History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 112

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1216

USA > Pennsylvania > Washington County > History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 112

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13. The "History of Franklin County, Pa.," by I. H. McCauley, published by John N. Pomeroy, Cham- bersburg, Pa., states, as if a matter too well known to require argument (p. 198), that "Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, and Sidney Rigdon were in- timate acquaintances for a considerable time before Mormonism was first heard of."

Walter Scott, another old and cherished companion of Rigdon :

"I know that Sidney Rigdon told me there was a book coming ou the manuscript of which had been found engraved on gold plates, as mu AB two years before the Mormon book made its appearance or had been heard of by me."

The editor of the Harbinger, the Rev. Alexander Campbell, clinches the above as follows :

"The conversation alluded to in Brother Bentley's letter of 1841 was in my presence as well as in his, and my recollection of it led me, some two or three years ago, to interrogate Brother Bentley touching his recollections of it, which accorded with mine in every particular except the year in which it occurred, he placing it in the summer of 1827, I in the summer of 1826, Rigdon at the same time observing that in the plates dug up in New York there was an account not only of the aborigines of this country, but also it was stated that the Christian religion had been preached in this country during the first century, just as we were preaching it on the Western Reserve."

According to the testimony of these two unim- peachable witnesses, Rigdon was minutely informed that the Book of Mormon was in process of prepara- tion, and was thoroughly acquainted with the char- acter of its contents, at least three, if not four, years before its actual issue. His own personal responsi- bility for its appearance is the only basis on which this foreknowledge can be explained. This testimony also shows how little reliance can be placed upon Rigdon's solemn and repeated asseveration that he had never heard of Smith or of the Book of Mormon until he received the information from Parley P. Pratt, in August, 1830, and after a brief struggle accepted the new faith.

15. In Hayden's "Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve," pp. 239-40, occurs a state- ment from Rev. D. Atwater, a man noted for his strict regard for truth and justice, dated Mantua Station, April 26, 1873, from which the following extract is taken :

" Soon after this the great Mormon defection came on us. Sidney Rigdon preached for us, and uotwithstanding his extravagantly wild freaks he was held in high repute by many. For a few months before his professed conversion to Mormonism it was noticed that his wild, ex- travagant propensities had been more marked. That he knew before of the coming of the Book of Mormon is to me certain from what he said the first of his visits at my father's some years before. He gave a wonder- ful description of the mounds and other antiquities found in some parts of America, and said that they must have been made by the aborigines. He said there was a book to be published containing an account of those things. He spoke of these, in his eloquent, enthusiastic style, as being a thing most extraordinary. Though a youth then, I took him to task for expending so much enthusiasm on such a subject, instead of things of the gospel."

16. As the character established by Rigdon among his brethren in the Baptist Church whilst he was a member of that denomination has a direct bearing upon the question of his probable guilt or innocence, we make two quotations touching his reputation at that time. (1) From Rev. S. Williams' pamphlet, already referred to, pp. 1, 2: "He professed to ex- perience a change of heart when a young man, and

14. The Millennial Harbinger, edited and pub- lished at Bethany, W. Va., by Rev. Alexander Camp- bell, the founder of the "Disciples" denomination, in the volume for 1844, p. 39, contains a letter dated Jan. 22, 1841, from Rev. Adamson Bentley, a very intimate friend of Rigdon (their wives were sisters), ' proposed to join the church under the care of Elder and whose testimony is beyond the imputation of David Philips. But there was so much miracle about doubt or suspicion. Mr. Bentley is writing to Rev. | his conversion, and so much parade about his profes-

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

sion, that the pious and discerning pastor entertained serious doubts at the time in regard to the genuine- ness of the work. He was received, however, by the church and baptized by the pastor, with some fears and doubts upon his mind. Very soon, Diotrephes- like, he began to put himself forward and seek the pre-eminence, and was wellnigh supplanting the tried and faithful minister who had reared and nursed and fed the church for a long series of years. So thoroughly convinced was Father Philips by this time that he was not possessed of the spirit of Christ, not- withstanding his miraculous conversion and flippant speech, that he declared his belief 'that as long as he [Sidney] should live he would be a curse to the church of Christ.'" (2) In the (Pittsburgh) Baptist Witness of Jan. 1, 1875, Dr. Winter, in the course of a historical notice of the First Baptist Church of Pittsburgh, says, " When Holland Sumner dealt with Rigdon for his bad teachings, and said to him, 'Brother Rigdon, you never got into a Baptist Church without relating your Christian experiences,' Rigdon replied, ' When I joined the church at Peters Creek I knew I could not be admitted without an experience, so I made up one to suit the purpose ; but it was all made up, and was of no use, nor true.' This I have just copied from an old memorandum, as taken from Sum- ner himself."

17. As an apology for Rigdon, and probably in re- ply to Dr. Winter's article, quoted above, a communi- cation appeared in the Baptist Witness two months later, March 1, 1875, from A. H. Dunlevy, of Leba- non, Ohio, who, giving as his authority Dr. L. Rig- don, of Hamilton, Ohio, an elder brother of Sidney, states as follows :

"Sidney Rigdon, when quite a boy, living with his father some fifteen miles south of Pittsburgh on a farm, was thrown from his horse, his foot entangled in a stirrup and dragged some distance before relieved. In this accident he received such a contusion of the brain as ever after seriously to affect his character and in some respects his conduct. In fact, his brother always considered Sidney a little deranged in his mind by that accident. His mental powers did not seem to be impaired, but the equilibrium in his intellectual exertions seemed thereby to have been Badly affected. He still manifested great mental activity and power, but he was to an equal degree inclined to run into wild and vis- ionary views on almost every question. Hence he was a fit subject for any new movement in the religious world."

The most skeptical reader will find it difficult to resist the conviction, after an impartial consideration of the preceding testimony, that Rigdon as early as 1823 certainly had possession of Spaulding's manu- script (how he obtained it is unimportant for the present purpose) ; that during his career as a min- ister of the Disciples' Church in Ohio he carefully preserved under lock and key this document, and de- voted an absorbed attention to it; that he was aware of the forthcoming Book of Mormon and of its con- tents long before its appearance; that the said con- tents were largely Spaulding's romance, and partly such modifications as Rigdon had introduced; and that during the preparation of the Book of Mormon Rigdon had repeated and long interviews with Smith,

thus easily supplying him with fresh installments of the pretended revelation. The conclusion is irre- sistible that Sidney Rigdon was the agent by whom the plagiarism was effected. . The memory of Lamb- din should, however, be relieved from any charge of complicity in Rigdon's guilty use of the manuscript, and of any culpable intent in allowing him to peruse it as a curiosity in literature. Lambdin was resting in his early grave before Rigdon had conceived his criminal scheme.

III. THE Two MANUSCRIPTS .- The question has been propounded with a somewhat triumphant air by Mormons, Why not produce the Spaulding man- uscript and publish it with the Book of Mormon in parallel columns, and thus demonstrate the pla- giarism ?

This was the very work for which Mrs. Davison, in 1834, gave D. P. Hurlbut an order for the delivery to him of her copy of her husband's "Manuscript Found;" and she in her lifetime was fully convinced, as is her daughter now, that Hurlbut obtained that invaluable document and treacherously sold it to the Mormons. In confirmation of this opinion we quote from "Gleanings by the Way," by Rev. John A. Clark, D.D., published by Robert Carter, New York, 1842. This volume is made up largely of letters pub- lished in the (Philadelphia) Episcopal Recorder. On page 263, Rev. Mr. Storrs, of Holliston, Mass., in a letter dated June 28, 1841, to Rev. Dr. Clark, says, " Dr. Hurlbut took the manuscript. It is reported in Missouri that he sold it for four hundred dollars ; that the manuscript is not to be found." On page 265, Rev. D. R. Austin, of Monson, Mass., in a letter to Dr. Clark, dated also June 28, 1841, writes, "He (Dr. Hurlbut) stated some time after he had re- ceived the manuscript that he had made $400 out of it. Mrs. Davison has not the least doubt now but that he obtained it in order to sell it to the Mor- mons." This is the earliest report we have seen of this alleged embezzlement, dating only seven years after Hurlbut's visit, but the statement has been often repeated since. It should be remembered, too, that only with the greatest reluctance did Mrs. Da- vison authorize the lending of the manuscript to Hurlbut at the solicitation of her brother, W. H. Sabine. The present writer called on Hurlbut at his home, and interrogated him with reference to this charge. The result of this interview is contained in the following paper, which Mr. Hurlbut signed :

" GIBSONBURG, OHIO, Aug. 19, 1879.

" I visited Mrs. Matilda (Spaulding) Davison at Monson, Mass., in 1834, and never saw her afterwards. I then received from her a manuscript of her husband's, which I did not read, but brought home with me and immediately gave it to Mr. D. E. Howe, of Painesville, Ohio, who was then engaged in preparing his book, 'Mormonism Unveiled.' I do not know whether or not the document I received from Mrs. Davison was Spauld- ing's ' Manuscript Found,' as I never read it; but whatever it was Mr. Howe received it under the condition on which I took it from Mrs. Da- vison, to compare it with the ' Book of Mormon' and then return it to her. I never received any other manuscript of Spaulding's from Mrs. Davison or any one else. Of that manuscript I made no other use than

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to give it, with all my other documents connected with Mormonism, to Mr. Howe. I did not destroy the manuscript nor dispose of it to Joe Smith, or to any other person. No promise was made by me to Mrs. Davison that she should receive any portion of profits arising from the publication of the manuscript if it should be published. All the affi- davits procured by me for Mr. Howe's book, including all those from Palmyra, N. Y., were certainly genuine.

" D. P. HURLBUT."

This statement conflicts with the one given in 1834 by Hurlbut to Mr. Howe, as contained in his book, from which it appears that Hurlbut obtained this manuscript from "the trunk referred to by the widow," it being the only manuscript there in Spaul- ding's handwriting. When his attention was called to this discrepancy, Hurlbut had no explanation to offer, nor did he give any satisfactory reason when asked why, after spending months in securing testi- mony to the identity of the Spaulding manuscript and the Book of Mormon, he did not avail himself of the opportunity of settling the question beyond dis- pute when he had, as he supposed, the very document in his hands, without waiting for days until he gave it to Mr. Howe, at Painesville, and not reading it even then.

Whatever opinion the reader may form of Hurl- but's conduct, and of his refusal to account for it, it is at least clear, from the testimony of Mrs. Davison and her daughter, that Spaulding's "Manuscript Found" had been with his other writings in the old trunk at Hartwick, N. Y., and that it was abstracted either by Hurlbut or by some one else previous to his search. In either case it is simply adding insult to injury to call upon Mr. Spaulding's daughter now to collate the Book of Mormon with her father's manu- script, of which she has been so shamefully robbed. The Mormon who resorts to this dishonorable plea only shows to what a desperate strait he has been reduced in defending his "inspired" book.

Whether the manuscript which Rigdon had in his possession was Spaulding's own or a transcript made by Rigdon, is a matter of comparatively little moment, and it is one which it is impossible now to determine. It would not be strange if Spaulding, being a man of leisure, and fond of writing, had made out a revised copy for the printer, retaining his own first sheets, and that these latter were what he took to Amity, leaving the other at Patterson's office, possibly with a faint hope that some means of putting it to press might yet "come to pass." It is true Mrs. Davison says that the manuscript was returned to him, but she also says that Mr. Patterson was the " editor of a newspaper," which was an error easily made, as he had a job printing office; and, in like manner, after the lapse of twenty-five years, she might readily have forgotten that there were two copies, if such were indeed the case. Be this as it may, the copy passing through Rigdon's hands of course we cannot follow. Thus, unfortunately, both copies (Rigdon's and Mrs. Da- vison's) of Spaulding's now famous romance would seem to be irretrievably lost.

In the collection of the materials for the above im- perfect presentation of a question of no little histori- cal interest, the writer takes pleasure in acknowledging the courtesy of the numerous correspondents to whom he has applied for information, and will be pardoned for mentioning his special obligations to Dr. W. W. Sharpe, of Amity, Pa., to George Plumer Smith, Esq., of Philadelphia, and to James T. Cobb, Esq., of Salt Lake City, at the instance of the last named of whom he commenced this inquiry, and to whom he is in- debted for many of the references made.

IV. CLOSING REMARKS .- It was not the object of the present investigation to account for the origin of Mormonism, or to trace its rise and growth, or to de- scribe it as a system of belief. This would have opened a far wider field of research, and would have required sketches of Joseph Smith and his numerous coadjutors, only one of whom has any connection with the question here under discussion. The one topic proposed' for consideration was the authorship of the historical parts, constituting much the larger portion, of the Book of Mormon. Hence we have left entirely out of view the absurd fables devised by Smith-or, more probably, invented for him-to ac- count for his possession of the Book of Mormon, namely, that an angel showed him, Sept. 22, 1823, where the golden plates where concealed ; that four years afterwards, Sept. 22, 1827, Smith removed them from the place of deposit where they had remained for fourteen hundred years; that these plates were covered with Egyptian characters, which he could not understand, but by looking at them through two transparent stones which had been deposited with them the proper English words, one at a time, be- came visible to him; and being himself unable to write a legible hand, the words were by him dictated one by one to a scribe, who sat separated from Smith by a blanket hung up as a screen, as it would be cer- tain death for any one but Smith to see the golden plates. In this way his first scribe, Martin Harris, in 1828 wrote one hundred and sixteen pages, which Mrs. Harris (honor to her memory) committed to the flames. As this portion, for some reason, could not be retranslated, the work was suspended until April 17, 1829, when a second scribe, Oliver Cowdery, un- dertook the labor, and in June, 1829, the manuscript was taken to the printer. To persons who accept Joseph Smith's statements in regard to his angelic visitants it does not seem at all incredible that Cow- dery could in two months perform the stupendous task of writing out from dictation a manuscript about equal in magnitude to the Old Testament ! And one story is as probable as the other. Such is the Mor- mon version of the origin of their sacred book, and the intelligent reader can choose between this theory and the only alternative offered, the Rigdon-Spaul- ding one.

It may not be amiss, in closing this summary of the evidence proving the fraudulent origin of the Book of

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Mormon, to remember that whilst honest indignation cannot and ought not to be suppressed against those who wrought this wickedness, nothing but sincerest compassion should be felt and shown for their deluded victims. That multitudes of them are honest in the convictions they express, incredible as at first it may appear, cannot be denied by any one who has ac- quainted himself with the heroic endurance and pa- tient suffering, even unto death, which numbers of this misguided people have shown. The heart must be hard indeed that would not ache for them in read- ing Col. Kane's graphic narration of their banish- ment from Nauvoo and their pitiful pilgrimage to Utah, their pathway marked by the graves of those that perished.

And still more to be commiserated than the fate of those who fell by the way is the inexpressibly sadder lot of those poor women who survived the hardships, wretchedness and shame. Struggling to escape the and their successors since, whose devotion to their God has been so wrought upon by designing men that, in dread of disobedience to a divine command, they have submitted to a polygamous relation against Sleep on, humble dreamer, in thy lowly bed! Thy fond desire to win a public hearing for thy wondrous story was denied thee in thy toilsome life. Thou knowest not that a strange immortality awaited it and thee. Rest peacefully, for from thine eye, which sought to penetrate the past alone, this saddest of future visions was mercifully withheld. Surely never hitherto have passed such sorrowful processions near the grave of so innocent an author of their woe.1 which every feeling of their souls revolted. The hor- rors of the hated Inquisition had no torture so terrible for the flesh to endure as that living death of agony to which many a pure spirit has been and is still sub- jected by this conscience - enforced union with a beastly tyrant. Let the galling chain be broken, but let not the innocent captive be punished for the crime of her cruel master. Surely among these soul- stricken sufferers the compassionate Saviour has his hidden ones.

Should the eyes of any honest believer in the inspi- ration of the Book of Mormon fall upon these pages, his impartial and unbiased examination of the evi- dence here adduced is earnestly solicited. The num- ber of attesting witnesses is not a tenth part of what it would have been had a thorough investigation been undertaken even a score of years ago. This has been made painfully manifest in the progress of this inquiry by the frequently repeated statement that this one and that one had recently died who could have given the very information sought. A conviction that the delusion would be short-lived operated, un- fortunately, to prevent the collection of a far more abundant mass of testimony. But what is here pre- sented should convince every sincere searcher for truth that the Book of Mormon, as issued by Smith, originated in fraud, and therefore with it the whole Mormon superstructure falls.

It is scarcely necessary to say that Spaulding him- self must be acquitted of all intention to deceive, even though four of the hearers of his romance as read by him have attested his singular presentiment -was it prescience ?- that in after-years his romance would be accepted by thousands as veritable history. But even he could not have foreseen that this coinage of his brain would ever pass current as having been enstamped by the authority of heaven. The uncon- .

scious prophet of a new Islam, in all his imaginings he did not dream that his hand was outlining the Koran of a dark delusion, that the fables which beguiled his restless hours would be accepted by hun- dreds of thousands of his fellow-men as the oracles of God, and that in inglorious yet heroic martyrdom some of them would even seal with their blood their faith in the inspiration of his phantasies. Journey- ing to Pittsburgh in 1812, with the sanguine hope of soon seeing his romance in print, it never entered his mind that in threescore years and ten thereafter the shades of Laman and Nephi, of Mormon and Maroni, evoked by his magic wand from the sepulchral mounds of Conneaut,-the graves of a long-forgotten race, -- would be stalking over two hemispheres, and would be leading through the very city of his sojourn their myriad victims of deception to distant homes of burden of his debts, he little imagined how vast the burden he was about unwittingly to lay upon his country.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

EDUCATIONAL HISTORY.

Higher Education in Washington County-Academies-Trinity Hall- Public Schools-Normal School.

Higher Education in Washington County.2 -- Two conditions were imposed by me upon my consent to fulfill the request to which this article is due. The request itself simply covers the history of the colleges, seminaries, and academies of the county, leaving the wider but not less important field of the common schools to other hands. One of these conditions was, that instead of traversing anew ground over which I had thoroughly gone before, I should be at full lib- erty, so far as it might suit my present purpose, to draw at will from my article in the Presbyterian "Centenary Memorial," issued six years ago. That volume was designed to celebrate the "planting and growth of Presbyterianism in Western Pennsylvania and parts adjacent" during the century following the settlement of John McMillan, D.D., the first pastor

1 Correction of errors or additional information will be gladly received. Address R. Patterson, 198 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh.

2 By Rev. James I. Brownson, D.D., Washington, Pa.

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EDUCATIONAL HISTORY.

of his own or probably any other denomination west of the Alleghenies. My other condition was the cheerful agreement of my associate authors of the volume referred to that such an appropriation of a portion of its contents should be made for the present more general purpose. It is enough to say that both of the parties in question-the proprietors of the " Centenary Memorial" and those of the present " His- tory of Washington County"-have heartily agreed to this method, the one permitting and the other accept- ing it. I shall, therefore, freely use parts of my own previous production, with such additions, subtractions, and modifications as may be demanded by the scope and objects of the present work.

To those readers who are not fully instructed in the early history now designed to be brought out, a word of explanation is due concerning the prominence which this sketch must necessarily assign to one of the religious denominations, and that my own. All of these have done in the succeeding years a noble work on this soil for evangelical religion, as well as for liberty, social culture, and education; but the truth of history requires that to Scotch-Irish Presby- terians, who in large preponderance first occupied this soil, the credit should be given of chiefly mould- ing its society, of starting its religious influences, and, as truly, of planting and fostering its educational in- stitutions. This last they did upon an elevated and comprehensive scale, not in the way of ecclesiastical control, but of efficient influence, and ever inviting the co-operation of others, whilst never failing to share the advantages with them on equal terms. The credit of such co-operation, so far as numerical strength and the state of theological controversies in- cident to the times allowed, is most due to the minis- ters and members of other branches of the Presbyte- rian family descending from the same general origin, especially to the Associate and Associate Reformed Churches, now by a happy union constituting the United Presbyterian Church. The same is true, in its measure, of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, When these excellent churches came to the double crisis of their strength and their need, they did not fail to adopt and vigorously prosecute an educational policy of their own, though their excellent institutions The suspension of Mr. Dodd's academy transferred Messrs. Hughes, Brice, and probably others to the school opened in the "study" at Buffalo in 1785 by the Rev. Joseph Smith, where they were joined by Joseph Patterson, James McGready, Samuel Porter, and others of like purpose. That school, claimed by the author of "Old Redstone," the grandson of Mr. Smith, to be "the first school opened with ex- clusive reference to the training of young men for the ministry," was successful for a few years, until the failing health of Mr. Smith compelled its abandon- ment, and then most of its students passed into the " Log Cabin" school of Dr. McMillan at Chartiers. are located outside of Washington County. Even yet, however, the college of our county receives a proportion of their patronage, for which a fair com- pensation is of course rendered to the institutions more immediately under their influence in the re- gions of their location. Other denominations also, such as the Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians, etc., which have come into strength since the early settle- ment of the country, have more or less strictly fol- lowed the same general rule of primary attention to their own wants with the fullest liberty of benefits to all besides. Through the whole course of this history, but especially at the beginning, the ministers of the The date of the establishment of Dr. McMillan's gospel were the true and efficient leaders in this as . academy is the central question of the debate already

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History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 112

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 1216

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1216