The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1872-01-26
The Rise of MOrmOnism.


fore the public. Brigham Young
and Joe Smith are names familiar
to every one, but Solomon Spalding
is not so well known, though un-
Willingly he played 9 very important
part III the production Of the So
called Mormon revelations. He was
q native of Ashford, Conn, born in
1861, gIa 1uated at Dartmouth Col
lege. was ordained as q minister,
though, after a few years, for some
reason he relinquished the profess
sion, and went into business in
Western New York, and subsequent
ly in Ohio AID Pennsylvania. In
business he seems to have been sue
ce5sful, but continued to retain a
strong propensity to literary pUr-
suits. He wrote several romances,
aud among the number one which
he entitled " The Manuscript Found" :"
which he seems to have regarded as
his best, and which, among his
friends he claimed would, when pub
lished, give him money enough to
pay the debts, which, unfortunately,
he had contracted. Indeed the pay
ment Of these seems to have been in
part the main spring of his ambition
in writing. But this Manuscript
Found" was a historical romance,
designated to connect the AbOrigi-
nees of America with the lest tribes
of the children OF Israel a fayOrite
theory OF his as we'll as others. In
this book he did not attempt to give
historical evidence, but by the short
er cut of fictitious assertion, he pro-
ceeded to state the wanderings IN the
old world, for seven or eight years, of
a certain Israelish family, which left
Jerusalem in the days OF King Zede-
kiah, about six hundred years before
| Christ. He follows them journeying
Eastward, till they come to the ocean,
then embsrks them up the Pacific,
| lands them on the Western coast of
America, and then recounts the sub
sequent settlement and history
of their descendants. This ga e
him an opportunity to account for
races more recently found here, as
| well as for the structures, ruins, and
burial mounds existing in various
parts of the Continent. All this was
written in the old Jewish style, in
| Imitation Of the Bible; was COM
prised in various books, and pur-
ported to be by various authors, the
same as our Scriptures. The pre-
| tense was that the manuscript had
! been found in q Western Cave, deci-
! phered, and hence the name he
adopted for the whole. In 1913 this
volume was advertised in the news
| papers as about to be published, and
| it was said it would contain atransla-
| ton the of" Book of Mormon" which
was name he adopted for one of
his separate books. The whole man
! uscript, i6 seems, was sent to a priut-
| ing office in Pittsburgh, where it re-
NAMED some time, waiting for its
author to raise the necessary funds
| to publish ii. He failed to do this,
however, and in that form the book
never saw the light. But a man in
the office, who subsequently figured
! in the history, becoming interested
in the manuscript, made copy. His
doing so was well known to all in
the office, and often mentioned by
| himself. This was Samuel RigdOn
who soon after left his business OF
printing, and began to preach, max
Ing prominent certain peculiar views
of has own.
Spalding died not long after, but
RigdOn subsequently became ac-
quainted with Joe Smith, who.
though possessed of hardly education
enough to read or write intelligibly
knew well how 10 avail himself Ot
the work of others, and had shrewd
ness, energy, and enthusiasm enough
to carry out his plans. The story
of his claim to having commuui-
cation from the angel who told hin
, where to find this sacred book, and
the magic stones which he call5d his
"Urim and Thummin," looking
| through which he would be enabled
to read the mysterious writing, i;
| familiar. Also, how ne went in ODE.
: dience to the command, found the
/, book with the golden leavesi land, sit
) ting behind a curtain lest prOfan(
eyes should desecrate it, read ant
translated the contents for an aman
, uensia, who sat outside to take dOWr
! his words. But during sll this time
Rigdon was his colabOrer, and wa
far more familiar with Scriptur,
than he. The two were able to weave
into Spaldin0's manuscript many pa
ges not originally there; also t.
Il change many which it did contain
a vet they did not essentially alter tht
; main structure of the narrative, q
t / was abundaRtly manifest by compar
. / ing their " Book Of Mormon" will
5 the origiual copy of Spalding's book
= which Mrs. Spalding retained. The,
did add, however, such doctrines ant
religious teachings as suited them
selves. But among them. wa
Of nlv-r ~
: but quite the contrary, as is evi
! dent from passages such as tn
q following from the Mormon Bible
For behold, thus saith the Lord
this people begin to wax in iniquity
they understand not the Scriptures
for they seek to excuse thenselve
in committing whoredoms, becaus
| of the things that are written con
= cerning David and Solomon lis sol
~. Behold, David and SoIoman ha
:, many wives and conouOines, whic
j thing was abominable before nae
l saith the Lord. Wherefore, thu
: saith the Lord, have led this peopl
. forth out of Jerusalem, b. the poWe
of mine arm, that l might raise u
unto me a righteous branch from tn
r fruit of the loins of Soseph. Where
: fore I, the Lord God will not suffe
IS that this peonle shall do like gnt
t them of old. Wherefore, ny brett
rem, hear me, and hearken unto til
word of the Lord for there sha
IS not sny man among you have. save
4 be one .wife, and concubines he sha
q have none" But notwithstsudin
such commands, abundant proYisio
was made for any modification {
this or other doctrine which subst
! queut feelings or evohts shOul
= make desirable. 1t ~zs express
N " said of Smith that he ha
: been appointed seer, translate
s, prophet, apostle OF Jesus Christ, an
= SIl-r nF IL ItIrrrrL y "a % l