135 years ago today - Mar 20, 1885

[Sylvia Walker recollection]

... When Jo told his neighbors about finding gold plates no one believed him nor paid any attention to it, he had humbugged them so much. ... The Mormons said the price of the "Book of Mormon" was established at $1.75 by revelation. It did not sell well and they claimed to receive another to sell it at $1.25. The people were amused that the Mormon Deity did not know what price to set upon the book. It was freely talked among the neighbors that Jo Smith said he had a revelation to go to Pennsylvania and get him a wife. Jo claimed to receive a revelation to dig forty feet into a hill about two miles north of where he pretended to find the gold plates of the "Book of Mormon," where he would find a cave that contained gold furniture, chairs and table. The Mormons dug into the hill horizontally over forty feet without finding any cave. The boys troubled them so they placed a door with lock at the entrance. The boys placed brush against it and destroyed it with fire. The Mormons abandoned it. ...

[Naked Truths About Mormonism (April 1888): 1., as cited in Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents: Sylvia Walker Statement]

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