The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-11-12
THE BOOK OF mORMOH-WHO
WROTE IT?
solomon SpaldInE, of WashIuEton
County, Pa,

-
sOIomon SpaldInE, OF WashIuEtOn
County, Pa.
statement OF one OF 6paldIne's Co.
pOrarICs-BpaIdIDR's Neglected
Grave.
(Ffon the Warrington, Ed., RcVictv oflOA.)
TEE Book OF MoRNoN,--AieSsrs,
IS0an &c Ecker: Being In AmIty few
days ago, In company with q friend, l
visited the cemetery belonging 10 the
Presbyterian church In that Village.
The last resting place Of several indl.
vldualB were pointed out, and specially
attracted my attention,
The other was that Of the Rev. IN he
10 worthy Of such tItle) Solomon
SpaldlnR-a name that has been some.
what Identified with the origin OF Nor.
monlsm. Nothing remains to designate
the spot but q Eapidly-crumbllnR foot
stone, with the Initials IS. S. scarcely
discernlble. All that Ia left OF the head.
stone 10 0 very small heap Of scaly
fragments. was informed that a feW
years ago an attempt was made, In that
locality, to procure some money, by
public subscription, for the purpose OF
erecting at the grave durable and re.
spectacle grave stones. The ATTEMPT
failed, as understood, on account Of q
general feeling that the memory OF such
men should rot with their bodies,
Rev. j. W, Hamilton, the present
pastor OF the church, kindly furnished
me with the following testimonials,
which will throw some light on what
spaldlng had to do with MormonIsm.
NJ.
HOOKS SUMMIT, Nov. 8, 1860.
Book OF MoRMoN.-Some time since
l came In possession OF the Book OF
Mormon. put It Into the hands Of
Mr.. Joseph Miller, OF Amwell town.
ship. After examining It, he makes
the following statement, concerning
the connection Of Rev. Solomon Spald.
Ing with the authorship Of the Book OF
Mormon:
Mr.. Miller is now In the seventy
ninth year Of his age. He Is an elder
In the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church. His Judgment is good, and
his veraclty 10 unimpeachable. HeWRs
well acquainted with Mr.. s. while he
lived at Amlty. He waited on him
during his last Illness. He made his
coffin, and assisted to bury his remains
where they now lie, In the Presbyte-
rian graveyard at Amity. He also
bailed Mr.. Spalding's wife when she
took out letters Of administration ON
his estate. Mr.. Miller'a statement may
be relied on as true.
April 10, 100. J.W. HAMILTON,
Mr.. MrLLER's STATEMRNT.-When
Mr.. Spalding lived In Amity, Pa, I
was we'll acquainted with him. / WAS
frequently al his house. He kept what
was called atavern. TWAS understood
that he had been preacher; but his
health failed, and he ceased to preach.
l never knew him after he came 10 Am.
lily.
he had In his possession some papers
which, he said, he had written. He
used 10 read select portions Of these
papers to amuse us Of evenings. These
papers were detached sheets OF foolscap.
BE said he wrote the papers as novel.
He called them the MANUSCRIPT Found
or the Lost Manuscript Found He
said he wrote 1t 10 pass away the time
when he was unwell and after It was
written, he thought he would publish It
as novel, as u means TO support his
family.
Some time since copy oil the Book
OF Mormon was put into my hands.
My son read II for me, as l have q ner-
vous shaking Of the head that prevents
me from reading, noticed several pas.
sages which remembered having heard
Mr.. SpaldIng read from his Manu-
script One passage on the one hun
dred and forty eighth page 1.-THE copy I
have ID published by J. o. Wright q
Co., N. W remember distinctly. ne
speaks Of q battle. and says the AmbI-
cites had marked themselves with red
In their foreheads, to distinguish them
from the Nephites. The thought OF
being marked In the forehead was 30
strange, 1t fixed Itself In my memory.
This, together with many other pas.
Spaldlng read from his Manuscript
Those who knew Mr.. Spaldlng will
soon all be gone, and I among the rest.
1 write that what I know may become
q matter OF history, and that 1t may
prevent people from being led into
Mormonlsm, that most seductive delu.
sion Of the devil.
From what know Of Mr.. SpaldIne's
AAuAuhCLlpL huu Lu6 hUUk Vi nOES
mon, I firmly believe that Joseph
Smith, by some means, got possession
Of Mr.. Spalding's Manuscript and
possibly made some changes In It and
called 1t the Book OF Mormon.
JOSEPH MILLER, SR.
Our correspondent and Mr.. Miller
have overlooked a fact in this history
that gives much force 10 theiritheory.
Many years ago the manuscripts OF
Spalding were sent TO the Pittsburgh
Gazette Office for publication. For want
Of funds or some other reason the man.
uscrlpts remained unpublished for
some time: and 1t Ia alleged that the
celebrated Sidney RlRdon, a former
citizen Of Allegheny county, who Join.
ed In the Mormon movement, by some
means got possession Of the tale or
dream OF poor Spalding, and together
with Joe Smith, conjured out Of It the
most original and Infamous religion OF
the nineteenth century,