The Hurlbut affidavits

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Contents

Criticism

Many of Joseph Smith’s friends and neighbors signed affidavits that accused him and his family of being lazy, indolent, undependable treasure-seekers.

Source(s) of the criticism

Response

Background

Many critics cite a collection of affidavits from Joseph Smith’s neighbors which claim that the Smith family possessed a number of character flaws. These affidavits were collected by “Doctor” Philastus Hurlbut.[1] Hurlbut had been excommunicated from the Church on charges of "unvirtuous conduct with a young lady,"[2] and for threatening the life of the Prophet. His collection of these statements was made at the request of an anti-Mormon committee in Kirtland, Ohio.[3] According to B.H. Roberts:

It was simply a matter of "muck raking" on Hurlburt's part. Every idle story, every dark insinuation which at that time could be thought of and unearthed was pressed into service to gratify this man's personal desire for revenge, and to aid the enemies of the Prophet in their attempt to destroy his influence and overthrow the institution then in process of such remarkable development.[4]

Hurlbut was unable to publish the affidavits himself after his trial for making death threats against Joseph Smith, Jr. He sold this material to Eber D. Howe, who published it in his anti-Mormon book Mormonism Unvailed in 1834. In addition to the affidavits attacking the character of the Smith family, Hurlbut gathered statements from the family and neighbors of Solomon Spalding in order to "prove" that Spalding's unpublished manuscript was the source for the Book of Mormon. Mormonism Unvailed contained the first presentation of the Spalding theory of Book of Mormon origin. Some critics, such as Fawn Brodie, are selective in their acceptance of Hurlbut's affidavits—They readily accept affidavits that attack the character of the Smith family, yet admit that some "judicious prompting" by Hurlbut may have been involved in those affidavits that were gathered to support the Spalding theory.[5]

Howe's bias is evident throughout the book. He introduces the Smith family with the following:

All who became intimate with them during this period, unite in representing the general character of old Joseph and wife, the parents of the pretended Prophet, as lazy, indolent, ignorant and superstitious—having a firm belief in ghosts and witches; the telling of fortunes; pretending to believe that the earth was filled with hidden treasures, buried there by Kid or the Spaniards.[6]

Smith family character claims and reliability

The following table summarizes the claims made in the Hurlbut affidavits regarding Joseph Smith, his family and his associates.

Claimant Claims Comments

Parley Chase
  • Claimed that the members of the Smith family were "lazy, intemperate and worthless men, very much addicted to lying. In this they frequently boasted of their skill."
  • Claimed that "[i]n regard to their Gold Bible speculation, they scarcely ever told two stories alike."
Hugh Nibley notes: "Frequently"? A liar's "skill"...consists in not being recognized as a liar. Skillful liars don't boast about it. [7]

Joseph Capron
  • Claimed that Joseph used his seer stone to locate "ghosts, infernal spirits, mountains of gold and silver, and many other invaluable treasures deposited in the earth."

Lemon Copley
  • Claimed that Joseph told him a story about seeing an old man who claimed to have a monkey in a box.
  • Claimed that the Lord told Joseph that the man was Moroni with the plates, and that if he had "five coppers, he might have got his plates again."
  • Note that Copley's testimony contradicts that of Peter Ingersoll. Ingersoll claimed that Joseph Smith made up the story of the plates on the spot in order to fool his family. Copely, on the other hand, mentions the name Moroni.

Alva Hale

(Son of Isaac Hale)

  • Claimed that he knew Joseph Smith, Jr. and Martin Harris "to be an impostor, and a liar."

Isaac Hale

(Father-in-law of Joseph Smith, Jr.)

  • Claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr's occupation was "seeing" by means of a "stone placed in his hat."
  • Claimed that Joseph "pretended to discover minerals and treasure."
  • Claimed that he was not allowed to look into the box containing the gold plates.
  • Claimed that Joseph said that a "young child" would be the first to view the plates.
  • Claimed that he told Joseph to remove the plates from his house if he couldn't be allowed to view them.
  • Claimed that Joseph told Martin Harris to go into the woods to find the plates on his own.
  • Claimed that Joseph translated the plates by looking in his hat while the plates were in the woods.
  • Claimed that the Book of Mormon was a "silly fabrication."

Henry Harris
  • Claimed that the Smith family "labored very little."
  • Claimed that the Smith family primarily "dug for money."
  • Claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr. "pretended to tell fortunes."
  • Claimed that Joseph was required to be married in order to obtain the plates.

Nathaniel Lewis

(Brother-in-law to Issac Hale and a Methodist deacon)

  • Claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr. asked his advice on whether or not he should translate the plates.
  • Claimed that Joseph told him that God commanded him to translate the plates, but that he was "afraid of the people."
  • Claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr. "frequently said to me that I should see the plates at the time appointed."
  • Claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr. said that "he, himself was deceived."
  • Claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr. was "an impostor, hypocrite and liar."
  • Nibley notes that the claim made by Lewis that Joseph was "afraid of the people" contradicts the claims by other critics that the Book of Mormon was intended to be a "publicity stunt."[8]

Joshua M'Kune
  • Claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr. and Martin Harris were "artful seducers."
  • Claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr. said that "(Smith's) first-born child was to translate the characters, and hieroglyphics, upon the Plates."

Roswell Nichols
  • Claimed that the Smith family was known for "breach of contracts," and "non-payment of debts."
  • Claimed that Joseph Smith, Sr. was "weak minded," and of "low character."

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

David Stafford
  • 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."
  • The Oliver Cowdery was a "worthless person" who was "not to be trusted."

Joshua Stafford
  • Claimed that the Smith family became "indolent" after "digging for hidden treasures."
  • Claimed that the Smith family told stories of "ghosts, hob-goblins and caverns."

G. W. Stoddard
  • Claimed that Martin Harris was "industrious and enterprising" before he got involved with Mormonism.
  • Claimed that Martin Harris' "moral and religious character" did "not entitle him to respect."
  • Claimed that Martin Harris was known to "abuse his wife, by whipping her, kicking her out of bed and turning her out of doors."

Commentary

B.H. Roberts contrasts the achievements of the Smith family with the accusations made against them:

Against this large collection of evil report and false interpretation of the character of the Smiths while at Palmyra, prompted as it was by prejudice and collected by malice, the evidence of accomplished fact, and the subsequent lives of the family may be opposed. Take for example the achievements of the family during the few years of their residence in Palmyra. They arrived there penniless, as all admit, with nothing but their bare hands with which to help themselves. Yet in a few years they built two homes in the wilderness; they cleared sixty acres of heavy timber land, and converted it into a tillable farm. In addition to their farming and gardening, they had a sugar orchard of from twelve to fifteen hundred maple trees, from which they gathered the sap and converted it into syrup or sugar. To aid in making the annual payments upon their farm, as well as to help sustain the family until the farm could be made productive, they took an occasional day's work among the neighboring farmers or the Palmyra village folk, sometimes engaged to dig a well, or harvest a field of grain. It is conceded, in the main, that they did all this; and one marvels in the face of it that the charge of laziness and thriftlessness should be made. But the wonder grows when to all this is to be added the stories of the affidavits about the Smith's "money digging" enterprises. "They * * * spent much of their time in digging for money which they pretended was hid in the earth, and to this day large excavations may be seen in the earth not far from their residence, where they used to spend their time digging for hidden treasures." fn Truly if the half of what is told in the affidavits about these exploits, usually carried on at night, is to be believed, then it would be utterly impossible to believe the Smiths to be idle or habitually lazy.[9]

Individuals who claimed to have assisted Joseph Smith, Sr. in digging operations

Claimant Claims Comments

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

Peter Ingersoll
  • 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. 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."
  • 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.
  • 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."
  • Claimed that Jospeh told him that "he had no such book, and believed there never was any such book."
  • On the threat that no one could see the "gold bible" and live, see: Viewing gold plates would result in death
  • 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.
  • 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.

William 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.

Commentary

Statement of Charles Anthon regarding the characters copied from the gold plates

Claimant Claims Comments

Charles Anthon
  • Claimed that he did not pronounce the characters shown to him by Martin Harris to be "reformed Egyptian."
  • Claimed that no translation of the characters had been shown to him.
  • Claimed that he told Martin Harris that he was the subject of a hoax.
  • Claimed that he declined to write his opinion down.
  • Claimed that the characters resembled something copied from the "Mexican calendar."

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

Claimant Claims Comments

Abigail Harris
  • Claimed that Martin Harris said regarding Mormonism: "What if it is a lie; if you will let me alone I will make money out of it!"
  • Abigail embellishes her version of what she heard by implying that Martin Harris "admitted" that Mormonism was a lie.

Lucy Harris

(Wife of Martin Harris)

  • Claimed that Martin Harris said the Mormonism was false, and that "if you would let me alone, I could make money by it."
  • Claimed that Martin Harris "has whipped, kicked, and turned me out of the house."
  • Claimed that Martin Harris was having an affair with a neighbor's wife.
  • Despite the fact that Lucy Harris makes no mention of the lost 116 pages of manuscript from the Book of Mormon, Fawn Brodie in her book No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith actually concludes that Harris beat his wife in order to get her to divulge what she had done with the lost 116 pages of manuscript.

Commentary

  • 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. If Martin actually believed that Mormonism was a lie, why would his wife Lucy not have mentioned this? [10]

Joseph Smith claimed that he was "as good as Jesus Christ?"

Claimant Claims Comments

Levi Lewis
  • Claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr. and Martin Harris said that "adultery was no crime."
  • Claimed that he "knows Smith to be a liar."
  • Claimed that he heard Joseph Smith say that he "was as good as Jesus Christ."
  • Claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr. told him "[w]ith regard to the plates, Smith said God had deceived him."

Sophia Lewis
  • Claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr. said that he "was as good as Jesus Christ."
  • Claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr. said that "the Book of Plates could not be opened under penalty of death by any other person but his (Smith's) first-born, which was to be a male."

Hezekiah M'Kune
  • Claimed that Joseph Smith said "he was nearly equal to Jesus Christ."

Commentary

  • Hezekiah M'Kune, Levi Lewis and Sophia Lewis went together to make their depositions before the justice. Their testimonies bear a remarkable similiarity 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. [11]

Spalding manuscript claims and reliability

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

Claimant Claims

Artemas Cunningham
  • Claimed to have "partially examined" the "Mormon Bible."
  • Claimed that Spalding's manuscript was called "Manuscript Found."
  • Claimed "to remember the name of Nephi" as the "principal hero."

Nahum Howard
  • Claimed to have "lately read the Book of Mormon."
  • Claimed that it was the same as Spalding wrote, "except the religious part."'

Henry Lake
  • Claimed to have recently "commenced reading [The Book of Mormon] aloud."
  • Claimed that Spalding's work frequently used the words "it came to pass."

John Miller
  • Claimed to have "recently examined the Book of Mormon."
  • Claimed that the Book of Mormon was "mixed up with scripture and other religious matter, which I did not meet with in the "Manuscript Found."
  • Claimed that "Nephi, Lehi, Moroni" were the "principal names" in Spalding's book.

Oliver Smith
  • Claimed that "Nephi and Lehi were by [Spalding] represented as leading characters."
  • Claimed that Spalding included "no religious matter" in his book.
  • Claimed that "I obtained the book [of Mormon], and on reading it, found much of it the same as Spalding had written."

John Spalding

(Brother of Solomon Spalding)

  • Claimed to have "recently read the Book of Mormon."
  • Claimed that Spalding's book was entitled The Manuscript Found.
  • Claimed that the book attempted to show that the American Indians are the descendents of the Jews.
  • Claimed that the leaders of the group were called "Nephi" and "Lehi."
  • Claimed that the book described two nations called the "Nephites" and the "Lamanites."
  • Claimed that the people described in Spalding's book buried their dead in large mounds.
  • Claimed that many sentences in Spalding's book began with "it came to pass."

Martha Spalding

(wife of Solomon Spalding)

  • Claimed that she had "read the Book of Mormon."
  • Claimed that the Book of Mormon was based upon Spalding's story.
  • Claimed that "the names of Nephi and Lehi are yet fresh in my memory, as being the principal heroes of his tale."
  • Claimed that Spaldings' characters separated into two nations, "one of which was called Lamanites and the other Nephites."
  • Claimed that Spalding's tale told of the dead "being buried in large heaps was the cause of the numerous mounds in the country."
  • Claimed that Spalding's manuscript used the words "it came to pass."

Aaron Wright
  • Claimed that the Book of Mormon following the Spalding story, "excepting the religious matter."
  • Claimed that "the names more especially are the same without any alteration."

Commentary

  • 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.

Conclusion

The Hurlbut affidavits were collected by a man who not only had a grudge to settle with the Church, but who had actually been brought before a judge for issuing a death threat against Joseph Smith, Jr. It is also important to note that none of these statements regarding Joseph Smith, Jr. was a firsthand account from the Prophet himself, but instead represent second or third-hand accounts. It is interesting that Fawn Brodie readily dismisses the affidavits supporting the Spalding theory, suggesting the Hurlbut "prompted" those making statements, yet accepts without question the affidavits attesting to the bad character of Joseph Smith and his family. There are many statements from Joseph's contemporaries attesting to his good character—These people did not sign sworn affidavits, but their accounts are recorded in their journals and histories.

Endnotes

  1. [back] "Doctor" was not a title—It was Hurlbut's actual given name.
  2. [back] Benjamin Winchester, The origin of the Spalding story, concerning the Manuscript Found; with a short biography of Dr. P. Hulbert, the originator of the same; and some testimony adduced, showing it to be a sheer fabrication, so far as in connection with the Book of Mormon is concerned. (Philadelphia: Brown, Bicking & Guilbert, Printers, 1834), p. 5.
  3. [back] Brigham H. Roberts, Comprehensive History of the Church (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1965), 1:41. GospeLink
  4. [back] Brigham H. Roberts, Comprehensive History of the Church (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1965), 1:41. GospeLink
  5. [back] Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945), 446–447.
  6. [back] Eber D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville, OH: Telegraph Press, 1834), p. 11.
  7. [back] 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. GospeLink
  8. [back] 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), 65. ISBN 0875795161. GospeLink
  9. [back] Brigham H. Roberts, Comprehensive History of the Church (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1965), 1:40–41. GospeLink
  10. [back] 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. GospeLink
  11. [back] 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. GospeLink

Further reading

FAIR wiki articles

"Magic" wiki links
Joseph Smith character wiki links

FAIR web site

"Magic" FAIR web links
  1. FAIR Topical Guide: 1826 Trial FAIR link
  2. FAIR Topical Guide: Character FAIR link
  3. FAIR Topical Guide: Family and Background FAIR link
  4. FAIR Topical Guide: Jupiter Talisman FAIR link
  5. FAIR Topical Guide: Treasure digging FAIR link
  • FAIR Topical Guide: Magic and occult FAIR link
  • FAIR Topical Guide: Seer stones FAIR link
  • Matthew B. Brown, “Revised or Unaltered?: Joseph Smith’s Foundational Stories,” 2006 FAIR Conference lecture
    Debunks the “Walters the Magician” rumor floating around Palmyra, New York. FAIR link
1826 trial FAIR web links
  • Russell Anderson, "The 1826 Trial of Joseph Smith," (2002 FAIR Conference presentation.) FAIR link (Key source)
  • Danel W. Bachman, "Mormonism -- Shadow or Reality? History or Propaganda? Joseph Smith as a Case Study," (2000 FAIR Conference presentation.) FAIR link
  • Richard L. Bushman, "Joseph Smith Miscellany," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, 2005 FAIR Conference). FAIR link

Videos

Revised or Unaltered?: Joseph Smith's Foundational Stories, Matthew Brown, 2006 FAIR Conference

External links

  • Richard Van Wagoner and Steven Walker, "Joseph Smith: 'The Gift of Seeing," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 15:2 (Summer 1982): 49–68. off-site (Key source)
"Magic" web links
  • Richard L. Anderson, "Joseph Smith's New York Reputation Reappraised," Brigham Young University Studies 10:3 (1970): 283–314. PDF link
    Discusses content of Hurlbut ‘affidavits’ / Stafford, Chase, Ingersoll, Deming ‘affidavits’ – money digging / other Smith family with seerstone.
  • Richard L. Anderson, "The Mature Joseph Smith and Treasure Searching," Brigham Young University Studies 24:4 (1984): 489–560. PDF link GL direct link
    Caution: this article was published before Mark Hofmann's forgeries were discovered. It may treat fradulent documents as genuine. Click for list of known forged documents.
    Discusses money-digging; Salem treasure hunting episode; fraudulent 1838 Missouri treasure hunting revelation; Wood Scrape; “gift of Aaron”; “wand or rod”; Heber C. Kimball rod and prayer; magic; occult; divining lost objects; seerstone; parchments; talisman
  • Richard L. Anderson, "The Alvin Smith Story: Fact and Fiction," Ensign (August 1987): 58. off-site
    Discusses Salamander Letter / Magic; Chase affidavit; Saunders memories; rumored Oliver Cowdery history
  • Richard Lloyd Anderson, "Review of Joseph Smith's New York Reputation Reexamined by Rodger I. Anderson," FARMS Review of Books 3/1 (1991): 52–80. off-site
    Discusses seerstones; magic; money-digging; animal sacrifice; ‘faculty of Abrac’.
  • Mark Ashurst-McGee, "Moroni as Angel and as Treasure Guardian," FARMS Review 18/1 (2006): 34–100. off-site PDF link wiki
  • Davis Bitton, "Review of John L. Brooke, The Refiner’s Fire: the Making of Mormon Cosmology, 1644-1844," Brigham Young University Studies 34:4 (1994–95): 182–192. PDF link
  • John Gee, "Abracadabra, Isaac and Jacob (Review of The Use of Egyptian Magical Papyri to Authenticate the Book of Abraham: A Critical Review by Edward H. Ashment)," FARMS Review of Books 7/1 (1995): 19–84. off-site PDF link
  • John Gee, "'Bird Island' Revisited, or the Book of Mormon through Pyramidal Kabbalistic Glasses: Review of Written by the Finger of God: A Testimony of Joseph Smith's Translations by Joe Sampson," FARMS Review of Books 7/1 (1995): 219–228. off-site PDF link
  • John Gee, "Review of Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, revised and enlarged edition, by D. Michael Quinn," FARMS Review of Books 12/2 (2000): 185–224. off-site PDF link  (Key source)
  • William J. Hamblin, "'Everything Is Everything': Was Joseph Smith Influenced by Kabbalah? Review of Joseph Smith and Kabbalah: The Occult Connection by Lance S. Owens," FARMS Review of Books 8/2 (1996): 251–325. off-site PDF link
  • William J. Hamblin, "That Old Black Magic (Review of Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, revised and enlarged edition, by D. Michael Quinn)," FARMS Review of Books 12/2 (2000): 225–394. off-site PDF link
  • William J. Hamblin, Daniel C. Peterson, and George L. Mitton, "Review of John L. Brooke, The Refiner’s Fire: the Making of Mormon Cosmology, 1644-1844," Brigham Young University Studies 34:4 (1994–95): 167–181. PDF link
  • William J. Hamblin, Daniel C. Peterson, and George L. Mitton, "Mormon in the Fiery Furnace Or, Loftes Tryk Goes to Cambridge (Review of The Refiner's Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmology, 1644-1844 by John L. Brooke)," FARMS Review of Books 6/2 (1994): 3–58. off-site PDF link
    Shorter version of BYU Studies paper above; discusses Hermeticism; Masonry
  • Marvin S. Hill, "Money-Digging Folklore and the Beginnings of Mormonism: An Interpretive Suggestion," Brigham Young University Studies 24:4 (Fall 1984): 473–488.
    Caution: this article was published before Mark Hofmann's forgeries were discovered. It may treat fradulent documents as genuine. Click for list of known forged documents. off-site
  • Rhett S. James, "Writing History Must Not Be an Act of Magic (Review of Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, revised and enlarged edition, by D. Michael Quinn)," FARMS Review of Books 12/2 (2000): 395–414. off-site PDF link
  • 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 PDF link
  • Larry E. Morris, "Joseph Smith and "Interpretive Biography", Review of Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet by Dan Vogel," FARMS Review 18/1 (2006): 321–374. off-site PDF link wiki
  • Stephen E. Robinson, "Review of Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, by D. Michael Quinn," Brigham Young University Studies 27:4 (1987): ?–??. PDF link
  • Matthew Roper, "Unanswered Mormon Scholars (Review of Answering Mormon Scholars: A Response to Criticism Raised by Mormon Defenders)," FARMS Review of Books 9/1 (1997): 87–145. off-site PDF link (page 87–145; see especially section "Joseph Smith and 'Magic'")
  • Janet Thomas, "Magic," Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow, (New York, Macmillan Publishing, 1992), 2:849. ISBN 002904040X. off-site off-site
  • Ronald W. Walker, "Joseph Smith: The Palmyra Seer,," Brigham Young University Studies 24:4 (Fall 1984): 461–472. off-site
    Caution: this article was published before Mark Hofmann's forgeries were discovered. It may treat fradulent documents as genuine. Click for list of known forged documents.
  • Ronald W. Walker, "The Persisting Idea of American Treasure Hunting," Brigham Young University Studies 24:4 (Fall 1984): 427–459. off-site
    Caution: this article was published before Mark Hofmann's forgeries were discovered. It may treat fradulent documents as genuine. Click for list of known forged documents.
  • Benson Whittle, "review of Michael Quinn, Mormonism and the Magic World View, 1st ed.," Brigham Young University Studies 27:4 (Fall 1984): 105–121. off-site
  • William A. Wilson, "review of Michael Quinn, Mormonism and the Magic World View, 1st ed.," Brigham Young University Studies 27:4 (Fall 1984): 96–104. off-site

Printed material

"Magic" printed materials
  • Mark Ashurst-McGee, "A Pathway to Prophethood: Joseph Smith Junior as Rodsman, Village Seer, and Judeo-Christian Prophet," (Master's Thesis, University of Utah, Logan, Utah, 2000). Buy online
  • 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, 1988), 1–18. ISBN 0875791778. GospeLink
  • Richard L. Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (New York: Knopf, 2005), 41–52. ISBN 1400042704
  • Stephen D. Ricks and Daniel C. Peterson, “Joseph Smith and ‘Magic’: Methodological Reflections on the Use of a Term,” in Robert L. Millet, ed., To Be Learned Is Good If . . . (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1987), 129–147.
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