The Hurlbut affidavits

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The Hurlbut affidavits

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Questions


Many of Joseph Smith’s friends and neighbors signed affidavits that accused him and his family of being lazy, indolent, undependable treasure-seekers. Some of them claimed that Joseph had copied the Book of Mormon from a manuscript written by Solomon Spalding.

To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, [[../CriticalSources|click here]]

Answer


  1. There are many statements from Joseph's contemporaries attesting to his good character—These people did not sign sworn affidavits, but their accounts are recorded in their journals and histories.
  2. It is also important to note that none of these statements regarding Joseph Smith, Jr. was a firsthand account from the Prophet himself, but instead represent second or third-hand accounts. It is interesting that Fawn Brodie and other modern anti-Mormons readily dismiss the affidavits supporting the Spalding theory (which has since been discredited), suggesting the Hurlbut "prompted" those making statements, yet accepts without question the affidavits attesting to the bad character of Joseph Smith and his family.
  3. Finally, Hurlbut's motive in collecting the affidavits is a factor. The Hurlbut affidavits were collected by a man who not only had a grudge to settle with the Church, but who had actually been brought before a judge for issuing a death threat against Joseph Smith, Jr. His family had likewise lost a court case brought by the Smiths, and young Joseph's testimony played a significant role in their victory. (This occurred despite the Hurlbuts being more wealthy and prominent in the community than the poverty-stricken Smiths.)

Detailed Analysis

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Joseph Smith claimed that he was "as good as Jesus Christ?"

Claimant Claims Comments

Levi Lewis
  • Claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr. and Martin Harris said that "adultery was no crime."
  • Claimed that he "knows Smith to be a liar."
  • Claimed that he heard Joseph Smith say that he "was as good as Jesus Christ."
  • Claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr. told him "[w]ith regard to the plates, Smith said God had deceived him."
  • Martin Harris would later be charged with slander for accusing a woman (Eliza Winters) of having a "bastard child." He was acquitted of this charge, but it is inconsistent with Lewis' claim for Martin to suffer jail and risk slander charges over an issue which he regards as "no crime." The story is implausible.
  • Joseph repeatedly testified (as did others) that he had the plates, and that others and seen them. That Lewis claims otherwise is likewise implausible.
  • Joseph's early private letters reveal him to be humble and painfully aware of his dependence on God. The claim about him being "as good as Jesus Christ" is inconsistent with this private, contemporary evidence.
  • Gregory L. Smith, A review of Nauvoo Polygamy:...but we called it celestial marriage by George D. Smith. FARMS Review, Vol. 20, Issue 2. (Detailed book review)

Sophia Lewis
  • Claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr. said that he "was as good as Jesus Christ."
  • Claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr. said that "the Book of Plates could not be opened under penalty of death by any other person but his (Smith's) first-born, which was to be a male."

Hezekiah M'Kune
  • Claimed that Joseph Smith said "he was nearly equal to Jesus Christ."
  • Joseph's early private letters reveal him to be humble and painfully aware of his dependence on God. The claim about him being "as good as Jesus Christ" is inconsistent with this private, contemporary evidence.
  • Gregory L. Smith, A review of Nauvoo Polygamy:...but we called it celestial marriage by George D. Smith. FARMS Review, Vol. 20, Issue 2. (Detailed book review)

Commentary

  • Hezekiah M'Kune, Levi Lewis and Sophia Lewis went together to make their depositions before the justice. Their testimonies bear a remarkable similarity and contain the unique claim that Joseph claimed to be "as good as Jesus Christ." This claim is not related by any other individuals who knew the Prophet, suggesting that these three individuals planned and coordinated their story before giving their depositions. [1]

Spalding manuscript claims and reliability

Hurlbut's affidavits regarding the Spalding manuscript consist of interviews with family and associates of Solomon Spalding.

Claimant Claims

Artemas Cunningham
  • Claimed to have "partially examined" the "Mormon Bible."
  • Claimed that Spalding's manuscript was called "Manuscript Found."
  • Claimed "to remember the name of Nephi" as the "principal hero."

Nahum Howard
  • Claimed to have "lately read the Book of Mormon."
  • Claimed that it was the same as Spalding wrote, "except the religious part."'

Henry Lake
  • Claimed to have recently "commenced reading [The Book of Mormon] aloud."
  • Claimed that Spalding's work frequently used the words "it came to pass."

John Miller
  • Claimed to have "recently examined the Book of Mormon."
  • Claimed that the Book of Mormon was "mixed up with scripture and other religious matter, which I did not meet with in the "Manuscript Found."
  • Claimed that "Nephi, Lehi, Moroni" were the "principal names" in Spalding's book.

Oliver Smith
  • Claimed that "Nephi and Lehi were by [Spalding] represented as leading characters."
  • Claimed that Spalding included "no religious matter" in his book.
  • Claimed that "I obtained the book [of Mormon], and on reading it, found much of it the same as Spalding had written."

John Spalding

(Brother of Solomon Spalding)

  • Claimed to have "recently read the Book of Mormon."
  • Claimed that Spalding's book was entitled The Manuscript Found.
  • Claimed that the book attempted to show that the American Indians are the descendents of the Jews.
  • Claimed that the leaders of the group were called "Nephi" and "Lehi."
  • Claimed that the book described two nations called the "Nephites" and the "Lamanites."
  • Claimed that the people described in Spalding's book buried their dead in large mounds.
  • Claimed that many sentences in Spalding's book began with "it came to pass."

Martha Spalding

(wife of Solomon Spalding)

  • Claimed that she had "read the Book of Mormon."
  • Claimed that the Book of Mormon was based upon Spalding's story.
  • Claimed that "the names of Nephi and Lehi are yet fresh in my memory, as being the principal heroes of his tale."
  • Claimed that Spalding's characters separated into two nations, "one of which was called Lamanites and the other Nephites."
  • Claimed that Spalding's tale told of the dead "being buried in large heaps was the cause of the numerous mounds in the country."
  • Claimed that Spalding's manuscript used the words "it came to pass."

Aaron Wright
  • Claimed that the Book of Mormon following the Spalding story, "excepting the religious matter."
  • Claimed that "the names more especially are the same without any alteration."

Commentary

Main article: Book of Mormon and Spalding manuscript
  • Most of the Spalding-related affidavits make very similar claims, such as the repeated statements that "Nephi" and "Lehi" figured prominently in Spalding's story and that the person making the claim had "recently" read the Book of Mormon and recognized it as being similar to Spalding's work. The recovered Spalding manuscript, however, bears no resemblance to any of these claims. For this reason, critics who support the Spalding theory have assumed the existence of a second Spalding manuscript, despite absolutely no evidence to support this.
  • The Spalding theory requires that Sidney Rigdon secretly meet Joseph Smith before the organization of the Church, and provide him with the Book of Mormon manuscript. John Stafford, oldest son of William Stafford was asked about this:
Q — If young Joseph — Smith , Jr. — was as illiterate as you say, Doctor, how do you account for the Book of Mormon?
A — "Well, I can't; except that Sidney Rigdon was connected with them."
Q — Was Rigdon ever around there before the Book of Mormon was published?
A — "No; not as we could ever find out. Sidney Rigdon was never there, that Hurlbut, or Howe, or Tucker could find out."
Q — Well; you have been looking out for the facts a long time, have you not, Doctor?
A — "Yes; I have been thinking and hearing about it for the last fifty years, and lived right among all their old neighbors there more of the time."
Q — And no one has ever been able to trace the acquaintance of Rigdon and Smith, until after the Book of Mormon was published, and Rigdon proselyted by Parley P. — Pratt, in Ohio?
A — "Not that I know of.""
— John Stafford, cited in William H. Kelly, "The Hill Cumorah, and the Book of Mormon," Saints' Herald 28 (1 June 1881): 167.[2]

See also:

  • Matthew Roper, "The Mythical "Manuscript Found" (Review of: Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon? The Spalding Enigma)," FARMS Review 17/2 (2005): 7–140. off-site


Notes


  1. ↑ Hugh W. Nibley, Tinkling Cymbals and Sounding Brass: The Art of Telling Tales About Joseph Smith and Brigham Young (Vol. 11 of the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley), edited by David J. Whittaker, (Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret Book Company ; Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1991), 128. ISBN 0875795161. GL direct link
  2. ↑ Dan Vogel (editor), Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1996–2003), 5 vols, 2:123–124.)


Further reading and additional sources responding to these claims

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