Joseph Smith occasionally would meet with an old man that lived near Joseph’s home¹. In his late teenage years Joseph met several times² with this old man who would tell Joseph stories from when he was younger. On at least one of these occasions, he told Joseph about a manuscript that he and his father had been writing³. In perhaps a moment of vulnerability the old man confided in Joseph that there had been some delays in finishing the text when his father had died⁴ and between that and some other family drama⁵, he had been unable to publish the manuscript⁶. After gaining this old man’s trust, Joseph convinced him to give him the manuscript⁷.

In one account, Joseph showed the old man’s manuscript to a group of his family members and close associates, including his father and two of his brothers, and confided in them that he had essentially just copied the text for the Book of Mormon from the manuscript⁸.

At least three other people claimed that they knew the old man and that he had also shown them the manuscript that he had written⁹. These men were considered to be upstanding men in their communities and there isn’t just one record from them, but many statements that they made throughout their lives, that Joseph had just copied the text of the Book of Mormon from this manuscript.¹⁰

In a death bed interview Emma confessed to finding the manuscript hidden, wrapped in a tablecloth to try and conceal the true origins of the Book of Mormon¹¹.

Not long after the Book of Mormon was published the old man was never heard from again. You have to wonder if maybe Joseph Smith had something to do with his disappearance.

Footnotes

1. Joseph Smith Papers, History, 1834-1836 pg 65 ↩

2. JS-H 1: 53-54 ↩

3. JS-H 1:34 ↩

4. Mormon 8:1-3 ↩

5. Moroni 1 ↩

6. Moroni 8:4 ↩

7. JS-H 1:59 ↩

8. Testimony of the Eight Witnesses ↩

9. Testimony of the Three Witnesses ↩

10. Witnesses of the Book or Mormon - especially the last two paragraphs ↩

11. Last Testimony of Sister Emma ↩