185 years ago today - Nov 29, 1833

[Lucy Harris]
Being called upon to give a statement to the world of what I know respecting the Gold Bible speculation, and also of the conduct of Martin Harris, my husband, who is a leading character among the Mormons, ... Martin Harris was once industrious attentive to his domestic concerns, and thought to be worth about ten thousand dollars. ... At different times while I live with him, he has whipped, kicked, and turned me out of the house. About a year previous to the report being raised that Smith had found gold plates, he became very intimate with the Smith family, and said he believed Joseph could see in his stone any thing he wished. After this he apparently became very sanguine in his belief, and frequently said he would have no one in his house that did not believe in Mormonism; and because I would not give credit to the report he made about the gold plates, he became more austere towards me. In one of his fits of rage he struck me with the but end of a whip, which I think had been used for driving oxen, and was about the size of my thumb, and three or four feet long. He beat me on the head four or five times, and the next day turned me out of doors twice, and beat me in a shameful manner.--The next day I went to the town of Marion, and while there my flesh was black and blue in many places. His main complaint against me was, that I was always trying to hinder his making money. ...

[Eber D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville, Ohio: E. D. Howe, 1834), 254-57., as cited in Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents: Lucy Harris Statement]

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