New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-01-30
-y1 rcHTENING THE PUBLIC.
CAswELL TELLS OF THE OR
NJ" ~ AND HISTORY OF MoRMoNIsM'
.,.-rprsrrNo STORIES ABOUT JOSEPH
.,,-g AND HIS MoTHER-srDSEY R'epoN
,SD THE MORMON BIBLE.

3, c Casv-ell is secretary or me woman
Nf..,t OF the Congregational Home MISSION
sor,s,v OF this city The society ena 's rep
AZ sO' bave been interested historically IN
rssen'a ., Mormonism and consequently In
,he owe" ,.s adncrents and advocates or their
tsao''' a.. Caswen IL one OF the women VINO 're
srro's .,,s the public on the origin and history
sn s and multiplying the attempted re-
o. 80 IN the West She save
W. orve-sation with an aposta'e "ioi
-, q, possession OF some interesV"s .
was pu 1oseph Smiths mother which hao oeeh
.v.n 10 the Mormons oy Wor."" wo-r,or
Wv" s..,,sb, no in Palmyra. y. Y" where MOI 'i'V,
ara .os FOR hts false religion really hsu i'S
isn o''e -, h-ain and heart OF an ignorant ue-
origin IN the ''"
.rrl mother 4, 81. lowest
eeu ., Smiths mother moved In 'he owes
so7'p az, nm, .he had a kind or mental power
N~s ~ son inhexted. They were oo'h victims
Nn0" .,r and vivid Imagination ana were oo'"
u, ~ q habit ~ eXtravacan' asse'"o
roeo ~, listener full IN the eye and without
could oV" ,.os, confusion improvise the most
n'Osn y. ..o,emenfs and vivid stories II any one
''nu"s - inconsistency and alluded 10 H. SUP
os"' 80 ALWAYS al hand An ola ma" WIN
""us ...r vel said You can't face them uo""'
~n,y1l both ne ana stick 10 H. ., ,,o
lno c.. rsed 10 90 family washings NJ 'he
=. IN the village II articles were le' o" ' ..e
" s.. and were not secured by ther """e''
,s.,.h, she washer was The winner III '"ese nv
h's s.rodot,ons she was assisted by her boys
tl'H"' -. ...,o, also 20 visit the poultry YARDS
WV ", n,cs Toe never worked except nj chop-
o." -. nv raisings when whiskey WAS 'ne
p"s "a award The mother o. the hisn
-, Q. Mormonism was supeTsuuous 10 '"o 'a'
-. The very afr she hreeihed war '"""'i'eu
~, ,,mnla- spirits and she turned many penny
hy telling fortunes ~, Catch ,,,de
when Joseph ve-y young MIS-. o'"',. ,'"
,r her mind that one o. me- sons smo"'
W and ,hc weak husband and father agreed
p'oP"e -. -, ,b. nine children JOSEPH was me
-, - rosenh should he the prophet Inc
80 .n.n began 10 impress this idea upon INC
- -, IN. hoy and with such success tha' a.
lac, no rarely smiled never laughed ano never IN
$3.50 IN syn because II would not he IN keeping
.,.s vi. vocation. His mother inspired and aioeu
h,,, 3, every scheme OF duphcity and cunning
'ro..,n smith could not write but he could reao'
- i've had hooks which ne read had much 10 10
vr,,h N. origin Of Mormonism. The autooOsIap"S
., can,air Kidd the pirate. was his supreme iaVoi
a.. on. dav. when Joseph was fifteen years o'o
Will. watching his father. who was oleb"e
- D., ,ov a stone o. curiou. shape II bore some
resemblance 70 a child foot. This httle stone ~
csroe the acorn OF the Mormon OAK This "As ,ne
.-.~.,s PALMYRA seer or peek stone, with
which Joseph Smith was accustomed 10 u''"'
80 instructed by his mother, this boy OF hf'een
-. 90. IN n claim 10 miraculous power. lie was
u
100 a. n kreeNns posture with bandageo eyes
A large white 'siovepipe hat In when was P"oeN
enc wonderful stone. held in front OF MS race
Under these circumstances he could reveal Things
u,ut,erably wonderful He could reveal only 100
I'll where stolen property might be found While
,aznR a. the stone in the hat ne couic see casKeIs
=, soid and gems hidden by Captain KIDD. ano the
e..,,.-ds He could see treasures OF marvellous
-. be,eath the ground in nerhboring fields and.
woods Digging became the order OF the night IN
.ba, town and sleep the order OF the DAY. All VINO
,orld ~. hired by strong drink were organized INTO
, digging phalanx They were commanded 10 dig
IN ,hA darkness Solemn ceremonies prefaceo 'he
work Not one sod could be disturbed by space
vn,n Toe Smiths wand of witch hazel. guided by
the sacred stone pointed out the place OF the con
c.sled treasure Entire silence was one cohoi'oh
OF
AFTER hours OF hard work and when the an
,vsrlne thud was about 10 strike the ear ana every
boty was in a rapture Of expectancy. some one
was sure 10 break The silence by speakihs' 'he
snail was broken. the treasures were spirited away
~ another ouarter and the digging must De re-
.v,oeS ~, another night Thus matters went on Tor
sever wears Very little attention was palo 10 lheSe
nsrformences OF Joe Smith by respectable people
tesr rs home but lovers OF the marvellous came
from a distance 10 look al Joe and the excavations
snS he str Was allied with mystery. which was
cutie favorable for future developments CO,
"Tht perseverance and audacltN OF Joseph S i
were bOundess but ne alone couio heVer haf
wrough, out the institution or M0rmOnlsh III
1897 a mysterious stranger inquired the way 10
Joseph Smiths cabin. and the nelBhpors peSan ~
nole q sudden intimacy between the TWO men loI-
lowed BY many private and mysterious conferences
The stranger was sidney h8oon. cSs.i1 nf
clergyman from OHIO. Rigdon was tome"ha' OF d
literary genius versatile in his glfts' shrewd
WHY deep and utterly unprincipled. Soon after his
appearance on the scene Morholism peF nt W &c
sumo o local haDation and a name ne anger
began 10 talk more definitely 10 Joe einith
Your sins said the angel are "a az acoestsbIs
10 God You Joseph Smith. shall found a sect
which the Almighty VIII own ano press. A.-,o.,
Indians were remnant Of the Israelites that their
inspired writings hidden beneath .he ."u, ~
that these writings were 10 he ntrusted 70 MIN ano
him alone as no other human being could see them
and i've Following the directions gwen ny ,, .e
snge Joseph Smith proceeded alone 10 the ~ Pal
ryra and afterward testified that ne fouiu Inei :
series OF golden plates on which were ",oen e u,
dspesss;on In the box with the plates he found a
PAR Of huge spe~ta cles-the Trim ana ainhe,
ol the aid o. which he would be apie ~ "''
Joseph smith then found It convenient to v1s ISL
in.deHse Rrdon was there also In q few weeks
Joseph returned 10 his home in Palmyra WIN nr AZ
vailed upon fsrner in the vicinity 20 mortgage
~ iarm and pay for publishing tnis ,a" ~ Pal.
mlra The printing done IN sSo any Mor rIur
pS,sssna,ed the book OF Mormon or Mor"o'
The na'ural question which now faces ns Is
s WHO wroe hose hieroglyphGs on the go 90. eo
surely not Smith nor fNsuoil' - ~ VIC n /.
tses little When Joseph Smith lay In his craze
n. Saparon " in 1909 Consregat1onsl M ns ~
w. heI Solomon Spauldng. a graduate OF 10 ,,,
cs s,e College left Vermont and went TO Ashtapns
...1,..lY, Ohio He obliged through Ie'!lils
s- mn 70 give up preaching. He was eccentric hnv
,ss,ss.a. himself by writing romances on Queen
ss,sS Nj spauldng became intenseiE, ntsr
s.,s me Indian mounds OF Ohio. some OF whicr
,b,' opened near his house He had theory
bishh ese mounds gave evidence OF an extinct RAJ
W. m the scale than the American lndlhn
elo,s, lns theory In mis- mind he wrote q s,ory
isroaY in Scripture language, describing IN
&c s manner the wanderings. wars. expio's
at,y' ,nk prmeval people ,.
s,or ns Trends asked him 20 print this fancHu
M he had moved 10 Pennsylvania, ana lell
,,a.anlscrpt with publisher in Pittsburg named
nsvss' son For reason thif manuscript wal
h n, printed After three years II was returned
NJ e. author who died In 1916. Without douol
'e e2k o. Mormon
,b,o now dd Rigdon or Joseph Smith get hold o.
manuscript? Joseph Smith was al one time
bro,b.ms'eT in the family OF Mrs. Spauding
ecrn' ne could easily nave secured this mann
trnnyI which had been thrown into unlocked
omnsA IN the garnet. Rlgdon was a printer In IN,
the No o. Patterson, and could have easily copied
In ,Ss uscript during the three years II lyine
ln. ..al orhce lie had heard OF JOseph Smith and