Parley P. Pratt -- secret conspirator with Rigdon?

[_just me]

You would be lucky indeed to find someone with access to Parley P. Pratt and the Making of Mormonism. The publication date is December 2011. I didn't realize it isn't out yet. :)
Are you hoping for more indepth information than what is in Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism?

According to PPP his family thought his brother William to be dead from about 1825 to 1830. In 1830, Parley says, he discovered his brother was living just 10 miles from his home. That seems to be in conflict with the little bio sketch on Nelson in the OP which says the three brothers were together in 1827.
If William was living 10 miles from Parley, he could not be living 10 miles from Sidney.
On the 1830 US Census we find Parley at his home in Russia, Lorain, OH. In the home is 1 male age 15-19, 1 male 20-29, 1 female 20-29.

[_Uncle Dale]

You would be lucky indeed to find someone with access to Parley P. Pratt and the Making of Mormonism. The publication date is December 2011. I didn't realize it isn't out yet. :)

Then the text excerpts so far reported to me must have come from
a pre-publication review copy. Guess I'll wait a little longer.

Are you hoping for more indepth information than what is in Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism?

Yes -- that's what I need. The footnotes for that book's first few chapters provide
me with very few details and practically no new sources.

According to PPP his family thought his brother William to be dead from about 1825 to 1830.

I find that hard to believe. In 1827 Parley and brothers Nelson and Orson must have
passed very near William's Ohio residence, on their way to Lorain County. I'm holding
open the possibility that Parley knew quite well where William was living -- from at
least 1827 onward.

In 1830, Parley says, he discovered his brother was living just 10 miles from his home.
That seems to be in conflict with the little bio sketch on Nelson in the OP which says
the three brothers were together in 1827.

I think that by late 1830 Parley had fully moved out of Lorain County and was
temporarily hanging around Rigdon's residence in Geauga County. If William
actually did reside in Chester, his farm would have been about ten miles
south of Rigdon's location in Mentor --- and about ten miles north of Rigdon's
previous residence in Bainbridge.

If Parley truly did work with Rigdon, secretly, in 1826-28, then his presence in
the Chester area would have been far more convenient than his stated
activities in distant Lorain County. However, William turned Mormon in 1831
and we should not expect him to disagree with Parley's stated biographical
recollections.

If William was living 10 miles from Parley, he could not be living 10 miles from Sidney.
On the 1830 US Census we find Parley at his home in Russia, Lorain, OH. In the home is 1 male age 15-19, 1 male 20-29, 1 female 20-29.

Yes, I have that information -- unfortunately all the 1830 names in Russia twp
are listed alphabetically, and not in the order the census-taker visited
the residents. I suppose that Parley lived near the Russia/Amhearst line,
about ten miles south of the mouth of Black River. There is a video on-line
at You-Tube which purports to have been made at the cabin site -- but
no exact location is given.

If Parley truly did work secretly with Rigdon, he must have now and then
ventured closer to Geauga County, than he admits to in his autobiography.

I'd like to uncover more details. Some legal or business records placing
Parley temporarily in Geauga County, before 1830, would be very useful.

UD

[_stemelbow]

UD,

But, with witnesses saying
that the Book of Mormon was written in Rigdon's cabin in 1826-27,
and that Joseph Smith came to visit and consult with Rigdon at that
very time period, I wish to study the claims more closely.

So Joseph went to consult with Rigdon at about the time he claimed to have gotten a hold of the gold plates? Where was Rigdon at that time?

[_Uncle Dale]

...
So Joseph went to consult with Rigdon at about the time he claimed to have gotten a hold of the gold plates? Where was Rigdon at that time?

If Sidney Rigdon contributed to the Book of Mormon text, the
logical time and place for that literary work would have been
Bainbridge township in southwestern Geauga County. He moved
there at the end of 1825 and his family evidently remained
in Bainbridge through the summer of 1827. Rigdon himself was
traveling around northern Ohio a great deal during 1827, but
he eventually ended up in Mentor (near Kirtland) that year.

So -- if we look for a face-to-face meeting between Rigdon
and Smith, the time and place would likely be the Bainbridge
area of southern Geauga County in 1826 or 1827.

Where was Joseph Smith during the spring and summer of
1826? Where was Parley P. Pratt?

One witness (George Wilbur) claimed that Joseph Smith
visited Rigdon in Bainbridge during this time -- but he did
not mention Pratt.

Maybe someday we'll discover more details of this obscure
old history -- I hope so.

UD

[_stemelbow]

One witness (George Wilbur) claimed that Joseph Smith
visited Rigdon in Bainbridge during this time -- but he did
not mention Pratt.

So it was witnessed that Joseph visisted him at that time? Any more detail on that? When was this witness given?

[_Uncle Dale]

One witness (George Wilbur) claimed that Joseph Smith
visited Rigdon in Bainbridge during this time -- but he did
not mention Pratt.

So it was witnessed that Joseph visisted him at that time? Any more detail on that? When was this witness given?

Here is what Matt Jockers reported:

In 1826, [P.P. Pratt] was a wandering tin peddler who 'knew everybody in Western New York and Northern Ohio' (Schroeder, 1901; Shook, 1914). He lived near Rigdon's residence in Bainbridge, Ohio, and joined Rigdon's congregation. [46] During the same period, Rigdon is reported to have collaborated with 'two or three different persons' in 'adjacent places' to create the Book of Mormon. [47] Sometime around 1827, Pratt decided to sell all his goods and take up the ministry. It has been suggested that Pratt was 'the medium through whom Rigdon made the acquaintance of Smith when seeking a suitable tool for his purpose' (Williams, 1842; Eaton, 1882). [48] While traveling in 1830, ostensibly to see family, Pratt reported sudden inspiration that led him to Palmyra, New York, where he quickly converted to Mormonism and was baptized by Oliver Cowdery. He and Cowdery then reportedly delivered a copy of the published 1830 version of the Book of Mormon to Rigdon. Pratt's conversion
is described in contradictory accounts, as is his role in delivering the Book of Mormon to Rigdon (Schroeder, 1901).

__________
46 See http://www.solomonspalding.com/docs/1901schr.htm and http://solomonspalding.com/docs2/1914Shk1.htm#pgvii

47 In Bainbridge, Rigdon reportedly became involved in what appears to be 'automatic writing': using a seancelike process to create the Book of Mormon. A description of that process is given in a letter to the editor titled 'The Mormon Bible' which appeared in the New Northwest on 9 September 1880. The letter reads: 'We are in receipt of a letter from Mr O. P. Henry, an Astoria subscriber, who says, in reference to an article in the Oregonian of recent date concerning the origin of the Mormon Bible, that his mother, who is yet alive, lived in the family of Sidney Rigdon for several years prior to her marriage in 1827; that there was in the family what is now called a "writing medium," also several others in adjacent places, and the Mormon Bible was written by two or three different persons by an automatic power which they believed was inspiration direct from God, the same as produced the original Jewish Bible and Christian New Testament. Mr H. believes that Sidney Rigdon furnished Joseph Smith with these manuscripts, and that the story of the "hieroglyphics" was a fabrication to make the credulous take hold of the mystery; that Rigdon, having learned, beyond a doubt, that the so-called dead could communicate to the living, considered himself duly authorized by Jehovah to found a new church, under a divine guidance similar to that of Confucius, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Swedenborg, Calvin, Luther or Wesley, all of whom believed in and taught the ministration of spirits. The New Northwest gives place to Mr Henry's idea as a matter of general interest. The public will, of course, make its own comments and draw its own conclusions.' See http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/dbroadhu/NW ... htm#081680. Dale Broadhurst has confirmed several aspects of the above account, and compiled additional historical evidence pointing to Bainbridge as the likely location for production of the 1827 version of the Book of Mormon. See http://sidneyrigdon.com/books/Hnry1942.htm and http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/books/Brew1945.htm

48 See http://solomonspalding.com/docs/1882PatA.htm.

http://solomonspalding.com/Lib/Jock2008.htm

Jockers neglected to mention George Wilbur's testimony, however:


http://sidneyrigdon.com/books/Hnry1942.htm
http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/dbroadhu/OH/miscoh05.htm#031486

It might be worthwhile for us to try and track down Mr. Wilbur's
documented recollections. Some of his personal papers are on
file at Hiram College in Ohio.

UD

[_stemelbow]

It might be worthwhile for us to try and track down Mr. Wilbur's
documented recollections.

uh...yathink? Without that, all you seem to have is a few bits and pieces of speculating people trying to fabricate connections many years later. Even with it ya ain't seem to have much more than that, if anything.

[_Uncle Dale]

It might be worthwhile for us to try and track down Mr. Wilbur's
documented recollections.

uh...yathink? Without that, all you seem to have is a few bits and pieces of speculating people trying to fabricate connections many years later. Even with it ya ain't seem to have much more than that, if anything.

Actually there is quite a lot of testimony concerning Rigdon's activities
prior to his 1830 baptism as a Mormon. Much of that testimony points
to his secretive writing project(s) during the 1820s in Ohio -- convincing
several of his own congregations' members that he was preparing the way
for their eventual reception of the Book of Mormon (just as specified in
the Doctrine & Covenants, but with Rigdon's knowing what he was doing).

The "many years later" began as early as 1831, when a local newspaper
editor accused Rigdon of having written the Book of Mormon.

What is missing, however, are such accusations from people who knew
him personally, and recorded in the 1820s and early 1830s.

I believe that there is sufficient preserved evidence so justify a
closer search for old sources. --- But, of course, many people will
argue that there is simply not enough solid evidence available to
compel historians to re-examine this period in early Mormonism.

UD

[_stemelbow]

Actually there is quite a lot of testimony concerning Rigdon's activities
prior to his 1830 baptism as a Mormon. Much of that testimony points
to his secretive writing project(s) during the 1820s in Ohio -- convincing
several of his own congregations' members that he was preparing the way
for their eventual reception of the Book of Mormon (just as specified in
the Doctrine & Covenants, but with Rigdon's knowing what he was doing).

The "many years later" began as early as 1831, when a local newspaper
editor accused Rigdon of having written the Book of Mormon.

What is missing, however, are such accusations from people who knew
him personally, and recorded in the 1820s and early 1830s.

I believe that there is sufficient preserved evidence so justify a
closer search for old sources. --- But, of course, many people will
argue that there is simply not enough solid evidence available to
compel historians to re-examine this period in early Mormonism.

UD

Well good luck. Hopefully you bring down the church and expose the great conspiracy for us all.

[_Uncle Dale]

...bring down the church and expose the great conspiracy for us all.

Oh, I doubt that the Mormon Church is in any great danger.

I recall a few decades back, among the Reorganized Saints,
being told that "if Joseph Smith was truly a polygamist, then
the church will fall to pieces when people realize that."

Although the Community of Christ is indeed under great
stress these days, the cause of its problems is not Joseph
Smith's "true history;" but rather the inability of its leaders
to effectively lead the members.

If the LDS Church ever faces a similar existential crisis, I doubt
that the causes will have much to do with revising its history.

UD