Peter Ingersoll, son of Francis Ingersoll and Rachel Case, was born in 1787 in Granville, Washington County, New York. The rural community of Granville is located on the eastern border of Washington County, butting up to Rutland County, Vermont. Granville has been called the “Colored Slate Capital of the World” because slate from the quarries in the town mine come in a variety of colors such as green, gray, gray black, purple, mottled green and purple, and red.
At age twenty-three, as indicated in the 1810 US Federal Census, Peter resided in Scipio, Cayuga County, New York—one of the oldest townships in what was known as the Military Tract. It was an area in New York allotted to Revolutionary soldiers, who drew lots for property and typically traded lots to acquire adjoining tracts. The township was named after Scipio Africanus, a Roman General. It is not surprising that while living in a Military Tract, Peter courted the sister of a Revolutionary War soldier, Catherine Todd (1787–1858). Peter was married to Catherine in 1810. They resided in a household of five—one male under age 10, two male ages 16-25, and one female age 16-25.
War of 1812
Because of where he was living, it seemed natural that Peter would enlist in the military when the US Congress declared war on Great Britain on June 18, 1812.[1] He served under General Winfield Scott, known as “Old Fuss and Feathers” for his insistence on proper military etiquette, and as the “Grand Old Man of the Army” for his many years of service.
Peter was a private in the Claudius Boughton Dragoons also known as the 13th Regiment Calvary of the New York Militia. [2] He served on the Canadian front, fighting in the Battle of Queenstown Heights, Battle of Fort George, Battle of Chippawa, and Battle of Lundy’s Lane, also known as the Battle of Niagara Falls—one of the deadliest battles ever fought in Canada. The Treaty of Ghent ended hostilities by formal ratification on February 17, 1815.
For his service in the War of 1812, Peter Ingersoll qualified for a land warrant in Lapeer County, Michigan. It is assumed that knowing he had land in Michigan lured him to the territory in 1836.
Outlaw
In 1814, Sheriff Asa Ransom, one of the first white residents of Erie County, New York, accused Peter of grand larceny, which is theft of personal property having a value above a legally specified amount. Apparently, Peter was arrested and charged with grand larceny but escaped from prison. In a notice of the escape is a physical description of Peter: “5 feet 10 or 11 inches high, dark complexion, blue eyes, thick set, wore a drab great coat.” Sheriff Asa Ransom wrote, “Whoever will apprehend said Ingersoll and secure him, so that he may be brought to justice, shall receive the reward, & all necessary charges paid.”[3] There was no comment of Peter being apprehended.
Peter Ingersoll and Joseph Smith Sr.
In April 1822, Peter moved with his wife Catherine Todd Ingersoll and his children Morgan age 10, William age 4, and Marietta age 2 to property bordering the Joseph Smith Sr. property to the north.[4] Peter and his family became acquainted with the Smith family in 1822 and lived in the Smith’s neighborhood until about 1830.[5]
Peter Ingersoll recalled becoming first “acquainted with the family of Joseph Smith, Sen.” In 1822, he described “the general employment of the family, was digging for money.” He told of the Smiths giving him “frequent invitations to join the company, but always declined being one of their number.” He also told of the Smiths using “various arguments to induce me to accept of their invitations” but of refusing any argument to participate. However, Peter contradicted himself and detailed experiences with Joseph Smith Sr. and the use of a diving rod to find treasure—
I was once ploughing near the house of Joseph Smith, Sen. about noon, he requested me to walk with him a short distance from his house, for the purpose of seeing whether a mineral rod would work in my hand, saying at the same time he was confident it would. As my oxen were eating, and being myself at leisure, I accepted the invitation.—When we arrived near the place at which he thought there was money, he cut a small witch hazel bush and gave me direction how to hold it. He then went off some rods, and told me to say to the rod, “work to the money,” which I did, in an audible voice. He rebuked me severely for speaking it loud, and said it must be spoken in a whisper. This was rare sport for me. While the old man was standing oft some rods, throwing himself into various shapes, I told him the rod did not work. He seemed much surprised at this, and said he thought he saw it move in my hand.
It was now time for me to return to my labor. On my return, I picked up a small stone and was carelessly tossing it from one hand to the other. Said he, (looking very earnestly) what are you going to do with that stone? Throw it at the birds, I replied. No, said the old man, it is of great worth; and upon this I gave it to him. Now, says he, if you only knew the value there is back of my house, (and pointing to a place near)—there, exclaimed he, is one chest of gold and another of silver. He then put the stone which I had given him, into his hat, and stooping forward, he bowed and made sundry maneuvers, quite similar to those of a stool pigeon. At length he took down his hat, and being very much exhausted, said, in a faint voice, “If you knew what I had seen, you would believe.” To see the old man thus try to impose upon me, I confess, rather had a tendency to excite contempt than pity. Yet I thought it best to conceal my feelings, preferring to appear the dupe of my credulity, than to expose myself to his resentment. His son Alvin then went through with the same performance, which was equally disgusting.
Another time, the said Joseph, Sen. told me that the best time for digging money, was, in the heat of summer, when the heat of the sun caused the chests of money to rise near the top of the ground. You notice, said he, the large stones on the top of the ground—we call them rocks, and they truly appear so, but they are, in fact, most of them chests of money raised by the heat of the sun. At another time, he told me that the ancient inhabitants of this country used camels instead of horses. For proof of this fact, he stated that in a certain hill on the farm of Mr. [William] Cuyler, there was a cave containing an immense value of gold and silver, stands of arms, also, a saddle for a camel, hanging on a peg at one side of the cave. I asked him, of what kind of wood the peg was. He could not tell, but said it had become similar to stone or iron.
The old man at last laid a plan which he thought would accomplish his design. His cows and mine had been gone for some time, and were not to be found, notwithstanding our diligent search for them. Day after day was spent in fruitless search, until at length he proposed to find them by his art of divination. So he took his stand near the corner of his house, with a small stick in his hand, and made several strange and peculiar motions, and then said he could go directly to the cows. So he started off, and went into the woods about one hundred rods distant and found the lost cows. But on finding out the secret of the mystery, [Samuel] Harrison had found the cows, and drove them to the above named place, and milked them. So that this stratagem turned out rather more to his profit than it did to my edification.—
The old man finding that all his efforts to make me a money digger, had proved abortive, at length ceased his importunities. One circumstance, however, I will mention before leaving him. Sometime before young Joseph found, or pretended to find, the gold plates, the old man told me that in Canada, there had been a book found, in a hollow tree that gave an account of the first settlement of this country before it was discovered by Columbus.
Peter Ingersoll and Joseph Smith Jr.
There is an account in the Peter Ingersoll affidavit in Mormonism Unvailed of going with Joseph Smith to Harmony, Pennsylvania. The Peter Ingersoll account begins, “In the month of August, 1827, I was hired by Joseph Smith, Jr. to go to Pennsylvania, to move his wife’s household furniture up to Manchester, where his wife then was.” Did Joseph Smith have money to hire Peter Ingersoll? Yet Peter wrote that he traveled with young Joseph and his wife Emma to Harmony—
One circumstance occurred on the road, worthy of notice, and I believe this is the only instance where Jo ever exhibited true Yankee wit. On our journey to Pennsylvania, we could not make the exact change at the toll gate near Ithaca [New York]. Joseph told the gate tender, that he would “hand” him the toll on his return, as he was coming back in a few days. On our return, Joseph tendered to him 25 cents, the toll being 12. He did not recognize Smith, so he accordingly gave him back the I2 cents. After we had passed the gate, I asked him if he did not agree to pay double gate on our return. No, said he, I agreed to “Award” it to him, and I did, but he handed it back again. . . .
When we arrived at Mr. Hale’s, in Harmony, Pa. from which place he had taken his wife, a scene presented itself, truly affecting. His father-in-law (Mr. Hale) addressed Joseph, in a flood of tears: “You have stolen my daughter and married her. I had much rather have followed her to her grave. You spend your time in digging for money—pretend to see in a stone, and thus try to deceive people.” Joseph wept, and acknowledged he could not see in a stone now, nor never could; and that his former pretensions in that respect, were all false.
He then promised to give up his old habits of digging for money and looking into stones. Mr. Hale told Joseph, if he would move to Pennsylvania and work for a living, he would assist him in getting into business. Joseph acceded to this proposition. I then returned with Joseph and his wife to Manchester.
Peter then spoke of the confidence that young Joseph had in him, sharing some thoughts of their return trip—
Joseph told me on his return that he intended to keep the promise which he had made to his father-in-law; but, said he, it will be hard for me, for they will all oppose, as they want me to look in the stone for them to dig money: and in fact it was as he predicted. They urged him, day after day, to resume his old practice of looking in the stone.—He seemed much perplexed as to the course he should pursue. In this dilemma, he made me his confident and told me what daily transpired in the family of Smiths.
Peter then told of Joseph Smith speaking of duping his family about gold plates—
One day [Joseph Smith Jr.] came, and greeted me with a joyful countenance.—Upon asking the cause of his unusual happiness, he replied in the following language: “As I was passing, yesterday, across the woods, after a heavy shower of rain, I found, in a hollow, some beautiful white sand, that had been washed up by the water. I took off my frock, and tied up several quarts of it, and then went home. On my entering the house, I found the family at the table eating dinner. They were all anxious to know the contents of my frock. At that moment, I happened to think of what I had heard about a history found in Canada, called the golden Bible; so I very gravely told them it was the golden Bible. To my surprise, they were credulous enough to believe what I said. Accordingly I told them that I had received a commandment to let no one see it, or, says I, no man can see it with the naked eye and live. However, I offered to take out the book and show it to them, but they refuse to see it, and left the room. “Now,” said Jo, “I have got the damned fools fixed, and will carry out the fun.”
Notwithstanding, he told me he had no such book, and believed there never was any such book, yet, he told me that he actually went to Willard Chase, to get him to make a chest, in which he might deposit his golden Bible. But, as Chase would not do it, he made a box himself, of clapboards, and put it into a pillow case, and allowed people only to lift it, and feel of it through the case.[6]
Joseph Smith, Martin Harris, and Fifty Dollars
The Peter Ingersoll Affidavit also tells of the incident in which Martin Harris gave Joseph Smith $50 for a trip to Pennsylvania. The circumstances surrounding the $50 begins when Joseph “was under the necessity” of looking beyond Palmyra for safety. Word was sent to Alva Hale in Harmony that Joseph wished to move to Pennsylvania as quickly as he was able to settle his business. Alva’s timely arrival was rooted in a visit made by Emma and Joseph to the Hale family home in Harmony the previous August 1827. Emma had written her father with an inquiry requesting to know if her household furniture, clothing, milk cows and other dowry items were still hers. Isaac replied in the affirmative and invited the young couple to come and get them.—
In the fall of 1827, Joseph wanted to go to Pennsylvania. His brother-in-law [Alvah Hale] had come to assist him in moving, but he himself was out of money. He wished to borrow the money of me, and he presented Mr. Hale as security. I told him in case he could obtain assistance from no other source, I would let him have some money.
Joseph then went to Palmyra; and, said he, I there met that damn fool, Martin Harris, and told him that I had a command to ask the first honest man I met with, for fifty dollars in money, and he would let me have it. I saw at once, said Jo, that it took his notion, for he promptly gave me the fifty. Joseph thought this sum was sufficient to bear his expenses to Pennsylvania. So he immediately started off, and since that time I have not been much in his society.[7]
Complaint against Joseph Smith before a magistrate in Lyons, NY
Lucy Harris, wife of Martin Harris, entered a complaint against Joseph Smith “before a certain magistrate at Lyons, [New York].” In March 1829, the judicial proceeding was called to order and witnesses for the prosecution were duly sworn:
The 1st Witness testified that Joseph Smith told him that the box which he had contained nothing but sand and he only said it was gold plates to deceive the people.
2nd Witness swore that Joseph Smith told upon a certain occasion that it was nothing but a box of lead and he was determined to use it as he saw fit.
3rd Witness declared under oath that he enquired of Joseph Smith what he had in that box and Joseph Smith said to him that there was nothing in the box saying I have made fools of the whole of you and all I want is to get Martin Harris’s money away from him. Witnesses also stated that Joseph had already got $200 or $300 from Martin by his persuasion.
It can be assumed that the third witness was Peter Ingersoll. Support for this assumption comes from Sarah Ingersoll, who was residing in Sioux City, Iowa when she wrote a cover letter to her friend Hellen Miller Gould dated November 27, 1899. In the letter, Sarah wrote of Peter Ingersoll’s testimony about Joseph Smith as related to her by her husband Byron Ingersoll, a nephew of Peter Ingersoll who lived near him in Flint, Michigan. Her statement suggested that Peter withheld information that would have implicated him in “Smith’s fraud.”
After the separation of Harris and his wife, that and some other trouble caused quite a commotion in the community and people began to take sides and look seriously on the matter. Uncle Peter Ingersoll, never dreaming that it would terminate so seriously, went before the court and testified to all that he knew about Mormonism. (This suggests that Peter was a witness who testified against Joseph Smith in Lyons in March 1829.[8]
Life of Peter Ingersoll in 1830
The last comment about the Smiths in the Peter Ingersoll Affidavit was after they had moved to Waterloo, New York. He said, “William [Smith] visited my neighborhood, and upon my inquiry how they came on, he replied, ‘We do better there than here; we were too well known here to do much.’”[9]
As for Peter, he was listed in the 1830 US Federal Census as remaining in Palmyra and having a household of one male under age 5, one male age 5-10, one male age 10-15, one male age 15-20, one male age 20-30, one male age 40-50, one female age 5-10, one female age 15-20, one female age 20-30, one female age 30-40, and one female age 50-60.
More importantly, author Pomeroy Tucker lists Peter as one of the first members of the Church in 1830, as well as Samuel Lawrence. If this was the case, neither man stayed long in the Church. Their names do not appear on Church records. According a Sarah Ingersoll letter to her friend Hellen Miller Gould dated November 27, 1899, “Peter Ingersoll was not ever a believer in Mormonism.”[10]
Peter moved to Michigan
Peter sold his property north of the Joseph Smith Sr. property to satisfy a judgment against him. He then moved to Holly, Michigan, about 55 miles northwest of Detroit. On July 11, 1836 (possibly June 11, 1836), Peter purchased 40 acres in Section 12 of the Holly Township.[11]
His land in Holly Township was questioned in the court case Peter Ingersoll v. Henry W. Horton. The case was heard before the Michigan Supreme Court on July 10, 1859, with M. Wisner representing the complainant (Peter Ingersoll), and M. L. Drake, representing the defendant (Henry W. Horton). At issue was a contract Peter had for six or seven acres of land which gave Peter an easement to the Saginaw Trail (now named Dixie Highway) through Henry W. Horton’s land. The contractual agreement was that Peter would pay Horton $1.25 per acre. On September 7, 1853, Peter Ingersoll received the following notice from Henry W. Horton: “Peter Ingersoll Sir: You are hereby notified that you must, within 15 days of this date, pay me for land you now occupy, on the west half in County of Oakland or you must leave the premises.” Apparently, Peter had agreed with Horton in 1836 to build a house and open a tavern on the property.
In 1854, Henry W. Horton demanded payment from Peter, who paid $30. Horton refused to accept the payment, believing his easement to be worth over $1,000. The Michigan Supreme Court favored the Peter Ingersoll position.[12]
Possible Connection of Peter Ingersoll to Samuel Dyke
Samuel Dyke, son of Samuel Stearns Dyke and Dolly Flanders, was born in 1799 (1800) in Warner, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, and was the eldest brother of Flanders Dyke. In 1830, in a Wayne Sentinel article about Flanders Dyke, the following was noted about Samuel: “Samuel Dyke, senior, once a saddler and trunk maker by trade, now a man of no steady employment. Samuel Dyke, Jr. saddler, stage-driver, &c.—last heard from in Canada.”
The following account about Samuel may or may not be him, but it has a connection to an “Ingersoll”—
Known as “Old Dyke,” or “Daddy Dyke”, Samuel Dyke was noted for his eccentricity and his dishonesty. He and Ingersoll opened in Lexington, Kentucky, on approximately April 1, 1838 and remained there until at least Thursday, 16 May 1838. On that day they presented Leila, the Maid of the Alhambra as a benefit for its author, William Ross Wallace. Reviewing the performance, the Observer and Reporter commented that Ingersoll “should depend more on the author and less on his own capabilities, justly appreciated as they are.” The Lexington Intelligencer was less kind, citing “the imperfections of the cast” and noting that Ingersoll was “a man of genius but very idle in study,” who “did not speak more than ten lines of the author.” The fact that a star of Ingersoll’s reputation was playing in so minor a company is probably an indication of his personal state. According to Charles Durang, a fellow actor, John R. Scott found Ingersoll in Louisville “in the last stage of distress and gave him a hundred dollars.[13]
Remainder of his Life in Michigan
In 1840, Peter was charged 93 cents for owning 40 acres in Section 12 in Oakland, Michigan.[14] Also in 1840, Peter was listed in the US Federal Census as residing in Oakland, Michigan and having a household of one male age 10-14, three males ages 20-29, one male age 50-59, one female age 10-14, one female age 15-19, one female age 20-29, one female age 40-49, and three persons employed in agriculture.
From 1840 to 1850, Peter resided in Groveland, Oakland County, Michigan. In Groveland, he was elected an overseer of highways, the same position he held years before in Palmyra, New York.[15] Peter was listed in the 1850 US Federal Census as living in Groveland. At the time, he was age sixty-two, a farmer, and had $1,000 in real wealth. His wife, Catherine, was age sixty-four.
In 1857, Peter received a federal land grant in Saginaw County, Michigan. Peter’s wife, Catherine Todd Ingersoll, died in Groveland, Michigan on June 6, 1858. She was buried in the Hadley Cemetery (named for Jonathan Hadley) in Holly, Michigan.[16]
Peter was listed in the 1860 US Federal Census as a resident of Flint, Genesee County, Michigan. He was living in the household of Ira D. Wright, who had married his daughter, Marietta Ingersoll in 1842.[17] Peter died of heart disease on April 22, 1867 in Flint at age seventy-eight.[18] He was buried in either the Hadley Cemetery in Holly, Michigan or the Groveland Cemetery in Groveland, Michigan
Children of Peter and Catherine Ingersoll
1. Morgan Ingersoll (1812–1843).
2. Margaret Ingersoll (1815).
3. William W. (M.) Ingersoll.
4. Marietta (Henriett) Ingersoll (1820–1891). She married Ira D. Wright (1808–1893) in 1850. She cared for her father Peter Ingersoll in his old age.
5. Catherine M. Ingersoll (March 1824). She married Alonzo Baker (1826).
6. Melvin Ingersoll (July 31, 1827–1864). He was the twin of Francis Ingersoll. He married Sublima Davis in 1850 in Palmyra. He moved to Virginia.
7. Francis Montgomery Ingersoll (July 31, 1827–February 28, 1900). He was the twin of Melvin Ingersoll. He married Elizabeth Haines (1830–1860) on May 13, 1851 in Sandusky, Erie, Ohio. He later married Emma Major (1842–1902) in 1870 in Parkersburg, Wood, West Virginia. He died in Ohio.
[1] Oakland County Genealogical Society; History of Genesee County, Michigan: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers (Philadelphia: Everts & Abbott, 1879).
[2] War of 1812—General Index Card.
[3] “10 dol. Reward,” Buffalo Gazette [Buffalo, NY], September 27, 1814.
[4] Peter Ingersoll Statement, December 2, 1833.
[5] Walker, United by Faith, p. 108; Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic Worldview, p. 51; Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, pp. 326–329; Clark, Gleanings by the Way, p. 342; Porter, “A Study of the Origins of the LDS Church in New York and Pennsylvania,” p. 97; Tucker, Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism, p. 24; Shook, The True Origin of the Book of Mormon, p. 131; Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 2:39–40, 42.
[6] Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, pp. 232–237.
[7] Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, pp. 232–237.
[8] Sara Melissa Ingersoll Réminiscence, 1899; Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 3:390–291.
[9] Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, pp. 232–237.
[10] Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 3:396.
[11] First Land Owners of Oakland County Michigan by the Committee on Land Records (Birmingham, MI: Oakland County Genealogical Society, 1981).
[12] “Supreme Court,” Detroit Free Press, July 10, 1859; Michigan Reports: Reports of Cases heard and decided in the Supreme Court of Michigan at the July and October terms, 1859. Thomas M. Cooley, Reporter (Chicago: Callaghan and Co., 1878), 3:405–409.
[13] Franklin Graham, Historic Montreal ([Bronx, NY]: Benjamin Bloom, 1902).
[14] Mrs. Edward V. Howlett, “Assessment Role of the Township of Holly for the year 1840 in Tax Rolls of Oakland County, Michigan, 1834–1840,” 1:95.
[15] May Rockwell Howlett, Groveland Township Records, Oakland County, Michigan 1835–1864 (1944), p. 95.
[16] Samuel W. Durrant, History of Oakland County, Michigan, p. 179.
[17] History of Genesee County, Michigan: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers (Philadelphia: Everts & Abbott, 1879).
[18] Lillian Drake Avery, A Genealogy of the Ingersoll Family in America, 1629–1925 (NY: Frederick H. Hitchcook, Grafton Press and Genealogical Publishers, 1926).