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Documents, Volume 1, Part 1 Introduction: July 1828–March 1829

Part 1: July 1828–March 1829

No JS documents created before the fall of 1827 have survived. JS’s earlier visionary experiences and many events related to his obtaining the gold plates are recorded only in later documents. In his 1832 history, JS wrote his earliest known account of his first encounter with heavenly beings, an event later known as the “First Vision.” The history then described the visit of an angel in September 1823: “When I was seventeen years of age I called again upon the Lord and he shewed unto me a heavenly vision for behold an angel of the Lord came and stood before me and it was by night and he called me by name and he said the Lord had forgiven me my sins and he revealed unto me that in the Town of Ontario County N.Y. there was plates of gold upon which there was engravings which was engraven by Maroni & his fathers the servants of the living God in ancient days and deposited by th[e] commandments of God and kept by the power thereof and that I should go and get them.” JS further declared that the angel “appeared unto me three times in one night and once on the next day and then I immediately went to the place and found where the plates was deposited as the angel of the Lord had commanded me.”

The 1832 history recorded that JS was initially unable to retrieve the gold plates from their hiding place. The angel again appeared, this time chastising him because he “had been tempted of the advisary and saught the Plates to obtain riches and kept not the commandme[n]t that [he] should have an eye single to the Glory of God.” Not until 1827 was he able to take possession of the plates. In the interim, JS married on 18 January 1827. Then, he explained, “on the 22d day of Sept of this same year I obtained the plat[e]s.”

Some of the earliest known surviving JS documents are related to his efforts to translate the plates. In late 1827 he and moved from , New York, to , Pennsylvania, in part to avoid harassment stemming from his claim to possess the plates. There they lived in a house owned by Emma’s parents; they later bought the residence and the surrounding thirteen and a half acres.

That winter JS copied some of the characters inscribed on the plates, and in February 1828 , an early supporter of JS, took the copied characters to at least three men in who had backgrounds in ancient languages.

Harris reported that one of the scholars, of Columbia College in , provided a certificate verifying “to the people of that they were true characters and that the translation of such of them as had been translated was also correct.”

During the winter of 1827–1828, JS translated the plates as and her brother Reuben Hale served as scribes. Later that spring became JS’s principal scribe. After Harris returned to about 12 April 1828 to serve as JS’s scribe, the pace of translation improved considerably, and by 14 June JS and Harris had completed what JS described in the Book of Mormon preface as the “Book of Lehi.”

JS and then stopped their translation, probably because was due to give birth. About this same time, Harris pleaded with JS to allow him to take the manuscript back to , New York, that “he might convince them [his family and friends] of the truth.” In response, JS twice gave the “word of the Lord” to Harris that “he must not take them.” Nevertheless, as JS explained in 1832, “the third time . . . the Lord said unto me let him go with them only he shall covenant with me that he will not shew them to only but four persons.”

Tragedy struck the Smith household soon afterward. On 15 June gave birth to an infant who was either stillborn or died shortly after birth. By early July 1828, when had not yet returned with the pages of the Book of Mormon translation, JS traveled to and found that Harris had shown the manuscript to more than the promised few and that the manuscript had been lost or stolen.

Devastated by this news, JS returned to , where he soon obtained a revelation. This, the earliest written JS revelation that has survived, called Harris “a wicked man” and condemned JS for having insistently importuned regarding the manuscript.

In consequence, the plates and the interpreters were temporarily taken from JS, although as his later history explained, “in a few days they were returned to me.” The history continued, “I did not however go immediately to translating, but went to laboring with my hands upon a small farm which I had purchased of my ’s , in order to provide for my family.” recalled that in September 1828, she and traveled to . Soon after their return to , a young schoolteacher named , who later became JS’s primary scribe, began boarding at their house. Meanwhile, in Harmony, JS and were struggling financially. JS traveled to nearby , New York, to visit , a family friend. After JS discussed his situation and his lack of progress with the translation and requested financial help, Knight provided both money and provisions. Soon after, in January 1829, Joseph Smith Sr. and his son stopped at Knight’s house on their way to visit JS and Emma. Knight carried the two by sleigh the rest of the way to Harmony. He wrote, “We conversed about many things. in the morning I gave the old man a half a Dollar and Joseph a little money to Buoy paper to translate[,] I having But little with me.” During the visit, JS dictated a revelation for his father declaring that “if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work.”

Around late February 1829, after the departure of his , JS resumed translation of the plates, with and his brother acting as scribes. It is unknown how many pages they completed. About this time, journeyed to to request a view of the gold plates, and JS dictated a revelation promising Harris that if he repented he would be allowed to view the plates and would be charged to testify of them. The revelation also instructed JS that “when thou hast translated a few more pages . . . then shalt thou stop for a season” until God provided means for the translation to move forward.

1
A possible exception, purportedly a JS document from 1825, is presented as an appendix to this volume. (Agreement of Josiah Stowell and Others, 1 Nov. 1825.)
2
Two particularly important sources, JS’s circa summer 1832 history and drafts of JS’s 1838–circa 1841 history, are featured in JSP, H1:3–22, 187–463.
3
JS History, ca. Summer 1832, 4.
4
JS History, ca. Summer 1832, 5; see also JS History, vol. A-1, 2–8; Agreement with Isaac Hale, 6 Apr. 1829; and Deed from Isaac and Elizabeth Hale, 25 Aug. 1830.
5
Although the key sources agree that JS and Emma Smith moved to Harmony late in 1827, they differ on the particular month. Martin Harris stated it was late October or early November, while Joseph Knight Sr. implied they left for Harmony in November. JS’s earliest history, however, stated, “In December following we mooved to Susquehana by the assistence of a man by the name of Martin Har[r]is.” (“Mormonism—No. II,” Tiffany’s Monthly, July 1859, 170; Knight, Reminiscences, 3; JS History, ca. Summer 1832, 5; see also JS History, vol. A-1, 9; and Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 6, [6].)
“Mormonism,” Tiffany’s Monthly 5 (May 1859): 46–51; (July 1859): 119–121; (Aug. 1859): 163–170. Tiffany's Monthly. New York City. 1856–1859.
Knight, Joseph, Sr. Reminiscences, no date. CHL. MS 3470.
6
See Copies of Book of Mormon Characters. For details on each of the men Harris visited and their connection to the characters, see Bennett, “Read This I Pray Thee,” 180–216; see also William W. Phelps, Canandaigua, NY, to Eber D. Howe, 15 Jan. 1831, in Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 273–274; Tucker, Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism, 41–45; and Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 6, [7].
Bennett, Richard E. “‘Read This I Pray Thee’: Martin Harris and the Three Wise Men of the East.” Journal of Mormon History 36 (Winter 2010): 178–216.
Howe, Eber D. Mormonism Unvailed: Or, A Faithful Account of That Singular Imposition and Delusion, from Its Rise to the Present Time. With Sketches of the Characters of Its Propagators, and a Full Detail of the Manner in Which the Famous Golden Bible Was Brought before the World. To Which Are Added, Inquiries into the Probability That the Historical Part of the Said Bible Was Written by One Solomon Spalding, More Than Twenty Years Ago, and by Him Intended to Have Been Published as a Romance. Painesville, OH: By the author, 1834.
Tucker, Pomeroy. Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism: Biography of Its Founders and History of Its Church. New York: D. Appleton, 1867.
7
JS History, vol. A-1, 9.
8
Knight, Reminiscences, 4; see also Joseph Smith III, “Last Testimony of Sister Emma,” Saints’ Herald, 1 Oct. 1879, 289–290; and Blackman, History of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, 104.
Knight, Joseph, Sr. Reminiscences, no date. CHL. MS 3470.
Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.
Blackman, Emily C. History of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. From a Period Preceding Its Settlement to Recent Times. . . . Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen and Haffelfinger, 1873.
9
JS History, vol. A-1, 9; Preface to Book of Mormon, ca. Aug. 1829.
10
JS History, ca. Summer 1832, 5–[6]; see also JS History, vol. A-1, 9.
11
Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 7, [7]–[8]. Martin Harris and several others believed that his wife, Lucy, had stolen the manuscript, but their accounts differ as to whether she burned it or gave it to others. (See, for example, Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 22; [John A. Clark], “Gleanings by the Way. No VII,” Episcopal Recorder, 12 Sept. 1840, 98; Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845, 134; “Old Newspapers—No. 24,” Palmyra [NY] Courier, 24 May 1872, in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 2:340–342; and “W. R. Hine’s Statement,” Naked Truths about Mormonism [Oakland, CA], Jan. 1888, 2.)
Howe, Eber D. Mormonism Unvailed: Or, A Faithful Account of That Singular Imposition and Delusion, from Its Rise to the Present Time. With Sketches of the Characters of Its Propagators, and a Full Detail of the Manner in Which the Famous Golden Bible Was Brought before the World. To Which Are Added, Inquiries into the Probability That the Historical Part of the Said Bible Was Written by One Solomon Spalding, More Than Twenty Years Ago, and by Him Intended to Have Been Published as a Romance. Painesville, OH: By the author, 1834.
Episcopal Recorder. Philadelphia. 1831–1919.
Vogel, Dan, ed. Early Mormon Documents. 5 vols. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1996–2003.
Naked Truths about Mormonism: Also a Journal for Important, Newly Apprehended Truths, and Miscellany. Oakland, CA. Jan. and Apr. 1888.
12
JS History, vol. A-1, 10.
13
Revelation, July 1828 [D&C 3:12].
14
JS History, vol. A-1, 11. Lucy Mack Smith wrote that the interpreters (and presumably the plates) were given back 22 September 1828. David Whitmer believed that the “spectacles” were taken away for three months. (Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 7, [11]; [Martin J. Hubble], Account, 13 Nov. 1886, Hubble Family Papers, 1833–1937, State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia.)
[Hubble, Martin J.]. Account, 13 Nov. 1886. Hubble Family, Papers, 1833–1937. State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia.
15
Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 7, [8], [12].
16
Knight, Reminiscences, 5.
Knight, Joseph, Sr. Reminiscences, no date. CHL. MS 3470.
17
Revelation, Feb. 1829 [D&C 4:3].
18
JS History, ca. Summer 1832, [6]; see also Joseph Smith III, “Last Testimony of Sister Emma,” Saints’ Herald, 1 Oct. 1879, 289.
Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.
19
“Testamoney of Martin Harris,” 4 Sept. 1870, [4], Edward Stevenson, Collection, CHL.
Stevenson, Edward. Collection, 1849–1922. CHL. MS 4806.
20
Revelation, Mar. 1829. [D&C 5:30]

Part 1: July 1828–March 1829

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