Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1877-05-31
corr..poudence Phil. Times

y
ago that have grown and ripened in
TO the Mormon sect, as we know IT
now.
The shooting Of John ID. Lee, the
b'shop-murderer, called strongly to
mind hereabouts the fact that the first
little band of Latter Day Saints set
ont from this county on their journey
westward, and that it was from the
side Of neighboring hill that Smith
pretended to dig the golden plates on
which were craven the teachings OF
the Mormon Bible 1t had nearly
pass ID out of mind, it was so long
ago, but this last excitement has
rought it all out fresh AGAIN, and the
people of this quiet country point
rather proudly to Mormon Hill.
A careful search through this town,
which lies fifteen or twenty miles
south of Lake Ontario, has resulted
in the uuearthing of three reliable
stories, from which the accompany
ing brief history of Smith, the Nor
mon, is compiled:
The story OF the DlDle:
The story of young Joe Smith, and
The Printers story.
THE STORY OF THE BIBLE.
The Rev. Solomon Spaulding was
young minister, just out of college,
with good education, lively inn
agination and very little cash. In
1909 he took charge of his first parish,
IN little town among the ancient
mounds of Ohio His cation
was almost as small, proportionately
as his salary, and he had time to spare
for wandering among the mounds and
working up in his miId a romance
whose plot was laid in the supposed
time of the mound builders He re
NAMED over the little church for sew
eral years and in 1912 the romance
was finished. Spaulding had friend
in Pttsburg, a Mr.. Patterson, who
ives publisher, and to him he sent
the embryo book for publication. un-
der the blood -curdling title of Man
uscript Found" The country had a
war on it's hands and Patterson was
afraid to touch the book, and after
Keeping it on hand for four years he
returned it 10 the author, who, mean
while, had removed to Amity. n. Y,
where he died in 1927. One of the
printers employed in Patterson of
fee was an intelligent young man
named Sidney Rigdon, who atterwarl
lived in this town, and it is generally
believed that he copied the manu-
script while it was in Patterson 5 Of
flee, and either gave or sold his copy
10 Joseph Smith, for in 1898 Smith
had copy Of the Rev. Solomon
Spanldins's unpublished romance
This manuscript, that the country
clergyman wrote to occupy his leisure
hours, is the Mormon Bible.
THE STORY OF YOUNG JOE SMITH
Joseph Smith was the son of a
small farmer in this town. His father,
with only few acres of land, large
family and disposition that kept
him from doing any more work than
was absolutely necessary, went through
the world on the from. hand-to. mouth
plan, and bis indolent disposition was
his only legacy to his children. Young
Joe Smith soon reduced the science
of living without work to a tine point.
As hoy he is represented as lazy
and shifiless, a nuisance to the neigh
bors, a constant lounger in the few
available batteries, always ready TO
drink il there was anybody else to
pay. In this way he grew up on his
fathers little farm, with no education
and without giving any signs that he
had any brains in his head. This Is
the Joseph Smith into whose hands
fell the stolen copy of Solomon Spaul-
ding's romance.
Whether in his twenty odd years
of iileness this young man had been
thinking out plot for gaining for
himself fame and wealth, or whether
the purchase of the manuscript was q
sudden freak, no one can tell But
his movements as soon as the book
came into his possession show plainly
that at that time the plan was laid.
He had the manuscript that the pub
Usher had refused to print; the next
thing was to make it available.
On his fathers farm was a high
hill, rocky and rugged and Smith
made frequent excursions to its sum
init. His strange movements soon
attracted attention, and when he was
asked what he was doing, digging
out gold plates" he replied, adding
that he had been told of their where
abouts by dream, and that they con-
tanned strange inscriptions. Sure
enough, there was huge hole in the
hill side where he had dug, and the
hole is there to this day. The plates
(if there were any) were carefully
concealed, and Smith set about de-
ciphering the mysterious characters.
He sent pretended copies of some OF
the inscriptions to many of the learn.
ed men of the day, but, OF course. no.
body was able to decipher them. Then
a dream came to the rescue again
This time Smith dreamed that with
the aid of q certain curious stone
which he would find at designated
place, he could read the strange writ.
ing. [: is curious stone, and is
still in existence. He found the stone
and set about the translation. Sidney
Ilidgon, the printer, was his amanu
ensis. In due time the hieroglyphic,
were all dcciphered, the translation
was carefully written and made {
great heap of manuscript. Then The
copy of Solomon Spaulding's book
was produced as the result of this la
Dor. The story of Smiths finding
the plates had made great sensation,
the finding of the stone had made an.
other; public curiosity was excited
the plot was ripe.
THE PRINTERS STORY.
The mysterious book was ready e
be printed but Smith had no m ,ney
Neighboring printers were consulted
but the pile of manuscript was for
midable. and nobody would print Il