The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-05-05

SIS@t boHdHAd Ho ndu at last TOunQ, /
remember distinctly his sitting on some
boxes in the store and telling q knot of
men, who did not believe a word they
heard, all about his vision and his find.
But Joe went into such minute and
careful details about the size, weight
and beauty of the carvings on the gold
en- tablets, the strange characters and
the ancient adornments, that I confess
he made some of the smartest men in
Palmyra rub their eyes in wonder. The
women were not so skeptical as the
men, and several of the leading ones in
the place began to feel at once that Joe
was a remarkable man after all
Joe declared, with tears in his eyes
and the most earnest expression you
can imagine, that he had found the gold
plates on hill six miles south of Pal
myra, on the main road between that
place and Canandaigua. Joe had dug
and dug there for gold for four years,
| and from that time the hill has been
known as Gold Hill.
For the first month or two at least
Joe Smith did not say himself that the
plates were any new revelation or that
they had any religious significance, but
simply said that he had found a Valua
BILE treasure in the shape of a record of
some ancient people which had been in
scribed on imperishable gold for preser-
walton. The pretended gold plates were
never allowed to be seen, though l have
heard Joe's mother say that she had
| lifted them when covered with cloth,
and they We're very heavy-so heavy, in
fact, that she could scarcely raise them,
though she was very robust woman.
What Joe at that time expected to ac-
complish seems difficult to understand,
but he soon began to exhibit what he
claimed to be copies of the characters
engraved on the plates, though the IT.
reverent were disposed to think that he
was more indebted to the characters
found on China tea chests and in histo-
ries of the Egyptians and Babylonians
party appeared on the scene in the per-
son of one Sidney Rigdon, and thence
forward a new aspect was put upon the
whole matter.
Il remember Rigdon as g. man of
about forty years, smooth, sleek, and
with some means. He had a wonderful
quantity of assurance, and in these
days would be good broker or specu
lator He was man of energy, of con-
| trivance, and would make a good living
anywhere and in any business. He was
distrusted by a large part of the people
in Palmyra and Canandaigua but had
some sincere friends. He and Joe
Smith fell in with each other and were
cronies for several months. 1t was af-
ter Rigdon and Smith were so intimate
that the divine part of the finding of
the golden plates began to be spread
abroad. 1t was given out that the
plates were a new revelation and were
part of the original Bible, while Joe
Smith was true prophet of the Lord,
to whom it was given to publish among
men.
"Rigdon, who, from his first appear
ance, was regarded as the brains Of
the movement, seemed satisfied to be
the power behind the throne. Not only
were pretended copies of the engraved
plates exhibited, but whole chapters of
what were called translations were
shown; meetings We're held at the
Smith house, and in the barns on the
adjoining FARMS which We're addressed
by Smith and Rigdon, and an active
canvas for converts was inaugurated,
Strange as it may appear from the alb
| surdity of the claims set forth and the
Well-known character of Joe Smith,
these efforts were to quite a degree sue
cessful, particularly among the unso-
phisticated farmers of the vicinity, and
a number of them, who were regarded
as equal in intelligence to the average
rural population, became enthusiastic
proselytes of the new faith.
zone feature of the claim in relation
to the translation from the plates was
quite in character with the claims that
have been from time to time set up by
the Mormon church down to the present
day. Joe Smith was, of course, an illit-
crate man, and some way must be pro-
vided for the translation of his record.
But Joe, or Rigdon, was equal to the
emergency, for he claimed to have
found with the Gold Bible as they
then called it, a wonderful pair of spec
tacles, which he described as having
very large round glasses, larger than a
silver dollar, and he asserted that by
placing the plates in the bottom of a
hat or other deep receptacle, like a
wooden grain measure, he could put on
those spectacles, and looking down
upon the plates, the engraved charac-
tiers were all translated into good plain
English, and he had only to read it off
and have it recorded by copyist.
This claim with all it's absurdity was
) not more absurd than one that was
made to me personally by Martin Har-
ris, who was one of the early and most
faithful proselytes. Harris was a
farmer of good property, residing about
) mile from the village, with whom
, was well acquainted as a customer of a
: firm where / was employed. On one &C.
cason l had been out on horseback on
} a collecting trip, and returning in the
early evening as I passed the house of
! Mr.. Harris he came out, and joining
: me we rode together toward the village
: 1t was beautiful evening in October
i, and as we were on elevated ground
/ sloping eastward toward the village in
the same direction in which We were
[ going, the full moon, which was just
; rising, made everything before us look
most charming.
"As made some remark on the beau
ty of the moon, he replied to the effect
that if 1 could only see it as he had
done / might well call it beautiful.
was at once anxious TO know what he