The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1877-08-16


i
The Mormon question Is again be-
fore the nation. Few are familiar
with the origin Of this great delusion.
The following from the Cleveland
Leader may prove interesting:
Joseph Smith, the reputed founder
of Mormonism, was born In Sharon,
Vermont, December asd. 1905. At the
age of ten years he removed with his
fathers family to Ontario county, y.
Y. His parents were In very humble
circumstances and he was often en-
ployed by the neighboring farmers AS
q laborer, among whom he bore the
reputation of AN ignorant and lazy
Young man. His family bore bad
reputation, also, and were exceeding
ly superstitious, believing in witch
craft, etc. At one time they were in
possession of a rod which they be-
lieved possessed remarkable power, and
Joseph dug in various places for mon
ey which they pretended II revealed.
He insisted that he often got sight of
the pot containing the money. He
moreover placed remarkable stone in
his hat by the light of which he pre-
tended to make discoveries ofgold and
silver deposited in the earth. He COM
menced his career of prophet at the
age of eighteen, when he called a meet
ing of the people Of Palmyra to listen
to divine revelations he had received.
But very few. however, had interest
enough to turn out and hear him, thus
illustrating the fact that "a prophet is
without honor save i'm his own eoun-
try The young man from this time
continued to proclaim the words
which he claimed were constantly CIV
en- him until suddenly, in one of his
searches after precious metals, guided
oy the light of the stone in his hat, he
pretended to fnd the great Book of
Mormon.
We will now give short sketch of
man of entirely different mold:
solomon Spaulding was born In
Connecticut in l76l. He graduated
with high o lors at Dartmouth, and
having failed In mercantile pursuits,
some time in the year 1909 removed to
Conneaut,g y Ashtabula county, Ohio.
In the year 1912 his brother John Wis
tied him, and has left on record the
following testimony In regard to the
visit
Solomon then told me that he had
been writing a book. which he i'm
tended to have printed, the avails of
which he thought would enable him
to pay all his debts. The book was
entitled the Manuscript Found Of
which he read to me many passages.
1t was historical romance of the first
settlers of America, endeavoring to
show that the American Indians are
the descendants of the lost tribes Of Is
racl. 1t gave a detailed account Of
their journey from jerusalem, by land
and sea, until they arrived In Ameri-
ca under the command Of Nephi and
Lehi. They afterwards had quarrels
and contentious, and separated into
distinct nations, one Of which he de-
nominated Nephites, and the other
Lamanites. Cruel aud bloody was
ensued in which great mnlfitudes
were slain. They buried their dead
in large heaps which caused SO many
mounds In this country. Their arts,
sciences and civilization were brought
into view to show In order to account
for oil the curious antiquities found in
various parts of North and South
America. have recently read the
Book Of Mormon, md to my great
surprise find nearly the same histor-
ical matter, names, ETC., As they were
In my brothers writing. l well re-
member that he wrote in the old style,
and commenced about every sentence
with: And 1t came to pass, the same
as in the Book Of Mormon, and ac-
cording to the best of my recollection
and belief, it is the same as brother
Solomon wrote, with the exception of
the religious matter. BY what means
1t has fallen into the hands of Joseph
Smith, Jr., am unable to determine
Henry Lake, formerly Of Conneaut.
was for some time partner Of Solo
ONION Spaulding. He makes the fol-
lowing statement in regard to "Man-
uscript Found"
He represented the manuscript a.
having been found In this town. !
spent many hours In hearing him
read his writings, and became well ac-
quainted with the contents Of the
manuscript He wished me to as
sist him in getting the production
printed, alleging that books Of that
kind would meet with a rapid sale.
l designed doing 20, but we soon after
failed in business, when l declined
having anything to do with the publi-
cation Of the book. The book repre-
sented the American Indians as the
descendants Of the lost tribes, gave an
account Of their leaving Jerusalem,
their contentious and wars. which
were many and great. One time when
he was reading to me the tragic ac-
count Of Laban pointed out what !
considered an inconsistency, which he
promised to correct; but by referring
to the Book Of Mormon, to my sur
prise, ] find that 1t stands there just
AZ he read 1t to me then. Some months
ago / borrowed Golden Bible, put it
into my pocket, carried it home and
thought no more about. A.weeh or so
after my wife found the book and be-
gan to read aloud to me. She had not
read twenty minutes till ! was aston
ished to find the same passages that
Spaulding had read to me twenty
years before from his Manuscript
Found j well remember telling
Spanlding that the 80 frequent use Of
and it came to pass, now it came to
pass, ETC., rendered 1t ridiculous. Since
then have fully examined the Gold
en- Bible and have no hesitation in
saying that the historical part OF the
book is principally, if not wholly, tax
en- from the sMnnuscript Found.