Show MORE F EVIDENCE CE AGAINST THE ryu tru SPAULDING STORY tim thit stupid invention known as the a story has been thoroughly exposed and its assumptions completely overturned but it Is continually repeated and appears to be the only refuge of those who want to account for the book of mormon on any y other than the true that it is a divine record translated by divine power the spaulding dirig story was chiefly concocted by D P hulburt or I 1 hurlburt url uri burt who was excommunicated munica ted from the church at an early day and nd who made it up to threat ahr a t of vengeance against a ainest the church authorities the th e character of the man the falsity of his statements proofs that sidney ingdon lagdon who ho he claimed stole the spaulding manuscript and helped joseph Josep smith hSmith work it over into the book of I 1 mormon lor mou mon never ne saw the prophet nor the book until was published have been repeatedly shown up but of course have giaveno li aveno no weight with wit those who will not be convinced however as additional testimony on this subject we ire publish below the statement of a gentleman familiar illar with some points bearing ingon on this matter watter it will be interesting in to the latter day saints if not to their ietter enemies we clip it f rom it a lotter letter written by mr hyram to the lamoni lamont lowa iowa herald of ati all august augast oust gust 2nd and 1884 and dated lansing michigan july 17 1884 I 1 remember very distinctly when my lather robert rathbun and uncle george miller both lived in mantua ohio in the years ol of 1828 1829 and 1830 my father had been a minister in the close communion baptist persuasion but he with uncle george miller had more recently been carried away with the reformation which had swept through the western reserve in ohio it was a kind of a reform babit baptist movement one sidney rigdon wo was Ls regarded at the time as the one tow towering ering bring above all others in ability and consequently a leader in the reformation during t the e I 1 year of 1830 one parley P pratt and guc gsa ue oliver cowdery came along father opened Ws doors and krec received elved them kindly and they preached in fathers father shouse house mr air pratt gave father a book of mormon and re requested q nested him to read it ile he also gave sidney rigdon one making the same request of him that thal he did of father my father was much more of a preacher than he wasa was a debater uncle george miller was not much of a preacher but an indomitable biblical debat eranda sharp shrewd critic they agreed to read the book through on this wise they covenanted to together ether ethen to pray each day atten at ten in secret while reading the book through for divine wisdom and for the direction of the 11 llody 0 ly spirit that they might know of a truth and be directed of god for or against the book of mormon ad father was to read and uncle george miller was to criticise criticism critic ise lse ad they were to lay aside all prejudice all partiality and with all christian candor and ri righteous oteous fairness I 1 endeavor to reach their conclusions the result was that the they both embraced the tiie new faith and through all the checkered scenes of life maintained it and finally died in the triumph of that faith sidney bigdon at once rejected the book of mormon given him as an imposition and boldly withstood parley P pratt and oliver cowdery but bul uncle george miller set right in upon sidney rigdon with all his indomitable and unconquerable perseverance as though etwas it was a life and death struggle and never gave up the contest until I 1 ur mr Illig don dou became convinced and antl finally converted to the new faith also this was n not ot a public but a private controversy athey call cali called edit it then the faith once delivered to the saints saints 1 l this toos toas gidney sidney bagdons eig elg dons first acquaintance coith the book look af normon mormon and ancl it wasa was a very trying time with these he lle formed baptists to see their standard bearers with a good many others go over to what was then called the church of christ 1 and the faith falth 0 once onee nce nee deliver dellver delivered ed to t the tle tie saints in regard to D P hulburt sometimes called Pr Dr P hulburt burt 1 I have this to say s that it so turns out in the wonderful providence of god that I 1 have bad had quite an acci acel tic sic uain nain tance with this very peculiar sort of a man the tirom the methodist episcopal catli 01 for sor improprieties with tile thle opposite ses sen se and lying 3 lie he was excommunicated from the church i of jesus christ ol of latter iatter day lay saints for improprieties with the opposite sex and lying 3 upon Tipon this event he wore swore vengeance upon the latter I 1 day dax Saint sand sana undertook tu to destroy them thefil 4 ile he then went into the more western and newer part of the state of ohio where he was not himself into the church of the united brethren Breth ren reu iu in christ and was ordained an elder among aifong them here both in the conference and in tae atje church there was a constantly growing uneasiness about his improprieties until inthe lathe in the fall of 1851 1831 when he be was held before the sandusky annual conference of said church for a trial on charges of gross improprieties toward the opposite sex lying and intemperance each charge cowit to wit first im I 1 proprieties ies les toward the opposite sex nr second eo olid lying third intemperance was clearly and fully sustained and he was suspended from the ministry one year and as that year he grew from bad to worse helas he was entirely excommunicated at the next session of the conference which was waa held in ill the fall of 1832 1852 how do I 1 know all these things I 1 will tell ili jn regard to the first item my mothers mother s people eople were all methodists so t hat r 1 was blessed with seven methodist preachers as near relatives hence the excommunication communication ex of said hulburt from the methodist church was familiar household talk whenever any of them met together in ili regard to the second and third items ilist above entime enumerated rated iny my father had hud something somei komei hin more to do with than the former remember of hearing him tell about said hulburt imposing upon the church what a bold impudent ly lying ingman man he was and when ex com munica ted from the latter day saints how bow he swore he would have ven vengeance bance upon the mormons cormons Mor mons I 1 re remember menter of he hearing all of these things talked over and over again but la in after life I 1 heard beard him tell what a time he had with the methodists what a time he had with the mormons cormons Mor mons he boasted how he swore vengeance upon them ile he said that 81 spaulding gulding manuscript was a little insignificant thing of only about twenty pages and had no more relation to tb the book of mormon than he had to the inhabitants of the moon but said he be 1 I made it tell upon t them to their eternal damnation and here he seemed to glut himself in what he had done what a great thing he had done out of nothing the obscene language I 1 heard min mm use to an old minister in abusing him when all alone and as he supposed no one hearing him was so disgraceful and black that I 1 would not tell it under any consideration except under oath con firmed finned me une in all the charges chares brou brought ht against him in regard to the fourth item I 1 only have to say that at that time I 1 was an Elder eider with mr ard D P hulbert of the aforesaid Sandus sanduska kv annual conference of the church of the united brethren in christ and personally knew of those grievances I 1 was one of that honorable august body of elde elders who for i over two days before bishop edwards patiently heard his trial and thoro u gli leand ly and faithfully investigated a all ali it the testimony in his hig case and we all came to the same conclusion that tha t lie he was a very bad man and guilty of each charge made against him we all voted yea yes 1 rathbun Rath buu buo voted on the case to s suspend uni ual from the ml ministry bistry for one year and by 1 so doing doin doln give him redeem himself but he went on from bad to worse and at the next nest annual conference of 1852 by vote we excommunicated him fram the church for improprieties wit with lithe the opposite sex for lying and for intemperance vy HYRAM mab MAI n rayh RATh busi nusi 1 r Z 1 |