The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1916-02-15
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? ODD INCIDENTS IN AMERICAN 9
HISTORY. @
3 o o o o o . o o o o o o o o F,
,narleston News and Courier.


From time to time various prophets
have arisen whose cleverness has
been the means of calling to their
standard a sufficient number of fol-
towers to make their revelation i'm
posing. The most striking example
in our country was Joseph Smith, wh9
came to be known as "the Mohammed
of the West" the founder of the Nor
mon States.
There must have been something
exceptional in the man, for Smith was
known in the little New York village
of Manchester, where he resided, as
an idle, Incorporate and illiterate
person, yet when he told his Won
derful story of divine revelations and
the discovery Of new religion, he
found many willing dupes.
According to Smiths own account
of himself, his mind was at a very
early age exercised religiously and
that on the evening of September II,
1923, when he was but Is years old,
abe angelMoroni appeared before
him as a messenger from the Lord,
instructing him in the secret purpose
of the Most High, and announcing the
divine will to be that he, Smith,
should become spiritual leader and
commander to the nations of the
eartn.
He claimed he was also told that
there was bundle iof golden or me-
tallic plates deposited in a hill in
Manchester which contained somelost
Biblical records, and with which were
two transparent stones, set in the
rim of bow of silver which were
ancient!y known as the Urim and
Thummin, asd that by looking through
these stones he could see the strange
characters en- the plates translated
into English.
These plates were about eight
inches long by seven wide, and a lit
tie thinner tnan ordinary tin, and
were bound together by three rings
running through the whole. From
these plates, with hieroglyphics in a
language called the Reformed Egyp-
tian, Smith, sitting behind blanket
hung across the room to keep the sac
rcd records from profane eyes, read
off, through the transparent stones,
the Book of Mormons" to Oliver Cow
derry, who wrote it down as Smith re-
peated it.
This volume of several hundred
pages was printed in 1880. Append
ed to it was statement signed by
Oliver Cowdery, David iWhitmer and
Martin Harris, who mad become pro-
fessed believers in Smiths scperna-
tural pretentions, and are called by
the Mormons, the three witnesses "
In after years, however, these witness
es duarrelled with Smith, renounced
Mormonism and avowed the falsity OF
their testimony.
AS to the transcript on the paper,
one of the golden plates having been
submitted to Prof. Charles Antnon, of
New York, for his inspection, that
eminent scholar gave as his opinion
that the paper was kind of scroll
consisting Of all kinds Of crooked
characters disposed in columns, and
had evidently been prepared by some
person who had before him at the
time a book containing various alpha
bets Greek and Hebrew letters, cross
es and 1ourishes; Roman letters, in,
verted or placed sidewise, were ar
ranged and placed in perpendicular
columns, and the whole ended in
ruled delineation of circle, divided
into various compartments, decked
with various strange marks and eTi-
dently copied after the Mexican cal
endar given by Humboldt, but copied
in such way as not to betray the
source.
Shortly after the purported discov-
cry of these Mormon scriptures the
first regularly constituted church of
the faith was organized in Manches-
ter Apri 1880. and from this time
and event dates the Mormon era. The
first public discourse was preached
by Oliver Cowdery. On the first OF
June the first conference of the
church was he'd at Fayette, N. Y; and
from this on for some time converts
multiplied rapidly, gaining greatest
headway in the Middle West. 'Ioda*
sat Lake City is the Mormon Zion,