emilysmith wrote:
It was presented by someone claiming to be a direct descendent of Spaulding. Other than that, I'm not inclined to give up someone else's personal details. I'll bet it can be Googled up. This was all part of a discussion among ex-Mormons.
Thanks Emily. So that quote comes from a discussion on a message board on the Net by someone claiming to be an ancestor of Spaulding? Not very reliable then.
I see though in the other long quote it appears there was a newspaper (date ?) which claims that a grandson of Rev. Spaulding..Mr. J. A. McKinstry of Longmeadow, a son of the late Dr. McKinstry, of Monson, said that that Smith and Ridgon attended Rev. Spalding readings. As B. McGuire points out based upon ages of Smith relative to Rev. Spaulding..it is highly unlikely to have happened. Added to that I've never read from any witness who testified to Hurlbut that either J. Smith attended..nor Rigdon. And I think Hurlbut who sought testimonies from friends and neighbours of Spalding would have been very alert to that fact had it occurred.
Personally, I don't usually chase the anti-Mormon rabbit that far down the hole, but some of it looked new to me, which means some of it would be new to all of you. The point highlighted by Juggler Vain is a good one, and it was one of the first things that came to mind when I first read the wall of text.
The Spalding theory may appear to be anti-mormon however it is a high probability historical theory. There is a lot of information and evidence supporting it. I have noticed on this board, few people take much of an interest in it, for whatever reason. I wish people like sockpuppet and Darth who are very analytically minded and well spoken did take an interest.
<<<< but you need to remember that antimormons are antimormons and it doesn't matter what time frame they are operating in. There main job is to cast doubt and misinform.