The Hurlbut affidavits

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• Question: What are the Hurlbut affidavits?
• Question: What do the Hurlbut affidavits claim about the Smith family's character and reliability?
• Question: What did Parley Chase claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?
• Question: What did Henry Harris claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?
• Question: What did Barton Stafford claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?
• Question: What did David Stafford claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?
• Question: What did Willard Chase claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?
• Question: What did Peter Ingersoll claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?
• Question: What did William Stafford claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?
• Question: What did the Hurlbut affidavits say about Martin Harris?
• Question: What do the Hurlbut affidavits say about Joseph Smith claiming that he was "as good as Jesus Christ"?
• Question: What do the Hurlbut affidavits say about the Spalding manuscript and the Book of Mormon?

Question: What are the Hurlbut affidavits

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• Question: What are the Hurlbut affidavits?
• The Hurlbut affidavits are a collection of affidavits from Joseph Smith’s neighbors which claim that the Smith family possessed a number of character flaws
• Hurlbut had been hostile to the Smith family long before he collected his affidavits
• Hurlbut's collection of the statements was made at the request of an anti-Mormon committee in Kirtland, Ohio
• Hurlbut was unable to publish the affidavits himself after his trial for making death threats against Joseph Smith, so he sold them to E.D. Howe for publication in his book Mormonism Unvailed
• E.D. Howe thought that Joseph was "lazy," "indolent" and "superstitious"

Question: What do the Hurlbut affidavits claim about the Smith family's character and reliability

Jump to details:

• Question: What do the Hurlbut affidavits claim about the Smith family's character and reliability?
• The affidavits claimed that the Smith family was "lazy" and "worthless" and "destitute of moral character"
• Joseph Smith responded direct to the accusations against his character in December 1834
• If members of the Smith family had been liars, immoral, and "addicted to vicious habits," Lucy, Hyrum and Samuel would have been unable to retain their membership in the Western Presbyterian Church until 1830
• Contrast the accusations against the achievements of the family during the few years of their residence in Palmyra

Question: What did Parley Chase claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits

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• Question: What did Henry Harris claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?
• Henry Harris claimed that Joseph was lazy, and that he was required to be married in order to see the plates
• Responses to Harris' claims

Question: What did Parley Chase claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?

Parley Chase claimed that the Smiths were lazy, intemperate that they "boasted of their skill" at lying

Parley Chase made the following claims about the Smith family on 2 December 1833, three years after the publication of the Book of Mormon:

I was acquainted with the family of Joseph Smith, Sen., both before and since they became Mormons, and feel free to state that not one of the male members of the Smith family were entitled to any credit, whatsoever. They were lazy, intemperate and worthless men, very much addicted to lying. In this they frequently boasted of their skill. Digging for money was their principal employment. In regard to their Gold Bible speculation, they scarcely ever told two stories alike. The Mormon Bible is said to be a revelation from God, through Joseph Smith Jr., his Prophet, and this same Joseph Smith Jr. to my knowledge, bore the reputation among his neighbors of being a liar. The foregoing statement can be corroborated by all his former neighbors.^[2]

Hugh Nibley: "Skillful liars don't boast about it"

Hugh Nibley notes:

"Frequently"? A liar's "skill"...consists in not being recognized as a liar. Skillful liars don't boast about it.^[3]

Question: What did Barton Stafford claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?

Barton Stafford claimed that Joseph Smith, Sr. was a "drunkard"

• Claimed that Joseph Smith, Sr. was a "drunkard."
• Claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr. was "addicted to intemperance."

John Stafford, on the other hand, said that it was common then for everybody to drink, and to have drink in the field

John Stafford, eldest son of William Stafford, was later asked "What was the character of [Joseph] Smith [Jr.], as to his drinking?" Replied Stafford, "It was common then for everybody to drink, and to have drink in the field; one time Joe, while working for some one after he was married, drank too much boiled cider. He came in with his shirt torn." When asked if this meant Joseph had been drunk and fighting, Stafford insisted, "No; he had been scuffling with some of the boys. Never saw him fight; have known him to scuffle...." ^[4] Thus, while Joseph likely drank (as did everyone, a point which the affidavits gloss over) to describe him as 'addicted to intemperance' is likely a gross exaggeration. John Stafford seems to have remembered this event because it was remarkable and fairly minor—hardly the sign of Joseph being perpetually drunk.

• The lack of other claims in the affidavits that Joseph Jr. was a drunk is also telling—this would have been widely known and widely claimed in the affidavits if true.

Question: What did David Stafford claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?

David Stafford claimed that Oliver Cowdery was a "worthless person" who was "not to be trusted"

• That Joseph Smith, Sr. was a "drunkard," a "liar," and a "gambler."
• That the "general employment" of the Smith family was "money digging" and "fortune telling."
• That Oliver Cowdery was a "worthless person" who was "not to be trusted."

John Stafford, on the other hand, stated that Oliver Cowdery was a man of good character

John Stafford, William Stafford's eldest son, would later say that Oliver Cowdery "taught school on the Canandaigua road, where the stone school-house now stands...Cowdery was a man of good character." ^[5]

Question: What did Willard Chase claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?

Willard Chase claimed that he discovered Joseph's seer stone, and that it belonged to him

Willard Chase and Joseph Smith were digging a well together when one of Joseph's seer stones was discovered. When it became known that Joseph was able to use the stone, Chase later claimed that Joseph had stolen it from him.

• Claimed that he discovered Joseph Smith's seer stone.
• Claimed that the seer stone rightfully belonged to Chase.

Willard Chase claimed that Joseph Smith, Sr. told him that Moroni appeared in the form of a toad

Chase claimed that the Prophet's father told him that certain "magical" practices had to be performed in order for Joseph to obtain the plates.

• Claimed that Joseph Smith, Sr. told him that Joseph Jr. removed the plates from the stone box, set them on the ground, and that they went back into the stone box on their own.
• Claimed that Joseph Smith, Sr. told him that Joseph Jr. was required to wear certain clothes and perform certain actions in order to obtain the plates.
• Claimed that Joseph Smith, Sr. told him that the angel Moroni appeared in the form of a toad.

Responses to these claims

• Joseph Smith and seer stones
• Joseph Smith and "magick"
• Mark Ashurst-McGee, "Moroni as Angel and as Treasure Guardian," FARMS Review 18/1 (2006): 34–100. [{{{url}}} off-site] wiki
• Larry E. Morris, "'I Should Have an Eye Single to the Glory of God’: Joseph Smith’s Account of the Angel and the Plates (Review of: "From Captain Kidd’s Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism")," FARMS Review 17/1 (2005): 11–82. off-site

Question: What did Peter Ingersoll claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?

Peter Ingersoll claimed that the Smiths' "general employment" was money digging

• Claimed that the Smith family's general employment was "digging for money."
• Claimed that Joseph Smith, Sr. taught him to use a divining rod.
• Claimed that Joseph Smith, Sr. and Alvin Smith used a stone in a hat to see things.
• Claimed that Joseph Smith, Sr., was engaged in "divination."

The Smith farm was improved to the point that it was worth more than 9 out of 10 farms in the region.^[6] Given that the Smiths' property was worth more than most of their neighbors, it is difficult to credit the after-the-fact claims by some neighbors in the Hurlbut affidavits that the Smiths were lazy ne'er-do-wells who spent all of their time "money digging."

Ingersoll claimed that Joseph admitted to his father-in-law that he was a fraud

• Claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr. admitted to his father-in-law that he only pretended to be able to see things in the stone.
• Claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr. fooled his family into thinking that a frock full of sand was the "Gold Bible."
• Claimed that Joseph told his family that nobody could see the "Gold Bible" and live.

On the threat that no one could see the "gold bible" and live, see: Viewing gold plates would result in death

Ingersoll claimed that the story of the gold plates was created as a joke

• Claimed that Joseph made up the story of the gold plates on the spot, after which he is supposed to have said, "I have got the damned fools fixed, and will carry out the fun." However, Ingersoll is discredited on his claim that Joseph made the story of the "gold bible" up on the spot as a way to have "fun" with his family. Joseph was telling various people about his Moroni visits well before recovering the plates (see for example various Knight family recollections). Note also that the name "Moroni" appears in the claim made by Lemon Copley.
• Claimed that Joseph told him that "he had no such book, and believed there never was any such book."
• Claimed that Joseph Smith, Sr. said that there had been a book found in a hollow tree in Canada that described the "first settlement of this country before it was discovered by Columbus."

It is very difficult to believe that Joseph would have privately confided to Ingersoll that the plates didn't exist, when he told everyone else that they did.

See also:

• Mark Ashurst-McGee, "Moroni as Angel and as Treasure Guardian," FARMS Review 18/1 (2006): 34–100. [{{{url}}} off-site] wiki
• Larry E. Morris, "'I Should Have an Eye Single to the Glory of God’: Joseph Smith’s Account of the Angel and the Plates (Review of: "From Captain Kidd’s Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism")," FARMS Review 17/1 (2005): 11–82. off-site

Question: What did William Stafford claim about Joseph Smith in the Hurlbut affidavits?

William Stafford claimed that Joseph could see "spirits" guarding treasures

(uncle to C.R. Stafford)

• Claimed that the family of Joseph Smith, Sr. devoted a "great part of their time" to "digging for money."
• Claimed that he was told that Joseph Smith, Jr. could see "large caves" in "nearly all the hills in this part of New York."
• Claimed that Joseph could see "spirits" guarding great treasures.
• Claimed that Joseph Smith, Sr. told him that treasure could "sink" into the ground.
• Claimed that Joseph Smith, Sr. took one of his sheep on the pretense of using it to search for money by cutting its throat.
• Claimed that Joseph promised to show him the gold plates.

The claim that the Smiths were lazy is belied by objective financial data showing them to be more hard-working than most of their neighbors

The claim that the Smiths were lazy is belied by objective financial data showing them to be more hard-working than most of their neighbors. The attacks on their industry date from after they had become notorious for the Book of Mormon and the Church, and probably spring from religious hostility more than truth.

For a detailed response, see: Lazy Smiths?

William Stafford's story contradicts Peter Ingersoll's story

William Stafford's claim that Joseph promised to show him the gold plates directly contradicts Peter Ingersoll's claim that Joseph confided to him that there were no plates.

Stafford claimed that "The two Josephs and Hiram, promised to show me the plates, after the book of Mormon was translated. But, afterwards, they pretended to have received an express commandment, forbidding them to show the plates."^[7]

Ingersol,on the other hand, said that Joseph confided to him that "he had no such book, and believed there never was any such book."^[8]

Stafford's oldest son John: "I have heard that story [about the black sheep] but don't think my father was there at the time they say Smith got the sheep"

Stafford's oldest son John would later say "I have heard that story [about the black sheep] but don't think my father was there at the time they say Smith got the sheep. I don't know anything about it....They never stole one [a sheep], I am sure; they may have got one sometime....I don't think it [the story of the sheep] is true. I would have heard more about it, that is true." ^[9]

• Mark Ashurst-McGee, "Moroni as Angel and as Treasure Guardian," FARMS Review 18/1 (2006): 34–100. [{{{url}}} off-site] wiki
• Larry E. Morris, "'I Should Have an Eye Single to the Glory of God’: Joseph Smith’s Account of the Angel and the Plates (Review of: "From Captain Kidd’s Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism")," FARMS Review 17/1 (2005): 11–82. off-site

Question: What did the Hurlbut affidavits say about Martin Harris?

Lucy and Abigail Harris claimed that Martin Harris said that Mormonism was false and that he could "make money out of it"

Lucy and Abigail Harris are the only two individuals who claimed that Martin Harris was hoping to make money from Mormonism

It is interesting to note the similarity between the testimony for both women. It is more interesting however, to note how Abigail Harris has added the phrase "What if it is a lie," while Martin's wife, Lucy, did not. Abigail states that she stated what she did "for the good of all mankind". If Martin actually believed that Mormonism was a lie, why would his wife Lucy not have mentioned this?.^[10] She in fact makes it clear in her affidavit that Martin did believe in Mormonism to the point of having "no one in his house that did not believe in Mormonism"^[11]

With regards to the motives to make money, it makes sense that both Abigail and Lucy would testify this way against Martin. But they may have been selectively remembering this. Keep in mind that Martin had a firm conviction of the Book of Mormon, which Lucy makes more than clear in her statement. What if Martin, in the first instance of the statement being made, meant to assuage Lucy's concern over mortgaging the Harris farm to fund the publication of the Book of Mormon? It's a plausible interpretation that can cut back some of the exaggerations in their statements fomented by Howe's impetus and their shared prejudice of Martin looking back. It would be especially understandable if Martin's history of abuse reported by Lucy is true (which it likely is).

Martin may have had feelings towards the supposed "Mrs. Haggard" but evidence of adultery is simply inconclusive.

In regard to Mrs. Haggard, it seems as though Martin may have had some feelings for this woman. Lucy seems to be very honest in her portrayal of Martin's behavior. Additionally, a contemporary revelation given to Joseph Smith (summer of 1829) states: "25 And again, I command thee that thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife; nor seek thy neighbor’s life." (D&C 19:25). Beyond this, however, there does not seem to be any conclusive evidence of Martin committing adultery with this woman.

Lucy still testifies to Martin's industriousness and implies that he was a respected individual in the community prior to publication of the Book of Mormon.

Lucy wrote:

Martin Harris was once industrious[ly] attentive to his domestic concerns, and thought to be worth about ten thousand dollars.

[. . .]

It is in vain for the Mormons to deny these facts; for they are all well known to most of his former neighbors. The man has now become rather an object of pity; he has spent most of his property, and lost the confidence of his former friends. If he had labored as hard on his farm as he has to make Mormons, he might now be one of the wealthiest farmers in the country. He now spends his time in travelling through the country spreading the delusion of Mormonism, and has no regard whatever for his family.

Lucy implies that Martin was considered respected in the community prior to the mortgaging of his farm in support of the Book of Mormon.

Addressing the Abuse

Lucy's report of abuse is the most disheartening of the affdavit. While on one hand Lucy may have exaggerated some of the elements about Martin, these claims are those to take most seriously. She stated:

He is naturally quick in his temper and his mad-fits frequently abuses all who may dare to oppose him in his wishes. However strange it may seem, I have been a great sufferer by his unreasonable conduct. At different times while I lived with him, he has whipped, kicked, and turned me out of the house. About a year previous to the report being raised that Smith had found gold plates, he became very intimate with the Smith family, and said he believed Joseph could see in his stone any thing he wished. After this he apparently became very sanguine in his belief, and frequently said he would have no one in his house that did not believe in Mormonism; and because I would not give credit to the report he made about the gold plates, he became more austere towards me. In one of his fits of rage he struck me with the but end of a whip, which I think had been used for driving oxen, and was about the size of my thumb, and three or four feet long. He beat me on the head four or five times, and the next day turned me out of doors twice, and beat me in a shameful manner.—

The next day I went to the town of Marion, and while there my flesh was black and blue in many places. His main complaint against me was, that I was always trying to hinder his making money.

When he found out that I was going to Mr. Putnam's, in Marion, he said he was going too, but they had sent for him to pay them a visit. On arriving at Mr. Putnam's, I asked them if they had sent for Mr. Harris; they replied, they knew nothing about it; he, however, came in the evening. Mrs. Putnam told him never to strike or abuse me any more; he then denied ever striking me; she was however convinced that he lied, as the marks of his beating me were plain to be seen, and remained more than two weeks. Whether the Mormon religion be true or false, I leave the world to judge, for its effects upon Martin Harris have been to make him more cross, turbulent and abusive to me. His whole object was to make money by it.

Perhaps we can demonstrate a little skepticism towards the event since it comes years after the fact.^[12] But that should be balanced with how we've interpreted Lucy's statements in the rest of the affidavit—as reliable. If we rely on her to dispel the claim from Abigail, and we rely on her to not give a definitive declaration of Martin's involvement with Mrs. Haggard, and if we rely on her as reliable to establish Martin as industrious and well-respected, then we should give Lucy some trust in stating that she was abused. Abuse connected to disagreement over the legitimacy of Joseph's claims is a more than plausible reason for Lucy and Martin's separation in 1830. While on one hand we may use Lucy's affirmation of Harris' industriousness and his firm conviction of the Book of Mormon as a positive evidence for the Book of Mormon, we should also recognize, like two accomplished historians noted about Martin, that "Martin was certainly not free from inherent human frailties and foibles, some of which are enumerated in Mormonism Unvailed."^[13] We can recognize his contributions to the Book of Mormon and the work of God while also condemning and also extending charity to his more negative qualities.

Question: What do the Hurlbut affidavits say about Joseph Smith claiming that he was "as good as Jesus Christ"?

Three individuals who made their depositions together said that Joseph Smith claimed that he was "as good as Jesus Christ"

Hezekiah M'Kune, Levi Lewis and Sophia Lewis went together to make their depositions before the justice and their testimonies bear a remarkable similarity

• Hezekiah M'Kune, Levi Lewis and Sophia Lewis went together to make their depositions before the justice. Their testimonies bear a remarkable similarity and contain the unique claim that Joseph claimed to be "as good as Jesus Christ." This claim is not related by any other individuals who knew the Prophet, suggesting that these three individuals planned and coordinated their story before giving their depositions.^[14]

Question: What do the Hurlbut affidavits say about the Spalding manuscript and the Book of Mormon?

Hurlbut's affidavits regarding the Spalding manuscript consist of interviews with family and associates of Solomon Spalding

Commentary

Main article: Book of Mormon and Spalding manuscript

Most of the Spalding-related affidavits make very similar claims, such as the repeated statements that "Nephi" and "Lehi" figured prominently in Spalding's story

Most of the Spalding-related affidavits make very similar claims, such as the repeated statements that "Nephi" and "Lehi" figured prominently in Spalding's story and that the person making the claim had "recently" read the Book of Mormon and recognized it as being similar to Spalding's work. The recovered Spalding manuscript, however, bears no resemblance to any of these claims. For this reason, critics who support the Spalding theory have assumed the existence of a second Spalding manuscript, despite absolutely no evidence to support this.

The Spalding theory requires that Sidney Rigdon secretly meet Joseph Smith before the organization of the Church

The Spalding theory requires that Sidney Rigdon secretly meet Joseph Smith before the organization of the Church, and provide him with the Book of Mormon manuscript. John Stafford, oldest son of William Stafford was asked about this:

Q — If young Joseph — Smith , Jr. — was as illiterate as you say, Doctor, how do you account for the Book of Mormon?

A — "Well, I can't; except that Sidney Rigdon was connected with them."

Q — Was Rigdon ever around there before the Book of Mormon was published?

A — "No; not as we could ever find out. Sidney Rigdon was never there, that Hurlbut, or Howe, or Tucker could find out."

Q — Well; you have been looking out for the facts a long time, have you not, Doctor?

A — "Yes; I have been thinking and hearing about it for the last fifty years, and lived right among all their old neighbors there more of the time."

Q — And no one has ever been able to trace the acquaintance of Rigdon and Smith, until after the Book of Mormon was published, and Rigdon proselyted by Parley P. — Pratt, in Ohio?

A — "Not that I know of.""

— John Stafford, cited in William H. Kelly, "The Hill Cumorah, and the Book of Mormon," Saints' Herald 28 (1 June 1881): 167.^[15]

See also:

• Matthew Roper, "The Mythical "Manuscript Found" (Review of: Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon? The Spalding Enigma)," FARMS Review 17/2 (2005): 7–140. off-site

Notes

1. ↑ Ellen E. Dickinson, New Light on Mormonism (New York, 1885), 7; reproduced in Richard Lloyd Anderson, Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1981), 139. ISBN 0877478465.
2. ↑ E.D. Howe, "The Testimony of Parley Chase," Mormonism Unvailed (1834).
3. ↑ Hugh W. Nibley, Tinkling Cymbals and Sounding Brass: The Art of Telling Tales About Joseph Smith and Brigham Young (Vol. 11 of the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley), edited by David J. Whittaker, (Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret Book Company ; Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1991), 105. ISBN 0875795161. GL direct link
4. ↑ William H. Kelly, "The Hill Cumorah, and the Book of Mormon," Saints' Herald 28 (1 June 1881): 167; cited in Dan Vogel (editor), Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1996–2003), 5 vols, 2:121.
5. ↑ William H. Kelly, "The Hill Cumorah, and the Book of Mormon," Saints' Herald 28 (1 June 1881): 167; cited in Dan Vogel (editor), Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1996–2003), 5 vols, 2:123.
6. ↑ Enders, 220.
7. ↑ "Testimony of William Stafford," Mormonism Unvailed, 240.
8. ↑ "Testimony of William Stafford," Mormonism Unvailed, 236.
9. ↑ William H. Kelly, "The Hill Cumorah, and the Book of Mormon," Saints' Herald 28 (1 June 1881): 167; cited in Dan Vogel (editor), Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1996–2003), 5 vols, 2:121–122. The material removed by ellipses consists of questions being asked by the interviewer.
10. ↑ Hugh W. Nibley, Tinkling Cymbals and Sounding Brass: The Art of Telling Tales About Joseph Smith and Brigham Young (Vol. 11 of the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley), edited by David J. Whittaker, (Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret Book Company ; Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1991), 115. ISBN 0875795161. GL direct link
11. ↑ Eber D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville, Ohio: Telegraph Press, 1834), 255. http://www.solomonspalding.com/docs/1834howf.htm
12. ↑ Susan Easton Black and Larry C. Porter, Martin Harris: Uncompromising Witness of the Book of Mormon (Provo, UT: BYU Studies, 2018), 253. ISBN 9781942161554: "Anderson suggests in his set of criteria, it is necessary to be aware of 'statements of contemporaries [that] show a distinct tendency to report community rumor, not personal experience.'" Citing Richard Lloyd Anderson, "Joseph Smith's New York Reputation Reappraised," BYU Studies 10, no. 3 (1970): 283-314.
13. ↑ Black and Porter, "Uncompromising Witness" Ibid.
14. ↑ Hugh W. Nibley, Tinkling Cymbals and Sounding Brass: The Art of Telling Tales About Joseph Smith and Brigham Young (Vol. 11 of the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley), edited by David J. Whittaker, (Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret Book Company ; Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1991), 128. ISBN 0875795161. GL direct link
15. ↑ Dan Vogel (editor), Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1996–2003), 5 vols, 2:123–124.)