Abner Cole was born on August 17, 1783 in Goshen, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. The township of Goshen was a rural setting, and by today’s standards the town is still considered rural—with only a general store, post office, and fire station. Cole was christened on October 30, 1874 in Chesterfield, Hampshire County, also a rural town. It can be assumed from the location of Cole’s birth and christening that following his father’s military stint in the American Revolutionary War, his father made a living as a farmer.
Abner Cole was the oldest of twelve children born to Southworth Cole and Rucksbe Bryant. Of his brothers and sisters, the only one to reside in Palmyra was his sister, Ann Cole. In 1797, Southworth Cole removed his family to the shore of Canandaigua Lake. Southworth and his family became the first settlers on Lot 5 in the northwest part of Easton (later known as Gorham), which included the southern part of Crystal Beach. By 1810, Southworth was still living near Canandaigua Lake.[1]
Southworth Cole died on August 20, 1825. He was buried at 4631 East Lake Road in the town of Gorham. Since he died intestate, his widow Rucksbe Cole was appointed administrator of his estate. Heirs of the estate were listed as Abner Cole, Southworth Cole Jr., Benjamin Cole, Fanny Swift (wife of Philatus Swift), Doratus Cole, Joseph R. Cole, Ann (wife of Kensley Miller), George W. Cole, and Alexander H. Cole. The petition for the Southworth Cole estate was dated February 14, 1826.
While in his youth, Abner Cole learned the cobbler trade. In the January 22, 1830 issue of The Reflector in the article “Things I dislike,” Abner wrote, “I dislike to have my children forget that their father was a cobbler.”
In 1805 at age twenty-two, Abner attended what was believed to be the first Methodist revivalist camp meeting in Western New York. He was not overly excited by the experience and pronounced himself a young man with deistic leanings. By 1810, Abner was living in Geneva, New York.[2] At age twenty-five, he purchased his first land deed from William Tappan in 1808 in Geneva.[3] He married Deborah Humphrey that same year. Unfortunately, his wife Deborah died in 1809.
As a widower, but also as an eligible bachelor with money in his pockets from the sale of land in Ontario County, New York, Abner Cole moved to Randolph Township in Morris County, New Jersey. In 1810, Randolph was emerging as a boomtown due to iron mines in the vicinity, which Native Americas called “heavy stone.” The dream of getting rich quick attracted a population of 1,271 settlers to Randolph, mostly young men hoping to make a fortune in the mines. It is assumed that Abner was among the young men hoping the iron mines would make him rich.
When Abner arrived in Randolph, he found more than an iron mine to consider. At that time, there were rumors about a “Morristown Ghost.” Ransford Rogers, a schoolmaster and con-artist, launched a confidence scheme that ultimately embarrassed Morris County residents for years. The scheme involved ghosts guarding buried Tory treasure. The schoolmaster would lead groups of men into a field by night, order strict silence, and ask the men to stand in protective concentric circles. He would then converse with the guardian “ghosts.”
On October 14, 1810, Abner Cole married Frances “Fanny” Darling Wickham, the adopted sister and cousin of Samuel T. Lawrence, in the Methodist meetinghouse in Randolph Township.[4] Fanny had been married before and brought three children to the marriage. Following their marriage, Abner and his new family moved to Geneva, Ontario County, New York. From Geneva, they moved to Palmyra.
In the village of Palmyra, Abner served as a justice of the peace from April 1814 to April 1815. This was a curious assignment since he had no legal training at this point—he was not recognized by the state of New York as an attorney until 1828. The fact that he was appointed as a justice of the peace says more about the village of Palmyra being a “start-up town” than it does about Abner’s interest in law. In the summer of 1814, Abner filed formal charges against two persons in separate incidents, one for damages of $800.[5]
In April 1815, Abner Cole’s presence at the annual Palmyra meeting was noted in the town minutes. At the annual meeting in 1816, Abner was named an overseer of highways along with Martin Harris, who was his same age. There were thirty-two overseers of highways in Palmyra from April 1816 to April 1817. The assignment was to keep specific roads passable and free from weeds, etc. On March 19, 1816, Abner Cole, Gain Robinson, and Pardon Durfee were appointed to serve on a town committee to plan for future expansion of the Palmyra village.[6] This appointment suggests that Abner was becoming a man of “high standing” in Palmyra.
Neighbors of Abner Cole in Palmyra
In 1816, Abner was granted a deed from Joseph Colt and Zachariah Blackman. Blackman was the blacksmith in town who teased Joseph Smith about his First Vision.[7] In that same year, Abner purchased property from Nathaniel Nobles on Main Street and Stafford Road. Abner built a house at the corner of Main and Stafford Street, placing him as a neighbor to the Joseph Smith Sr. family when they purchased their farm near Stafford Road. Abner’s house is not standing today. His house was later purchased by O. H. Palmer, moved to a vacant lot on Stafford Street, and sold to James Shirtliff. The present house was erected on the corner about 1849.
Abner Cole was also a neighbor of John Hurlbut, George and Nathaniel Beckwith, Alexander McIntyre, Zachariah Blackman, and Gain Robinson. Across the street from their neighborhood stood the Western Presbyterian Church and the Masonic Lodge. To get an idea of the proximity of some of Cole’s neighbors, George Beckwith purchased 1.81 acres from Abner Cole. The property on which the Beckwith Mansion stands was bounded by the property of Abner Cole[8] and is next to Zachariah Blackman’s blacksmith shop.[9] Alexander McIntyre lived next door to the George Beckwith Mansion.
In 1817, Abner’s wife, Fanny W. Cole, was listed as a member of the Female Bible Society of the Western Presbyterian Church.[10] There is no mention of Abner being in attendance at the Western Presbyterian Church. However, the fact that Abner’s wife was affiliated with the Presbyterians fits with the religious leanings of their neighborhood in Palmyra.
A Palmyra historian sent us a copy of a class attendance book for 1817, showing Abner Cole as a classmate of Joseph Smith Jr. The class had twenty-four male students.[11] In 1817, Abner was age thirty-four and Joseph Smith Jr. was age twelve. Not only does the age gap not work, but also the fact that by 1817 Abner was a home owner, property owner, elected overseer of highways, and had served the Palmyra community as a justice of the peace.
Abner Cole becomes a Property Entrepreneur in Palmyra
Abner Cole’s purchase of property on Main Street was the first of many land acquisitions. In purchasing real estate, Abner failed to own his acquisitions outright. Acquiring land appears to have been his goal. Paying off mortgages proved to be his secondary goal at best. His purchases were much like lining up dominos in a row. When one domino was pushed over, the others toppled.
From 1817 to 1822, the New York Grant Deed Index recorded:
1817: Cole was granted deeds on land in Palmyra from Joseph Colt, William Cook, and Joel Foster, and William Cheney.
1818: Cole was granted deeds on land in Palmyra from Aldrich Colvin and Isaac Colvin.
1820: Cole was granted deeds on land from Oliver Adams, Zachariah Blackman, Pardon Chase Jr., David Cathcart, Dorastus Cole, Pierce Granger, Abraham Gallop, and Asa Swift.
1822: Cole was granted a deed from Gain Robinson and William Wilson. He granted a deed to William Rogers Jr. and another deed to Dorastus Cole.[12]
More acquisitions followed. There are sixteen acquisitions and three sales recorded in the Ontario County Department of Records with Abner Cole as grantee or grantor.
It should be noted that during this era of property acquisition, Abner was also a family man. By that point his wife Fanny had given birth to two children: Lawrence Washington Cole (November 13, 1812) and James Madison Cole (1819). In the 1820 US Federal Census, Abner was listed as a resident of Palmyra with a household of three males under age 10, one male age 10-16, one male age 26-45, one female under age 10, one female age 10-16, one female age 16-26, and one female age 26-45. His household obviously consisted of more people than his immediate family. This was typical in Palmyra at that time—residents took in boarders to help defray expenses.
During this time, Abner Cole was encumbered with lawsuits. In June 1818, merchants in Palmyra sued Abner for $150 owed them for “goods, wares and merchandize” that he “hitherto wholly refused and still refuses [to pay].” In 1819, Abner was sued by Gershom Gillet for $600 owed him. In the May 1821 Court of Common Pleas, Abner appeared as a defendant in three cases. Two cases involved unpaid debts. In July 1818, Abner brought suit against Levi Jackson for assault and battery—after which Jackson charged Abner with defamation of character.[13]
The Great Embankment and a $10,000 loan from the State of New York
Construction of the Erie Canal began in 1820. The canal commissioner arrived in Palmyra in May 1820 to hire workers to construct a ten-mile stretch. It was not long before Abner Cole became involved in the Great Embankment, one of the most ambitious undertakings on the Erie Canal. Plans for constructing the Great Embankment, also known as the Irondequoit Embankment, consisted of three natural ridges joined together by two man-made ridges, one 1,320 feet long and the other 231 feet long. The original intent was to have the waters of the Erie Canal pass along a wooden aqueduct rising seventy feet over the Irondequoit Creek Valley, but fears concerning its stability forced a change to what was planned to be an earth and stone embankment. Building the Great Embankment required not only earth and stone, but also iron. Abner erected his iron works less than eight miles west of Palmyra in the northwest corner of Irondequoit Creek in Perinton, New York.
Abner was not a common laborer on the embankment, but a business man who hoped to profit from construction of the embankment. Abner was awarded a $10,000 loan from the state of New York to operate an iron works in the vicinity of the proposed Irondequoit Embankment. It was anticipated that with the $10,000 loan, Abner would set up an iron forge—a shop with a furnace where metal could be heated to make iron malleable—and employ many iron workers. On April 5, 1820, a bill authorizing a $10,000 loan to Abner Cole “to be employed in the manufacture of Iron” passed both houses of the New York state legislature.[14] The Delaware Gazette of March 23, 1820 printed, “Thursday, March 9 [1820]. The house resolved itself into a committee of the whole, on the bill for loaning a sum of money to Abner Cole, (to be employed in the manufacture of Iron)—Mr. Power in the chair.”[15]
On December 6, 1820, Abner’s iron works was declared operational.[16] Abner ran a weekly “Notice” in the Ontario Repository from January 2, 1821 to January 28, 1824:
The subscriber informs the public, and the friends to ‘Home Manufactures’ in particular, that his IRON WORKS, on the Irondequoit, in the town of Perinton, are now in operation, and that Wrought IRON, of a good quality, and of any description, may be had on short notice. A. COLE, Irondequoit Iron Works, Dec. 25th 1820.
It was news of Abner Cole’s iron works that brought Samuel Lawrence and his brother Daniel Lawrence from Randolph, New Jersey to Palmyra. The Lawrence brothers were first cousins to Abner’s wife, Fanny. No doubt, Samuel Lawrence saw himself joining Abner in a financial windfall to be had from the iron works. Samuel moved in with the Coles and, in so doing, became a neighbor of John Hurlbut, George and Nathaniel Beckwith, Alexander McIntyre, Zachariah Blackman, and Gain Robinson.
Seizure of Abner Cole’s Property
For two years, Abner Cole ran an iron works factory in Perinton. From the beginning, Abner struggled to make the factory a success. Part of the problem was he took the $10,000 loan from the state of New York and purchased additional property in Palmyra, Macedon, and Manchester instead of putting the money into his factory. In 1822, Abner’s iron works failed to prosper. By 1823, although Abner paid taxes on the iron works, he defaulted on the $10,000 loan to the state of New York. This was followed by the seizure and auction of most of his properties.
The timeline and name of the sheriff who seized the Abner Cole property is interesting. In 1818, Abner Cole was elected constable of the village of Palmyra. When Samuel Lawrence arrived in town to help with the iron works, Abner was too busy with his various enterprises to carry on the duties of a constable and suggested that Samuel Lawrence take his place. The Palmyra village record states that the town meeting voted to “reconsider the vote electing Abner Cole as constable” and subsequently replaced him. Samuel accepted the position. Abner did not know at the time that his role as sheriff would destroy their family bonds.
Sheriff Samuel Lawrence, the brother-in-law of Abner Cole, announced that Abner defaulted on his mortgage in the Palmyra Herald on July 24, 1822 and September 5, 1822, and in the Western Farmer on June 5, 1822. Sheriff Lawrence then auctioned off Abner’s property. The seizure of additional land by Samuel Lawrence was announced in the Wayne Sentinel on January 4 and 14, 1824, and on February 18, 1824. Other properties of Abner Cole in Macedon, Penfield, and Manchester were also seized. So was his land and iron works in Perinton:
By virtue of a write fi. Fn. Issued out of the Supreme Court of Judicature of the state of New York . . . I have seized and taken all the right, title and interest of Abner Cole to the premises hereafter described, to wit: the southeast division of lot number six in the town of Penfield . . . Title and interests of the said Abner in and to the forge, trip hammer, iron works, coal houses, coal yards, ore banks, and all the appurtenances and appendages of and to the same, and the land on which the same are situated, together with all the privileges of the said Abner Cole in or upon the same, being upon lot number 55, in the town of Perinton—which I shall sell at the forge of the said Abner Cole, in Perinton, on the 15th day of January next at 9 o’clock A.M. Directed November 21, 1823. J. P Patterson, Sheriff.[17]
Sale of the above kept being postponed until April 3, 1824. There is some reason to believe that the sheriff was not his brother-in-law Samuel T. Lawrence, but another Samuel Lawrence. If this proves to be the case, the other Samuel Lawrence was also a Mason.[18] The other Samuel Lawrence held a public office in Ontario County and was aligned with the Democratic Party.[19]
One of Abner’s seized properties was Miner’s Hill. The hill was purchased in 1816 by Abner. The most interesting 100 acre property seized was foreclosed property owned by Abner Cole in Manchester and sold to the highest bidder, Benjamin Tabor. On January 23, 1834, just days after his acquisition, Tabor deeded his land for $3,000 to Lorenzo Saunders, a treasure hunter with Samuel Lawrence. Tabor was the father of Lorenzo Saunders’ wife, Calista Tabor.
In 1825, the New York State Attorney General auctioned off more of Abner Cole’s property.[20] Yet, in that same year Abner was again elected an overseer of highways in Palmyra which suggests the movers and shakers in Palmyra still valued him as a responsible citizen.
In 1826, Abner Cole sold more property to pay off his last debt. In so doing, he stabilized his financial situation. His last hurdle was a court case—Herman H. Bogart (assignee of insolvent debtors), Joel and Levi Thayer (owners of the E. B. Grandin Building) vs. Abner Cole. The case was settled when Abner paid “$646 by sale of lands.”[21]
What Abner retained was his “Bower Home” on Winter Green Hill. The “Bower Home” was near the home of Martin Harris’s father, Nathan Harris. Mail addressed to Abner Cole at Bower on Winter Green Hill was picked up at the Palmyra post office.
Abner Cole had an opinion on Treasure Hunting and Luman Walters
Although Samuel Lawrence failed to make a fortune in the iron works factory, he did not lose his desire for wealth or metal. In 1827, Samuel Lawrence conspired with Willard Chase and Lorenzo Saunders and sent for Luman Walters of Sodus, New York, a conjurer, magician, and fortune teller to find the plates. Luman was paid $3 a day for his services.
Abner Cole was aware of nocturnal treasure hunting activities going on in Palmyra. He was the first to surmise that Joseph Smith Jr. worked under the inspiration of Luman Walters. Abner said, “The mantel of Walters the Magician” had fallen on Joseph Smith.[22] It should be noted that there is no hint that Abner Cole was involved in nocturnal treasure hunting in Palmyra. He was too old and too much of a family man to get involved.
Abner Cole and the Book of Mormon
At this point, Abner Cole appears to have taken upon himself the role of a “renaissance man.” He was brilliant and clever enough to know how to get a big loan from the state of New York, set up an iron factory, purchase one property after another, and be appointed a justice of the peace despite having had no legal training. It appears that Abner could do it all—so why should he not be a printer and publisher?
In 1829, E. B. Grandin needed many hands to help print the Book of Mormon. He gathered many men throughout Palmyra to help him. By 1829, Abner Cole had functioned as an attorney in Palmyra for a year and had set up his law office on Main Street, yet he accepted the low-line job of a compositor of the Book of Mormon.[23] (A compositor arranges type for printing and pulls type from the uppercase and lowercase shelves). Why would Abner accept such employment? The print shop would be noisy, crowded, and overall not a good work environment. It doesn’t make any sense that Abner would accept a job as a compositor. For three years, he had been financially solvent and was now in a position as an attorney to recoup his financial status and reputation in town.
Why would Abner accept a job as a compositor? Did he have a secret reason or plan for accepting the position? The plan was certainly not to off-set financial reverses. Surely, he could have made more money in his law practice than working as a compositor. Did his plan involve gaining access to printers so he could print the 116 pages?
The sequence of the next events are not coincidental. Hyrum Smith began bringing pages of the Book of Mormon manuscript to the E. B. Grandin office in August 1829. In September 1829, Abner Cole printed his first edition of The Reflector in the E. B. Grandin print shop. Young men served as apprentices for years to learn the trade of a printer, but for Abner, learning that trade took just one month. Why did he want to learn the trade of a printer? Did his neighbors (some of our suspects) want him to publish the 116 pages?
The Reflector
Abner Cole paid E. B. Grandin to use the presses of the Wayne Sentinel to print the Palmyra Reflector on Sunday evenings, beginning in September 1829. Assisting Abner was his seventeen-year old son, Lawrence Washington Cole, serving first as a “printer’s devil” (apprentice) and later as his father’s foreman. Notice the brilliance of Abner in signing his articles in The Reflector O. Dogberry, lifted from Shakespeare’s comic constable in Much Ado about Nothing. The O. was for the minor prophet Obadiah in the Old Testament.
The name “O. Dogberry” is significant. He uses the same name when he prints the Liberal Advocate in Rochester in the 1830s. It is Abner’s only pen name in the world of publishing. Of all the names Abner could have chosen, he selected Obadiah Dogberry.
In Shakespeare’s “Much Ado about Nothing,” there are many different subplots all taking place at the same time. There are love stories, trickeries, and deceptions, but one character is responsible for everything getting straightened out—Dogberry, a constable in Messina. Dogberry is a rather eccentric man, and is among the lower class of people in town. He is very filthy and talks in a sort of gibberish so that no one can understand him. The other townspeople do not respect him, but use him for his information and then dismiss him. Dogberry gets no thanks or appreciation even though he is the true hero of the play. He should get more respect than the common man because he is a hero. He does not care, though—he still goes about his job being the unsung hero. Dogberry goes unnoticed by the reader as well as the other characters in the play. No one really recognized Dogberry as the hero of the story right away . . . but he definitely was.
In The Reflector, Abner presented exaggerated, sarcastic views of Joe Smith’s Gold Bible, showing himself to be the hero. He printed part of the Book of Mormon in late December 1829—1 Nephi 1:1-3, 1 Nephi 2:4-15, and in January 1830, Alma 43:22-40. He changed paragraphing, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation, but the wording is the same with minor exceptions—“in the borders” compared with The Reflector’s “on the borders,” and “Sariah,” compared with The Reflector’s “Sarah.”
In the first edition of The Reflector on September 2, 1829, Abner wrote the first public criticisms of the Book of Mormon—“The Golden Bible, by Joseph Smith Junior, author and proprietor, is now in press and will shortly appear. Priestcraft is short lived!” (Note: the phrase “author and proprietor” appears next to Joseph Smith’s name on the title page of the first edition of the Book of Mormon.)
From the start, Abner Cole printed tart comments about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, such as—
“The Book of Mormon is expected to be ready for delivery in the course of one year—great and marvelous, marvelous, marvelous things will come to pass about those days.”
***
“The building of the TEMPLE of NEPHI is to be commenced about the beginning of the first year of the millennium, thousands are already flocking to the standard of Joseph the prophet the Book of Mormon is expected to astonish the natives.”
***
“A work bearing this cognomen gold bible is now in the press as much curiosity has been excited in this section of the country on the subject and as the work itself will not be ready for delivery for some months to come at the solicitation of many of our readers we have concluded to commence publishing extracts from it on or before the commencement of the second series.”
Abner demonstrated in his commentaries that he had greater understanding of the Book of Mormon than just access to the already printed pages. For example, as early as September 23, 1829, Abner mentioned a place called the “New Jerusalem” and described it as “a gathering place in the last days.” That particular account from the Book of Mormon was not printed on Grandin’s press until months later. This shows that Abner knew about it from another source when he printed his article. Did he have access to the 116 pages?
The Reflector sold for one dollar—“payable in advance” for a four-month subscription. Precisely how many subscriptions Abner collected over the seventeen-month run of the paper is unknown. But from correspondence Abner printed in the pages of the Reflector, it is known that inhabitants of Newark, Geneva, Canandaigua, Macedon, Manchester, Rochester, Syracuse, and Palmyra were subscribers. At the printing of the first series of the paper, Abner noted that the paper had “been sought for and read with avidity” and that its success had “exceeded our most sanguine expectations.”
Abner Cole confronted by Hyrum Smith and then Joseph Smith
One Sunday afternoon in January 1830, Lucy Mack Smith recalled, “Hyrum became very uneasy as to the security of the work left at the printing office, and requested Oliver [Cowdery] to accompany him thither, to see if all was right. Oliver hesitated for a moment, as to the propriety of going on Sunday, but finally consented, and they set off together.” (The account that follows is from the writings of Lucy Mack Smith).
In the printing portion of E. B. Grandin’s establishment, Hyrum and Oliver were surprised to find Abner Cole printing a newspaper. “How is it, Mr. Cole, that you are so hard at work on Sunday?” Hyrum asked. Abner said that he could not have the press in the day time during the week, and was obliged to do his printing at night and on Sundays. Hyrum then read the prospectus of his paper which was to publish one form of “Joe Smith’s Gold Bible” each week, and thereby furnish them with the principle portion of the book in such a way that they would not be obliged to pay the Smiths for it.
Hyrum was shocked as well as indignant. “Mr. Cole,” said he, “what right have you to print the Book of Mormon in this manner? Do you not know that we have secured the copyright?”
“It is none of your business,” answered Cole, “I have hired the press, and will print what I please, so help yourself.”
“Mr. Cole,” rejoined Hyrum, “that manuscript is sacred, and I forbid your printing anymore of it.”
“Smith,” exclaimed Cole, in a tone of anger, “I don’t care a d—n for you: that d—d gold bible is going into my paper, in spite of all you can do.”
No endeavor of Hyrum Smith could change the motives or actions of Abner Cole. When Hyrum and Oliver returned home, they told Joseph Smith Sr. about their experience with Abner. Father Smith concluded it was “a matter with which Joseph ought to be made acquainted, and set off to go see Joseph in Harmony. Joseph returned to Palmyra and went to the printing office, where he found Abner employed, as on the Sunday previous.
“How do you do, Mr. Cole,” said Joseph, “you seem hard at work.”
“How do you do, Mr. Smith,” answered Cole, dryly.
Joseph said, “Mr. Cole, that book [the Book of Mormon], and right of publishing, belongs to me, and I forbid you meddling with it any further.” Mother Smith wrote, “At this Mr. Cole threw off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and came towards Joseph smacking his fists together with vengeance, and roaring out, “Do you want to fight, sir? Do you want to fight? I will publish just what I please. Now, if you want to fight just come on.”
Joseph could not help smiling at his grotesque appearance, for his behavior was too ridiculous to excite indignation. “Now, Mr. Cole,” said he, “you had better keep you coat on—it is cold, and I am not going to fight you, nevertheless, I assure you, sir, that you have got to stop printing my book, for I know my rights, and shall maintain them.”
“Sir,” bawled out the wrathful gentleman, “if you think you are the best man, just pull off your coat and try it.”
“Mr. Cole,” said Joseph, in a low, significant tone, “there is law, and you will find that out if you do not understand it, but I shall not fight you, sir.”
At this, the ex-justice began to cool off and finally concluded to submit to arbitration.[24] Abner submitted to arbitration, and in January 1830 ceased publishing excerpts from the Book of Mormon.
Abner Cole keeps printing The Reflector
Although Abner ceased publishing Book of Mormon excerpts, he never explained to his readers why he didn’t continue to include the excerpts in his newspaper. In addition, he didn’t leave Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon alone. Being profoundly blocked from printing the Book of Mormon, he turned to satire using biblical and Book of Mormon language. On June 12, 1830 and July 7, 1830, Abner published a satire on the Book of Mormon under the heading “Book of Pukei,” printed in two installments. Notice the title of the book with the “i” added at the end—Puke-i. Also, notice how Puke-i matches titles of books in the Book of Mormon—Book of Lehi, Book of Nephi, Book of Omni, Book of Moroni—and now Book of Pukei.
In Chapter One of the Book of Pukei, treasure-digging activities of the Smiths and conjuror Luman Walter are presented. In Chapter Two, Abner Cole shows his knowledge of Joseph Smith’s First Vision in verse two. In this chapter, an old man appears to Joseph Smith in an Egyptian raiment, except for his Indian blanket and moccasins. The old man announces that he has been sent by Mormon, the great apostle to the Nephites. Abner writes of bark canoes, smallpox, and Nephites descending from the Lost Tribes of Israel. Although moccasins and smallpox are probably not mentioned in the 116 pages, is the mention of the Lost Tribes of Israel a clue that Abner had access to the 116 pages?
The full text of Chapter 1 and 2 of Pukei follow. As you read Pukei and other scriptural-type writings by Cole, consider—
Was Abner Cole practicing writing scripture so that he could publish the 116 pages with alterations? He was not the only publisher in his era to write in a scriptural format, but he was the only publisher in the greater Palmyra area to do so.
Was Abner Cole the Mark Hoffman of Palmyra? Recall that there was an assumption that Hoffman’s forgeries of Martin Harris’s handwriting were done with the hope that Hoffman could produce the 116 pages. In reviewing the Book of Pukei, it is more than an assumption that Hoffman took some of his ideas from Abner Cole.
Each verse in the Book of Pukei is one sentence—just like verses in the Book of Mormon.
The author [Abner Cole] has a signature as the chapters begin—“And it came to pass.”—which is perhaps a recognition of how many times he set type at Grandin’s press with this phrase. (“And it came to pass” occurs in the English translation of the Book of Mormon 1,381 times. It is found in all books of the Book of Mormon except Moroni. The phrase is not unique to the Book of Mormon—the Bible uses the phrase or one of its derivatives, 526 times in the Old Testament and 87 times in the New Testament.)
Abner Cole mocks the sacred, but he is smart and clever. We have been through the Bible and Book of Mormon looking for familiar phrases that are found in the chapters of Pukei. Abner uses more biblical phrases than Book of Mormon phrases. For example, we found quotations in the Book of Pukei from Matthew 8, Mark 5, and Timothy. Yet Abner also quotes 2 Nephi 7:10, 2 Nephi 20:7, 1 Nephi 19:13, Alma 1:23, and Helaman 14:6. There is no question that Abner used the language of scripture and the same “sing-song” patterns found in scripture.
Notice that Abner Cole writes the Book of Pukei after the Book of Mormon was published and sold at E. B. Grandin’s bookstore. He writes the Book of Pukei after Joseph Smith has moved from Palmyra. He also writes the “Chronicles of the Geneva Bull,” “Chapters of Ontario Chronicles,” “Book of Daniel,” and “First John.”
The Book of Pukei.—Chap. 1.
1. And it came to pass in the latter days, that wickedness did much abound, and the “Idle and slothful” said one to another, let us send for Walters the Magician, who has strange books, and deals with familiar spirits; peradventure he will inform us where the Nephites, hid their treasure, so be it, that we and our vagabond van, do not perish for lack of sustenance.
2. Now Walters, the Magician, was a man unseemly to look upon, and to profound ignorance added the most consummate impudence,—he obeyed the summons of the idle and slothful, and produced an old book in an unknown tongue, (Cicero’s Orations in latin,) from whence he read in the presence of the Idle and Slothful strange stories of hidden treasures and of the spirit who had the custody thereof.
3. And the Idle and Slothful paid tribute unto the Magician, and besought him saying, Oh! thou who art wise above all men, and can interpret the book that no man understandeth, and can discover hidden things by the power of thy enchantments, lead us, we pray thee to the place where the Nephites buried their treasure, and give us power over “the spirit,” and we will be thy servants forever.
4. And the Magician led the rabble into a dark grove, in a place called Manchester, where after drawing a Magic circle, with a rusty sword, and collecting his motley crew of latter demallions, within the centre, he sacrificed a Cock (a bird sacred to Minerva) for the purpose of propitiating the prince of spirits.
5. All things being ready, the Idle and Slothful fell to work with a zeal deserving a better cause, and many a live long night was spent in digging for “the root of all evil.”
6. Howbeit, owing to the wickedness and hardness of their hearts, these credulous and ignorant knaves, were always disappointed, till finally, their hopes, although frequently on the eve of consummation–like that of the hypocrite perished, and their hearts became faint within them.
7. And it came to pass, that when the Idle and Slothful became weary of their nightly labors, they said one to another, lo! this imp of the Devil, hath deceived us, let us no more of him, or peradventure, ourselves, our wives, and our little ones, will become chargeable on the town.
8. Now when Walters the Magician heard these things, he was sorely grieved, and said unto himself, lo! mine occupation is gone, even these ignorant vagabonds, the idle and slothful detect mine impostures. I will away and hide myself, lest the strong arm of the law should bring me to justice.
9. And he took his book, and his rusty sword, and his magic stone, and his stuffed Toad, and all his implements of witchcraft and retired to the mountains near Great Sodus Bay, where he holds communion with the Devil, even unto this day.
10. Now the rest of the acts of the magician, how his mantle fell upon the prophet Jo. Smith Jun. and how Jo. made a league with the spirit, who afterwards turned out to be an angel, and how he obtained the “Gold Bible,” Spectacles, and breast plate–will they not be faithfully recorded in the book of Pukei?”
The Book of Pukei,—Chap. 2.
Contents. – 1. The idle and slothful reverence the prophet. – 2 The prophet reveals to them the first appearance of the spirit. – 3 Its admonition and promises. – 4 Description of the spirit. – 5 Mormon – the ten tribes. – 6 Their migration – wars – extinction. –- 7 Gold Bible and contents. – 8 spectacles – breastplate – Oliver, &c.
1. And it came to pass, that when the mantle of Walters the Magician had fallen upon Joseph, sirnamed the prophet, who was the son of Joseph; that the “idle and slothful” gathered themselves together, in the presence of Joseph, and said to him, “lo! We will be thy servants forever, do with us, our wives, and our little ones as it may seem good in thine eyes.”
2. And the prophet answered and said – “Behold! hath not the mantle of Walters the magician fallen upon me, and I am not able to do before you my people great wonders, and shew you, at a more proper season, where the Nephites hid their treasures? – for lo! Yesternight stood before me in the wilderness of Manchester, the spirit, who, from the beginning, has had in keeping all the treasures, hidden in the bowels of the earth,
3. And he said unto me, Joseph, thou son of Joseph, hold up thine head; do the crimes done in thy body fill thee with shame? — hold up thine face and let the light of mine countenance shine upon thee — thou, and all thy father’s household, have served me faithfully, according to the best of their knowledge and abilities — I am the spirit that walketh in darkness, and will shew thee great signs and wonders.”
4. And I looked, and behold a little old man stood before me, clad, as I supposed, in Egyptian raiment, except his Indian blanket, and moccasins — his beard of silver white, hung far below his knees. On his head was an old fashioned military half cocked hat, such as was worn in the days of the patriarch Moses — his speech was sweeter than molasses, and his words were the reformed Egyptian.
5. And he again said unto me, “Joseph, thou who hast been surnamed the ignoramus, knowest thou not, that great signs and wonders are to be done by thine hands? knowest thou not, that I have been sent unto thee by MORMON, the great apostle to the Nephites — Mormon who was chief among the [lost] ten tribes of Israel?
6. Knowest thou not that this same apostle to the Nephites conducted that pious people, who could not abide the wickedness of their brethren, to these happy shores in bark canoes, where after fighting with their brethren the Lamanites, a few hundred years, became wicked themselves, when God sent the small pox among them, which killed two thirds of them, and turned the rest into Indians?
7. Knowest thou not, thou weak one of the earth, that this same Mormon wrote a book on plates of gold, in the language I now speak, of and concerning the aforesaid Nephites and their brethren the Lamanites, and their treasures, (including a box of gold watches on which thou shalt hereafter raise money,) and knowest thou not, that thou art greater than all the “money-digging rabble,” and art chosen to interpret the book, which Mormon has written, to wit, the gold Bible?
8. “And lo! I answered the spirit of the money diggers saying, how can these things be, as I can neither read nor write? And he said unto me[:] ‘I will give thee a breast plate, to keep thee from evil, and I will send thee an assistant, even Oliver, the pedagogue.’
Chronicles of the Geneva Bull
Chapter One
1. Now it came to pass, on the first days of the first month of the year, that certain men assembled at the house of Solomon, in the lower city.
2. And after some consultation among ourselves, they with one accord resolved to celebrate the 22d day of the second month, it being the birth day of the most mighty ruler of the land.
3. They then wrote epistles unto the people of the city, saying, come let us make great joy and gladness on that day, throughout the city, with music and dancing; for surely there is none to make us afraid.
Now when the appointed time drew near at hand, a certain young man, (by pretensions a lawyer,) and who had been chosen by the people of the city as Town Bull, lifted up his head and said, Shall the wise mingle with the foolish, or the sheep with the swine?…
19. And unto the Bull they said, leave our presence, and gird thyself in sackcloth, and put ashes on thy head, and repent of thy meanness, and reprove thyself, thou proud and ostentatious fellow!
20. Thus endeth the first chapter.
Cole published a satirical local history in quasi-biblical language called “Chapter of the Ontario Chronicles.” In format it reads something like the “Book of Chronicles.” The following was published in the Geneva Gazette on November 1, 1830. The subject matter is about local politics in upstate New York. However, there is a reference to Joseph Smith and Nephi.
Chapter of Ontario Chronicles
It came to pass in the days of J***h the Prophet and about the fourth reign of Solomon and P***k, that many of the people of Israel waxed wroth one towards another, and were sorely grieved, because of their failure to get themselves into the high places of the Synagogue.
Among the multitude that has in vain sought to fatten on the emoluments of office, was a certain Israelite who dwelt near the Temple of Nephi, and who was called by his mother Adolphus.
Now Adolphus was a man small of stature, and was withal a worker in wood; howbeit he was somewhat of a depraved mind and lusteth much after the things of this world.
Moreover he was exceedingly avaricious, insomuch that he coveted the riches of William, who was a humble man and belonged withal to another tribe.
Wherefore Adolphus conceived in his heart that he would make William drunk with wine, that he might betray him, and take unto himself his gold and silver, and also his land and cattle.
But the Lord saw and rebuked the wickedness and deceit of Adolphus; nevertheless Adolphus hardened his heart and heeded not the admonition of the Lord.
And moreover it came to pass that William was inspired with a knowledge of the deceitfulness of and cunning of Adolphus, and guarded his mind against his evil designs and machinations. Howbeit, Adolphus wist not the wisdom of William.
Now the Lord favored William, inasmuch as he was an honest man and lusteth not overmuch after the things of mammon; but Adolphus, the Israelite, he upbraided, for his deeds of darkness and iniquity, and caused a JUDGMENT to be pronounced against him.
And Adolphus communed with himself and wept bitterly, saying, Wo! Wo! Wo! Be unto me! For verily I have not accomplished the things which I had undertaken; and behold I will flee from the wrath to come.
* * * * * * * * * And lo!
Adolphus has fled!
The second article “Ontario Chronicles (Part II)” by Abner Cole has the same journalistic tradition as the “Ontario Chronicles” published in the Geneva Gazette on November 1, 1830.
Ontario Chronicles (Part II)
1. And it came to pass in the days of Andrew, who is sir-named “the Military Chieftain,” that Joseph the Elder, sir-named Malt, came to reside among the people of the “far West.”
2. Now Joseph was a man of words, and instructed the people in “the way they should go,”
howbeit he pursued, in his own person all the bye ways and all ways he could discover in the wilderness of sin.
3. And Joseph the Elder had a friend and fellow laborer in the “good cause,” who was also called Joseph, a great man and wise in the nature of “roots and herbs.” Insomuch that he united himself unto certain wise men, known in the language of the natives of the country, as “steam, or quack doctors.”
4. Now Joseph the quack, soon became famous for the curing of all “incurable diseases,” and vaunted of his success in destroying all manner of corns, coughs, and consumptions.
5. And Joseph the Elder from his youth up, went about giving instruction to the natives of the country and sojourned for a season in the land of black waters, where in conjunction with Joshua, his son (in law) he made an egregious blunder in the purchase of a certain “four wheel” vehicle called by the natives a wagon.
6. And it came to pass in the second year of Andrew the Chieftain that the maid servant of Joseph the elder fell sick, and Joseph said “verily she hath taken cold—I will straightway send for my friend and fellow laborer, Joseph, sir-named the “steam doctor.”
7. And it came to pass, that the two Josephs, set together in council and prescribed a remedy for the sickness of Eliza the maid servant of Joseph the Elder.
8. Now the rest of the arts of Joseph the Elder, together with the proscriptions and practice, of Joseph the “steam doctor,” —with a description of his “tools and implements,”—will they not be faithfully recorded, in a future chapter of the “Ontario Chronicles.”
Abner Cole and E. B. Howe Connection
On January 11, 1831, E. B. Howe of the Painesville Telegraph wrote to William W. Phelps in Canandaigua, New York requesting information about Mormonism.[25] A few months later on March 12, 1831, E. D. Howe published a letter from unidentified persons in Palmyra “on the subject of Bible imposture.” The letter was signed by ten individuals. The prevailing theory is the letter was written by Abner Cole, one week before shutting down The Reflector.[26]
Was the letter more than a response to questions about Mormonism? Yes! E. B. Howe had a connection to Palmyra. The Wayne Sentinel of January 9, 1829 (prior to printing of the Book of Mormon) carried this announcement:
Asahel D. Howe of Norwalk, Ohio, formerly of this village (Palmyra) has recently been detected purloining money from the U.S. Mails, while acting as assistant Post Master. He was arrested and held to bail to appear before the U.S. State District Court; after which he left the place. He was again arrested at Euclid [Ohio[ a few days after, and conveyed to Columbus, to be tried at the U.S. District Court, then in session. It is said a large amount of bank bills, thus purloined, were found in his possession.
Why is this significant? Asahel Howe was a younger brother of E. D. Howe. The Howe brothers served respectively as editors of the Painesville Telegraph. In the 1878 autobiography of E. D. Howe appears, “In January, 1835, my connection with the Telegraph ceased, and the paper went into the hands of a younger brother, Asahel Howe.” The placement of his brother Asahel as editor was not pleasing to Sidney Rigdon, who stated that he knew of “scandalous immoralities about the Howe family of so black a character that they had nothing to lose in persecuting the Mormons.” In the April 6, 1837 issue of the Painesville Republican, the writer tells of Asahel Howe “who had an inclination to steal, and at the same time, not having ingenuity enough to keep it concealed.” Joseph Smith also wrote disparagingly of Asahel Howe in the Elders’ Journal in August 1838: “Asahel Howe, one of E. D.’s brothers who was said to be the likeliest of the family, served apprenticeship in the work house in Ohio for robbing the post office. And yet notwithstanding all this, all the pious priests of all denominations were found following in the wake of these mortals.”
Could Asahel Howe have stolen the 116 pages? Perhaps. Where is the correspondence of Abner Cole and E. D. Howe? The Howe printing business was sold to L. L. Rice in 1839 or 1840. Rice sold out and moved to Honolulu. In 1884, L. L. Rice discovered that he had in his possession the Spalding manuscript left in the possession of E. B. Howe by Doctor Philastus Hurlbut. E. B. Howe claimed the manuscript was destroyed by fire. Not so! Did Hurlbut leave other manuscripts with Eber or perhaps his brother Asahel? The claim of burning the manuscript sounds all too familiar.
The Spaulding Manuscript is housed in the Oberlin College Library in Ohio. Did L. L. Rice have any other manuscripts? For many years, L. L. Rice was a state printer at Columbus, Ohio. L. L. Rice made an entire copy of the Spalding manuscript with erasing marks, etc.
Abner Cole’s life in Palmyra after The Reflector
On January 6, 1831, a letter from Abner Cole was printed in the Plain Truth newspaper announcing that “this most clumsy of all impositions, known among us as Jo Smith’s ‘Gold Bible,’ is beginning to excite curiosity abroad.” Other Palmyra papers had refused to print anything on the subject. By 1831, Abner had taken his articles to the Plain Truth newspaper and begun a six-part series on the Book of Mormon to satisfy the “curiosity of our friends at a distance.” Although he did not change his scornful tone, he did replace satire with argument and attempted to make a case against Joseph Smith to appeal to a larger readership.[27] What is important to us about the series in the Plain Truth is that Abner never lets Joseph Smith off the hook. Why is he still so angry with Joseph Smith? Abner appears to be angry with more than Joseph.
About one month after contacting the editor of the Plain Truth, on February 14, 1831 E. B. Grandin wrote, “In evening attended Mechanic’s Institute—question for debate, is there a religious sect in this country, where clergy, by their conduct in general, give evidence that they are driving at the control of our government institutions. Mr. White served as president pro-temp. The debate was opened by Mr. Abner Cole. Mr. George W. Cuyler made a few remarks on the negative of the question.”[28] Two days later, on February 16, 1831 E. B. Grandin recorded the following—
Some threats have been made within a few days by some Presbyterians, that they would withdraw their patronage from my establishment in consequence of my printing the Reflector. Paid no attention to them. Complaints have also been made of my allowing discussions on religious subjects to be held in the bookstore—and that young converts were also attacked by someone when they entered the bookstore and suggestions have been made that such things might injure me. Truly these are singular times—complaints all came from Presbyterians.[29]
On March 12, 1831, Abner had an argument with Thomas Baldwin. E. B. Grandin wrote, “In evening attended a charity meeting. Some unpleasant sparring between Abner and [Thomas] Baldwin took place. B. was in his cuss—the chairman left his seat—a new man was appointed—and business went on again.”[30]
Abner never lost his interest in the newspaper business, although he ended his tenure as editor of The Reflector in 1831. The final issue of The Reflector was printed on March 19, 1831, exactly one week after sparing with Thomas Baldwin, a fellow attorney and a man who had a law office in the E. B. Grandin store when the Book of Mormon was being printed. Publication of The Reflector ended due to subscribers not renewing their subscriptions.
Abner Cole moved to Rochester
In February 1832, Abner moved to Rochester, a town gaining notoriety as a “flour city” located twenty-nine miles from Palmyra. He set up an office at 24 Reynolds Arcade, arguably the premiere building at the time in Western New York. He started a weekly paper—Liberal Advocate. Once again, Abner printed this newspaper under the pen name O. Dogberry. In this newspaper, he again wrote of Joseph Smith, including his being tarred and feathered in Hiram, Ohio. He was still making references to Joseph Smith in 1834. To get subscribers for his newspaper, Abner relied on newspaper agents. In Palmyra, he had two agents. His brother-in-law Samuel Lawrence was one of them. On November 17, 1832, Samuel’s name was dropped as an agent. On April 17, 1833, Samuel was indicted in Wayne County for “fraudulently secreting property” which in this case meant he tried to hide knowledge of property holdings from the sheriff. Abner published the Liberal Advocate from 1832 to November 1834. In this newspaper, Abner criticized evangelist Charles Grandison Finney, a leader of the Second Great Awakening in America. He also criticized his subscribers for failing to pay their dues. His repeated and often vitriolic reminders to delinquent patrons failed to produce the needed money to keep the Liberal Advocate printing.
Doctor Hurlbut came to Palmyra in November 1833. If he traveled to Palmyra via the Erie Canal, Rochester would have been on the way. Did Doctor Hurlbut meet with Abner Cole? Nothing in Abner’s newspaper mentions a meeting with Hurlbut. Abner didn’t editorialize about Hurlbut’s lectures in Palmyra.
Death of Abner Cole
On July 13, 1835, eight months after the final issue of the Liberal Advocate, Abner Cole died in Rochester. In his death notice, he was listed as the editor of the Liberal Advocate.[31] “Fanny Cole, his widow, was named executor of the estate.”[32]
Widow of Abner Cole
By August 1836, less than a year after the death of Abner Cole, Fanny had sold her remaining lands in Palmyra and moved to Oswego, New York to be near her brothers Daniel and Samuel T. Lawrence. Oswego had its own history of money-diggers. In 1830, a woman used a “magical glass” to instruct her followers where to dig in the hills. In 1832, there were reports of treasure hunters digging a well in the ruins of Fort Oswego, hoping to find hidden treasure. They found only cartridge boxes, staves, and bullets.
After the death of her brother Daniel Lawrence on June 26, 1837 at age sixty-four, even though her brother Samuel Lawrence was still in Oswego, widow Fanny Cole moved to Port Ontario, a new harbor town which promoters claimed would one day rival Oswego. She and her daughter Frances Ann did this to be near Lawrence Washington Cole, publisher of The Port Ontario Aurora. Although L. W. Cole withdrew as publisher on February 28, 1838 and moved to Michigan, arriving in Ann Arbor in the fall of 1838, Fanny and her daughter Frances Ann remained in Port Ontario.
In February 1838, Fanny Cole married widower Israel Jones, an early settler in Port Ontario. Both of their names appear on a deed on February 1, 1838 in the Oswego County clerk’s office. A registered deed on December 8, 1846 refers to them as husband and wife. Israel Jones died on September 9, 1847.[33] His wife Fanny did not succumb to death for another eight years. Notice of her death appeared in the Ontario Messenger [Canandaigua, NY] on October 24, 1855: “In this village on Friday night the 19th inst. at the residence of her daughter Mrs. Frances A. Hurlbut, Mrs. Fanny Wickham Lawrence, relict of the late Abner Cole, Esq., formerly of Palmyra died aged 73 years.”
As for the sons of Abner Cole and his wife Fanny, they followed in their father’s footsteps and became newspaper men. In 1844, Lawrence Washington Cole entered a partnership with a man named Gardner to publish the Michigan Argus in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The announcement of the partnership appeared in the November 20, 1844 issue of the Michigan Argus. Ten years later, his valedictory farewell appeared on June 19, 1854. Lawrence Cole sold out and moved to Albion, Michigan, where he founded the Albion Weekly Mirror in October 1855, a pro-democratic newspaper. In the meanwhile, his brother James Madison Cole edited the Ann Arbor Journal, a pro-republican publication. Both newspapers printed reports about the Latter-day Saints from other newspapers, but added little or no commentary. The most interesting article appeared in the Albion Weekly Mirror on November 11, 1845: “Money Digging. Or Obadiah’s Last Effort.” The article jokes about Abner Cole and Luman Walters. At the end of the article, Lawrence quips, “With so few money-diggers around at this time, they were destined to become as extinct as the race of ancient giants.” In his later years, James M. Cole worked for the Saturday Evening Star in Jackson, Michigan.
Children of Cole and Frances Cole
1. Lawrence Washington Cole (November 13, 1812–February 18, 1894). He married Jane Ann Fuller (Finch) (1818–1881) on March 4, 1848 in Washtenaw, Michigan.
2. James Madison Cole (1819–1906).
3. Sarah M. Cole (1825). She was married to Erasmus Darwin Stearns (born 1819).
4. Frances Ann Cole (1818–1906). She married George R. Danbury (born 1816).
[1] “Southworth Cole,” US Federal Census, 1810.
[2] US Federal Census, 1810.
[3] Ontario County, NY Grantee Deed Index, 1789–1845.
[4] “Married,” Geneva (NY) Gazette, November 7, 1810: “In Randolph, Morris County (N.J.) the 14th October. Last, Abner Cole, esq. of this village to Miss Fanny V. Lawrence, of the former place.”
[5] Common Pleas, 1805–1819 and Common Pleas, 1814 Special Bail, Ontario County Records and Archives Center, Canandaigua, NY.
[6] “Ontario County,” Ontario Repository, March 19, 1816.
[7] Ontario County, NY Grantee Deed Index, 1789–1845.
[8] Beckwith Deed at University of Rochester.
[9] Palmyra NY; US Centennial Celebration.
[10] Betsy Lewis, comp., “1817 Female Bible Society book of the Western Presbyterian Church,” November–December 2003.
[11] Bonnie J. Hays email, January 18, 2019.
[12] Ontario County, NY Grantee Deed Index, 1789–1845.
[13] Common Pleas 1818–1819, May 1821 Ontario County Records and Archives Center, Canandaigua, NY.
[14] “Titles of Acts,” Geneva Gazette [Geneva, NY], May 20, 1820; “Thursday, March 9,” Delaware Gazette, March 23, 1820, p. 1.
[15] Delaware Gazette, March 23, 1820, p. 1.
[16] “New Forge,” Palmyra Register, December 7, 1820.
[17] “By virtue of a writ . . .,” Rochester Telegraph, April 27, 1824, p. 4; “By virtue of a writ . . .,” Rochester Telegraph, December 23, 1823.
[18] “By virtue of a writ . . . ,” Rochester Telegraph, April 27, 1824, p. 4.
[19] Rich Troll, “Samuel Tyler Lawrence: A Significant Figure in Joseph Smith’s Palmyra Past,” Mormon Historical Quarterly.
[20] “Attorney General’s Sale,” Lyons Advertiser, December 3, 1824.
[21] Supreme Court 1812–1828, May 24, 1826 Ontario County Department of Records, Archives and Information Management.
[22] Smith, History of Joseph Smith by his Mother, pp. 157, 159–160; Bushman, Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism, pp. 120, 123; Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845, Joseph Smith Papers.
[23] Black and Black, “Exhibit Guide: Book of Mormon Historic Site,” pp. 36, 119.
[24] Lucy Mack Smith, 1844–1845, Document Transcript, in Joseph Smith Papers.
[25] Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 3:7.
[26] Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 3:8.
[27] Bushman, Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism, p. 121.
[28] E. B. Grandin Diary, 1831–1841.
[29] E. B. Grandin Diary, 1831–1841.
[30] E. B. Grandin Diary, 1831–1841.
[31] “Died,” Daily Democrat [Rochester, NY], July 15, 1835; “Obituary,” Wayne Sentinel, July 17, 1835.
[32] Abner Cole File, in Palmyra Community Library.
[33] “Died,” Richland Courier [Pulaski, NY], September 15, 1847; “Died,” Oswego Palladium, September 21, 1847.