DIRECT EXTERNAL EVIDENCES--TESTIMONY OF THE EIGHT WITNESSES.
The exact time when the Eight Witnesses obtained their view of the
Nephite plates is not known, but it was evidently a few days after the
Three Witnesses received their testimony. All the Prophet has seen
proper to say upon the subject in his own history is--alluding to the
testimony that had been received by the Three Witnesses--"soon after
these things had transpired, the following additional testimony was
obtained." [1] Then follows the testimony of the Eight Witnesses.
According to the _History of the Prophet Joseph_ by Lucy Smith, [2]
the event happened a few days after the Three Witnesses obtained their
testimony. The latter, be it remembered, received their view of the
plates near the Whitmer residence, in Fayette township, New York; while
the Eight Witnesses obtained their view of the plates near the Smith
residence in Manchester. On the completion of the translation of the
Book of Mormon, Joseph sent word to his parents of the joyful event,
as we have already seen, and they, in company with Martin Harris,
immediately set out for Fayette, and during their brief stay at the
place the vision of the Three Witnesses was given. The day following
Father and Mother Smith returned to Manchester, and now the latter's
statement:
In a few days we were followed by Joseph, Oliver and the Whitmers,
who came to make us a visit, and make some arrangements about
getting the book printed. Soon after they came, all the male part
of the company, with my husband, Samuel and Hyrum, retired to a
place where the family were in the habit of offering up their
secret devotions to God. They went to this place because it had
been revealed to Joseph that the plates would be carried thither
by one of the ancient Nephites. [3] Here it was that those Eight
Witnesses, whose names are recorded in the Book of Mormon, looked
upon them and handled them. * * * After these Witnesses returned to
the house, the angel again made his appearance to Joseph; at which
time Joseph delivered up the plates into the angel's hands. [4]
This narrative is confirmed by the statement of Joseph himself with
respect to delivering up the record to the angel. At the time the
plates were first given into the Prophet's keeping he was informed
that the heavenly messenger would call for them. He then recounts the
efforts made to wrest the plates from him by his enemies, and adds:
But by the wisdom of God, they remained safe in my hands, until
I had accomplished by them what was required at my hands. When,
according to arrangements, the messenger (the angel Moroni) called
for them, I delivered them up to him; and he has them in his charge
until this day, being the 2nd day of May, 1838. [5]
In the evening of the day that the Eight Witnesses saw and examined the
Nephite plates, according to Lucy Smith, the Witnesses held meeting
at the Smith residence, "in which all the Witnesses bore testimony to
the facts as stated above;" [6] that is, to the facts stated in their
testimony as here given and which appeared in the first and in all
subsequent editions of the Book of Mormon:
THE TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WITNESSES
BE IT KNOWN unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto
whom this work shall come: That Joseph Smith, Jr., the translator
of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been
spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the
leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our
hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the
appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship. And this we
bear record with words of soberness, that the said Smith has shown
unto us, for we have seen and hefted, and know of a surety that the
said Smith has got the plates of which we have spoken. And we give
our names unto the world, to witness unto the world that which we
have seen. And we lie not, God bearing witness of it.
CHRISTIAN WHITMER,
JACOB WHITMER,
PETER WHITMER, JR.,
JOHN WHITMER,
HIRAM PAGE,
JOSEPH SMITH, SR.
HYRUM SMITH,
SAMUEL H. SMITH.
The testimony of the Eight Witnesses differs from that of the Three
Witnesses in that the view of the plates by the latter was attended by
a remarkable display of the glory and power of God and the ministration
of an angel. The glory of God shone about them; the angel turned the
gold leaves of the ancient record; he spoke to them, or at least to
David Whitmer, saying: "David, blessed is the Lord, and he that keeps
his commandments;" and the very voice of God was heard out of the
bright light shining about them, saying:
These plates have been revealed by the power of God, and they have
been translated by the power of God. The translation of them which
you have seen is correct, and I command you to bear record of what
you now see and hear. [7]
No such remarkable display of God's splendor and power was attendant
upon the exhibition of the plates to the Eight Witnesses. On the
contrary it was just a plain, matter-of-fact exhibition of the plates
by the Prophet himself to his friends. They saw the plates; they
handled them; they turned the leaves of the old Nephite record, and saw
and marveled at its curious workmanship. No brilliant light illuminated
the forest or dazzled their vision; no angel was there to awe them by
the splendor of his presence; no piercing voice of God from a glory to
make them tremble by its power. All these supernatural circumstances
present at the view of the plates by the Three Witnesses were absent
at the time when the Eight Witnesses saw them. Here all was natural,
matter-of-fact, plain. Nothing to inspire awe, or fear, or dread;
nothing uncanny or overwhelming, but just a plain, straightforward
proceeding that leaves men in possession of all their faculties, and
self-consciousness; all of which renders such a thing as deception, or
imposition entirely out of the question. They could pass the plates
from hand to hand, guess at their weight--doubtless considerable, that
idea being conveyed, "we have seen and hefted, and know of a surety,
that the said Smith has got the plates." They could look upon the
engravings, and observe calmly how different they were from everything
modern in the way of record-making known to them, and hence the
conclusion that the workmanship was not only curious but ancient.
I now proceed to consider the course pursued by these Eight Witnesses
with reference to their testimony. I shall take them in the order they
seemed to have signed the testimony. [8]
CHRISTIAN WHITMER.
This Witness was thirty-one years old when he beheld the plates, having
been born on the 18th of January, 1798. The young man was among the
first to embrace the gospel, being baptized on the 11th of April, 1830.
He removed with the Church from New York to Ohio in 1831, thence to
Jackson county, Missouri. He witnessed the storms of persecution rise
against the Saints in the land of Zion; and shared the hardship and
despoliation of the Saints incident to their expulsion from Jackson
county. He died while in exile for conscience sake, in Clay county,
Missouri, on the 27th of November, 1835. He held first the office of
Teacher in the Church; and then successively rose to the office of
Elder, High Priest, and member of the High Council of the Church in
Missouri.
Few and troubled were the years of Christian Whitmer's life after he
became a Witness for the existence of the plates from which the Book
of Mormon was translated; but few and troubled as the years were,
they were glorious for the steadfastness of Christian's faith. He had
seen his crops wasted by the wanton destructiveness of a mob, while
he himself was seized and threatened with instant death if he did not
make known the hiding place of brethren who were escaping from the mob.
Christian Whitmer, however, did not betray his friends, notwithstanding
the guns of the mob were leveled at him when their threats were made.
He remained true to his testimony and died a consistent member of the
Church of Christ.
JACOB WHITMER.
Jacob Whitmer was thirty years of age when he saw the plates, having
been born on the 27th of January, 1800. He, too, passed through the
trying scenes incident to the expulsion of the Latter-day Saints
from Jackson county. But after enduring well for a season he left
the Church, in 1838, making his home near Richmond, in Ray county,
Missouri. Here he lived a quiet, retired life, and reared his family
in respectability; his eldest son, David P. Whitmer, rising to some
local prominence as a lawyer, and serving one or two terms as mayor of
Richmond. To the day of his death--which occurred April 21, 1856--Jacob
Whitmer was true to his testimony of the truth of the Book of Mormon.
Though he severed his relations with the Church, because he did not
agree with the policy of the leading elders, he continued true to the
special trust God had committed to him--an actual knowledge of the
existence of the Nephite record--as long as he lived.
PETER WHITMER, JR.
This Witness for the existence of the Nephite Record was in his
twentieth year at the time he examined the plates and held them in
his hands. On meeting with the Prophet Joseph, on the occasion of the
latter coming to reside at the home of his father, Peter Whitmer,
Sen., in Fayette township, 1829, a firm friendship immediately sprang
up between them. Peter Whitmer, Jr., seems to have been one of those
gentle, loving natures that finds its greatest enjoyment and usefulness
in giving its allegiance to some more rugged character on whose
strength it can lean, in whose courage it can find strength. He entered
with enthusiasm into the work of God coming forth under the inspired
words and movements of his friend Joseph, the Prophet. He was among the
first to join the Church, and when, in September, 1830, a mission was
appointed to the Lamanites (American Indians), under the leadership of
Oliver Cowdery, young Whitmer was especially appointed to accompany
him, and commanded to be afflicted in all his (Oliver's) afflictions,
"ever lifting up your heart unto me in prayer, and faith for his and
your deliverance." [9] The missionaries to the Lamanites traveled
on foot from central New York to the western borders of Missouri, a
distance of more than one thousand miles, and that chiefly in winter
time, when storms and mud and cold had to be encountered. Peter
Whitmer, Jr., remained in western Missouri, and assisted the Saints
in settling Jackson county (1831-1833), where, in common with the
Saints who gathered from the east, he saw the rise of that persecution
which culminated in the expulsion of the Saints from that country.
With many of his exiled co-religionists he found a temporary home near
Liberty, Clay county, Missouri, where he died on the 22nd of September,
1836; and was buried by the side of his brother Christian, who had
died in the same neighborhood less than a year before. Consumption
was the immediate cause of his death, which was doubtless hastened by
exposure, in the course of his missionary labors and the hardships he
was forced to endure by reason of his expulsion from Jackson county.
This young man--he was but twenty-seven when he died--remained true to
his testimony through the seven years of toil and suffering that he
lived after God called him to be a Witness for the truth of the Book
of Mormon; and his fidelity to his trust under all circumstances, adds
weight to the solemn words of testimony to which he signed his name in
June, 1829.
JOHN WHITMER.
The fourth of the Eight Witnesses, John Whitmer, was twenty-seven
years of age when he beheld the plates of the Nephite record. He was
a young man of considerable promise, and upon the coming of Joseph
Smith to his father's house, became not only his enthusiastic friend,
but rendered him considerable assistance in writing as the Prophet
dictated the translation of the Book of Mormon. John Whitmer was Church
Historian for a number of years; for a time editor of the _Messenger
and Advocate_, the second periodical published by the Church (Kirtland,
Ohio, 1834-1837). He was also prominent in the affairs of the Church
in Missouri, being one of the assistant presidents of the Church, his
brother David and William W. Phelps being the president and other
assistant respectively. He endured the hardships incident to the
persecutions of the Saints in that land. When settlements were being
formed in the new county of Caldwell, John Whitmer was prominently
connected with the land purchases made. Indeed it was largely
owing to some irregularities connected with the business, and some
misunderstanding with the Prophet and other leading brethren in the
Church, that finally resulted in his excommunication, in March, 1838.
After the expulsion of the Church from Missouri, in the winter of
1838-9, John Whitmer purchased the greater part of the townsite of
Far West, which soon reverted to farming lands; and here John Whitmer
continued to live, making farming his principal occupation, until his
death in July, 1878. Though his relations with the Church were severed
John Whitmer, up to the very close of his life, continued to bear
witness that his testimony published in connection with the Book of
Mormon was true. From it he never deviated. It was his testimony when
living; it remains his testimony now that he is dead, unimpaired in its
force by any word of his, though he was much offended at the Prophet
Joseph, and for forty years had no standing in the Church. One can but
regret the events which resulted in his severance from the Church, but
one is compelled to admire his fidelity to the trust imposed in him by
the Prophet when he made him a Witness for the existence of the Nephite
record, in the presence of temptation to take a different course in the
hour of his great darkness.
HIRAM PAGE.
This is the only Witness of the Eight not either a Whitmer or a Smith.
He was a son-in-law, however, to Peter Whitmer, Sen., having married
Catherine Whitmer, in 1825. He was but a young man when he became a
Witness to the existence of the Nephite plates, having been born in
the year 1800, in the state of Vermont. He was living at Fayette, with
the Whitmers when the Prophet and Oliver Cowdery arrived there in the
spring of 1829. He entered into the work with enthusiasm, and for some
years was a faithful member of the Church. He followed the westward
movement of the Saints from New York to Ohio and thence to Missouri. He
shared in the persecutions of the Church in Jackson county; in common
with his co-religionists he fled to Clay county; and subsequently
settled in Caldwell county. When the trouble arose in the Church at Far
West, in 1838, Hiram Page followed the fortune of the Whitmers, severed
his relations with the Church and finally made his home near Excelsior
Springs, some fourteen miles north and a little west of Richmond,
Missouri, where he died in August, 1852. Like his fellow Witnesses he
remained true to his testimony. His oldest son, Philander Page, in
1888, said to Elder Andrew Jenson:
"I knew my father to be true and faithful to his testimony of the
divinity of the Book of Mormon until the very last. Whenever he
had an opportunity to bear his testimony to this effect, he would
always do so, and seemed to rejoice exceedingly in having been
privileged to see the plates and thus become one of the Eight
Witnesses. I can also testify that Jacob, John and David Whitmer
and Oliver Cowdery died in full faith in the divinity of the Book
of Mormon. I was with all these Witnesses on their death-beds and
heard each of them bear his testimony." John C. Whitmer, a nephew
of Hiram Page by marriage, also testified in the presence of Elder
Jenson: "I was closely connected with Hiram Page in business
transactions and other matters, he being married to my aunt. I knew
him at all times and under all circumstances to be true to his
testimony concerning the divinity of the Book of Mormon." [10]
JOSEPH SMITH, SEN.
The sixth of the Eight Witnesses is Joseph Smith, Sen., the Prophet's
father. He was the first to whom the Prophet confided the fact of
Moroni's visit, and the existence of the Nephite record; and this by
direct commandment of the angel Moroni himself. The Prophet hesitated
to make known the vision he had received and the existence of the
record, even to his father; but doubtless the integrity of the heart of
Joseph Smith, Sen., was known in the heavens, and the Prophet was taken
sharply to task for hesitating to trust him with the knowledge that
God had imparted through Moroni. When asked why he had not confided
the knowledge of his vision to his father, the Prophet expressed a
fear that he would not be believed, whereupon Moroni said: "He will
believe every word you say to him." [11] Upon this the Prophet went to
his father, who was working in a field near their home, and related
the whole revelation to him. The father assured his son that the great
revelation was of God, and told him to go "and do as commanded by
the messenger." [12] From that time on the youthful Prophet of the
Dispensation of the Fulness of Times had no truer, or more constant or
faithful friend than his father.
Joseph Smith, Sen., was 59 years of age when he handled and examined
the Nephite plates, and gave his testimony of their existence to the
world. He became thoroughly identified with the work which the Lord
brought forth through his gifted son. He was ordained a Priest of
the Most High God, and became the first Presiding Patriarch in the
Church, traveling in that capacity among the branches of the Church,
especially in the Eastern States, administering comfort to the widow
and fatherless, bestowing benedictions wherever he went.
In 1838, under the pressure of that severe persecution which arose
against adherents of the Prophet in Ohio, the Patriarch moved to
Caldwell county, Missouri, where he saw his sons Joseph and Hyrum taken
by ruthless hands, dragged from their families and cast into prison
for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, while he himself, with
the remainder of the faithful Saints, was banished from the state of
Missouri under the exterminating order of Governor Boggs. In midwinter
of 1838-9, "Father Smith," as the Saints loved to call him, arrived
in Quincy, Illinois, and thence removed to Nauvoo and assisted in
founding that city. The toils and exposure of his life (he had been a
pioneer all his days), and the hardships attendant upon his flight from
Missouri proved too much even for his sturdy frame, and on the 14th
of September, 1840, Joseph Smith, Sen., in the seventieth year of his
life, died at Nauvoo.
His was one of those simple, guileless natures who know naught
but truth and honor and fidelity. Amidst all circumstances of
discouragement and trials he kept the faith, never wavering one moment
in his adherence to the truth which God had made known to him. Having
seen and handled and examined the plates from which the Book of Mormon
was written, he remained true and steadfast to that testimony, and if
an unbelieving generation shall undertake to condemn the testimony of
some of these Witnesses because they turned from the Church, they must
not forget that they will have to meet the force of this righteous
man's testimony, and as in prayer so in testimony, the words of a
righteous man availeth much.
HYRUM SMITH.
The seventh of the Eight Witnesses was Hyrum Smith, an elder brother to
the Prophet Joseph, born February 9, 1800, and hence was thirty years
of age at the time the plates were shown to him. From the beginning of
the great work of the last days he was a consistent believer in it, and
assisted his brother in the preservation of the plates from the hands
of those who sought to wrest them from him. He early sought to know the
will of the Lord concerning his relations to the great work then coming
forth, and was given to understand (May, 1829) that he was to have
part and lot in it; and that he was called of God to be a preacher of
righteousness to this generation. [13] From that time forth he labored
continuously and faithfully by the side of his prophet-brother in the
work of God. In 1837 he was made a counselor in the First Presidency of
the Church, then assembling in Caldwell county, Missouri, a position he
held until January, 1841, when he was called by revelation to take the
office of Presiding Patriarch in the Church, an office left vacant by
the death of his father, Joseph Smith, Sen.; and which office he held
at the time he met a martyr's fate.
Hyrum Smith was a brother in very deed to the Prophet; for he shared
in all the trials throughout the latter's troubled career; and indeed
throughout his life he was never separated from Joseph longer than six
months at a time. The Prophet held him in most tender regard. Speaking
of him in his journal (December, 1835), he said:
I could pray in my heart that all men were like my brother Hyrum,
who possesses the mildness of a lamb, and the integrity of a Job;
and, in short, the meekness and humility of Christ; and I love
him with that love that is stronger than death, for I never had
occasion to rebuke him, nor he me. [14]
Of Hyrum Smith the late President John Taylor also said, speaking of
him as he saw him stretched a martyr upon the floor of Carthage prison:
There he lay as I had left him. He had not moved a limb; he lay
placid and calm, a monument of greatness even in death; but his
noble spirit had left his tenement and had gone to dwell in regions
more congenial to its exalted nature. Poor Hyrum! He was a great
and good man, and my soul was cemented to his. If ever there was an
exemplary, honest and virtuous man, an embodiment of all that is
noble in the human form, Hyrum Smith was its representative.
Such was the character of this witness to the existence of the Nephite
record. He not only never denied the testimony that he received
through seeing and handling the plates of the Nephite record, but he
consecrated his life to the great work of God which in a way may be
said to have had its origin in the coming forth of the Book of Mormon;
and finally sealed his testimony with his blood, and it is in force
upon all succeeding generations of men. He loved the Book of Mormon,
and from it more frequently than others took the texts which formed
the central thought of the discourses he delivered to the Saints. In
it also he doubtless saw foreshadowed, near the close of his career,
his own impending martyrdom, and the justification also of his life. On
the morning of his departure from Nauvoo to Carthage, where he met his
martyrdom, he read the following passage in the presence of his family,
and turned down the leaf upon it:
And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give
unto the Gentiles grace, that they might have charity. And it
came to pass that the Lord said unto me: If they have not charity
it mattereth not unto thee, thou hast been faithful; wherefore,
thy garments shall be made clean. And because thou hast seen thy
weakness thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in
the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father.
And now I, Moroni, bid farewell unto the Gentiles, yea, and also
unto my brethren whom I love, until we shall meet before the
judgment-seat of Christ, where all men shall know that my garments
are not spotted with your blood. [15]
SAMUEL HARRISON SMITH.
The last of the Eight Witnesses was a younger brother of the Prophet's.
He was born in the year 1808, hence was twenty-two years of age when he
beheld and handled the Nephite plates. He was of a serious, religious
nature, even in his youth; and with three others of his father's family
joined the Presbyterian church. While Joseph the Prophet was engaged
with Oliver Cowdery in translating the Nephite record, in Harmony,
Pennsylvania, Samuel paid him a visit in the month of May, 1829, about
the time that the Aaronic Priesthood was conferred upon the Prophet
and Oliver by the ministration of John the Baptist. Samuel had come
to inquire about the work and Joseph bore testimony of its truth and
showed him some of the translation of the Book of Mormon. Samuel seems
not to have been easily converted, but after much inquiry he retired
to the woods and sought, by secret and fervent prayer, for wisdom to
enable him to judge for himself concerning the things of which his
brother had testified. The result was that he obtained a revelation
for himself sufficient to convince him of the truth, and on the 25th
day of May, 1829, he was baptized by Oliver Cowdery and returned to
his father's house, in Manchester, New York, greatly glorifying and
praising God. He was the third person baptized by divine authority in
the new dispensation, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery being the first
two. He was also one of the six members by whom the organization of the
Church was effected on the 6th day of April, 1830.
As soon as the Book of Mormon was published Samuel was among the most
zealous of the brethren in proclaiming it to the world, and seeking
to dispose of it for the enlightenment of mankind. He shared in all
the fortunes of the Church from the commencement of its existence to
the time of his death, which occurred on the 30th of July, 1844, when
he was but thirty-six years of age. He endured many hardships for the
gospel's sake, in his extensive travels, meeting with insult and harsh
treatment at the hands of scoffers and unbelievers. He witnessed also
many demonstrations of the power of God and judgments which befell
those who rejected his testimony.
Samuel passed through many trying ordeals of persecution. In the
expulsion of the Saints from Missouri, in 1838-9, a special effort was
made to capture him and some others for participating in what is known
as "Crooked River Battle," for particulars of which see the Church
History. He was ordained a High Priest in the Church, made a member
of the High Council in Kirtland, Ohio, and was noted for the mingled
qualities of justice and mercy he exercised in his office. He was among
the founders of Nauvoo, and though rising to no great prominence, was
known for his steadfastness in adhering to the truth. At the time of
the martyrdom of his brothers, Joseph and Hyrum, he was living at
Plymouth, in the eastern part of Hancock county, but frequently visited
Nauvoo. Hearing of the arrest of his brothers and their imprisonment
at Carthage, he immediately went to the latter place, but only to find
that the martyr's fate had already overtaken them, and in sadness he
accompanied their bodies to Nauvoo. He survived them but a few weeks,
his death being produced by a severe billious fever, doubtless brought
on by physical and mental strain produced by the sudden death of his
brothers.
Samuel Smith, like his father, Joseph Smith, Sen., and his brother
Hyrum, not only remained true to the testimony to which he subscribed
in the first edition of the Book of Mormon, but consecrated his life to
the work which its coming forth may be said to have commenced; and like
them he lived and died a martyr to that holy cause; and his testimony,
as theirs, is in force in all the world.
It will be observed from the foregoing account of the lives of the
Eight Witnesses, with reference to their testimony to the existence of
the Nephite plates, that five of them, viz.: Christian Whitmer, Peter
Whitmer, Jun., Joseph Smith, Sen., Hyrum Smith, and Samuel H. Smith,
all remained true throughout their lives, not only to their testimony,
but faithful to the Church also, and were honorable, righteous men.
While the three of the Eight Witnesses who left the Church, or were
excommunicated from it, not one of them ever denied the truth of his
testimony: a circumstance of some weight in helping one to determine
the value of the testimony to which, with those who remained faithful
to the Church, they subscribed their names when the Book of Mormon was
first given to the world.
Footnotes
1. History of the Church, vol. I, p. 57.
2. Chapter 31.
3. This was doubtless Moroni, as he was the custodian of the plates.
4. _History of the Prophet Joseph_, by Lucy Smith, ch. 31.
5. History of the Church, vol. I, pp. 18, 19.
6. _History of the Prophet Joseph_, by Lucy Smith, ch. 31.
7. History of the Church, vol. I, pp. 54, 55.
8. In the first edition of the Book of Mormon where the Testimony
appears at the close of the volume instead of at the beginning of the
work, as in the current editions, the names stand thus; (second edition
the same):--
Christian Whitmer,
Jacob Whitmer,
Peter Whitmer, Jr.,
John Whitmer,
Hiram Page,
Joseph Smith, Sr.,
Hyrum Smith,
Samuel H. Smith;
instead of in a double column as in our current editions. By the
way, in passing, it may not be amiss to state that some importance
is attached to the arrangement of the names in our current edition,
for the reason that if read across the page instead of down the
columns, then Page and the members of the Smith family alternate with
the Witnesses, supposedly to divert attention from the fact that the
witnesses, excepting Hiram Page, were of but two families! Such is the
conclusion at least of one profound (!) critic of the Book of Mormon.
9. Doc. and Cov., sec. 30.
10. _Latter-day Saints Biographical Encyclopaedia_, p. 278.
11. _History of the Prophet Joseph_, by Lucy Smith, ch. 19.
12. History of the Church, vol. I, p. 15.
13. See Doc. and Cov., sec. 11.
14. _Rise and Fall of Nauvoo_, p. 146; also History of the Church,
vol. II, p. 338.
15. Book of Mormon, Ether 12:36-38. Also Doc. and Cov. 135:5.