Difference between revisions of "Question: What do the Hurlbut affidavits claim about the Smith family and treasure digging?"

m (top: Bot replace {{FairMormon}} with {{Main Page}} and remove extra lines around {{Header}})
 
(7 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{FME-Source
+
{{Main Page}}
|title=Question: What do the Hurlbut affidavits claim about the Smith family and treasure digging?
 
|category=Hurlbut affidavits
 
}}
 
 
<onlyinclude>
 
<onlyinclude>
==Question: What do the Hurlbut affidavits claim about the Smith family and treasure digging?==
+
#REDIRECT[[The Hurlbut affidavits]]
===Statements of individuals who claimed to have assisted Joseph Smith, Sr. in digging operations===
 
Several individuals who had participated with Joseph Smith, Sr. on treasure digging activities made some unique claims regarding Joseph Smith, Jr.
 
 
 
{{:Question: What did Willard Chase claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?}}
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
{{:Question: What did Peter Ingersoll claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?}}
 
 
 
 
 
{{FME-Source
 
|title=Question: What did Peter Ingersoll claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?
 
|category=Hurlbut affidavits
 
}}
 
<onlyinclude>
 
==Question: What did Peter Ingersoll claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?==
 
====Peter Ingersoll====
 
||
 
*Claimed that the Smith family's general employment was "digging for money."
 
*Claimed that Joseph Smith, Sr. taught him to use a divining rod.
 
*Claimed that Joseph Smith, Sr. and Alvin Smith used a stone in a hat to see things.
 
*Claimed that Joseph Smith, Sr. said that there had been a book found in a hollow tree in Canada that described the "first settlement of this country before it was discovered by Columbus."
 
*Claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr. admitted to his father-in-law that he only pretended to be able to see things in the stone.
 
*Claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr. fooled his family into thinking that a frock full of sand was the "Gold Bible."
 
*Claimed that Joseph told his family that nobody could see the "Gold Bible" and live.
 
*Claimed that Joseph made up the story of the gold plates on the spot, after which he is supposed to have said, "I have got the damned fools fixed, and will carry out the fun."
 
*Claimed that Joseph told him that "he had no such book, and believed there never was any such book."
 
*Claimed that Joseph Smith, Sr., was engaged in "divination."
 
||
 
*On the threat that no one could see the "gold bible" and live, see: [[Viewing gold plates would result in death]]
 
*Ingersoll is discredited on his claim that Joseph made the story of the "gold bible" up on the spot as a way to have "fun" with his family. Joseph was telling various people about his Moroni visits well before recovering the plates (see for example various Knight family recollections). Note also that the name "Moroni" appears in the claim made by [[The Hurlbut affidavits#Lemon Copley|Lemon Copley]].
 
*It is very difficult to believe that Joseph would have privately confided to Ingersoll that the plates didn't exist, when he told everyone else that they did.
 
* [[Joseph Smith and seer stones]]
 
* [[Joseph_Smith_and_the_occult|Joseph Smith and "magick"]]
 
* [[Joseph_Smith/Occultism_and_magic/Joseph_Smith,_Sr.,_and_%22divination%22|Joseph Smith, Sr., and "divination"]]
 
*{{FR-18-1-5}}
 
*{{FR-17-1-4}}
 
<onlyinclude>
 
{{endnotes sources}}
 
 
 
{{:Question: What did C.R. Stafford claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?}}
 
 
 
 
 
{{FME-Source
 
|title=Question: What did C.R. Stafford claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?
 
|category=Hurlbut affidavits
 
}}
 
<onlyinclude>
 
==Question: What did C.R. Stafford claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?==
 
====C.R. Stafford====
 
(nephew of William, below)
 
||
 
*Claimed that "Jo Smith, the prophet, told my uncle, William Stafford, he wanted a fat, black sheep. He said he wanted to cut its throat and make it walk in a circle three times around and it would prevent a pot of money from leaving."
 
||
 
*This is hearsay; it provides no additional evidence than the original claim, see below.
 
<onlyinclude>
 
{{endnotes sources}}
 
 
 
{{:Question: What did William Stafford claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?}}
 
{{FME-Source
 
|title=Question: What did William Stafford claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?
 
|category=Hurlbut affidavits
 
}}
 
<onlyinclude>
 
==Question: What did William Stafford claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?==
 
====William Stafford====
 
(uncle to C.R., above)
 
||
 
*Claimed that the family of Joseph Smith, Sr. devoted a "great part of their time" to "digging for money."
 
*Claimed that he was told that Joseph Smith, Jr. could see "large caves" in "nearly all the hills in this part of New York."
 
*Claimed that Joseph could see "spirits" guarding great treasures.
 
*Claimed that Joseph Smith, Sr. told him that treasure could "sink" into the ground.
 
*Claimed that Joseph Smith, Sr. took one of his sheep on the pretense of using it to search for money by cutting its throat.
 
*Claimed that Joseph promised to show him the gold plates.
 
||
 
*Stafford's claim that Joseph promised to show him the gold plates directly contradicts Peter Ingersoll's claim that Joseph said that [[Viewing gold plates would result in death|nobody could see the gold plates and live]].
 
*Stafford's oldest son John would later say "I have heard that sotry [about the black sheep] but don't think my father was there at the time they say Smith got the sheep.  I don't know anything about it....They never stole one [a sheep], I am sure; they may have got one sometime....I don't think it [the story of the sheep] is true.  I would have heard more about it, that is true." <ref>William H. Kelly, "The Hill Cumorah, and the Book of Mormon," ''Saints' Herald'' 28 (1 June 1881): 167; cited in {{EarlyMormonDocs|vol=2|start=121|end=122}}  The material removed by ellipses consists of questions being asked by the interviewer.</ref>
 
*{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Early Smith family history/Lazy Smiths|l1=Lazy Smiths?}}
 
*{{FR-18-1-5}}
 
*{{FR-17-1-4}}
 
|-
 
|}
 
{{Main|Joseph Smith/Money digging|l1=Joseph Smith and "money digging"}}
 
<onlyinclude>
 
{{endnotes sources}}
 
 
 
</onlyinclude>
 
{{endnotes sources}}
 

Latest revision as of 15:32, 13 April 2024