[i] The LDS Church has certain documents containing primary source material locked away.  On this subject, Mormon historian and former professor at BYU, Dennis Michael Quinn, wrote: “President Hinckley telephoned in June 1982 to say that he was sympathetic about a request I had written to obtain access to documents in the First Presidency's vault but that my request could not be granted...” (Article, THE SEPTEMBER SIX - 'THE LDS CHURCH SANCTIONS SIX PROMINENT SCHOLARS' 1993, Malcolm J. Vickery) 

[ii] "I, along with colleagues, and drawing from years of research, find the evidence employed to support many traditional claims about the church to be either nonexistent or problematic. In other words, it didn't all happen the way we've been told.” (An Insider's View of Mormon Origins, Grant H. Palmer, Signature Books, 2002, p. xii)

[iii] "The foundation events were rewritten by Joseph and Oliver and other early church officials so the church could survive and grow. This reworking made the stories more useful for missionary work and for fellowshipping purposes. But is this acceptable?” (An Insider's View of Mormon Origins, Grant H. Palmer, Signature Books, 2002, p. 260)

[iv] “At length the time arrived for obtaining the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and the breastplate. On the twenty-second day of September, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven, having gone as usual at the end of another year to the place where they were deposited, the same heavenly messenger delivered them up to me with this charge: that I should be responsible for them; that if I should let them go carelessly, or through any neglect of mine, I should be cut off; but that if I would use all my endeavors to preserve them, until he, the messenger, should call for them, they should be protected.” (History of the Church Vol. 1, 1:59)

[v] “He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fulness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants” (History of the Church Vol. 1. 1: 34) 

[vi] “Josiah Stowel sworn. Says that prisoner had been at his house something like five months. Had been employed by him to work on farm part of time; that he pretended to have skill of telling where hidden treasures in the earth were, by means of looking through a certain stone; that prisoner had looked for him sometimes, - once to tell him about money buried on Bend Mountain in Pennsylvania, once for gold on Monument Hill, and once for a salt-spring, - and that he positively knew that the prisoner could tell, and professed the art of seeing those valuable treasures through the medium of said stone…” [note: the words “pretended to have” were probably added by Miss Pearsall] (1826 Trial, Miss Pearsall Account, Josiah Stowell testimony) 

[vii] ” When Joseph returned with the horse and carriage, he exclaimed, “It is ten times better than expected… Then he went on to tell the length and width and thickness of the plates’ and said, ‘they appear to be Gold…'  But he seemed to think more of the glasses… [Joseph Smith said] ‘I can see anything; they are Marvelus (sic).’” (Joseph Knight’s Recollection - Joseph Smith’s Early History). 

[viii] “Joseph Smith, Sr., was present, and sworn as a witness. He confirmed, at great length all that his son had said in his examination. He delineated his [son’s] characteristics in his youthful days--his vision of the luminous stone in the glass--his visit to Lake Erie in search of the stone--and his wonderful triumphs as a seer. He described very many instances of his finding hidden and stolen goods. He swore that both he and his son were mortified that this wonderful power which God had so miraculously given him should be used only in search of filthy lucre, or its equivalent in earthly treasures…” (1826 Trial, Purple account, Joseph Smith Sr. testimony) 

[ix] “With some labor and exertion he found the stone, carried it to the creek, washed and wiped it dry, sat down on the bank, placed it in his hat, and discovered that time, place and distance were annihilated; that all intervening obstacles were removed, and that he possessed one of the attributes of Deity, an All-Seeing-Eye. He arose with a thankful heart, carried his tools to their owner, turned his feet towards the rising sun, and sought with weary limbs his long deserted home.”  (Purple account, Joseph Smith Testimony, 1826 trial)

[x] D. Michael Quinn, former Mormon professor and historian at BYU spelled out:  “During this period from 1827 to 1830, Joseph Smith abandoned the company of his former money-digging associates, but continued to use for religious purposes the brown seer stone he had previously employed in the treasure quest. His most intensive and productive use of the seer stone was in the translation of the Book of Mormon. But he also dictated several revelations to his associates through the stone.” (Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, D. Michael Quinn, Signature Books, SLC, 1987, p. 143) 

[xi] (Purple account, Joseph Smith Testimony, 1826 trial)

[xii] Pratt’s note: …“The fact that Joseph Smith with others did at one time seek for treasure, either that contained in mines, or that supposed to have been gathered by others and deposited by them in places of safety, the traces of which were lost, has formed a serious objection to Mormonism… It was rumored that in or near to Harmony, Pennsylvania… there had been found at some time in the past, rich silver deposits, from which the discoverers had taken fabulous sums, considerable portions of which had been coined, and left in safe places waiting the convenience of its owners to remove it; that owing to the uncertain and shifting nature of the times these hidden treasures had not been removed, but that the secret of their places of deposit and the mines whence they were taken had been lost.” (Lucy Smith, Biographical Sketches, Coray, Pratt, 1853, endnote 82) 

[xiii] ‘When the Manchester treasure seekers came looking for the plates, they brought divining rods and seer stones to assist them—the same kind of objects Joseph, and later Oliver, used to receive revelation.”  'I Should Have an Eye Single to the Glory of God': Joseph Smith's Account of the Angel and the Plates, Larry R. Morris, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, 2005).

[xiv] “I was born in the town of Charon in the (State) of Vermont North America on the twenty third day of December A D 1805 of goodly Parents who spared no pains to instructing me in (the) christian religion at the age of about ten years my Father Joseph Smith Siegnior moved to Palmyra Ontario County in the State of New York and being in indigent circumstances were obliged to labour hard for the support of a large Family having nine chilldren and as it required the exertions of all that were able to render any assistance for the support of the Family therefore we were deprived of the bennifit of an education suffice it to say I was mearly instructed in rules reading and writing and the ground (rules) of Arithmatic which constuted my whole literary acquirements.” (The Early Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision, Dean C. Jessee, BYU Studies, copyright 1969, p.3) [original spelling: the words in brackets were written in above the original text] 

[xv] The 1800s is known for its clever folklore, including tales about Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, and John Henry. 

[xvi] “Mound Builders, in North American archaeology, name given to those people who built mounds in a large area from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Mississippi River to the Appalachian Mts. The greatest concentrations of mounds are found in the Mississippi and Ohio valleys. The term “Mound Builders” arose when the origin of the monuments was considered mysterious, most European Americans assuming that the Native Americans were too uncivilized for this accomplishment. In 1894, Cyrus Thompson of the Smithsonian Institution concluded that the Mound Builders were in fact the Native Americans…” (The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press) 

[xvii] “By 1825 Joseph’s fame as a ‘peeper’ was wide spread. Josiah Stoal came from Chenango County to get Joseph’s assistance in digging for a silver mine…” (The Founder of Mormonism, Woodbridge Riley, Dodd, Mead & Co., 1903, p.189) 

[xviii] "We are not able to determine whether the elder Smith was ever concerned in money digging transactions previous to his emigration from Vermont, or not, but it is a well authenticated fact that soon after his arrival here, he evinced a firm belief in the existence of hidden treasures, and that this section of country abounded in them. --  He also revived, or in other words, propagated the vulgar, yet popular belief that these treasures were held in charge by some evil spirit...” (THE REFLECTOR February 1, 1831) 

[xix] Over the last two decades, many historians have reconsidered the origins of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the context of the early American tradition of treasure hunting. Well into the nineteenth century there were European Americans hunting for buried wealth. Some believed in treasures that were protected by magic spells or guarded by preternatural beings. (Moroni as Angel and as Treasure Guardian, Mark Ashurst-McGee, BYU, NY Faculty, p 1., 1999, FARMS – Review, 2006) 

[xx] “The US removal in the 1830s of most American Indians from the mound builder regions, by means of the forced Trail of Tears, was partly justified by the theory that the Indians had destroyed the mound builders. Because some thought that the mound builders may have been ancient Europeans, the removal of the Indian tribes was justified to reclaim European land, as well as to ensure the safety of civilization.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mound_builder_(people)#Hoaxes)  

[xxi] Mormonism teaches that America’s former inhabitants were white and had sailed to America from the Holy Land:

“O my brethren, I fear that unless ye shall repent of your sins that their skins will be whiter than yours, when ye shall be brought with them before the throne of God.” (Jacob 3:8) This verse in Jacob 3:8 implies that when dark skinned people repent of their wickedness, their curse will be lifted, and their skins will once again become white. 

Also:

 “And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites.” (3 Nephi 2:15)

[xxii] “And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.” (2 Nephi 5:21)  

[xxiii] “He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fulness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants;” (Joseph Smith History—1:34) 

[xxiv]  “Joseph Smith, founding prophet of the Mormon religion, had participated in several treasure-hunting expeditions in his youth.” (Moroni as Angel and as Treasure Guardian, Mark Ashurst-McGee, BYU, NY Faculty, p 1., 1999, FARMS – Review, 2006) 

[xxv] “…In the month of October, 1825, I hired with an old gentleman by the name of Josiah Stoal, who lived in Chenango county, State of New York. He had heard something of a silver mine having been opened by the Spaniards in Harmony, Susquehanna county, State of Pennsylvania; and had, previous to my hiring to him, been digging, in order, if possible, to discover the mine. After I went to live with him, he took me, with the rest of his hands, to dig for the silver mine, at which I continued to work for nearly a month, without success in our undertaking, and finally I prevailed with the old gentleman to cease digging after it. Hence arose the very prevalent story of my having been a money-digger.” (History of the Church Vol. 1:56) 

[xxvi] ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT

We, the undersigned, do firmly agree, and by these present bind ourselves, to fulfill and abide by the hereafter specified articles:

First: That if anything of value should he obtained at a certain place in Pennsylvania near a William Hales, supposed to be a valuable mine of either gold or silver and also to contain coined money and bars or ingots of gold or silver, and at which several hands have been at work during a considerable part of the past summer, we do agree to have it divided in the following manner, viz: Josiah Stowell, Calvin Stowell and Wm. Hale to take two-thirds, and Charles Newton, Wm. I. Wiley, and the widow Harper to take the other third. And we further agree that Joseph Smith, Sen. and Joseph Smith Jr. shall be considered as having two shares, two elevenths of all the property that may be obtained, and shares to be taken equally from each third.

Second: And we further agree, that in consideration of the expense and labor to which the following named persons have been at (Johs F. Shepherd, Elijah Stowell and John Grant) to consider them as equal sharers in the mine after all the coined money and bars or ingot are obtained by the undersigned. Their shares to be taken out from each share; and we further agree to remunerate all the three above named persons in a handsome manner for all their time, expense, and labor which they have been or may be at, until the mine is opened, if anything should be obtained; otherwise they are to lose their time, expense and labor.

Third: And we further agree that all the expense which has or may accrue until the mine is opened, shall be equally borne by the proprietors of each third and that after the mine is opened the expense shall be equally borne by each of the shares.

Township of Harmony, Pennsylvania, November 1, 1825 In presence of:
 

[xxvii] “William D. Purple took notes at the trial and tells us, "In February, 1826, the sons of Mr. Stowell,  ...were greatly incensed against Smith, ...saw that the youthful seer had unlimited control over the illusions of their sire...”(Francis Kirkham, A New Witness for Christ in America: The Book of Mormon, 2 vols., (Salt Lake City: Utah Printing, 1959[1942], 1:479. ASIN B000HMY138) 

[xxviii] “Certain ceremonies were always connected with these money-digging operations. Midnight was the favorite hour, a full moon was helpful, and Good Friday was the best date. Joe would sometimes stand by, directing the digging with a wand.” (Lippincott's Magazine, August, 1880 / narrative from the book: Mormon Origin, William Alexander Linn, Hackensack, N. J., 1901) 

[xxix] Treasure Seeking:

“For the most part, the quest for buried wealth and its associated belief system have slipped away into a forgotten world. Though strange to us today, treasure-seeking beliefs probably influenced hundreds of thousands of Europeans and thousands of early European Americans. Many early Americans believed that treasures had been secreted in the earth by ancient inhabitants of the continent, by Spanish explorers, by pirates, or even by the dwarves of European mythology. Treasure hunters usually looked for caves and lost mines or dug into hills and Native American mounds to find these hidden deposits. A legend, a treasure map, or a dream of buried wealth initiated the hunt. Local specialists were enlisted to use their divining rods or seer stones to locate the treasure. To hide from the scrutiny of skeptics and the notice of other treasure seekers, they worked under the cover of darkness. Gathering at the designated spot, the treasure seekers staked out magical circles around the treasure. They used Bible passages and hymns, prayers and incantations, ritual swords and other magical items, or even propitiatory animal sacrifices to appease or fend off preternatural guardians of the treasure. Excavation usually commenced under a rule of silence. Should someone carelessly mutter or curse, the treasure guardian could penetrate the circle or carry the treasure away through the earth.” (Moroni as Angel and as Treasure Guardian, Mark Ashurst-McGee, FARMS Review Vol. 18  - 1  p.p. 34-100, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, 2006) 

[xxx] Mr. Thompson, an employee of Mr. Stowell, was the next witness. He and another man were employed in digging for treasure, and always attended the Deacon and Smith in their nocturnal labors. He could not assert that anything of value was ever obtained by them. The following scene was described by this witness, and carefully noted: Smith had told the Deacon that very many years before a band of robbers had buried on his flat a box of treasure, and as it was very valuable they had by a sacrifice placed a charm over it to protect it, so that it could not be obtained except by faith, accompanied by certain talismanic influences. So, after arming themselves with fasting and prayer, they sallied forth to the spot designated by Smith. Digging was commenced with fear and trembling, in the presence of this imaginary charm. (1826 Trial, Purple account, Jonathan Thompson Testimony) 

[xxxi] (Affidavit from Isaac Hale, Joseph Smith’s father in law - March 20, 1834) 

[xxxii] “After some five feet in depth had been attained without success, a council of war against this spirit of darkness was called, and they resolved that the lack of faith, or some untoward mental emotion, was the cause of their failure.” (1826 Trial, Mr. Thompson, an employee of Mr. Stowell, Purple account)

[xxxiii] --  He [Joseph Smith Sr.] also revived, or in other words, propagated the vulgar, yet popular belief that these treasures were held in charge by some evil spirit...” (THE REFLECTOR February 1, 1831)

[xxxiv] (Lippincott's Magazine, August, 1880 / narrative from the book: Mormon Origin, William Alexander Linn, Hackensack, N. J., 1901)

[xxxv] http://www.lightplanet.com/response/1826Trial/facts.html  

[xxxvi] There had lived a few years previous to this date, in the vicinity of Great Bend, a poor man named Joseph Smith, who, with his family, had removed to the western part of the State, and lived in squalid poverty near Palmyra, in Ontario County. Mr. Stowell, while at Lanesboro, heard of the fame of one of his sons, named Joseph, who, by the aid of a magic stone had become a famous seer of lost or hidden treasures. … as a seer, by means of the stone which he placed in his hat, and by excluding the light from all other terrestrial things, could see whatever he wished, even in the depths of the earth.” (CHENANGO UNION, Vol. 30, Norwich, N. Y., Thursday, May 2, 1877, No. 33, Joseph  Smith  The  Originator  of  Mormonism, Historical  Reminiscences  of the town of Afton, BY  W. D. PURPLE)  

[xxxvii] "Moroni, the person who deposited the plates, from whence the book of Mormon was translated, in a hill in Manchester, Ontario County, New York, being dead, and raised again therefrom, appeared unto me, and told me where they were; and gave me directions how to obtain them." (Smith, 1838, pp 42-43). 

[xxxviii] “…he had a certain stone, which he had occasionally looked at to determine where hidden treasures in the bowels of the earth were; that he professed to tell in this manner where gold-mines were a distance under ground, and had looked for Mr. Stowel several times, and informed him where he could find those treasures” (1826 Trial, Miss Pearsall Account, Joseph Smith Jr. Testimony).

[xxxix] “Suggestion is the psychological process by which one person guides the thoughts, feelings, or behaviour of another.” (Wikipedia Encyclopedia on-line, Suggestion, 2011)

[xl] “…the vision of his mind was opened, and the angel of God came and laid the plates before him, and he saw and handled them, and saw the angel, and conversed with him as he would with one of his friends; but after all this, he was left to doubt, and plunged into apostacy, and has continued to contend against this work. There are hundreds in a similar condition.” (Brigham Young, JoD: vol. 7 p. 164, June 5, 1859)

[xli] “For most readers, the plates are beyond belief, a phantasm, yet the Mormon sources accept them as fact." (Joseph Smith Rough Stone Rolling, Bushman Richard Lyman, 2005, p.58) 

[xlii] “ I have this month received sixteen pages of this work, from page 353 to 368 inclusive… in these sixteen pages, I noticed 'yea' was repeated 34 times; and even 21 times in two pages. The words, 'It came to pass,' is repeated 56 times in 16 pages, and even ten times on one page. 'Now' and 'behold,' are reiterated near the commencement of sentences, full thirty times apiece, and more, in these sixteen pages. Consequently these four things are repeated 162 times on the eardrum, while speaking of the war of the Nephites and Lemanites, in the day of Moroni, and reign of the judges, according to the book of Alma.

    Thus, in page 359, it is written--"Yea, verily, verily, I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni--yea, the devil would never have no power over the hearts of the children of men: [never to have no power, is ever to have some power.]…
    These facts are given to caution people not to spend their money uselessly for a book, that is more probable a hoax--or a money-making speculation--or an enthusiastic delusion, than a revelation of facts by the Almighty.” C. C. BLATCHLY. (New-York Telescope, Vol. VI, No. 38, Saturday, February 20, 1830, page 150, original in Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, Illinois) 

[xliii] "Packing his valise, he [Martin Harris] cut sticks for Kirtland, where he lived unto 1870, when he went to Utah and ended a miserable life, raving in his last delirium over the Book of Mormon -- witnesses, facts and fictions of the most deplorable fraud recorded in history. Never was credulity or avarice more useful in a bad way, or knavery more successful than in the lives of Joe Smith and Martin Harris." (Morning Oregonian Vol. XV. Sept 16, 1875 No. 189)

[xliv] “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’” Isaiah 46:10, NIV)

[xlv] Alvin Smith (11 February 1798 – 19 November 1823) was the older brother of Joseph Smith Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. (Wikipedia, 2011)

[xlvi] “When he <Joseph> took the plates into his hands at this time the angel of the Lord stood by and said now you have have got the record into your own hands and you are but a man therefore you will have to be watchful and faithful to your trust or you will be overpowered by wicked men…” (Lucy Smith, Biographical Sketches, First Draft, 1844/45 p. 388)

[xlvii] The Hill Cumorah is located. It is one of many drumlin hills in the Finger Lakes region in Western New York in Manchester, where Joseph Smith Jr. said he found a set of golden plates.

[xlviii] LDS publication documenting four trusted accounts of Alvin being the right person:

·        Chase

·        Knight

·        Two latter reports

“Willard Chase evidently reported the instructions concerning Alvin correctly. The event was confirmed by Joseph Knight, the LDS convert who supplied Joseph and Oliver with necessities while they translated the Book of Mormon. Brother Knight tells how Joseph first went to the hill but was denied the record because of carelessness: “Joseph says, ‘When can I have it?’ The answer was the 22nd day of September next if you bring the right person with you. Joseph says, ‘Who is the right person?’ The answer was ‘Your oldest brother.’ But before September came his oldest brother died.” — Dean Jessee, “Joseph Knight’s Recollection of Early Mormon History,” BYU Studies, Autumn 1976, p. 31. — Two later reports tell similar stories, basically repeating the Chase affidavit. — Fayette Lapham claimed to give particular words of Joseph Smith, Sr., forty years after conversing with him: “The Mormons,” Historical Magazine 7 (2d ser. 1870): 305–9; also cited in Kirkham, 2:283–391. Here the command to bring Alvin is given at a second visit to the hill, and “during that year … his oldest brother died.” See also the Kelley interviews with Lorenzo Saunders. On 17 September 1884, Lorenzo said to William H. Kelley that the ‘angel’ appeared to Joseph ‘in the woods’ and ‘told him where the plates were and he could take his oldest brother with him in a year from that time and go and get them. But his oldest brother died before the year was out.” (E. L. Kelley Papers, box 1, fd. 7, pp. 9–10, historical archives of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, hereafter cited as RLDS Archives.) On 12 November 1884, Lorenzo said: “he saw the angel and … was notified of these plates … but it was not at that time made known to him, but he must take his older brother and go to the spot and he could obtain them. Before that time his oldest brother died.’” (E. L. Kelley interview with Saunders, E. L. Kelley Papers, box 1, fd., 1884 Nov. and Dec., p. 16, RLDS Archives.) - (Ensign, 1987, August, The Alvin Smith Story: Fact and Fiction, By Richard Lloyd Anderson) 

[xlix] Treasure seekers at the time of Joseph Smith “were most often devout Christians who … sensed no sharp division between religion and magic. We know from his dreams how strongly Joseph, Sr., wanted salvation; it is even possible that along with the hope for riches, treasure-seeking was part of his religious quest.” (Richard L. Bushman, "Joseph Smith's Family Background," in The Prophet Joseph: Essays on the Life and Mission of Joseph Smith, ed. Larry C. Porter and Susan Easton Black, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book). 

[l] (Moroni as Angel and as Treasure Guardian, Mark Ashurst-McGee, BYU, NY Faculty, p.39., 1999, FARMS – Review, 2006) 

[li] “I made an attempt to take them out, [the gold plates] but was forbidden by the messenger, and was again informed that the time for bringing them forth had not yet arrived, neither would it, until four years from that time; but he told me that I should come to that place precisely in one year from that time, and that he would there meet with me, and that I should continue to do so until the time should come for obtaining the plates.” (History of the Church Vol. 1, 1:53) 

[lii] (History of the Church Vol. 1 1:53) 

[liii] “In the month of June, 1827, Joseph Smith, Sen. related to me the following story: ‘That some years ago, a spirit had appeared to Joseph his son, in a vision, and informed him that in a certain place there was a record on plates of gold, and that he was the person that must obtain them…” (Willard Chase, 1833 affidavit. Joseph Smith’s New York Reputation Reexamined, Rodger I. Anderson, Signature Books, 1990, p. 121) 

[liv] (BYU Studies, Joseph Knight’s Recollection of Early Mormon History, Dean Jessee, 1976) 

[lv] “At this, as a natural consequence, he was much alarmed. He kneeled down and asked the Lord why the Record had been taken from him; upon which the angel of the Lord appeared to him, and told him that he had not done as he had been commanded, for in a former revelation he had been commanded not to lay the plates down, or put them for a moment out of his hands, until he got into the house and deposited them in a chest or trunk, having a good lock and key, and, contrary to this, he had laid them down with the view of securing some fancied or imaginary treasure that remained.” (Lucy Smith, Biographical Sketches, p. 347) 

[lvi] Ibid (▲ same reference ▲)

[lvii] “At this, as a natural consequence, he was much alarmed. He kneeled down and asked the Lord why the Record had been taken from him; upon which the angel of the Lord appeared to him, and told him that he had not done as he had been commanded, for in a former revelation he had been commanded not to lay the plates down, or put them for a moment out of his hands, until he got into the house and deposited them in a chest or trunk, having a good lock and key, and, contrary to this, he had laid them down with the view of securing some fancied or imaginary treasure that remained.” (Lucy Smith, Biographical Sketches, p. 347)

[lviii] “…soon after he came again and asked my advice what it was best to do about getting a chest made I told him to go to a cabbinet maker who had been making some furniture for my oldest daughter and tell the man we would pay him for making a chest as we did for the other things viz half money and half produce he said he would but did not know where the money would come from for there was not a shilling in the house.” (Lucy Smith, Biographical Sketches, First Draft, 1844/45 p. 379) 

[lix] “By aid of the seer stone, sentences would appear and were read by the Prophet and written by Martin, and when finished he would say, ‘Written,’ and if correctly written, that sentence would disappear, and another appear in its place…” (Martin Harris’s “statement to Edward Stevenson,” Millennial Star, February 6, 1882, p.86-87) 

[lx] “Latter-day Saints associate the term "Urim and Thummim" with these interpreters. Gardner notes, We all know that Joseph used the Urim and Thummim to translate the Book of Mormon—except he didn't. The Book of Mormon mentions interpreters, but not the Urim and Thummim. It was the Book of Mormon interpreters which were given to Joseph with the plates. When Moroni took back the interpreters after the loss of the 116 manuscript pages, Joseph completed the translation with one of his seer stones. Until after the translation of the Book of Mormon, the Urim and Thummim belonged to the Bible and the Bible only.  The Urim and Thummim became part of the story when it was presented within and to the Great Tradition. Eventually, even Joseph Smith used Urim and Thummim indiscriminately as labels generically representing either the Book of Mormon interpreters or the seer stone used during translation.  After the loss of the 116 pages, contemporary accounts are very clear that Joseph continued the translation using his seer stone. In later years, the term "Urim and Thummin" was retroactively applied to both the Nephite interpreters and to Joseph's seer stone.” (Joseph Smith/Seer stones/Used for Book of Mormon translation, online article, Fairmormon.org)

[lxi] "These were days never to be forgotten — to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven, awakened the utmost gratitude of this bosom! Day after day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from his mouth, as he translated, with the Urim and Thummim, or, as the Nephites would have said, 'Interpreters,' the history, or record, called The book of Mormon." (Oliver Cowdery, Messenger and Advocatee, Kirtland, Ohio, 1834, vol. 1, no. 1, p.14) 

[lxii] “Around 1284 in Italy, Salvino D'Armate is credited with inventing the first wearable eye glasses.” (The History of Eye Glasses or Spectacles, Mary Bellis, About.com Guide) 

[lxiii] “I knew not what he meant but took the article in my hands and upon after examining it <found> * [* with no covering but a silk handkerchief] that it consisted of 2 smott<ooth> 3 cornered diamonds set in glass and the glass was set in silver bows stones conected with each other in the same way that old fashioned spectacles are made.” (Lucy Smith, Biographical Sketches, First Draft, 1844/45 p. 379)

[lxiv] “…she [Lucy Harris] went from place to place, and from house to house, telling her grievances, and declaring that Joseph Smith was practising (sic) a deception upon the people, which was about to strip her of all that she possessed…” (Lucy Smith: Biographical Sketches, 1853 edition, Cory/Pratt, chapter 24) 

[lxv] “…did all that lay in her power to injure Joseph in the estimation of his neighbours— telling them that he was a grand impostor, and, that by his specious pretensions, he had seduced her husband into the belief that he [Joseph Smith] was some great one, merely through a design upon her husband’s property…” (Lucy Smith: Biographical Sketches, 1853 edition, Cory/Pratt, chapter 24) 

[lxvi] Ibid (▲ same reference ▲) 

[lxvii] Doctrine & Covenants 19:

(Introduction): “Revelation given through Joseph Smith, at Manchester, New York, March 1830…. In his history, the Prophet introduced it as “a commandment of God and not of man, to Martin Harris, given by him who is Eternal” (History of the Church, 1:72). 

(Verse 10): “For, behold, the mystery of godliness, how great is it! For, behold, I am endless, and the punishment which is given from my hand is endless punishment, for Endless is my name. Wherefore—“

(Verse 11): “Eternal punishment is God’s punishment.” 

(Verse 12): “Endless punishment is God’s punishment.” 

(Verse 13): “Wherefore, I command you to repent, and keep the commandments which you have received by the hand of my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., in my name;”

(Verse 14): “And it is by my almighty power that you have received them;” 

(Verse 15): “Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not”

…

(Verse 26): “And again, I command thee that thou shalt not covet thine own property, but impart it freely to the printing of the Book of Mormon, which contains the truth and the word of God— “ 

[lxviii] “…in the midst of our afflictions we found a friend in a gentleman by the name of Martin Harris, who came to us and gave me fifty dollars to assist us on our journey.” (History of the Church Vol. 1, 1:61) 

[lxix] “Mrs. Harris [Lucy] persisted in her endeavors to expose the fraud…” (MORMONISM, AN EXPOSURE OF THE IMPOSITIONS. ADOPTED BY THE SECT CALLED “THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS” – pamphlet by the Rev. F.B. Ashley, UK, 1851, p. 13 - MORMONISM, AN EXPOSURE OF THE IMPOSITIONS. ADOPTED BY THE SECT CALLED “THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS” – pamphlet by the Rev. F.B. Ashley, UK, 1851, p. 13)

[lxx] “By faith the Three Witnesses shall see the plates and other sacred items…” (Doctrine & Covenants 5, Introduction)

And:

“…even as my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., has seen them; for it is by my power that he has seen them, and it is because he had faith.” (D&C 17:5) 

[lxxi] “And now, except he [Martin] humble himself and acknowledge unto me the things that he has done which are wrong, and covenant with me that he will keep my commandments, and exercise faith in me, behold, I say unto him, he shall have no such views, for I will grant unto him no views of the things of which I have spoken. 

And if this be the case, I command you, my servant Joseph, that you shall say unto him, that he shall do no more, nor trouble me any more concerning this matter.” (Doctrine & Covenants 5: 28-29) 

[lxxii] “…and these are the words which he shall say.” (D&C 5:26 b) 

[lxxiii] “Therefore be diligent; stand by my servant Joseph, faithfully… for the word’s sake.” (D&C 6:9)

[lxxiv] "Mormonism, as it is called, must stand or fall on the story of Joseph Smith.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1954, vol. 1, p. 188) 

[lxxv] “…he [Martin] now began to requested Joseph to permit him to look upon the plates for he desired a further witness that of their work <actual existance (sic) and> that he might be better able to give a reason for the hope that was within <him> of seeing great things come to pass in the last days—“ (Lucy Smith History: First Draft  Biographical Sketches, chapter 25, verse 1, original spelling). 

[lxxvi]  (Stephen Burnett letter to Lyman E. Johnson dated April 15, 1838 - Typed transcript from Joseph Smith Papers, Letter book, April 20, 1837 - February 9, 1843, microfilm reel 2, pp. 64-66, LDS archives).

[lxxvii] “Was Joseph making a fool of him?  Was he the classic dupe, to be cheated out of his money and farm when the fraud was complete?  Martin wanted more evidence to set his own mind at ease and to quiet the doubters at home.” (Joseph Smith and the beginnings of Mormonism, Richard L. Bushman, p. 90)   

[lxxviii] “And let my servant Martin Harris devote his moneys for the proclaiming of my words, according as my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., shall direct” (D&C 104:26).