Chapter XII: David Whitmer

David Whitmer, the second of the three witnesses, still lives. His home is in Richmond, Ray Co., Missouri. He left the Church during the dark days of persecution in Missouri and has never returned to the communion of the Saints. He even to this day holds some very bitter feelings toward the Prophet Joseph, whom he wrongfully imagines endeavored to injure him. But notwithstanding these feelings and the fact that he is not a member of the Church he has all the days of his life testified to the divine origin of the Book of Mormon. His word in this respect has never wavered.

Of late various testimonies given to visitors or written by David Whitmer have been widely published in the public newspapers. We subjoin extracts from one or two of these. The first is a portion of a statement signed by himself and dated at Richmond, March 19th, 1881:

_"Unto all Nations, Kindreds, Tongues and People, unto whom these
presents shall come_:

"It having been represented by one John Murphy, of Polo, Caldwell
county, Missouri, that I, in a conversation with him last Summer,
denied my testimony as one of the three witnesses to the 'Book of
Mormon:'

"To the end, therefore, that he may understand me now, if he did
not then; and that the world may know the truth, I wish now,
standing as it were, in the very sunset of life, and in the fear of
God, once for all to make this public statement:

"That I have never at any time, denied that testimony or any part
thereof, which has so long since been published with that book, as
one of the three witnesses. Those who know me best well know that
I have always adhered to that testimony. And that no man may be
misled or doubt my present views in regard to the same, I do again
affirm the truth of all my statements as then made and published.

"'He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear;' it was no delusion;
what is written, is written, and he that readeth, let him
understand."

The following are portions of a letter to the Chicago _Times_, detailing the visit of one of its correspondents to Mr. Whitmer, on October 14th, 1881. The statements are given as those of David Whitmer, and though exceedingly correct as a whole, sometimes, owing to the correspondent's want of familiarity with the subject, they make the speaker fall into slight blunders on historical and other points. He writes:

"The plates from which the book was translated, supposed to be
gold, were found in the latter part of the year 1827 or 1828, prior
to the acquaintance on Mr. Whitmer's part, with Joseph Smith, and
he was loth to believe in their actuality, notwithstanding the
community in which he lived (Ontario county, New York), was alive
with excitement in regard to Smith's finding a great treasure, and
they informed him that they knew that Smith had the plates, as
they had seen the place that he had taken them from, on the hill
Cumorah, about two miles from Palmyra, N. Y. It was not until June,
1828, that he met the future Prophet, who visited at his father's
house, and while there completed the translation of the Book of
Mormon, and thus he became conversant with its history, having
witnessed Smith dictate to Oliver Cowdery the translation of the
characters that were inscribed on the plates, said by Mr. Anthon,
our Egyptian scholar, to resemble the characters of that ancient
people. Christian Whitmer, his brother, occasionally assisted
Cowdery in writing, as did Mrs. Joseph Smith, who was a Miss Hale
before she was married.

"In regard to finding the plates, he was told by Smith that they
were in a stone casket, and the place where it was deposited, in
the hill Cumorah, was pointed out to him by a celestial personage,
clad in a dazzling white robe, and he was informed by it that
it was the history of the Nephites, a nation that had passed
away, whose founders belonged to the days of the tower of Babel.
The plates which Mr. Whitmer saw were in the shape of a tablet,
fastened with three rings, about one-third of which appeared to be
loose, in plates, the other solid, but with perceptible marks where
the plates seemed to be sealed, and the guide that pointed it out
to Smith very impressively reminded him that the loose plates alone
were to be used, the sealed portion was not to be tampered with.

"After the plates had been translated, which process required about
six months, the same heavenly visitant appeared and reclaimed the
gold tablets of the ancient people informing Smith that he would
replace them with other records of the lost tribes that had been
brought with them during their wanderings from Asia, which would
be forthcoming when the world was ready to receive them. At that
time Mr. Whitmer saw the tablets, gazed with awe on the celestial
messenger, heard him speak and say: "Blessed is the Lord and he
that keeps His commandments;" and then, as he held the plates and
turned them over with his hands, so that they could be plainly
visible, a voice that seemed to fill all space, musical as the
sighing of a wind through the forest, was heard, saying: "What you
see is true; testify to the same." And Oliver Cowdery and David
Whitmer, standing there, felt, as the white garments of the angel
faded from their vision and the heavenly voice still rang in their
ears, that it was no delusion--that it was a fact, and they so
recorded it. In a day or two after, the same spirit appeared to
Martin Harris while he was in company with Smith, and told him also
to bear witness to its truth, which he did, as can be seen in the
book. Harris described the visitant to Whitmer, who recognized it
as the same that he and Cowdery had seen.

"The tablets or plates were translated by Smith, who used a small
oval or kidney shaped stone, called Urim and Thummim, that seemed
endowed with the marvelous power of converting the characters
on the plates, when used by Smith, into English, who would then
dictate to Cowdery what to write. Frequently one character would
make two lines of manuscript while others made but a word or
two words. Mr. Whitmer emphatically asserts, as did Harris and
Cowdery, that while Smith was dictating the translation he had _no
manuscript notes or other means of knowledge_, save the Seer stone
and the characters as shown on the plates, he being present and
cognizant how it was done.

"In regard to the statement that Sidney Rigdon had purloined the
work of one Spaulding, a Presbyterian preacher, who had written a
romance entitled the 'Manuscript Found,' Mr. Whitmer says there
is no foundation for such an assertion. The 'Book of Mormon' was
translated in the Summer of 1829, and printed that Winter at
Palmyra, New York, and was in circulation before Sidney Rigdon knew
anything concerning the Church of Christ, as it was known then.
His attention was specially brought to it by the appearance at his
church, near Kirtland, Ohio, in the Fall of 1830, of Parley Pratt
and Oliver Cowdery, he being at that time a Reformed or Christian
preacher, they having been sent west by the Church in New York
during that Summer as evangelists, and they carried with them the
printed book, the first time that he knew such a thing was in
existence.

* * * * * * *

Mr. Whitmer emphatically asserts that he has heard Rigdon, in the
pulpit, and in private conversation, declare that the 'Spaulding
story,' that he had used a book called the 'Manuscript Found' for
the purpose of preparing the 'Book of Mormon,' was as false as were
many other charges that were then being made against the infant
Church, and he assures me that the story is as untruthful as it is
ridiculous.

"In his youth Joseph Smith was quite illiterate, knew nothing of
grammar or composition, but obtained quite a good education after
he came west; was a man of great magnetism, made friends easily,
was liberal and noble in his impulses, tall, finely-formed and full
of animal life, but sprang from the most humble circumstances. The
first good suit of clothes he had ever worn was presented to him by
Christian Whitmer, brother of David.

* * * * * * * *

"Mr. Whitmer's beliefs have undergone no change since his early
manhood; he has refused to affiliate with any of the various
branches that have sprung up through false teachings, and rests
his hopes of the future in the teachings of Christ, the apostles
and the prophets, and the morals and principles enunciated in the
scriptures; that the Book of Mormon is but the testimony of another
nation concerning the truth and divinity of Christ and the Bible,
and that is his rock, his gospel and his salvation.' Seeing, with
him, is believing. He is now as firm in the faith of the divinity
of the book that he saw translated as he was when the glory of the
celestial visitant almost blinded him with the gleam of his glowing
presence, fresh from the Godhead; and the voice, majestic, ringing
out from the earth to the mighty dome of space, still lingers in
his ears like a chime of silver bells."

The _Deseret Evening News_ at the time of the publication of his letter corrected some of the errors of this correspondent. We cannot do better than use its language:

"The first [error] is that the founders of the Nephites 'belonged
to the tower of Babel.' The Nephites sprang from Nephi, the son
of Lehi, who came to this land from Judea, in the reign of King
Zedekiah. The Jaredites, whose history is briefly given in the
Book of Mormon, were a distinct and preceding race; they descended
from a colony that peopled this country after the dispersion from
Babel. The term 'lost tribes' is also incorrect, as the Nephites
had no identity with the lost tribes of Israel, being descendants
of Joseph, the son of Jacob.

"The next mistake is that 'In a day or two after David Whitmer
and Oliver Cowdery saw the angel and the plates, the same spirit
appeared to Martin Harris.' The truth is that it was shortly after,
on the same day. Martin Harris was with Joseph, Oliver and David,
but there was no answer to their prayers, until Martin, who felt
that his lack of faith was a hindrance, withdrew. Then the angel
appeared, and after the vision closed, Joseph Smith went to the
place where Martin Harris was, a little distance off, and joined
with him in prayer, when the angel again appeared, and Martin
rejoicingly bore testimony that he had seen and heard as the others.

"The next error is that the seer stone which Joseph used in the
translation 'was called Urim and Thummim.' The instrument thus
denominated was composed of two crystal stones 'set in the two rims
of a bow.' The seer stone was separate and distinct from the Urim
and Thummim. The latter was delivered to the angel as well as the
plates after the translation was completed; the former remained
with the Church and is now in the possession of the President."

A still later interviewer gives the following as David Whitmer's testimony to the party of visitors of which the writer was one:

"We asked him if his testimony was the same now as it was at the
time the Book of Mormon was published regarding seeing the plates
and the angel. He rose to his feet, stretched out his hands and
said: 'These hands handled the plates, these eyes saw the angel,
and these ears heard His voice; and I know it was of God.'"

Our concluding extract is a statement made by David Whitmer to Elders Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith, when these brethren visited him at his home in September, 1878.

In answer to Elder Pratt's question, if he remembered the date he saw the plates, he answered:

"It was in June, 1829--the latter part of the month, and the eight
witnesses saw them, I think, the next day or the day after. Joseph
showed them the plates himself, but the angel showed us [the
three witnesses] the plates, as I suppose to fulfill the words of
the book itself. Martin Harris was not with us at this time; he
obtained a view of them afterwards [the same day]. Joseph, Oliver,
and myself were together when I saw them. We not only saw the
plates of the Book of Mormon but also the brass plates, the plates
of the Book of Ether, the plates containing the records of the
wickedness and secret combinations of the people of the world down
to the time of their being engraved and many other plates. The fact
is, it was just as though Joseph, Oliver and I were sitting just
here on a log when we were overshadowed by a light. It was not like
the light of the sun nor like that of a fire, but more glorious and
beautiful. It extended away around us, I cannot tell how far, but
in the midst of this light about as far off as he sits (pointing
to John C. Whitmer, sitting a few feet from him), there appeared,
as it were, a table with many records or plates upon it besides
the plates of the Book of Mormon; also the sword of Laban, the
directors--_i. e_. the ball which Lehi had, and the Interpreters. I
saw them just as plain as I see this bed (striking the bed beside
him with his hand), and I heard the voice of the Lord as distinctly
as I ever heard anything in my life, declaring that the records of
the plates of the Book of Mormon were translated by the gift and
power of God.'

"Elder Pratt then asked, 'Did you see the angel at this time?'

"David Whitmer answered, 'Yes; he stood before us. Our testimony
as recorded in the Book of Mormon is strictly and absolutely true,
just as it is there written.'"