid of
them, and continued to conceal the plates” (Porter, “Origins,” 81-82).
Martin Harris estimated the weight of the plates at between forty and fifty
pounds.
William Smith, who was once allowed to lift the plates while they were
covered by a pillowcase, estimated the weight at sixty pounds (Backman,
Eyewitness Accounts, 70). Remember, Joseph ran for three miles with the
plates under his arm.
Hill Cumorah
An interesting event related in a sermon delivered by
the late President Brigham Young at Farmington, Utah,
17 June 1877:
“I believe I will take the liberty to tell you another
circumstance that will be as marvelous as anything can be.
This is an incident in the life of Oliver Cowdery, but he did
not take the liberty of telling such things in a meeting as I
take. I tell these things to you, and I have a motive for
doing so. I want to carry; them to the ears of my brethren
and sisters, and to the children also, that they may grow to
an understanding of some things that seem to be entirely
hidden from the human family. Oliver Cowdery went with
the Prophet Joseph when he deposited the plates.
Joseph did not translate all of the plates, there was a
portion of them sealed, which you can learn from the book
of Doctrine and Covenants. When Joseph got the plates,
the angel instructed him to carry them back to the Hill
Cumorah, which he did.
Oliver says that when Joseph and Oliver went there, the
hill opened, and they walked into a cave, in which there
was a large and spacious room. He said he did not think,
at the time, whether they had the light of the sun or
artificial light; but that it was just as light as day.
They laid the plates on a table; it was a large table that
stood in the room. Under this table was a pile of plates as
much as two feet high, and there were altogether in this
room more plates than probably many wagon loads; they
were piled up in the corners and along the walls. The first
time they went there the sword of Laban hung upon the
wall;
but when they went again it had been taken down and laid
upon the table across the gold plates; it was unsheathed,
and on it was written these words:
‘This sword will never be sheathed again until the
kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God
and His Christ.’
I tell you this as coming not only from Oliver Cowdery, but
others who were familiar with it, and who understood it
just as well as we understand coming to this meeting,
enjoying the day, and by and by we separate and go away,
forgetting most of what was said, but remembering some
things. So it is with other circumstances in life. I relate
this to you, and I want you to understand it. I take this
liberty of referring to those things so that they will not be
forgotten and lost” (Journal of Discourses, 19:38).
The Family of Joseph and Emma Smith
1. Alvin:
A boy, born and died on 15th of
June 1828 at Harmony.
2. Louisa:
A girl, one of the twins, lived
about three hours, born on April
30th, 1831 at Kirtland, Ohio.
3. Thaddeus:
A boy, one of the twins, lived
about three hours on April 30th,
1831 at Kirtland, Ohio.
4. Joseph Smith III:
Boy, born on the 6th of December, 1832 in
Kirtland. Died December 1914 in Independence
Missouri. Joseph Smith III had three wives and 17
children. On April 6th, 1860 he became the
Prophet of the Re-organized Church and retained
that office until 1914.
His third son Frederick with Mertha Madison
succeeded him as president of the Church.
5. Frederick Granger Williams:
Boy, born on 20th of June, 1836 in Kirtland Ohio. Died in 1862 at
Nauvoo when he was 26. He was a farmer and a merchant.
6. Alexander Hale:
A boy, born in 1838 at Far West and died August of 1909 in
Nauvoo.
7. Don Carlos:
A boy, born 13th of June 1840, Nauvoo. Died 15th of August 1841
at the age of 14 months, also in Nauvoo.
8. A boy:
Born 26th of December 1842 in Nauvoo who did not survive his
birth.
9. David Hyrum:
Born 17th of November 1844 in Nauvoo just five months after the
martyrdom. He died on the 29th of August 1904 at the age of 60
at Elgin Illinois.
Adopted Children;
10. Joseph Smith Murdock:
A twin, born 30th April, 1831 at Kirtland Ohio, died 29th of March
1832.
11. Julia Murdock:
A twin, born 30th April 1831 at Kirtland Ohio, died in 1880 from
breast cancer near Nauvoo.
The Breastplate, Lucy Harris’s Dream,
&Trickery (1827-1828)
Lucy said that Joseph asked her to come downstairs to see the
breastplate. It was wrapped in a thin muslin handkerchief, so thin
that she could see the glistening metal and ascertain its
proportions without any difficulty.
It was concave on one side and convex on the other, and extended
from the neck downwards as far as the center of the stomach of a
man of extraordinary size. It had four straps of the same material
for the purpose of fastening it to the breast, two of which ran back
to go over the shoulders, and the other two were designed to
fasten to the hips. They were just the width of two of her fingers
for she measured them, and they had holes in the end of them to
be convenient in fastening. Lucy said the whole plate was worth at
least 500 dollars. After Lucy examined it, Joseph put it in the chest
with the Urim and Thummim.
Shortly after the circumstance, Joseph came to the house
in great haste and inquired if there had been a company
of men there. Lucy said no, and Joseph said they would
be there by night, which came to pass.
It was later learned that the cause of mobs coming to
steal the plates was the result of a young woman who
was a sister to Willard Chase. She supposedly had a green
glass through which she could see many wonderful
things, including the exact place where the gold bible was
hidden.
Lucy Harris’s dream actually took place after Lucy Mack
Smith had told her of the plates and Joseph Smith
needing money and help to translate them. Lucy Smith
went to her first before approaching Martin with Joseph’s
permission because she did not want to go behind Lucy
Harris’s back. A few days later Lucy Harris visited with
Joseph Smith and asked to see the plates and that she
would be willing to help with money contributions. Joseph
told her that she could not see them and he was not
permitted to show them to anyone except those whom
the Lord told him he could.
Lucy Harris actually spent the night at the Smith
house and the next morning shared the following
dream:
She said that a personage had appeared to her
the night before and told her that insomuch as
she had disputed the servant of the Lord, that his
word was not to be believed, and asked many
improper questions, that she had done that
which was not right in the sight of God. Then he
said, “Behold, here are the plates, look upon
them and believe.”
Lucy Harris thought that she was superior to Martin
Harris and Joseph Smith.
She coined the name “the Grand Imposter” for Joseph
Smith.
A young man by the name of Dikes had been paying
attention to Lucy’s daughter, also named Lucy. Dike was
very fond of Lucy and Lucy Harris used this to her
advantage. She promised Dike that he could marry her
daughter if he would scheme and get a copy of the
Egyptian characters out of her husbands possession (the
characters he took to New York City). Mr. Dikes did and
Lucy Harris received a copy of the characters.
Losing the Book of Lehi:
My mid-summer 1828 Joseph and Martin had finished a significant
manuscript. Harris pressured Joseph repeatedly for permission to take the
manuscript home so that he could convince his family of the truth.
Just a day after Harris’s departure with the pages, Emma Smith gave birth to a
stillborn son in a exceptionally difficult and painful delivery that nearly took
her life.
Harris began displaying the manuscript as soon as he brought it home in June,
but initially only to those whom the Lord specified. His wife seemed highly
pleased with what she heard and entered into the spirit of it so much that she
gave her husband the privilege of locking it up in a set of drawers which she
had never before permitted him to look into. It seems that Lucy Harris was
more interested in locking the manuscript up to control it herself rather than
to keep it safe from others.
Martin wanted to show the manuscript to yet someone else that he did not
have permission from the Lord to do so and found that the drawers were
locked. Martin broke the lock and showed the manuscript to his friend.
Lucy found out and was enraged, and “her irracible temper knew no bounds
and an intolerable storm ensued throughout the house which descended with
the greatest force upon her husband.
If Lucy did steal the manuscript, what she did with the pages after taking
them is not know. One local resident said he heard that Lucy Harris say she
burned the papers.
Joseph believed that someone planned at some future point to reveal the lost
manuscript in order to discredit the Book of Mormon
As an initial consequence, Joseph reported that the plates and spectacles
were taken from him twice --- once prior to the revelation after asking a third
time to let Harris take the manuscript and once afterwards.
Lucy Harris often showed the copy of the
Egyptian characters and informed others
that Joseph Smith was not the only one
in possession of this great curiosity.
She told others that Joseph Smith had
deceived her husband with his specious
(deceptively attractive) pretensions and
was exerting all his powers in order to
induce Martin.