Jesse Townsend wrote that Joseph and Oliver Cowdery wrote a pretended translation of the BOM.
Jesse Townsend (declarant, Dec 24, 1833) --- Christian Tract Society (recorder) · 0.0 yrs after events · Secondhand
Reference
Jesse Townsend to Phines Stiles, December 24, 1833, printed by the Christian Tract Society as “A Minister’s Opinion of Joseph Smith, Jr." (1968), M209 T748m, Church History Library
Date of Account
Dec 24, 1833
Date of Events
Dec 24, 1833
Retrospective Distance
0.0 yrs after events
Hearsay Tier
Secondhand — Tagged 'Direct Reprint'
Point of View
todo
Status
Unreviewed
Source Type
Letter
Audience
Phines Stiles
Transcription
Joe visited a visionary fanatic by the name of Martin Harris, and told him he had received some golden plates of ancient records from the Lord, with a “revelation” to call on him for fifty dollars to enable him to go to Pennsylvania and translate the contents of the plates. . . . Some other men, having a great dislike to labor, joined Joe in his deceptions, among whom was a sort of schoolmaster named Cowdery, who assisted him in writing or transcribing the “Book of Mormon,” as a pretended translation of the golden plates which he affirmed he had been directed by the Spirit of the Lord to dig from the earth. This was all done in the most secret manner. At the same time it was assumed to the uninitiated that it would be “immediate death” for any except the translators to see the plates.