*All known documents (letters, interviews, statements) relating to pre-1831 Latter-day Saint history, by or about:
MARTIN HARRIS OLIVER COWDERY JOHN H. GILBERT
*Statements by prominent Smith family neighbors, including:
WILLARD CHASE LUCY HARRIS PETER INGERSOLL LORENZO SAUNDERS CAROLINE ROCKWELL WILLIAM STAFFORD
*Newspaper articles from the 1820-30s, published in:
THE PALMYRA FREEMAN PALMYRA REFLECTOR WAYNE SENTINEL
Early Mormon Documents: Volume 2 provides all of the available statements by Harris and Oliver Cowdery (other witnesses are featured in subsequent volumes) so that readers can judge for themselves the meaning of these testimonies. In addition, Harris and Cowdery recall Joseph Smith’s treasure hunting, his spiritual gifts, and the process of translating the gold plates. Together their accounts constitute a thoroughly documented, first-person narrative of Mormon origins.
One section of Volume 2 contains reminiscences by non-Mormon typesetter John Gilbert, whose contribution to the Book of Mormon has previously been inadequately acknowledged. When the printer’s manuscript was delivered to Gilbert’s office in downtown Palmyra, New York, it was unpunctuated—a stream of words without sentence breaks, commas, paragraph indentations, or capitalization—and Cowdery relied on Gilbert’s copy-editing skills. Smith was at the time living near his inlaws’ house in Pennsylvania. Gilbert’s interpretations have appeared in published editions of the Book of Mormon ever since.
Finally, editor Dan Vogel has included in this volume interviews with the Smiths’ Palmyra neighbors. That "a prophet is not without honor except in his home town" was true in Joseph Smith’s case. When he announced that God had called him to do a "marvelous work," people reacted with astonishment. Not that he was a particularly troublesome young man; he simply lacked the credentials usually associated with religious leadership. He was "a clever, jovial boy" with a penchant for adventure and mischief, according to neighbors, and one who enjoyed a whiskey-and-water with friends and occasionally got into a scuffle. Such adolescent behavior assumed sinister overtones only later in light of Joseph’s blossoming religiosity. His claims antagonized not only the pious members of the local society but also his former treasure-hunting companions. Meanwhile the local press lampooned his vision of the "spirit of the money diggers," describing this apparition as "a little old man ... clad [in an] Indian blanket and moccasins" who spoke "reformed Egyptian."
Although similar bias is evident in some neighbors’ accounts, their memories are significant in instances where they corroborate statements made by Smith family members and early Mormon converts. In addition, some of Smith’s early acquaintances—John Stafford, the brothers Benjamin, Lorenzo, and Orlando Saunders—are "friendly sources," according to Vogel. Others provide information about the general cultural environment. For instance, Willard Chase, whose sister was a village scryer, criticized Smith for having borrowed a seer stone without returning it. While Chase and others denied belief in mysticism, they nonetheless confirmed its prevalence in western New York.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
In my opinion, better than Volume 1,
By Matthew Bryde (Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Early Mormon Documents (Volume 2) (Hardcover)
Having bought all five volumes of Vogel's "Early Mormon Documents" and now having read Volume 2, I found this book to be less edited than the previous volume (see my review on Volume 1).
This volume contains mostly personal accounts from the neighbours of the Smiths while living in Palmyra, and local newspaper accounts. In the first section, Vogel relies heavily on the affidavits collected by Philastus Hurlbut, which were subsequently the basis for the first anti-Mormon book published (Mormonism Unvailed by E.B. Howe). Dan Vogel is a well known, non-Mormon historian. This collection is his attempt at publishing authentic historical accounts that are not common knowledge to the average inquirer, as well as containing excerpts from well known, published accounts. Volume 2 focuses on the documents pertaining to the Palmyra/Manchester residence of the Smith family and contains the following: Philastus Hurlbut Collection William H. and Edmund L. Kelley Collection Chester C. Thorne Collection Arthur B. Deming Collection Palmyra Newspapers Martin Harris Collection Oliver Cowdery Collection John H. Gilbert Collection In my opinion, the most valuable sections are the Martin Harris and Oliver Cowdery collections. These two collections are first hand accounts from two of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon, ie, their words, not opinions or vague recollections of others. From the Introduction: "Documents collected by Philastus Hurlbut in 1833, William H. and Edmund L. Kelley in 1881 and 1884, Chester C. Thorne in 1880 and 1881, and Arthur B. Deming in 1885 and 1887 have been treated as collections under individual headings. Various statements from the Wayne Sentinel, the Palmyra Freeman, and Palmyra Reflector have been collected under the heading "Palmyra Newspapers." Many statements and interviews of Martin Harris and Oliver Cowdery (considered a resident of Manchester in this work because he was boarding with the Smiths at the time he learned about the gold plates), are presented in chronological order in their own collections. These collections are followed by a John H. Gilbert Collection, who made several statements regarding his participation in the printing and publishing of the Book of Mormon." From the perspective of a student of Church history, I actually enjoyed this volume over the previous.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Collection of Primary Sources Rarely Used by LDS Church.,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Early Mormon Documents (Volume 2) (Hardcover)
This is the second in a five-volume set compiled by Dan Vogel. These primary source documents can be located elsewhere. However, it is quite convenient to have them all in a multi-volume collection. These sources are those which are rarely, if ever used by the LDS Church since many, if not most of these documents raise issues regarding early LDS history. The only criticism I have is that the organization of the documents is initially a bit confusing, but works fine once the compiler's system is understood.
Kay Burningham, Attorney Author of "An American Fraud: One Lawyer's Case against Mormonism"
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