-- Jul 17, 1827
[Sydney Rigdon] Silas Engles died at age 46 (probably in or near Pittsburgh); if Engles had been aware of Lambdin, or anybody else, having once loaned Rigdon a Spalding MS, he was nolonger alive to tell of that transaction (1)
-- 1827 August
[Joseph Smith] Joseph Jr. works two days mowing for Lemuel Durfee, Sr. (2)
-- Aug. 1827
[Lucy Mack Smith] Joseph gets Emma's possessions from Harmony. (3)
-- 1827 September
[Joseph Smith] Joseph Jr. goes to Macedon and works for Mrs. Wells. (2)
-- 1827 September/ October
[Joseph Smith] Joseph Jr. takes the gold plates from the hiding spot in the fallen tree top and runs home with them. He tells Willard Chase that if it had not been for the stone, he would not have obtained the book. A group of treasure seekers begins looking for the plates. Lucy Smith mentions that Joseph hid the plates in a wood box which was smashed by people searching for the record. (2)
-- Sep 16, 1827
[Lucy Mack Smith] Lovina Smith, Hyrum and Jerusha's oldest daughter, is born. (3)
-- Sep 20, 1827
Joseph Knight and Josiah Stowell come to stay at Joseph Smith's house as they know about Smith's plans to retrieve the plates on 22-Sep (4)
-- Sep 21, 1827
[Oliver Cowdery] This is the date Joseph Smith, Jr. claimed to have received the "golden plates" from which the text of the Book of Mormon was derived -- the eve of the fall equinox. Sidney Rigdon's whereabouts were unaccounted for between Sep. 13 (when he was in Ashtabula, OH) and Oct. 9 (when he was in Mentor, OH). (5)
-- Early Sep 22, 1827
Joseph Smith took Knight's horse and wagon and went with Emma to the hill (a glacial drumlin). Knight was upset that his horse and wagon were gone [per Lucy Mack Smith]. (4)
-- Sep 22, 1827
Now that four years have passed, Smith successfully digs up the gold plates. Warned by Moroni not to let anyone else see them, he does show his mother an unusual pair of spectacles with precious stones where the eyepieces would normally be. These stones are to help Smith translate the book from the "reformed Egyptian" in which it is written. But rumors of a golden Bible have begun to circulate in the neighborhood, so Joseph and Emma Smith must flee potential thieves. Financially assisted by a local farmer named Martin Harris, the couple sets out for Harmony, hiding the gold plates in a barrel of beans. (6)
Heber C. Kimball, in Mendon, has a vision of armies marching in the heavens. (4)
Joseph Smith says, while Emma prayed (staying with the wagon), he retrieved the gold plates and hid them in an old black hollow oak tree top [per Harris]; in a birch log [per Lucy Mack Smith] meanwhile, Joseph Smith Sr. and Josiah Stowell were digging for money. [per Harris' 1859 interview]. (4)
[Joseph Smith] Joseph Jr. visits a nearby hill taking Emma with him in Joseph Knight's wagon. He finds gold plates in a stone box and hides the plates in a fallen tree top. He also finds with the plates a sword, breastplate, and a pair of spectacles (also called Urim and Thummim). Joseph tells Joseph Knight the plates "appear to be Gold" and through the glasses or spectacles "I can see any thing." (2)
[Lucy Mack Smith] Soon after midnight, Joseph Jr. and Emma take Joseph Knight's wagon to the Hill Cumorah where Joseph receives the plates while Emma prays. (3)
Footnotes:
1 - http://sidneyrigdon.com/Rigdchrn.htm
2 - Inventing Mormonism:Tradition and the Historical Record, H. Michael Marquardt Wesley P. Walters. A Chronology of Mormon Origins, p.xxvi
3 - Lucy's Book: A Critical Edition of Lucy Mack Smith's Family Memoir, Edited by Lavina Fielding Anderson, 2001, Signature Books
4 - http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgv482t8_0d5hdn5cv
5 - http://olivercowdery.com/history/Cdychrn1.htm
6 - http://www.pbs.org/mormons/timeline/
LDS History
A lighter version of this blog:
http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/
Current Issues:
http://mormon-chronicles.blogspot.com/
Clair Barrus
No comments:
Post a Comment