History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

THE ELEVEN WITNESSES. C>9
ing, certain priests and others disputing. Three
special witnesses are provided by Christ, namely,
Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris, 18
to whom the plates are shown by an angel after much
prayer and meditation in the woods. These are the
three witnesses. And there are further eight witnesses,
namely, Christian Whitmer, Jacob Whitmer,
Peter Whitmer junior, John Whitmer, Hiram Page,
Joseph Smith senior, Hyrum Smith, and Samuel H.
Smith, who testify that the plates were shown to
them by Joseph Smith junior, that they handled them
with their hands, and saw the characters engraven
thereon. 19
18 The objections raised against this testimony are, first, there is no date
nor place; second, there are not three separate affidavits, but one testimony
signed by three men; third, compare with Smith's revelation Doctrine and
Covenants, p. 173, and it appears that this testimony is drawn up by Smith
himself. But who are these witnesses ? Sidney Rigdon, at Independence,
Missouri, in 1838, charged Cowdery and Whitmer with 'being connected with
a gang of counterfeiters, thieves, liars, blacklegs of the deepest dye, to deceive
and defraud the saints.' Joseph Smith {Times and Seasons, vol. i. pp.
81, 83-4) charges Cowdery and Whitmer with being busy in stirring up
strife and turmoil among the brethren in 1838 in Missouri; and he demands,
'Are they not murderers then at the heart ? Are not their consciences seared
as with a hot iron?' These men were consequently cut off from the church.
In 1837 Smith prints this language about his coadjutor and witness: 'There
are negroes who have white skins as well as black ones—Granny Parish
and others, who acted as lackeys, such as Martin Harris! But they are so
far beneath my contempt that to notice any of them would be too great a
sacrifice for a gentleman to make.' Hyde's Morrnonism, 252-5. Of David
W T
hitmer, Mr Howe says: 'He is one of five of the same name and family
who have been used as witnesses to establish the imposition, and who are
now head men and leaders in the Mormonite camp. They were noted in
their neighborhood for credulity and a general belief in witches, and perhaps
were fit subjects for the juggliDg arts of Smith. David relates that he was
led by Smith into an open field, on his father's farm, where they found the
book of plates lying upon the ground. Smith took it up and requested him
to examine it, which he did for the space of half an hour or more, when he
returned it to Smith, who placed it in its former position, alleging that it
was in the custody of an angel. He describes the plates as being about eight
inches square, the leaves being metal of a whitish yellow color, and of the
thickness of tin plates.' Morrnonism Unveiled, 16. See also Kidder's Mormons,
49-51; Tucker's Origin and Prog. 31 or., G9-71; Smucker's Hist. Mor.,
29-30; Bertrand's Mdmoires d'un Mormon, 29-31.
19 ' It will be seen that the witnesses of this truth were principally of the
two families of Whitmer and Smith. The Smiths were the father and brothers
of Joseph. Who the Whitmers were is not clear, and all clew to their
character and proceedings since this date, though probably known to the
Mormons themselves, is undiscoverable by the profane vulgar.' Mackay's The
Mormons, 23.
The theory commonly accepted at present by those not of the Mormon
faith, in regard to the origin of the book of Mormon, is thus given in the in-