From: press2@cbnewsd.cb.att.com (barry.o.olson)
Subject: McLellin Collection Suppressed PT 2 of 10
Organization: AT&T
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 03:16:13 GMT
Keywords: Tanner Nov. Newsletter/Hoffman bombings/suppresion



This is the second article broken down into 10 parts from Gerald
and Sandra Tanner's November "Salt Lake City Messanger" newsletter.
For those who need this info and couldn't obtain by hard-copy.
This is an FYI only production. Critique as you like.



SALT LAKE CITY MESSENGER          (Issue #83 - November 1992)
Utah Lighthouse Ministry
Po Box 1884,
Salt Lake City, Utah 84110


        Mormon Leaders Suppress "Key" Item in Murder Case
  The True McLellin Documents Found in First Presidency's Vault!


TURLEY'S BOMBSHELL!

        While Richard Turley seems to have nothing to say about
the two books we have written on the subject, he attacks all
three of the other books. He does, however, make observations
concerning our work on the Salamander letter and other
questionable documents. His comments with regard to our work are
generally good and contain nothing requiring a response.

        One strange thing about the Turley book is that although
the index lists thirteen different pages which refer to our work,
it does not have a single reference to the three books he is
attacking. Moreover, the names of the authors (Sillitoe, Roberts,
Naifeh, Smith and Lindsey) never appear in the index. It seems
that everything he has written about these authors is found in
the footnotes. Mr. Turley apparently does not want these authors
or their books to have more publicity than they have already
received.

        However this may be, in his footnotes Mormon apologist
Richard Turley tries to undermine the authenticity of these
books. He seems to be especially upset with charges that church
leaders were trying to cover up facts during the investigation
and does his best to try to smooth over these accusations.
Unfortunately for the Mormon Church, however, Mr. Turley's
laborious work of shoring up faith in church leaders comes
crashing to the ground when a person reaches page 248 of his
book. It is at that point that Turley divulges one of the most
embarrassing secrets that a Mormon historian has ever revealed.
Mr. Turley begins by saying that "March 1986 brought a startling
discovery." Turley goes on to explain that at that time church
officials became aware of the fact that they had an important
part of the McLellin collection concealed in the First
Presidency's vault and that it had been there since 1908!

        William E. McLellin was one of the original members of
the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the Mormon Church. He was
well acquainted with Joseph Smith and other church leaders and
knew a great deal about what was going on in the early church.
Later, however, he turned against the church and accused Joseph
Smith of altering the revelations which are found in the
_Doctrine and Covenants_. The current edition of the _Doctrine
and Covenants_ still contains an "Explanatory Introduction" which
purports to be the "Testimony of the Twelve Apostles to the Truth
of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants." According to Daniel
Macgregor, William McLellin claimed that this "testimony" was "a
base forgery." (_Changing of the Revelations_, page 32) McLellin
was very upset that Joseph Smith would change revelations given
by God. The _Salt Lake Tribune_ for Oct. 6, 1875, printed this
statement regarding McLellin: "His faith was first shaken by the
changes made in the revelations. He had been careful to keep
copies of the originals, presented proof that all the early
revelations were changed three times, and considerably amended
before they appeared in their present form."

        In 1838, Oliver Cowdery, one of the Three Witnesses to
the Book of Mormon, claimed that Joseph Smith had "A dirty,
nasty, filthy affair" with a young woman named Fanny Alger. (see
_Mormonism--Shadow or Reality?_ pages 203-204) William McLellin
claimed to have some explosive information on this matter. He
asserted that Joseph Smith's wife, Emma, had told him about this
affair. In his book, _Mormon Polygamy: A History_, 1986, page 6,
Richard S. Van Wagoner wrote: "McLellin's 1872 letter described
Alger's relationship with Joseph Smith. 'Again I told [your
mother],' the former apostle wrote, that 'I heard that one night
she missed Joseph and Fanny Alger. She went to the barn and saw
him and Fanny in the barn together alone. She looked through a
crack and saw the transaction!!! She told me this story too was
verily true.' McLellin also detailed the Alger incident to a
newspaper reporter for the 6 October 1875 _Salt Lake Tribune_."
In 1852 Mormon Church leaders acknowledged that Joseph Smith
practiced plural marriage, but they were silent concerning an
incident in the barn.

        Those who are familiar with the Hofmann case know that
Mark Hofmann falsely claimed that he had discovered the McLellin
collection and that he was helping the church obtain the
collection so that it would not fall into the hands of the
anti-Mormons who would use it to embarrass the church. Since
William McLellin had made some startling charges like the one
regarding the Fanny Alger affair, church leaders would naturally
be nervous concerning what such a collection might contain. In
his confession, Hofmann described a conversation he allegedly had
with Gordon B. Hinckley, a member of the church's First
Presidency, regarding the McLellin collection:

                "A. Well, of course, I basically told him that I
        could tell him what my fears were concerning its getting
        in to the enemy's hands, or whatever.... And his interest
        wasn't so much in having the Church obtain it as having
        it going someplace where--In fact, I would almost say he
        almost didn't want the Church to obtain it, he just
        wanted to make sure it did not fall in to the enemy's,
        hands which was good since I knew I didn't have it, I
        knew the Church couldn't obtain it." (_Hofmann's
        Confession_, page 529)

        Eventually, it was decided that Hugh Pinnock, a General
Authority in the Mormon Church, would help Mark Hofmann obtain a
loan of $185,000 from First Interstate Bank so that he could go
to Texas and obtain the McLellin collection. According to Richard
Turley, Pinnock felt that the collection required special
protection: "Pinnock offered to arrange for secure transportation
of the documents by jet or armored car, but Hofmann said he
would send them back to Utah by registered mail, adequately
insured." (_Victims_, page 124) The transaction was to be very
confidential. David E. Sorensen "who had recently been asked to
preside over the church's Canada Halifax Mission," would buy the
collection and hide it away from the enemies of the church.
Later, however, he would donate it to the church. Richard Turley
reported that "Sorensen later recalled that Pinnock 'asked if I
would listen to a matter of concern to the church and determine
if I would be in a position or interested in helping.'...
Sorensen recalled, 'Elder Pinnock was interested in seeing if I
might purchase the collection. If so, would I consider donating
it to the church at a later date.'... Sorensen later remembered
saying that he would be happy to help the church if he could but
wanted to 'investigate the matter in a business-like way.'"
(Ibid., page 136)

        Bishop Steven Christensen was supposed to authenticate
the McLellin collection for Sorensen on October 15, 1985. Since
Mr. Hofmann did not have the collection, he killed Steven
Christensen that morning so that the transaction could not take
place.

        When church leaders later discovered that they already
had the most significant part of the McLellin collection hidden
in the First Presidency's vault and that it had been there since
1908, they found themselves on the horns of a dilemma. If they
admitted that they had the collection all along, it would prove
the charge made by critics that the church suppressed important
documents from their people. In the _Salt Lake City Messenger_
for August 1985, we spoke of "the role that Mormon leaders have
taken in suppressing important documents." We noted that in 1983,
Gordon B. Hinckley, a member of the First Presidency of the
Mormon Church secretly acquired a letter -- later found to have
been forged by Mark Hofmann -- which purported to be in Joseph
Smith's own hand and linked the prophet to money-digging and
magic. President Hinckley believed the letter was authentic. He
paid Mr. Hofmann $15,000 for the letter and then hid it in the
First Presidency's vault.

        When researchers learned what happened and said that it
was being suppressed, the church decided to "stonewall." A
spokesman for the church said: "'The church doesn't have the
letter... It's not in the church archives or the First
Presidency's vault.'" (_Salt Lake Tribune_, April 29, 1985)
Finally, when it became clear that some Mormon scholars had
photocopies of the letter and were going to turn them over to the
news media, the church backed down, and the same spokesman
admitted his earlier statement was "in error": "The purported
letter was indeed acquired by the church. For the present it is
stored in the First Presidency's archives..." (_Salt Lake
Tribune_, May 7, 1985)

        In the issue of our newsletter cited above, we made this
observation: "The First Presidency's archive or vault, where the
1825 letter was concealed, is undoubtedly the ultimate 'black
hole.' Documents which are embarrassing to the Mormon Church
disappear into this bottomless abyss and are seldom heard of
again.

        The fact that church leaders could lose sight of the
McLellin collection in the First Presidency's vault for almost
eight decades shows just how dark it is inside the "black hole"
which contains the deeper secrets of Mormonism.

        The disappearance and rediscovery of the McLellin
collection would almost make one wonder if the right hand knows
what the left hand is doing at church headquarters. While Mormons
might expect this type of thing to happen at some bureaucratic
agency, they will have a difficult time explaining how this could
happen in a church which is supposed to be led by direct
revelation from God. The implications are very serious indeed.
For example, how can one explain the fact that Mormon leaders
were helping Mark Hofmann obtain a collection from Texas which
they already had in their own vault?

        In view of the circumstances, it would be very difficult
for church leaders to come forth and admit they had made such a
serious mistake. On the other hand, however, they faced a far
more serious problem if they did not reveal the existence of the
McLellin collection. To continue to suppress the existence of the
collection would mean that church leaders would have to
deliberately keep a key piece of evidence hidden from
investigators who were working on the Hofmann case. Unfortunately
for the Mormon Church, Richard Turley makes it very clear that
church leaders chose to keep law enforcement officials completely
in the dark concerning the existence of the McLellin collection.

        The importance of this piece of evidence cannot be
overstated. While investigators seemed to have a great deal of
evidence that Mark Hofmann forged documents and defrauded
investors in his schemes, they had a real problem establishing a
motive for the murders. At first some investigators believed that
the bombings might relate in some way to the Salamander letter.
(Hofmann had sold the Salamander letter to Steven Christensen for
a great deal of money.) This theory, however, could not be
confirmed by any evidence. Christensen apparently believed the
letter was genuine and seemed pleased that Hofmann had sold it to
him.

        The McLellin collection, on the other hand, seemed to
provide an explanation for the murder of Steven Christensen.
Hofmann's reluctance to produce the collection was very upsetting
to Christensen. Since Hofmann did not have the collection, there
was nothing he could do except to continue to give Mr.
Christensen excuses. Consequently, friction continued to mount
between the two men. At Hofmann's preliminary hearing, Curt Bench
said that about three weeks before the murders, Steven
Christensen called him and wanted him to convey a message to Mark
Hofmann. Bench testified that Christensen told him that "a member
of the First Quorum of Seventy and an apostle... were upset
because Mark had defaulted on a loan to a bank and had written a
check and the check had bounced... They were quite upset over
this and said some very serious things could happen as a result
of that not being taken care of."