Part 1: Risky Business
(late December 1833)


D. P. Hurlbut Returns to Kirtland

During his previous lecturing in and around the Mormon capital D. P. Hurlbut probably kept his most scorching rhetoric and his most disconcerting ecclesiastical disclosures private. The LDS leaders could ignore his presence and look the other way, even if he occasionally associated with members on the fringe of their society, such as the Ezekiel Johnson family, Joseph H. Wakefield, or Sister Sophia Howe (wife of the vocal editor of the Painesville Telegraph). But the minimal toleration the would-be "Doctor" had thus far sustained, while residing and conducting anti-Mormon activities so near the ecclesiastical lion's den, was about to end. Once Hurlbut had unpacked his bags and assured himself that he still had protecting friends in town, he began to exercise his tongue publicly far more than prudence dictated and making serious threats against Joseph Smith and his faithful followers. (85)

His absence from the area had been noted and while he was away his young nemisis Benjamin Winchester had moved into the village. With devout Saints like Winchester (whose sister would later become one of a Joseph Smith, Jr.'s plural wives) watching his movements and reporting back the "the Brethren," Hurlbut was setting himself up for trouble. He apparently had a run-in with the boisterous Mormon partisan, Martin Harris at about this time. At least Harris was reported attending a meeting where Hurlbut was speaking and in that assembly offensively challenging the anti-Mormon speaker's veracity.

Exactly what the threats Hurlbut flung at Smith and his church consisted of, and exactly how literal he meant to be taken in making them, will probably never be known for certain. Subsequent Mormon testimony would establish, at least to the county court's satisfaction, that D. P. had threatened the life of the Mormon prophet. It little matters now whether Hurlbut hurled down this particular verbal gauntlet or not, the fact that several of Smith's followers were ready to testify to that story under oath was sufficient enough reason to get Hurlbut into serious trouble. How he got himself into this unfortunate predicament can be conditionally reconstructed.

Ohio counties were typically comprised of half a dozen or more townships whose citizens periodically elected town officials. The Mormon-Gentile mixture of citizens in Kirtland township was an uneasy one in the early 1830s and the Saints either did not have enough votes or enough fortitude to place one of their own into the magistrate's office at that time. The Justice of the Peace for Kirtland in 1833 was John C. Dowen, a Gentile who had a reputation for not persecuting the Saints -- in other words, he generally let them get away with minor offenses and they supported him in his office. It was this same John C. Dowen who soon became both Hurlbut's nemesis and his protector. Shortly before he died Dowen gave an account of this experience:

I came to Kirtland... in June 1832... I was elected Justice of the Peace on the Democratic ticket.... some said I was boss, and all hands... I got the name of the Fighting Justice...

I heard Dr. P. Hurlbut, who had been a Mormon preacher, preach a good sermon, and then deliver his first lecture in the Methodist Church in Kirtland, Ohio, on the origin of the Book of Mormon. He said he had been in New York and Pennsylvania and had obtained a copy of Spaulding's "Manuscript Found." He read selection[s] from it, then the same from the Book of Mormon. He said the historical part of it was the same as Spaulding's "Manuscript Found." He read numerous affidavits from parties in N.Y. and Penn. showing the disreputable character of the Mormon Smith Family.

Hurlbut staid at my house every three or four days for as many months. I read all of his manuscript, including Spaulding's "Manuscript Found," and compared it with the Book of Mormon; the historical part of which is the same as Spaulding's "Manuscript Found"... Hurlbut said he would "kill" Jo Smith. He meant he would kill Mormonism. The Mormons urged me to issue a writ against him. I did... He was brought to trial... The trial lasted several days, and he was bound over to appear at the Court of Common Pleas at Chardon. Hurlbut let E. D. Howe, of Painesville, have his manuscript to publish. I should not be surprised if Howe sold Spaulding's "Manuscript Found" to the Mormons." (John C. Dowen, Statement dated Jan. 2, 1885, Arthur B. Deming file, Mormon Collection, Chicago Historical Society).

According to this account, after he returned from his trip to the east, D. P. Hurlbut again took up his previous role of lecturer on Mormonism and scheduled a meeting at the Methodist church, located on the hill next to the foundations of the still unfinished Latter Day Saint Temple. In the course of this lecture D. P. shared information from the statements he had collected and read from a manuscript, the content of which matched some text in the Book of Mormon. Nothing is said by Dowen about Hurlbut's offering these documents for inspection and verification at that time. Following this lecture Hurlbut frequently lodged in the Dowen house, perhaps because he found his previous residence in Kirtland did not offer enough protection against potential harassment or assault. But Hurlbut's presence at the local magistrate's may also have been related to a Painesville judge's subsequent requirement that D. P. make himself available and non-combative until the Circuit Court at Chardon could try him in a case brought against the ex-missionary that winter by Joseph Smith, Jr.

Dowen's statement agrees with several others taken by Arthur B. Deming in the Kirtland region, by saying that D. P. Hurlbut "obtained a copy of Spaulding's "Manuscript Found." This text of this allegedly displayed Spalding holograph read much the same as did material found in parts of the Book of Mormon. Nothing is related by Dowen to indicate how Hurlbut proved that the manuscript he was then exhibiting was truly the work of Solomon Spalding.

Dowen also speaks of a second manuscript book which he calls "his manuscript." By this he must mean a handwritten book or collection of lecture notes, affidavits, etc. compiled by Hurlbut himself. Dowen says "Hurlbut let E. D. Howe, of Painesville, have his manuscript to publish," but it is doubtful that very much prose penned by Hurlbut ever made it into Howe's 1834 Mormonism Unvailed. Whatever it was that Hurlbut had written, that document has not been seen since the time when John C. Dowen perused its pages..

The Strange Story Told by James A. Briggs

Witnesses to Hurlbut's activities in northern Ohio during 1833-34 are not restricted to Arthur B. Deming's sometimes questionable collection of testimony; in fact, the first published, non-Momron report of these activities appeared in the pages of a reputable journal years before Deming began collecting statements on early Mormon activities:

"In the winter of 1833-34, a self-constituted committee of citizens of Willoughby, Mentor, and Painesville met a number of times at the house of the late Mr. Warren Corning, of Mentor, to investigate the Mormon humbug. At one of the meetings we had before us the original manuscript of the Rev. Solomon Spaulding, who came to Ashtabula County, Ohio, from Monson, Mass. It was entitled, "The [Lost Tribes?]: or, The Manuscript Found." It was obtained from Mr. Patterson, or Peterson, a publisher of Pittsburg, Pa., with whom negotiations had once been made towards its publication. From this work of the Rev. Mr. Spaulding the Mormon Bible was constructed. I do not think there can be any doubt of this. It was the opinion of the committee after comparing the Mormon Bible with the manuscript. The style of composition, the names, etc., were the same." (James A. Briggs Letter, in: John Codman, "Mormonism," International Review XI (Sept. 1881) pp. 222-223).

Like John C. Dowen, Mr. Briggs provides no indication of how he could be certain that the manuscript exhibited to the "committee" by Hurlbut was a Solomon Spalding holograph. Briggs' recollection of the alleged Spalding story having been "obtained from Mr. Patterson" is difficult to account for, as there is no hint of either Robert or Joseph Patterson supplying anybody with such a manuscript in any other account concerning D. P. Hurlbut. It is not impossible that Hurlbut managed to obtain some pages with verified Spalding handwriting while he was visiting Pittsburgh, however. Briggs latter wrote three other versions of his recollections about Hurlbut possessing a copy of Spalding's "Manuscript Found." Excerpts from these accounts follow:

In the winter of 1833-34, a self-constituted committee... met at Mr. Corning's house, in Mentor... D. P. Hurlbut... was present with the committee and had Spaulding's original manuscript with him. We compared it, chapter by chapter with the Mormon Bible. It was written in the same style; many of the names were the same... About this time Dr. Hurlbut had some trouble with the Mormons at Kirtland, where they had built a temple and he had the prophet, Joseph Smith, arrested on a warrant of a justice of the peace for assault and battery. He had an examination before two justices in the Old Methodist Church in Painesville. (James A. Briggs, "The Spaulding Romance,"New York Tribune Jan. 31, 1886).

... from Oct., 1832, until the first of April, 1834, I lived... two and one-half miles from the village of Kirtland... In the winter of 1833-34, or in the early spring of 1834, a number of gentlemen [including Briggs]... met... in Mentor... Dr. P. Hurlbut also met with us. He lived in Kirtland and during the winter and spring had given much time in looking up evidence and documents to prove that Mormonism was a delusion. He had much of the evidence that he had collected with him.

Now I am very sure he had [the Oberlin Spalding MS}... But I believe he had also with him, and we had before us in that investigation, the original "Manuscript Found" written by Rev. Solomon Spaulding... we had the "Manuscript Found" before us, that we compared it with the Mormon Bible... the style in which the "Manuscript Found" was written was the same as that of the Mormon Bible. The names -- peculiar -- were the same...

In 1834, early in the spring, Dr. P. Hurlbut had Jo Smith, of Kirtland, the Mormon prophet, arrested on a warrant of a justice of the peace in Painesville, Ohio, for assault and battery. The examination was in the old Methodist Church on the southeast corner of the public square...

Now what is the result of this whole matter?... that Hurlbut obtained possession of the original "Manuscript Found," that we had [it] to compare with the Mormon Bible before the committee at Mentor.... that Hurlbut stated that he had made four hundred dollars by selling it, and I believe he did... (James A. Briggs "Open Letter to Joseph Smith III," Naked Truths I:1, Jan., 1888).

In the year 1833-'34 I was one of a self-appointed committee... investigating the origin of the Book of Mormon. Dr. D. P. Hurlburt had been in New York and Massachusetts looking up testimony; we had the manuscript of the Rev. Solomon Spaulding before us, that we compared with the Mormon Bible... The "Manuscript Found," written by the Rev. Solomon Spaulding in Conneaut, Ashtabula County, O., in 1809-'12 was the basis of the historical portions of the Mormon Bible, if any credibility is to be given to positive human testimony"... At the meeting at Mr. J. Corning's in Mentor, in 1834, I have no doubt we had this very identical [Oberlin] "manuscript"... We also had a copy of the "Manuscript Found," that was compared with the Mormon Bible and satisfied the committee that it was the basis of the Mormon Bible. I have said and believed since 1834 that I had seen and examined the original "Manuscript Found" of Solomon Spaulding, out of which Sidney Rigdon got up the Mormon Bible. I believe, as Dr. Hurlburt stated, that he "sold the manuscript for $400." It is certain that he had it, and who but the Mormons would buy it?... For some reason in 1833 he had some difficulty with "the Saints" in Kirtland. The last known of the "Manuscript Found" it was in Hurlburt's hands... (James A. Briggs Article Chicago Daily Tribune Oct. 2, 1886; reprinted from New York Watchman c. late Sept. 1886)

The least that might be said about Briggs' in his writing these four statements is that he was as consistent as he was insistent. There is no reason to doubt his sincerity in saying he had seen Spalding's famous "Manuscript Found" in D. P. Hurlbut's possession at the end of 1833 or the beginning of 1834.

Three Other Witnesses from 1833

John C. Dowen's statement has the ring of authenticity to it because he was the local judge who legally recognized Smith's Dec. 1833 complaint against D. P. Hurlbut and because his name can be found in the court documents relating to Hurlbut's 1833 hearing and his 1834 trial. James A. Briggs' four statements not only confirm Dowen's recollection of Hurlbut exhibiting an alleged copy of Spalding's "Manuscript Found," three of the four adjoin enhanced credibility by not having been first printed in an anti-Mormon publication. The corroberating evidence supplied by three additional Kirtland area residents who heard Hurlbut lecture during the winter of 1833-34 is perhaps less reliable. None of these three statement providers bear the external credentials of Dowen or the disattachment from anti-Mormon publication generally associated with Briggs' statements. Excerpts from their contents are offered here because they provide some additional information concerning the claims D. P. Hurlbut was then making in his lectures in and around Kirtland. (In regard to the suspect veracity of the statements collected or cited by Arthur B. Deming in his Naked Truths About Mormonism newspaper see: Richard L. Anderson, "Joseph Smith's New York Reputation Reappraised," BYU Studies X:3 (Spring 1970) pp. 283-314 and Rodger I. Anderson, "Joseph Smith's Early Reputation Revisited," Journal of Pastoral Practice IV:3 (Fall 1980) pp. 71-108 and IV:4 (Winter 1980) pp. 72-105).

... I met Prophet Jo's father on the dock at Fairport, O., in July, 1831... I rented Claudius Stannard's farm and stone quarry, two miles south of the temple in Kirtland.... I became acquainted with D. P. Hurlbut before he left the Mormons.... I told Hurlbut to write to Isaac Hale, Jo's father-in-law, and he did. Hale's reply is published in Howe's "Book on Mormonism." I heard Hurlbut lecture in the Presbyterian Church in Kirtland. He said he would, and he did prove that the "Book of Mormon" was founded on a fiction called "Manuscript Found," written by Solomon Spaulding... Hurlbut had a copy of Spaulding's "Manuscript Found" with him. He and others spoke three hours. Hurlbut read Hale's letter in the lecture. Martin Harris said Hale was old and blind and not capable of writing it...

All the time I was in Kirtland many persons were becoming disgusted with Mormonism, and many left them and exposed their secrets.... I heard Hurlbut lecture before, and after he saw Spaulding's widow. (William R. Hine Statement Naked Truths I:2, Apr. 1888).

Hine's account includes the previously discussed matter of D. P. Hurlbut having "courted Dr. Williams' beautiful daughter" and he is credible in that matter. Hine's recollection of Martin Harris attending a D. P. Hurlbut is supported in some degree by Jacob Sherman's saying the same. Hine's claim to have advised Hurlbut to write to Isaac Hale fits well with other evidence documenting a Hurlbut-Hale correspondence during the winter of 1833-34. Given Hine's integrity in relation to these other points, his report of Hurlbut having exhibited a purported copy of Spalding's "Manuscript Found" at a lecture given in the Presbyterian church at Kirtland is believable.

Another Ohio resident, Jacob Sherman, contended that he attended a Hurlbut lecture in the Willoughby (then Chagrin) town hall in late 1833 or early 1834 and was invited to examine a manuscript exhibited by the anti-Mormon crusader. This document contained historical narrative which Mr. Sherman saw as being identical to text in the Book of Mormon. Soon after his first inspection of this alleged Spalding novel Mr. Sherman attended another Hurlbut lecture in neighboring Painesville where the same manuscript was again shown to the public. Sherman's recollection of attending a Hurlbut lecture in the Kirtland Presbyterian church at which Martin Harris was present, supports William R. Hine's statement saying that Martin Harris showed up at a Hurlbut lecture held in that same church and there challenged the anti-Mormon crusader as to the authenticity of an Isaac Hale letter which Hurlbut was then displaying:

I removed... to Kirtland, O... in 1833. Myself and wife attended Hurlbut's lecture on Mormonism at the Presbyterian Church at the Center. He said he had been to New York and obtained a copy of the fiction written by Solomon Spaulding called "Manuscript Found." He read from it and the same from the "Book of Mormon," the historical part of which he said was taken from Spaulding's "Manuscript Found." Martin Harris got up and contradicted something Hurlbut said. Another man arose and said he knew Hurlbut was right... (Jacob Sherman Statement Naked Truths I:2, Apr. 1888).

Jacob Sherman's neighbor Charles Grover also remembered attending one of D. P. Hurlbut's lectures held at the Presbyterian church in Kirtland. Like Sherman, Grover recalled Hurlbut having publicly compared the Book of Mormon to an original Solomon Spalding manuscript. Since Hine, Grover, and Sherman all speak of the same Kirtland Presbyterian church, it is probable that they all attended the same lecture given in that place, which must have been in late December 1833. At this meeting Grover discerned the same historical narrative in both the manuscript and the book:

... I came to Willoughby, O., Aug. 31, 1818... I heard D. P. Hurlbut lecture on the origin of the "Book of Mormon" in the Willoughby town hall in 1833 or 1834. He said that the object of his lecture was to show that the "Book of Mormon" was founded on a fiction written by Solomon Spaulding at Conneaut, O., in the early part of the century, which he called "Manuscript Found." He said he had been to Pittsburgh, Pa., and learned that Sidney Rigdon had stolen it from the printing office where it was left to be printed. He had obtained another copy from which he read selections and then read the same from the "Book of Mormon," the historical part of which was the same as Spaulding's "Manuscript Found." At the close of his lecture he invited the audience to examine it. I took and read from it a little; it was plainly written on letter-sized paper and nearly two inches thick.

Soon after I was witness at a lawsuit in Painesville and again heard Hurlbut lecture. At the close Squire Holbrook read to the audience from Spaulding's "Manuscript Found"... The Disciples appointed a committee to prosecute Rigdon and expose his true character, so as to destroy his influence among the Disciples..." (Charles Grover Statement Naked Truths I:2, Apr. 1888).

Unmerry Christmas

Late in the month of December 1833 D. P. Hurlbut was traveling through the region immediately north of the Mormon headquarters, stopping at Kirtland Flats, Chagrin (Later Willoughby), Painesville, and no doubt also at Mentor. In each town he procured the use of a church-house and assembled an audience to listen to his anti-Mormon discourse. In the course of his lecturing at each place he read from an old manuscript book which he claimed was the well-known Solomon Spalding story entitled the "Manuscript Found." Hurlbut also read very similar passages directly out of the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon. At two or more of these lectures Hurlbut invited the attendees to examine the two writings for themselves and make their own comparisons of the texts.

In late December 1833 Hurlbut also presented one or more private reports to members of the anti-Mormon "Committee" which had hired him to locate and acquire just such a piece of damning evidence as the supposed manuscript basis for the Book of Mormon. Having paid D. P. Hurlbut to obtain the loan of this handwritten novel from Solomon Spalding's widow, possession of the document was assumed by that same "Committee." Hurlbut's job was not finished however. The "Committee" either assigned D. P. the task of compiling the documentation he had collected on his trip to the east or he convinced its members to extend him that privilege. In either case he must have asked for additional funding to support him in the work of compiling and elucidating allthe evidence he had collected against Joseph Smith, Jr. and his church. Before he had departed on his fact-finding journey D. P. Hurlbut had already spoke of writing the first anti-Mormon book; now he was engaged in that work in earnest.

The book D. P. Hurlbut was commissioned to write was one which contained copious extracts from an original Spalding story, text which matched closely some parts of the Mormons' own book. But the "Committee" could not simply run off a few hundred copies of such a volume and expect anybody to believe that its printed words were actually those of Solomon Spalding, written more than a decade before the Book of Mormon first came to light. Such a book necessarily would also present affidavits confirming that the printed extracts actually did come from a verified Spalding document. Such a book would also contain the supporting evidence of signed and witnessed affidavits from testifiers who personally knew the late would-be author and his writings. Such a book required a coherent editorial introduction and truthful account of how the volume's contents had been secured, compiled, and put through the press. This substantial task was entrusted to D. P. Hurlbut at the end of Dec. 1833 by "Committee" members who should have known better than to proceed without first making copies of the documentation Hurlbut had assembled and then assigning him a writing partner who could assure that the intended report was produced in a professional manner. By some means or another D. P. Hurlbut was able to avoid having these restrictions imposed upon him. No doubt he was able to cite the original hazy terms of his agreement with the "Committee," a group whose membership probably changed from time to time and which apparently had no permanent leader. By holding on to his documents and refusing to turn them over to others, D. P. Hurlbut likely kept the writing task and its accompanying financial rewards safely to himself.

But "Doctor" Philastus was obviously playing a second game also. He made repeated attempts to catch the attention of the Mormon leaders, specifically that of Joseph Smith, Jr. whose will and word were practically law among the Kirtland Saints. His public lecturing in Kirtland Flats, under the very nose of Smith and his followers, was calculated to raise a response. And it did. Hurlbut's biographer, Dale W. Adams has given his impression of what happened next:

... Hurlbut returned to Kirtland about the middle of December and began attacking Joseph Smith. Understandably, Smith and his supporters lashed back and this may have involved publicizing allegations about Hurlbut's alleged indiscretions with women... Hurlbut reacted violently. The mud slinging on both sides quickly escalated until Hurlbut threatened Joseph Smith. This caused Smith to file a complaint on December 21, 1833 against Hurlbut before the Justice of the Peace in Kirtland, J. C. Dowen. A warrant for Hurlbut's arrest was issued and Stephen Sherman who was the constable for Kirtland Township served the warrant. Hurlbut appeared before the Justice of the Peace in Painesville Township, William Holbrook, on January 4th, 1834 and requested a continuance. It wasn't until the 13th and 14th of January 1834 that the case was heard... (Dale W. Adams, "Judge Not," p. 14).

Adams' reconstruction of these events leaves out the reported content of Hurlbut's lectures prior to Dec. 21, 1833 when Joseph Smith swore out the complaint with Kirtland Justice of the Peace John C. Dowen. It also leaves out the important fact that Hurlbut was at that same time attempting to bring legal action against Joseph Smith and one or more members of his family. If D. P. Hurlbut was then writing a book which purported to provide sufficient evidence to kill Mormonism, he was acting rather strangely in carrying out these acts of provocation against a formidable host of Latter Day Saints who might naturally be expected to unite with their prophet and oppose his every move in this direction. While Hurlbut's blatant publicizing of the Spalding authorship claims at this point may have partly been inspired out of his desire to gain publicity for his lectures and intended book, they must also have been intended to gain Smith's undivided attention on the matter. The possibility must be considered at this point that D. P. Hurlbut's "second game" was played out in hopes of blackmailing Smith and the Mormons into paying him hush money to tone down his verbal attack on the prophet and his church.

A Kingdom in Jeopardy

While the Kirtland anti-Mormons were by no means a wealthy congregation, their leaders could have come up with a few thousand dollars at the end of 1833 in order to pay off D. P. Hurlbut and remove the growing threat he and other avowed anti-Mormons were then posing to "the Kingdom." Reports of disillusionment and defection among the LDS ranks following arrival of the bad news from Missouri at the end of November 1833 are reliable ones. In the last weeks of December the top leadership of the Church (essentially Joseph Smith, Jr. Sidney Rigdon, Oliver Cowdery, F. G. Williams and perhaps Hyrum Smith) were reeling under pressure directed at them on four fronts: (1) From the disastrous events coming out of the anti-Mormon persecution in Jackson Co., Missouri; (2) From calls for the immediate repayment of large sums of money owed by the Church and members of its semi-independent "United Firm;" (3) From numerous wavering and withdrawing Saints like Joseph H. Wakefield; and, (4) From the developing menace of "Doctor" Philastus Hurlbut and his anti-Mormon supporters.

Faced with these four daunting challenges at the end of 1834, the top Mormon leaders regrouped themselves, shed as much unnecessary and burdensome baggage as possible, and set out to save their deeply endangered "Kingdom." In the past, historians of Mormonism like Max H. Parkin have taken notice of the internal threat posed by disillusioned and defecting members during this perilous period in Mormon Kirtland. And, although Parkin himself pointed out the winter of 1833-34 as the crucial time and the activities of D. P. Hurlbut as being the catalyst for a critical turning point in Mormon history, the precise origin of that "Crisis at Kirtland" has never before been identified. Simply put, the crisis amounted to the very real possibility of the Mormon "Kingdom" being terminated then and there -- the impending threat of Smith's public exposure as a fraud and loss of all that he and his close associates had labored so hard to build up. That impending threat, if successful in its intent, would result in the defection of hundreds of members from Church almost overnight. That impending threat was posed by none other than "Doctor" Philastus Hurlbut, the purported possessor of the secrets of the origin of the Book of Mormon.

The Arrest and Confinement of D. P. Hurlbut

On December 21, 1833 Joseph Smith, Jr. swore out a complaint against D. P. Hurlbut with John C. Dowen, Justice of the Peace in Kirtland. An account of what transpired next was preserved in the introductory section of the transcript of the subsequent State of Ohio vs. Doctor Philastus Hurlbut case heard at Chardon court house beginning March 31, 1834. The record of the preliminary actions taken by the justice system in Kirtland township and in adjacent Painesville township is as follows:

"On complaint of Joseph Smith Junr. against the defendant against [sic] J. C. Dowen a Justice of the Peace for Kirtland Township in said County made on the 21st day of Dec. 1833[,] a warrant was issued by said J. C. Dowen, Justice aforesaid which was returned before me William Holbrook a Justice of the Peace for Painesville township in the County aforesaid on the [4]th day of January A D 1834 by Stephen Sherman a Constable of Painesville Kirtland township with defendant in Court, and not being ready for the examination said Constable is directed to keep the defendant in custody and return him again before the Court on the 6th day of January A. D. 1834 at 9 o'clock A. M. at his office in Painesville, at which time th[is] defendant again appeared, and not being yet ready for the examination on the part of the State this cause is again postponed to the 13th of January 1834 at 9 o'clock A. M. and the defendant required to be kept in custody by A Ritch Const. of Painesville township, at which time the defendant was again brought before the Court by A Ritch Constable.   And all parties being ready for trial, the Court commenced the examination, and the following witnesses were examined on the part of the State, Amos Hodges  C. Hodges,  Sarah Wait,  Burr [R]iggs Mary Copley  Joseph Al[i]en  M. Hodges  D. Elliot  J. Smith Jr.  [D]. Copley  C. Holmes  S. F. Whitney  S. Slayton  Mr. Wakefield,  [I]. Wait &  E. Goodman and the same were examined by the defendant. The examination commenced Monday the 13th January 1834 and ended January 13, 1834. After hearing the testimony it is the opinion of the Court that the complainant had reason to fear that Doctor P. Hurlbut would beat wound or kill him or injure his property as set forth in his complaint, and it is the consideration of the Court that the defendant enter into a recognizance to keep the peace generally and especially towards the complainant and also to appear before the Court of Common Pleas on the first day of the term thereof next to be holden in and for said County and not depart without leave, or stand committed till the Judgment of the Court be complied with.

The defendant forthwith complied with the judgment of the Court & entered into a recognizance as provided by the Statute." ("Ohio v. Dr. P. Hurlbut," 9 April 1834, Geauga County Courthouse, Chardon, Ohio, Typescript; as recorded in "Geauga County, Court of Common Pleas Records," Book [P?], p. 191; reprinted in Smith & Smith, The History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Vol. I (1st ed 1896), pp. 444-446.)

John C. Dowen later said that he recorded Smith's complaint in his docket book on Dec. 27, 1833. This date may be a typographical or recollective error on Dowen's part -- or, he may have recognized Joseph Smith's complaint on Dec. 21 (as the official court record indicates) and finished writing down that record six days later. It appears that about this time D. P. Hurlbut was attempting to get Dowen or some other J. P. in the area to recognize his own complaint, made against Joseph Smith, Jr. At the same time, or not very long thereafter, D. P. Hurlbut was also attempting to attack Joseph Smith's family in the local courts and was seeking to obtain a property judgment against Joseph's brother, Hyrum, perhaps because private property held under the brother's name was an easier target in court than was Joseph's own holdings, which were then largely owned by the semi-official LDS "United Firm" at Kirtland. For some unknown reason Hurlbut's attempts to attack Smith through legal action failed and his none of his complaints were acted upon at the J. P. level nor passed on to the County Court. The reason for this legalistic failure on Hurlbut's part was likely due to the incompetence of his attorney, the young law student from Willoughby, James A. Briggs. In his later recollection of Hurlbut's pre-trail hearing, Briggs conflated several events which transpired at that time, leaving out entirely the fact that the pre-trail hearing was conducted to examine the merits of a complaint brought against his client by Joseph Smith, Jr. Briggs, no doubt knowingly, also neglected to mention that his client lost the case. Again, this outcome was almost certainly due to the inexperienced law student being out-lawyered by the Saint's seasoned legal counsel in such cases, Benjamin Bissel of Painesville. Had Bissel championed Hurlbut's complaint and Briggs served as Smith's attorney the hearing results might have been reversed.

Shortly before January 21, 1834 D. P. Hurlbut had been unwise enough to boast in public of his intention to "kill" Mormonism. This may have been a single slip of the tongue or it may have been part of his calculated effort to antagonize and alarm Joseph Smith, Jr. Hurlbut may have even been so foolish as to say he would "kill" Joseph Smith, or that he would "wash his hands" in Mormon blood. Following his downing a few glasses of whisky in the Kirtland barroom, the anti-Mormon crusader may have said most anything. Whether the witnesses who testified against him in the pre-trail hearing were all present at the time(s) when he made such threats is immaterial; the fact that they were willing to testify to that remembrance under oath was enough to sway the judgments of magistrates Dowen and Holbrook is Smith's favor.

The court record says that J. P. John C. Dowen issued an arrest warrant for D. P. Hurlbut on December 21, 1833. In order for Dowen to have done that he must have first heard some testimony from Smith and a few witnesses Smith intended to call in his own behalf. Nothing is said of D. P. Hurlbut being present in Dowen's office at that time, but Kirtland was such a small town at the time that word of the matter must have reached him almost at once. Even if Hurlbut was away from home giving an anti-Mormon lecture on that day, he would have certainly known of the arrest warrant within a day or two. The warrant was theoretically "returnable" throughout the State of Ohio, but it would have borne the greatest weight in Geauga County itself. Having the warrant in hand, Constable Stephen Sherman of Kirtland township was authorized to arrest Hurlbut wherever he might apprehend him.

Apparently the Constable did not catch up with Hurlbut until after New Years. Once the anti-Mormon crusader heard of the arrest warrant he likely left the county or went into hiding. Both Hurlbut and Smith knew, however, that the anti-Mormon crusader's possessions, source of income, and social support all remained in Geauga Co. Sooner or later the fugitive would surface and the Constable would apprehend him. Since the law officer would have been troubled in dragging the arrested Hurlbut around with him as he went about his duties, it is reasonable to assume that he did not arrest Hurlbut until very shortly before the good "Doctor" was brought before Judge Holbrook in Painesville on January 4, 1834. The law officer displayed his charge in the Painesville courthouse that day, but Judge Holbrook was not then ready to examine the defendant. The most logical explanation for this delay is that Stephen Sherman had apprehended Hurlbut without warning in Painesville township and had brought him to the Judge before D. P. could contact his lawyer. Hearing Hurlbut's pleas for a continuance, the hearing was scheduled for Jan. 6th. There is no mention in the records that Joseph Smith was present during these proceedings. Sherman may have placed the hapless defendant in the Painesville jail at this time, but it is more likely that he hauled him back to Kirtland and there kept Hurlbut under lock and key.

Constable Sherman brought D. P. back before the Judge on the morning of January 6th. On this occasion there were no doubt Mormon representatives for Smith present; Lawyer Bissel must have stopped by, just in case the hearing was commenced that day. But either the Judge or one of the two parties in the hearing was not yet ready to begin and the matter was again postponed -- this time until the morning of January 13th. Hurlbut would have possessed no desire to be held in Kirtland, so close to his Mormon enemies for a second time. It is likely that he petitioned Judge Holbrook for a change in his confinement. For the next week the anti-Mormon crusader was kept in custody by Constable A. Ritch of Painesville township. Hurlbut was probably confined to the Painesville Jail, but, so long as Constable Ritch was in attendance he might have been allowed to visit as far afield as James A. Briggs' home in Willoughby or John C. Dowen's place in Kirtland. Dowen spoke of Hurlbut remaining there for a few days now and then and this may have been one of those times.

Joseph Smith: Assassination Target?

On January 13, 1834 Painesville Judge Holbrook determined that there was enough evidence available to support Joseph Smith Jr.'s expressed fear that "Doctor P. Hurlbut would beat wound or kill him." Or, failing in that possible venture, that Hurlbut might al least "injure his property." In order to properly consider what happened to D. P. Hurlbut that January it is necessary to first back-track to see what he was doing before his arrest, on or shortly before Jan. 4, 1834. Although Mormon writings relating events in the Church during the early Kirtland period generally make some mention of D. P. Hurlbut's 1833 threat to harm Smith, LDS writers who were Hurlbut's contemporaries and who were then living in Kirtland Ohio relate practically no information on the provenance of Hurlbut's threatening words. Benjamin Winchester, a Mormon writer who had ample opportunity to search out and relate the details of events transpiring in Geauga County that winter, is strangely economical with his words in his account of these matters:

After Mr. H.[Hurlbut] returned from Pittsburgh, he went to Kirtland, Ohio, and stopped in that region of country, as he said, to learn other particulars, and finish writing his book. Mr. H. had not been there long, before he threatened to murder Joseph Smith, Jun., for which he was bound over in the sum of five hundred dollars, to keep the peace. While there, his best friends began to lose confidence in him, his reputation waned rapidly, and the dark side of his character began to develop itself more fully, and he began to play his old pranks." (Winchester Origin of the Spalding Story p. 11).

Winchester's relatives, the Johnson Elders, are not much more helpful than is he when it comes to filling in the missing pieces of this story. Both of the brothers were living in Kirtland during the winter of 1833-34 and they could have reported what happened previous to D. P. Hurlbut's April trial in Chardon, had they cared to tell that story. Neither of the Johnson brothers supplies the necessary details, however:

Hurlbut went east and was absent some two or three months -- and on his return publicly declared that he could not obtain it, but instead brought several affidavits from persons who claimed to have heard Solomon Spaulding read his Manuscript Found in 1812, and believed as well as they could remember that the matter and story was the same as printed in the Book of Mormon... According to the sworn statement of M. S. McKinstry, Dr. Hurlbut did obtain the Manuscript Found and the only conclusion that can be reasonable is, that finding it would spoil his case and ruin his purposes, that manuscript was destroyed or suppressed... (Joseph E. Johnson "The Manuscript Found," Deseret Evening News, Jan. 3, 1881).

The winter of 1833-34 I attended district school in Kirtland. Brother Joel H. [Johnson]... [Hurlbut] soon collected around him the congregations of our enemies, and in pert and pompous style told them the tale he had concocted of the "Manuscript Found," which of course was good enough when they could get nothing better. And so they readily advanced him means to hunt up the manuscript, and were greatly in hopes that now Mormonism would be at an end. But to all of them it was a failure, but not to Hurlburt, for he had their money. Soon afterward by them all he was most cordially despised.... I then occupied a position through which I could obtain accurate knowledge of all that transpired on both sides; my father being regarded as an opposer, knew all their secrets, none of which did he withhold from me; and as Hurlburt had boarded at my mother's, I had good opportunity as well as reason for watching his course...(Benjamin F. Johnson My Life's Review chapter 2).

Along with Winchester and the Johnsons, George A. Smith was also a Mormon resident of Kirtland who took an interest in D. P. Hurlbut at this time. His recollections supply only the sketchiest of additional information:

Joseph H. Wakefield, who baptized me... apostatized from the Church... He afterwards headed a mob meeting, and took the lead in, bringing about a persecution against the Saints in Kirtland and the regions round about.... [D. P. Hurlbut] went to work and got up the "Spaulding story" -- that famous yarn about the "Manuscript Found." When about to publish this lying fabrication, in several of his exciting speeches having threatened the life of Joseph Smith, he was required to give bonds, by the authorities of Ohio, to keep the peace. In consequence of this, the name of E. D. Howe was substituted as the author, who published it. (George A. Smith Journal of Discourses Vol. VII, 1860, p. 111, 113.)

The Church in Kirtland were few in number compared with the inhabitants of the city of Ogden. We had High Council upon High Council, Bishop's trial upon Bishop's trial; and labor and toil constantly to settle difficulties and get our minds instructed in principle and doctrine, and in the power that we had to contend with. I remember very well the organization of the High Council, at Kirtland as a permanent institution, there had been several Councils of twelve High Priests called for special cases, but they organized it permanently on 17th Feb. 1834... Hurlburt was the author of that work known by the name of "Mormonism Unveiled." Booth's letters were reprinted by Hurlburt, who is the author of "The Spaulding story," a book which he intended to publish; and in delivering lectures he had said he would wash his hands in Joseph Smith's blood. He was taken before the court and required to give bonds to keep the peace towards all men, and especially towards Joseph Smith. These circumstances had some influence, and his friends arranged that he should not publish the book, but put it into the hands of E. D. Howe, who resided in Painesville, Ohio. (George A. Smith Journal of Discourses Vol. XI, 1867, p. 7-8.)

In consequence of the persecution which raged against Joseph, and the constant threats to do him violence, it was found necessary to keep continual guard to prevent his being assassinated. During the fall and winter I took a part of this service, going two miles and a half to guard." (George A. Smith "Autobiography" Millennial Star 27 1865, pp. 406-441).

George A. Smith, like most other Mormon writers who were his contemporaries, passes over the details of Hurlbut's lectures and the legal action taken against him prior to the April 1834 trial at Chardon, supplying almost no useful information. Smith's story does furnish a couple of interesting items, however. He identifies his own friend of earlier days, Joseph H. Wakefield, as one of the anti-Mormon leaders who generated "a persecution against the Saints in Kirtland and the regions round about..." Wakefield's name is linked to that of D. P. Hurlbut during the winter of 1833-34, both in the court records (where he twice testified in Hurlbut's defense) and as a member of the anti-Mormon "Committee" which advertised a forthcoming book attacking Mormonism and promoting the Spalding claims ("To the Public" Painesville Telegraph Jan. 31, 1834 & Feb. 7, 1834).

Smith also identifies D. P. Hurlbut as a potential assassin in alleging that Hurlbut "said he would wash his hands in Joseph Smith's blood." Although George A. Smith makes no direct link between this pronouncement and a second, more starling revelation, he implicitly joins both allegations in space and time when he says that, "In consequence of the persecution which raged against Joseph, and the constant threats to do him violence, it was found necessary to keep continual guard to prevent his being assassinated." To recap Smith's testimony: (1) There was an anti-Mormon persecution begun in or around Kirtland during the winter of 1833-34; (2) Ex-Mormon Joseph H. Wakefield (a known associate of Hurlbut's) was a leader in that persecution; (3) "High Council upon High Council" was held during that time, to "settle difficulties" and to make certain that the "minds" of the faithful were properly "instructed;" (4) D. P. Hurlbut threatened to kill the Mormon prophet; and, (5) guards were stationed around Joseph Smith, Jr. to protect him from assassination by those persons who were causing the persecution.

It is very difficult to verify the precise time-span or nature of the "persecution" George A. Smith spoke of. Newspapers throughout northern Ohio, though reporting many details of the persecution then going in on Missouri, say nothing of any similar persecution in Geauga Co. Apart from the writings of a very few Mormon leaders, no contemporary accounts survive telling of a violent or potentially violent "persecution" of the Kirtland Saints during this period. There are no records of Mormon houses being burned, Mormon families being turned out of doors, property being confiscated, or even of an occasional fist-fight or rock-throwing incident. It is safe to say that if anything remotely similar to this reported persecution did take place, it happened within a very short time-span and actively involved very few of the non-Mormons then living in the county. If the term "persecution" is extended to include non-violent activities, such as warnings, implicit threats, non-cooperation with, and shunning of the Latter Day Saints by their Gentile neighbors, then perhaps the comments of writers like George A. Smith do properly reflect a period of intensely perceived threatenings on the part of the Kirtland Saints. However, it must also be pointed out that some of the ostensible leaders of this perceived "persecution" were ex-Mormons like D. P. Hurlbut and Joseph H. Wakefield. To the outsider, not well-schooled in local religious politics, this mostly verbal squabbling must have looked like an internal affair being carried out among rival factions within the broad bounds of the Mormon movement.

This is not to say that Geauga County Gentiles like Corning, Newell, and the Campbellite Clapp family were not heavily involved in the non-violent aspects of this perceived "persecution." The people who associated themselves with the "Committee" dedicated their time and energy to removing the Mormon presence in ways less overt than what had been happening in Missouri. These people certainly extended considerable support to the work of D. P. Hurlbut, but there is no independently verifiable evidence showing that any of these non-Mormons, anti-Mormons, and ex-Mormons were seriously prepared to assassinate the Mormon prophet. Consideration should be given to the probability that it was Smith himself who drummed up this mass anxiety among the Saints beginning in late December 1833 and eventually petering out with the arrival of spring in the following year. Sometimes, in the corporate affairs of religious organizations, there are available no better means of establishing and maintaining an ardent group identity than exaggerating the power of an external peril -- whether that particular peril be real or imagined. In the case of Joseph Smith, Jr. during the darkest days of that stormy winter, the peril was grave indeed. The most dangerous threat was not aimed so much at his physical well-being as it was at his ecclesiastical position and power. It is to Joseph Smith, Jr.'s credit as a religious leader that he was able to meet and overcome that impending menace. The means he used to accomplish his purposes may, however, reflect no great credit upon Smith the man.

One person who stood in a very good position from which to ascertain the actual events impacting the Mormons during the winter of 1833-34 was Oliver Cowdery. This important top Latter Day Saint official had escaped the chaos of the Mormon exodus from Jackson Co., Missouri and was living in Kirtland during the peak of the perceived "persecution" mentioned by George A. Smith. Cowdery's account is a contemporary one, written as candid reflection in a communication which he never expected to see published:

"Dear Brother Lyman... Not having been favored with a communication from you since I left your state in October, 1830... I was happy to learn of the health of yourself and family... I was pleased with your observations relative to the Book of Mormon. That "if it is true it will stand, but if not it will fall"... Hurlbut is now in this country pedling slanders, but has said nothing about myself as I have learned. If you were acquainted with his character, as represented to me, you would never regret that you did not open a communication with him... Oliver Cowdery. (Oliver Cowdery Letter to Lyman Cowdery dated "Kirtland, Ohio, Monday, January 13, 1834," original in the Oliver Cowdery Letter Book, Huntington Library).

Cowdery's somewhat cryptic remarks come clear when it is remembered that D. P. Hurlbut had recently been soliciting anti-Mormon testimony in the area just outside of Palmyra, Wayne Co., New York. Lyman Cowdery, Oliver's brother was then living in or near the town of Lyons, a few miles east of Palmyra. D. P. Hurlbut had attempted to "open a communication" with Lyman but had not been very successful in that endeavor. Lyman's non-surviving letter of Jan. 3, 1833 obviously addressed the unsettling issues of Book of Mormon veracity and D. P. Hurlbut's continuing anti-Mormon crusade. Oliver strangely fails to mention that Hurlbut had threatened to murder or assassinate the Mormon prophet, although he does say that as late as Jan. 13, 1833 (the date of the hearing in Painesville to consider the case of Hurlbut's alleged threats against Smith) the anti-Mormon crusader was "pedling slanders," in the region. Since Hurlbut was apparently in close confinement between January 4th and 13th, Oliver must here be speaking of the ex-Mormon's December lectures in and around Kirtland.

The Canon and the Cannon

The more the primary evidence is consulted the more clear it becomes that the story of there having been a violent (or potentially violent) "persecution" of the Mormons at Kirtland during the winter of 1833-34 was originated and maintained by the top LDS leaders themselves. This does not mean that threats against the Saints in Geauga County were never voiced by the anti-Mormons. It does not mean that the Mormons' fears of their Gentile and apostate neighbors were totally groundless. What it does mean is that those persons occupying the top levels of trust in the Church were knowingly and purposefully fanning the embers of fear among the Latter Day Saints in order to insure their cohesiveness as an exclusive religious body and their faithfulness as devout followers of Joseph Smith, Jr.

Max H. Parkin, whose pioneering research into "internal and external conflict" at Kirtland has largely inspired the writing of this current paper, devotes a few paragraphs to reporting on the perceived "persecution" of the Kirtland Saints during the winter of 1833-34. His words on this topic (from his 1966 BYU Master's thesis, "The Nature and Cause of Internal and External Conflict of the Mormons in Ohio Between 1830 and 1838," pp. 258-261) are quoted below:

The winter of 1833 and 1834 was a particularly threatening period of time for the Saints in Kirtland. Shortly after the violence that caused the Jackson County Saints to evacuate their homes in their several branches near Independence, Missouri, Joseph Smith wrote to Bishop Partridge in Missouri saying, 'The inhabitants of this country (i. e. Ohio) threaten our destruction, and we know not how soon they may be permitted to follow the example of the Missourians,' [[Joseph Smith, "Letter to Edward Partridge," December 5, 1833]] It is unfortunate that more details of the threats were not preserved, but according to Cowdery much of the animosity was stirred up by Hurlburt who was "in the country peddling slander," about the Latter-day Saints...

Writing of this troubled time, Smith said:

All the Church in Kirtland had to lie every night for a long time upon our arms to keep off mobs, of forties , of eighties, & of hundreds to save our lives and the press, and that we might not be scattered & driven to the four winds! [[Joseph Smith, "Letter to Edward Partridge and others of the Firm," March 30, 1834. Located on microfilm at Brigham Young University Library]].

The night of January 7, 1834, was an especially threatening one, for a mob assembled near Kirtland and attempted to frighten the inhabitants with the firing of a cannon. In the words of Oliver Cowdery, "They came out on the 8th about 12 o'clock at night, a little west and fired (a) cannon, we supposed to alarm us, but no one was frightened, but all prepared to defend ourselves if they made a sally upon our houses." [[Oliver Cowdery, "Letter to William Phelps and John Whitmer," January 21, 1834. Located in the Huntington Library.]]

To this the Prophet Joseph Smith added,

The threats of the mob about Kirtland through the fall and winter had been such as to cause the brethren to be constantly on the lookout, and those who labored on the temple were engaged at night watching to protect the walls they had laid during the day, from threatened violence. On the morning of the 8th of January, about 1 o'clock, the inhabitants of Kirtland were alarmed by the firing of about thirteen rounds of cannon, by the mob, on the hill about half a mile northwest of the village. [[History of the Church. II, p. 2.

Heber C. Kimball adds further testimony to the threatening conflict that existed in Kirtland during the construction of the temple...[:] 'at the same time our enemies were raging and threatening destruction upon us, and we had to guard ourselves night after night, and for weeks were not permitted to take off our clothes, and were obliged to lay with our fire locks in our arms. [[ Heber C. Kimball, Times and Seasons (Illinois), VI, No. 1 {January 15, 1845}, p. 77.]]

A careful reading of the Oliver Cowdery quote supplied by Parkin shows that a week prior to writing to his brother Lyman in Palmyra, Oliver had written a another letter which spoke of the situation at Kirtland, this one was addressed to his old comrades among the leaders in the Center Stake of Zion. The most Oliver could report in the way of "persecution" in Ohio was that some nameless, faceless pranksters had fired off a cannon half-way between Mentor and Kirtland. If a military cannon was truly fired on that night it must have been in the hands of a contingent of the Geauga County Militia. Theft of such an artillery piece would have been a major crime and would have been reported in the local newspapers. As no such news report was ever filed, it seems that the artillery firing probably fell within the broad interpretation of legitimate use of County property. Although the "testing" of the cannon occurred under unjustifiable circumstances, nobody was injured and among the Mormons "no one was frightened."

Given Hurlbut's reputation as a would-be assassin of Joseph Smith, Jr., the finger of suspicion might well be pointed at him as being the instigator of this threatening jest at the Mormons' expense. The problem involved in making that guess is, however, that D. P. was then in jail at Painesville. More likely candidates may have been Joseph H. Wakefield, Ezekiel Johnson, or some of their friends. An examination of the Geauga Militia officers' list for 1833-34 might provide more likely suspects.

As this cannon firing appears to mark the high-point of some very localized and clearly ineffectual hostilities directed at the Mormon ranks, the arsenal of external weapons aimed at the Kirtland Saints was exhausted and decommissioned in the days leading up to Hurlbut's hearing at Painesville. The attack that Joseph Smith, Jr. and his closest associates in the Church leadership most feared was not the firing of a cannon at their unfinished temple; it was the metaphorical setting afire of their scriptural canon which most worried them. No matter what the verdict of the Judge in Painesville might be in regard to the threats of D. P. Hurlbut, he would sooner or later be freed from his confinement and ready to mount a more insidious attack upon the Restoration Faith than bombs bursting in air could ever produce. The time had arrived to deal with the man personally and directly.

"Persecutions and Prosecutions"

On Jan. 22, 1834, barely a week after D. P. Hurlbut's release on bond from the Painesville Jail, Orson Hyde, Clerk of the LDS Presidency, was visiting Kirtland and took the trouble to pen a comforting letter on behalf of the First Presidency, addressed to his co-religionists back in Missouri. Following the party line laid down by the LDS leadership during the past few days, Hyde struggled to make some convincing reference to the "persecution" of the Kirtland Saints. The strongest rhetoric he was able to voice said only that there was then "not quite so much danger of a mob upon us as there has been..." According to Hyde and his churchly superiors, following the outcome of this January 13th hearing at Painesville, Hurlbut's "influence was pretty much destroyed" and the local "spirit of hostility" held by some of the non-Mormons had "broken down in a good degree." These remarks indicate that D. P. Hurlbut's release from imprisonment was not met with any great apprehension by the Mormon officials. Or, at the very least, that within a week of his release, officials like Hyde were not so fearful of his anti-Mormon activities as they had been only a few days before:

... On the 22nd [of Jan. 1833], the presidency of the High Priesthood wrote from Kirtland to the brethren in Christ Jesus, scattered from Zion, scattered abroad from the land of their inheritance: Greeting:...

We shall not be able to send you any more money at present, unless the Lord puts it into our hands unexpectedly. There is not quite so much danger of a mob upon us as there has been. The hand of the Lord has thus far been stretched out to protect us. Doctor P. Hurlbut an apostate elder from this church, has been to the state of New York, and gathered up all the ridiculous stories that could be invented, and some affidavits respecting the character of Joseph, and the Smith family, and exhibited them to numerous congregations in Chagrin, Kirtland, Mentor, and Painesville, and fired the minds of the people with much indignation, against Joseph and the church.

Hurlbut also made many harsh threats, &c., that he would take the life of Joseph, if he could not destroy Mormonism without. Bro. Joseph took him with a peace warrant and after three days trial, and investigating the merits of our religion, in the town of Painesville, by able attorneys on both sides, he was bound over to the county court. Thus his influence was pretty much destroyed, and since the trial the spirit of hostility seems to be broken down in a good degree, but how long it will continue so, we cannot say.... (Times and Seasons Vol. 6. No. 14, August 1, 1845, pp. 976-977).

According to Hyde's letter, the Hurlbut hearing in Painesville was a "three days trial." The introduction to the official record regarding this "three days trial" may be found in the 1834 Ohio vs. Hurlbut court transcript. In part, it reads:

On complaint of Joseph Smith Junr. against the defendant against [sic] J. C. Dowen a Justice of the Peace for Kirtland Township in said County made on the 21st day of Dec. 1833 a warrant was issued by said J. C. Dowen, Justice aforesaid which was returned before me William Holbrook a Justice of the Peace for Painesville township in the County aforesaid on the 4th day of January A D 1834 by Stephen Sherman a Constable of Kirtland township with defendant in Court...

The preserved copy of the court transcript in which this hearing is described, appears to say that the "examination" began and ended on the same day: Jan. 13, 1834. The printed version of the typescript contains an error and the termination date of the trial should read "January 16, 1834." (See James A. Briggs letter to John Codman, in Codman's "Mormonism," International Review XI, Sept. 1881, pp. 222-223, where Briggs says that this hearing was "held in the old Methodist Church in Painesville...The trial lasted three days, and the church was filled to overflowing..."). Thus, on January 16, 1834 D. P. Hurlbut was set free, having paid a bond (apparently $500), and thereby entering "into a recognizance to keep the peace generally and especially towards the complainant and also to appear before the Court of Common Pleas" at the end of March 1834.

"Manuscript Lost"

There is reason to believe that not long after he was set free, D. P. Hurlbut met independently with two sets of mutually declared enemies. The first meeting was with the anti-Mormon "Committee" of Geauga County residents whose payments had largely financed his basic needs and special activities for the past four months. It is likely that members of this group were the ones who paid his bond at Painesville following the outcome of the hearing which ended there on January 16, 1834. The "Committee" now wanted a firm commitment from D. P. to furnish them with his promised book, affidavits, and the loan of Mrs. Spalding Davison's property, namely the "Manuscript Found." Hurlbut agreed to their demands. He also agreed to keep a lower public profile in the future and save them the money invested in paying his court bond. It little mattered whose pocket the money came out of, as Hurlbut's pockets were likely bare at that point and forfeiture of the bond would come to rest at the wallets of the "Committee" in one way or another.

The results of this agreement were published in the next issue of the local newspaper, the Painesville Telegraph, which printed these words on behalf of the "Committee":

To the Public:
The undersigned Committee appointed by a public meeting held in Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, for the purposes of ascertaining the origin of the Book of MORMON, would say to the Public, that... The committee were of opinion that the force of truth ought without delay to be applied to the Book of Mormon, and the character of Joseph Smith, Jun. With this object in view, the committee employed D. P. Hurlbut to ascertain the real origin of the Book of Mormon, and to examine the validity of Joseph Smith's claims to the character of a Prophet. The result of this inquiry so far as it has proceeded has been partially laid before the public in this vicinity by Mr. Hurlbut -- and the committee are now making arrangements for the Publication and extensive circulation of a work which will prove the 'Book, of Mormon' to be a work of fiction and imagination, and written more than twenty years ago, in Salem, Ashtabula County, Ohio, by Solomon Spalding, Esq., and completely divest Joseph Smith of all, claims to the character of an honest man... (Painesville Telegraph V. No. 13, Jan. 31, & Feb. 7, 1834)

Here then was the end-game strategy for one of the schemes D. P. Hurlbut had long been planning, a strategy laid out in no uncertain terms in the public press: to publish "the real origin of the Book of Mormon... and [thus] completely divest Joseph Smith of all, claims to the character of an honest man..." To his credit as an editor, Eber D. Howe refrained from making any comment, positive or negative, regarding the Committee's notice. He took their payment to run the ad a second time in the next issue of his Painesville Telegraph and remained only an interested spectator at this juncture in the literary battle with Mormonism. Awaiting publication of their notice in the Telegraph for a second time on Feb. 7th the "Committee" leaders were ready to begin the next phase in their pre-planned publicity campaign. As they readied Hurlbut's promised book for the press they could begin sponsoring the printing of excerpts or summaries of the allegedly fatal disclosures the Hurlbut volume contained. The content of these articles and notices would leave even the most faithful followers of Joseph Smith, Jr. ready to abandon his ecclesiastical ship.

Nothing more was ever printed. Days before the second appearance of the notice on Feb. 7th, the "Committee" folded its rhetorical tents and abandoned the field. Whatever battles they might fight with the Mormons would be fought on different ground and on another day. D. P. Hurlbut failed to produce the goods.

Three days before his printing of the Committee's pre-paid ad, Eber D. How supplied this interesting piece of information, relative to the above events (and non-events): "I have taken all the letters and documents from Mr. Hurlbut, with a view to their publication. An astonishing mass has been collected by him and others, who have determined to lay open the [Mormon] imposition to the world. And the design is to present FACTS, and these well authenticated, and beyond dispute..." (Eber D. Howe Letter to Isaac Hale, dated "Painesville, Ohio, Feb. 4, 1834," Susquehanna Register May 1, 1834).

Howe further elucidates his deal with Hurlbut in the following statement:

Hurlbut returned to Ohio and lectured about the county on the Origin of Mormonism and the Book of Mormon. I heard him lecture in Painesville. He finally came to me to have this evidence he had obtained published. I bargained to pay him in books which I sent to him at Conneaut O. Before publishing my book I went to Conneaut and saw most of the witnesses who had seen Spauldings Manuscript Found and had testified to its identity with the Book of Mormon as published in my book and was satisfied they were men of intelligence and respectability and were not mistaken in their statements. I published only a small part of the statements Hurlbut let me have. Among them was a Manuscript written by Solomon Spaulding which he called Conneaut Story...." (Eber D. Howe Statement, Arthur B. Deming File, Mormon Collection, Chicago Historical Society).

Eber D. Howe employed Esak Rosa to compile Hurlbut's mass of documents and ghost-write a book to be published under Howe's own name later that year. The name he chose was an take-off upon the title a then popular expose of Freemasonry: "Masonry Unvailed." Howe's own Mormonism Unvailed was issued from the press of the Painesville Telegraph and the first copies bound for sale on Nov. 28, 1834. Shortly after that date Howe freighted Hurlbut a bundle containing 400 copies of the work to the port nearest Hurlbut's new home in Girard County, Pennsylvania. Ironically, that was the port of New Salem, recently renamed Conneaut. That, and the $50 cash D. P. received when he handed over his document stack to Howe, was all the payment that the retiring anti-Mormon crusader ever received. There is no reason to believe that D. P. Hurlbut had any further contact with the anti-Mormon Committee or even with the new author-publisher.

It remains unknown whether or not any members of the soon-to-be dissolved "Committee" of Geauga County anti-Mormons knew of the trick D. P. Hurlbut was playing on them until Howe actually had Hurlbut's stack of documents safely hidden away in his office at Painesville. Presumably some word of this treachery reached one or more of the "Committee" leaders and they accepted the transfer of papers to Howe as a matter beyond their control. Like Hurlbut before him, Howe did not surrender the package; but he did promise to publish its contents. That was probably why their ad was not pulled from the February 7th issue of the Telegraph. If D. P. had really handed over all of his collection of materials to editor Howe, it little mattered at that point whether or not he remained on board the book publishing venture. The purpose of the "Committee" all along was to get a copy of Spalding's "Manuscript Found" into the hands of a printer. Now that much at least might be accomplished. True, Howe was the husband of "Sister Harriet," one of Smith's most faithful followers. True also, Howe had toned down his own anti-Mormon rhetoric in recent months to the point that weeks and weeks worth of Telegraph issues were run through the press with barely a critical mention of the Mormons. But those factors would only make Howe appear to be more objective and his book more truthful. Perhaps, by the time the "Committee" leaders decided to disband and leave the publishing work to Howe, they were actually feeling relieved to be rid of the constant drain upon their pocketbooks brought about by the escapades of a presumed criminal now awaiting a trial and sentencing. So long as Spalding's "Manuscript Found" saw publication in the near future their major purpose would be fulfilled.

There was only one small problem which new stood in the way of finishing up the publishing project, returning the borrowed papers to Mrs. Davison, and heralding the "Death of Mormonism" far and wide. "Manuscript Found" was not in the bundle which D. P. Hurlbut handed over to Eber D. Howe when he received his $50 and the promissory note for 400 copies of the anticipated book.

A Truth Stranger than Fiction?

What Eber D. Howe found in the bundle was a thin, sketchy draft copy of a Spalding romance which resembled the story told in the Book of Mormon only in the most general terms. When Howe attempted to find a paragraph, or even a full sentence, which matched the text in his wife's copy of the Book of Mormon, he came away angry and empty-handed. Not only had the slippery D. P. cheated the dissolving anti-Mormon 'Committee," he had cheated Howe as well. Eber must have bit his lip and sworn then and there that he would never get into such a predicament again. Once he had the book printed and out of his hands he would get out of the publishing business forever. But perhaps he then reviewed in his mind the fact that Hurlbut had never actually promised that the "Manuscript Found" was in the package he was selling to Howe. No doubt the anti-Mormon crusader had spoken of "Spalding's manuscript" being included among the papers, but for obvious reasons he had neglected to point out that what he meant by that was the short, unfinished story wrapped up in a sheet of paper and labeled "Conneaut Creek" on the outside. Howe mentally reviewed his options and decided to go ahead with the book publishing project, minus the unfinished Spalding story. If he strung the printing of a limited number of forms out over the next several months he could fit the production in between other press-work and not lose money by refusing lucrative job-shop orders, or in having to hire additional help. If he assembled and cut pages of the book only when he received sales orders and bound it with cardboard and heavy tape, instead of leather, he could save money there also.

One final thought crossed Howe's mind. By his printing an expose of Mormonism minus the expected "Manuscript Found" the Latter Day Saints might have to deal with some heavy criticism, but nothing that would immediately destroy Smith's church. That much trouble might cause those obstinate fellows who ran the sect to straighten up and fly right for a season. Hopefully they would not be beating a path to his door, making accusations and demands, and sending Elders like W. W. Phelps up to Painesville to try and talk him out of the project. His Mormon wife and relatives might be a bit cross for a while, but they would not shun his company forever. His mind was made up; he would print the book, reap whatever profits it afforded and then retire on his $8 a month veteran's pension.

All of the above is an admittedly imaginative reconstruction of what went through Howe's mind as he launched into his own, scaled-down version of the book publishing project. What follows is the result of an even greater exercise of the imagination. But it may well be what really happened.

A Carrot and a Stick?

Even before his arrest and confinement at Painesville, D. P. Hurlbut had been pondering the disadvantages of locking horns with Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon in an all-out battle to see "The Kingdom" either awesomely destroyed or miraculously saved. He little savored the thought of meeting up with "Bill" Smith or "Port" Rockwell one dark night on the Mentor road. Fighting too hard against the Mormons might end up in his own undoing. With this fear gnawing at his thoughts Hurlbut also considered the possible advantages he might reap by disposing of the thick old manuscript he had been exhibiting all through Geauga County as Spalding's "Manuscript Found." There was no need to return it to the dead author's widow; she had no proof of what D. P. had taken from among her late husband's papers when he had carted away the paper treasure trove from Jerome Clark's place in Hartwick. So long as something was returned to her, that would be good enough for him to settle up accounts with the old lady. It also began to occur to D. P. Hurlbut that there was no reason for him to hand the thick romance over to Warren Corning, Orris Clapp, and Grandison Newell. Their estimation of him was already sinking lower by the day. They did not care for his threatening to "kill" Mormonism and they were already disturbed by the news that Joseph Smith might seek to have the lot of them arrested if Hurlbut threatened or slandered them any further.

Another thought also kept returning to D. P.'s calculating brain: it would be very nice to shed the irksome task of writing a book himself. He had thrown his old lecture notes together and passed off that stack as the great manuscript he was supposedly preparing for the press, but he found sitting down to a table with a pen in his hand a laborious and unrewarding task. He was in his element pronouncing thunderous speeches from the pulpit and looking down into admiring eyes. But writing a book was lonely and tiresome work. He had watched the few Mormons who had attended his lectures recently, men like Martin Harris. They were nervous and uncertain how to treat him. Perhaps they were finally becoming afraid of him after all. That was what he savored most of all, but he knew the feeling would not last. His attempts to haul the Mormon Smiths into court were going nowhere. Lawyer Bissel was thwarting his every attempt to get a complaint entered into a J. P.'s docket book. And his own cut-rate legal advisor, young James A. Briggs, was practically useless. All he needed to make his decision was some word that the Mormon bigwigs would furnish him a pay-off for what he could supply them. D. P. thought he had received hints of that possibility, but he still had nothing solid he could rely upon for such a delicate scheme.

Then the news arrived that John C. Dowen had just recognized a complaint filed by Cowdery in Smith's behalf. His arrest could come at any moment. Hurlbut quickly packed a bag, slipped out of the back door and made it over to the Dowen place ten minutes before Joseph Smith was scheduled to drop by and sign the complaint drafted by Cowdery. Would Dowen himself call the Constable and have him arrested? Hurlbut was assured that would not happen. He reluctantly slipped his hand into the bag he was carrying and pulled out a stack of folded old foolscap pages, neatly sewn into little booklets. Would Dowen pass the pages on to Smith? "Yes" he would. Would he also pass on the message that the remainder of the manuscript could be had for a price? "Yes" to that question also. Hurlbut heard some voices he knew well outside the window and a knock at the door. Mrs. Dowen showed him out the back. It would be a long walk to Wakefield's place in Mentor.

To Conneaut - One Last Time

It took D. P. Hurlbut several days to borrow a horse and slip out of Geauga Co. undetected. During that time he met with a few of the "Committee" and they were not at all happy about his avoiding arrest. They demanded the materials he had collected and he refused their demands, saying that the papers were in a safe place and he would provide them once his legal problems had been solved. He outlined his plan and waited to hear their response. They had little choice but to approve it. D. P. would go back to Conneaut and secure more affidavits concerning the Spalding claims. Along with those statements he would secure verification that the thick manuscript in his possession was truly a holograph copy of Solomon Spalding's long-lost "Manuscript Found." Only then, after those final papers had been obtained would D. P. make himself available for arrest. He only asked that the "Committee" leaders do what they could to assure that the arrest and trial took place Mentor, or Painesville, any place besides Kirtland. Once the meeting was over D. P. headed off to Ashtabula County.

It was rough going on the snow-filled roads and he was forced to stop and take care of himself and his mount half a dozen times before he reached New Salem. His last stop before reaching that destination was at the Woodbury place in Kingsville. He neglected to inform the honest old Judge about the arrest warrant which had recently been issued by John C. Dowen back in Kirtland, but he did divulge his growing weariness with conducting the anti-Mormon crusade which had been such an adventure for so many months. Wheeler's daughter Maria listened attentively and then made him promise to write her if he really did drop his silly old feud with the Mormons. Hurlbut eyed the fancy china and silverware on the damask-covered Woodbury table and nodded his head. It was a promise he intended to keep -- if only he could save himself from a prison term next year.

In New Salem Hurlbut's anxieties left him. The county sheriff, Zaphna Lake, laughed at his story of slipping out of Mormon Kirtland and assured D. P. that he would not be arrested in Ashtabula County, so long as he kept quiet and out of sight as much as possible. The sheriff escorted the wanted man over to the hotel and they toasted the coming new year with Zaphna's father, Henry. D. P. accepted the offer of a free room, washed up and then made it over to old Aaron Wright's feed store before dark. He was in luck, the old gentleman was still there, closing up his end of the year accounts and writing out the final pages in the inventory ledger. Wright was congenial but he was too busy to take more than a passing glance at the thin, moth-eaten old manuscript Hurlbut laid on the table. Yes it was Spalding's writing. Yes he recalled the story, but only vaguely. It had not interested him back in 1812 and it still looked like a sorry effort on the last day of 1833.

Aaron agreed to compose a few remarks for Hurlbut to carry back to Grandison Newell, but he was really too busy with his end of the year work at the store to write a letter then. Hurlbut volunteered to do the work if Wright would supply his thoughts. The store-keeper said that the scant production he had just glanced at was Spalding's work, but not the manuscript he had spoken of when he had made out a statement for Hurlbut back in August. It was just one of the many odd little stories his old friend had written up while avoiding work in the forge at the back of his house. Wright looked over the letter Hurlbut handed him to sign and pointed out all the errors. Hurlbut recopied the message on a clean sheet of paper, correcting the mistakes old Mr. Wright had pointed out. The store-keeper signed the re-written sheet at the bottom and wished D. P. well as he walked out the door.

Hurlbut enjoyed the hospitality offered him at Lake's hotel until it was apparent he had once again worn out his welcome. Zaphna left for Jefferson to clean out his office and make things ready for the new sheriff to take over his duties. D. P. rode with him as far as Ashtabula, where they parted company. Along the way the ex-Mormon cast a wishful eye at the farmland east of Kingsville and imagined himself walking behind a plow. For the first time in his life it was not a thought he dismissed immediately.

Magistrate's Hearing

The arrest was worse than he had feared it would be. Despite his being promised that allowing the Kirtland constable to apprehend him in Painesville would assure him an easy time of things, Judge Holbrook was annoyed to have the case brought up in his court. He had enough problems taking care of Painesville business, did he have to do Dowen's work now also? The Judge told the Constable to bring the defendant back to his office when he had a lawyer and some folks to speak up for him. Threatening to murder ministers was serious stuff, even if they were Mormons. The Constable promised to keep Hurlbut tied hand and foot in the back of his farm wagon. Brother Sherman had him locked up in his barn on the Mentor road well before nightfall. Two nights in the unheated stable, without a bath and eating only the few crumbs Sherman could spare from his own sparsely set table put Hurlbut into a deep depression. He was in no mood to talk with the little Mormon kids who came to peer in at the door when the Constable brought him his bread and water. Nor was D. P. pleased to see Dowen in the little crowd of curious onlookers who gathered around the wagon when Sherman led him from the barn and shoved him down on the straw-covered wagon bed. It was 1834 now and John C. Dowen was just a private citizen once again. The former J. P. whispered one sentence in Hurlbut's ear before Sherman started off for Painesville: "The most they'll give you is $500. Take it and get out of here." For the first time in three days D. P. managed to smile. The thought of that farm in Kingsville suddenly was a most encouraging one.

The Crux of the Crisis

The hearing was a farce from beginning to end. It might have easily been held in Judge Holbrook's office, or in the Painesville court house where all the other trials were conducted. Instead, The Judge let Bissel talk him into setting up court in the Methodist church. After reading the charges and registering Hurlbut's plea Holbrook adjourned court and informed those present that the hearing would resume at the church-house that afternoon. For three sessions in a row Hurlbut sat dumbfounded next to young Briggs, his poor excuse for a lawyer. All "the brethren" were there, but Rigdon only poked his head in for a minute or two. Cowdery sat next to Bissel chattering with him in a hushed voice every afternoon. Smith sat on the other side of Bissel, looking every inch a gentleman who had been grievously wronged. The church was so packed with curious onlookers that it was a wonder that the hearing could be conducted at all. Witness after witness told old Holbrook and the Judge from Fairport who joined him on the bench how Hurlbut was a phony doctor who could not even be trusted when he pronounced his name. He was a "base ruffian" who could, at any moment, turn upon a man and put a knife between his ribs. He said he was going to kill their prophet and that was no lie.

The hearing seemed to go on forever and as each witness was examined D. P. sank deeper into the depression that had been haunting him for days. When he was finally called to the witness stand, it took all the will power he could summon up not to walk over and put his fist in Bissel's face. As for Smith, he looked on with a kind of bored aloofness. Was it just Hurlbut's imagination, or did he see the prophet wink at him? Dan Copley and Joe Wakefield put in a few good words for him. The Rev. Samuel Whitney was the best of the lot. He even brought a sharp look to Holbrook's face when he told how there was no way on earth that an assailant could ever break into Jo Smith's place and do him in. The armed guards and loaded guns up on the hill where the Mormons had been building their temple were everywhere to be seen.

The best Briggs could bring himself to say once the show was finally over was that without Whitney's helpful testimony D. P. would probably have never made it out of jail. At least he was a free man -- for a few weeks. Smith walked over and offered his hand but D. P. turned away. He never wanted to see the Mormon prophet again. It would almost be worth confessing at Chardon, just to avoid another circus like the one he had just been through. D. P. had no intention of ever giving another lecture; and he be damned if he ever set foot in Kirtland again! The exhausted Hurlbut moved in with Joe Wakefield at Mentor and finally regained a bit of cheer listening to the repeated telling of his cannon story.

D. P. recovered his hidden trove of papers and made a few attempts to put the pages in order. He began to write an answer to Isaac Hale's letter, but he left it unfinished. His last meeting with Grandison Newell put a few more dollars in his pocket, but it was plain to see that the money he'd come to depend upon from the "Committee" was drying up. Leaving Newell's place for the last time he took with him the notice his host had cut out of that week's issue of the Telegraph. On his way back to Mentor he resolved to move out of Wakefield's place. He would await his trial elsewhere -- maybe he'd spend a few days in Kingsville. Hurlbut was met at the turn-off to the house by two men on horseback. As soon as he could make out their faces he froze. He knew them both and he was ready for the worst when the first Brother brought his horse to a clattering halt on the icy road beside him.

"You left this back at Sister Johnson's" the mounted man said, as he handed a battered leather case over to the man he addressed as "Doc."

D. P. mumbled a "Thank you." For a moment he was totally perplexed. He turned his old saving kit over in his hands a couple of times. He was flabbergasted that the horsemen had taken the trouble to return such a worthless old thing to him. Then he thought to look inside. He counted the Bank of Cleveland notes: five ten-spots and a fifty. D. P. nearly dropped the little case in the shock of that moment.

"You left yer boots behind, Doc." The second rider said tersely. "I suppose you'll be wanting them too?"

D. P. nodded silently, suspecting a trick. But the men turned their horses, ready to leave. The first horseman's departing remark brought a hint of a smile to "Doc" Hurlbut's lips: "I'll bring them to you fer a book. How's that? We'll be passing by again on the fifth -- same time."

With that peculiar good-bye still ringing in his ears D. P. watched the two men ride off into the snowfall which had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. His depression lifted, leaving him feeling as light as the flakes swirling through his frozen breath. The very thought of it! He'd never seen Orrin open a book even once! He tucked the shaving kit into his coat pocket, got off the horse and led his borrowed mount up Wakefield's driveway to the stable. He took care in unsaddling the horse, brushing down his coat and forking over the hay. In the morning he would be riding into Painesville. He had a package to deliver and another fifty dollars to add to his new wealth. His vision of that farm in Kingsville grew stronger by the hour.

Temporary Resolution of the Crisis

TEMPORARY NOTES

NOTES
CHAPTER FOUR

 
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