Year: 1878

Major Gilbert of Palmyra, Missouri
gives the following account of the get
ting up of the Mormon bible: One pleas
ant day i'm the Summer of 1929 Hiram
Smith. Joe's brother. came TO the office
TO negotiate for the printing of book.
The arrangements were completed.
Five thOusant copies of the book We're
to be printed for $1,000. a well-to-do
farmer named Martin Harris, living in
the neighborhOod, agreed to become Sc
curity for the payment of the money,
and the work was at once put in hand.
Major Gilbert set up all the type of the
book, except some 20 or 30 pages, and
did nearly all the press-work. 1t was
all worked off on a hand-press. The
copy was brought to the Office by Hiram
Smith. 1t was written on foolscap
paper, in good, clear hand. The hand
writing was Oliver Cowdery's. There
was not a punctuation mark in the
whole manuscript. The sentences were
all run in without capitals or other
marks to designate where one lett off
and another began, and it was no easy
task to straighten out the stuff. Major
Gilbert, perceiving that large portions
were stolen verbatim from the Bible,
used to have a copy of that book on his
desk to aid him in deciphering the man
uscript and putting in the punctuation
marks. At first Smith used to come to
the office every morning with just
enough manuscript to last through the
day. But it was so much bother to put
in the PunctuatiOns that Gilbert said
''Bring me around aquantity of copy at
a time, and / can go through it and fix
it up in the evenings, and so get along
faster with it," Smith replied: ''This
is pretty important business, young
man, and don't know as we can trust
this manuscript in your possession"
Finally his scruples were overcome, and
he consented to the arrangement. Then
he would bring around quire of paper,
or As pages, at time, and this would
last several days. When the matter
had been set, all the copy was carefully
taken away again by Smith. 1t took
eight months to set up the book and run
it through the press. Major Gilbert
was not much interested in the book;
he though it rather dry and prosy, and
to this day has never thought it worth
his while to read it second time. OF
course, nobody then dreamed that the
- n. l. Il
achieve the notority which it has
gained, or that it was to cut such fig
ure in the history of this country. 1t
did not find very ready sale at the out
set, and Harris, who had mortgaged mis-
farm to pay the printers bill, was
cleaned out financially. He was an
intimate friend of the Smiths, and af


terwards became an adherent to the
doctrines they taught. He did not fol-
low them Westward, however, but re-
mained near his own home, where he
died two years ago. With this book as
the basis of his teaching, Joe Smith be-
gan to preach, and soon formed con-
gregation of followers in Palmyra and
the neighboring village of Manchester,
where the Smiths resided. A year
later, he, with thirty of his followers,
removed to Kirkland, Ohio. His sub
sequent history is well known. There
were nine children i'm the Smith family.
Joe was then about % years of age. He


was a lazy, good-for-nothing lout,
chiefly noted for his capacity to hang
around a corner grocery and punish


poor whisky He had good physical
strength, but he never put it to any Use
in the way of moving grass or saving
wood. He could wrestle pretty well,
but was not given to exerting his mus
cles in any practical way. He had evil
IDENTIFY made up his mind that there was
an easier way of getting a living than


by honest industry. He was the dis


coverer of magic stone which he used
to carry around in his hat. Holding it
carefully laid i'm the bottom of his hat,


he would bring his eye to bear on it
at an angle Of about 45 degrees and
forthwith discover the whereabouts of
hidden treasures. He would draw a