Edward Stevenson’s journal entry in which he reported that David claimed the messenger who took the abridged plates to Cumorah was one of the Three Nephites.
https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/82199881-7613-43e6-a79e-b72609d95b23/0/22
(click to enlarge)
Stevenson’s journal entry in which David said the angel showed him the Urim and Thummim with the plates.
https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/82199881-7613-43e6-a79e-b72609d95b23/0/17
(click to enlarge)
Later in this journal, Stevenson recorded this note: “David said that the Prophet translated first by the Urim and Thummim and afterwards by a seer stone.” Because David was never present in Harmony during the translation, he was either repeating hearsay or what he observed (or heard) at the Whitmer home in Fayette.
When Joseph arrived at the Whitmer home, he began translating the plates of Nephi that we refer to today as the “small plates.” The Original Manuscript shows that Oliver, Christian Whitmer and John Whitmer were the scribes for 1 Nephi.
Later, Emma arrived and Joseph conducted a demonstration with three scribes taking turns as they got tired. Because Joseph couldn’t show the plates or the U&T, he used the stone in the hat (SITH) to demonstrate the concept of translating.
Thus, David was correct in the sense that Joseph translated first with the U&T, which took place upstairs from morning until night, out of sight of the household. Later, Joseph conducted the demonstration with SITH downstairs, probably reciting the Isaiah chapters by memory. David naturally inferred this was part of the translation.
Joseph and Oliver would have concluded the final few pages of 2 Nephi through Words of Mormon after the demonstration, upstairs.
Source: Letter VII
4 thoughts on “David Whitmer, the Nephite, and the Urim and Thummim”
I can see how a demonstration might be helpful because few people were allowed to see the plates and the U&T and it might pacify them. Sorry, but I don’t see why a demonstration would include a hat. Wouldn’t a seer stone held in front of Joseph’s eye like the U&T be a better likeness of the translation?
Where did Eber D. Howe get the idea of a seer stone in a hat for Mormonism Unvailed [sic]? I assume from newspaper accounts and the affidavits that Doctor Philastus Hurlbut claimed to have gathered. Do any of these original affidavits exist? We know the purpose of Mormonism Unvailed was to destroy Joseph and the church and the Book of Mormon. Whatever was written was not going to be favorable. Nobody was going to limit the defamation. The more calumnies, the better. Eber was obviously not happy that his wife and sister and probably niece joined the church. Hurlbut had been excommunicated for immorality twice from 2 different churches. Their behavior was just like the apostates of today. John Dehlin is a prime example..
Is it any wonder that Oliver wrote the 8 letters to W. W. Phelps to set the record straight and defend the truth? Sadly, less than .0001% of the church even knows that these letters exist and even fewer have read them all. I’ve read some of them. Scholars don’t want you to know they exist.
The earliest “hat” statements date to August and September 1829. You can see the list here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_references_to_seer_stones_in_the_Latter_Day_Saint_movement_history
It was natural for Joseph to use a hat for the demonstration because his contemporaries were familiar with that procedure.
It is incredible that modern LDS scholars ignore the 8 letters that Oliver and Joseph wrote specifically to address these issues, but these letters contradict their own theories. Apparently they don’t want Church members to make informed decisions for themselves.
Why wasn’t David Whitmer present at the Whitmer farm (Fayette) for the translation? He had given them a ride back to Fayette and then went where?
David said he wasn’t around for most of the translation, which took place in the small room upstairs. This makes sense because he said they worked morning until night and he was doing farm work during the day. But David described the unusual event at the table downstairs with people gathered around to observe and the three scribes taking turns as their hands tired, which I refer to as the demonstration. That’s where he watched SITH.
Comments are closed.