Appendix 2, Document 3. Stick of Joseph, 1844

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Appendix 2, Document 3. Stick of Joseph, 1844
Source Note

The Stick of Joseph, Taken from the Hand of Ephraim, broadside, [
New York City
Dutch founded New Netherland colony, 1625. Incorporated under British control and renamed New York, 1664. Harbor contributed to economic and population growth of city; became largest city in American colonies. British troops defeated Continental Army under...
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, NY: Prophet, 1844], one page. The copy used for transcription is held at CHL; includes file notes.

File notes on verso in ink in unidentified handwriting: “
Mrs. Hyrum Smith
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”; “Vault | Nq | M222 | 5854 | 184-?”; “1844 | Placard | Stick of Joseph”; “Book of Mormon | Characters”; and in handwriting of
Thomas Bullock
23 Dec. 1816–10 Feb. 1885. Farmer, excise officer, secretary, clerk. Born in Leek, Staffordshire, England. Son of Thomas Bullock and Mary Hall. Married Henrietta Rushton, 25 June 1838. Moved to Ardee, Co. Louth, Ireland, Nov. 1839; to Isle of Anglesey, Aug...
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: “This was formerly owned by
Hyrum Smith
9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...
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sent to the Historian office March 22, 1860, by his son Joseph <F.> Smith”.
1
The broadside could not have been owned by Hyrum Smith, since it was published after his death.

Printed sheet measuring 14⅝ × 11⅞ inches (37 × 30 cm). Gold leaf printing on paper coated in black. Border around the text block measures 10⅞ × 8⅞ inches (28 × 23 cm), composed of various designs. Text set in various typefaces and sizes. Includes three sets of characters enclosed in separate borders. This copy of the broadside has multiple folds.
Footnotes
[1]
The broadside could not have been owned by Hyrum Smith, since it was published after his death.
Historical Introduction
This broadside is the first known published copy of characters reported to have been taken from the
gold plates
A record engraved on gold plates, which JS translated and published as the Book of Mormon. The text explained that the plates were an abridgment of other ancient records and were written by an American prophet named Mormon and his son Moroni. The plates were...
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. The Prophet, a church-affiliated newspaper in
New York
Located in northeast region of U.S. Area settled by Dutch traders, 1620s; later governed by Britain, 1664–1776. Admitted to U.S. as state, 1788. Population in 1810 about 1,000,000; in 1820 about 1,400,000; in 1830 about 1,900,000; and in 1840 about 2,400,...
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, printed it to help cover its publication costs and to memorialize “the wisdom that inspired our martyred Prophet.” In December 1844, it advertised, “We have published a very neat specimen of the original characters or hieroglyphics that were copied from the plates which the Book of Mormon was
translated
To produce a text from one written in another language; in JS’s usage, most often through divine means. JS considered the ability to translate to be a gift of the spirit, like the gift of interpreting tongues. He recounted that he translated “reformed Egyptian...
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from.”
1
“The Words That Were Delivered to the Learned, Isaiah 23;11,” Prophet, 14 Dec. 1844, [3]; see also “The Stick of Joseph Taken from the Hand of Ephraim,” Prophet, 21 Dec. 1844, [2].
Comprehensive Works Cited
The Prophet. New York City, NY. May 1844–Dec. 1845.
Although the three lines of characters reproduced here closely resemble the characters in
John Whitmer
27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...
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’s copy, his document could not have served as the source for this 1844 publication. Following his 1838 excommunication, Whitmer left the church and took his papers, including his copy of the characters, with him.

See also Appendix 2: Copies of Book of Mormon Characters, Introduction.
Footnotes
[1]
“The Words That Were Delivered to the Learned, Isaiah 23;11,” Prophet, 14 Dec. 1844, [3]; see also “The Stick of Joseph Taken from the Hand of Ephraim,” Prophet, 21 Dec. 1844, [2].
The Prophet. New York City, NY. May 1844–Dec. 1845.
Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Appendix 2, Document 1. Characters Copied by John Whitmer, circa 1829–1831 *Appendix 2, Document 2a. Characters Copied by Oliver Cowdery, circa 1835–1836 Appendix 2, Document 2b. Writings and Characters Copied by Frederick G. Williams, circa Early to Mid-1830s
*Appendix 2, Document 3. Stick of Joseph, 1844
Page [1]
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the

STICK OF JOSEPH,

taken from the

HAND OF EPHRAIM.
1
See Ezekiel 37:16, 19; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 96, 248 [2 Nephi 19:21; Alma 10:3].

A CORRECT COPY

of the characters taken from the plates the

BOOK OF MORMON!!

Was translated from—the same that was taken to
Professor [Charles] Anthon
17 Nov. 1797–29 July 1867. College professor, lawyer. Born in New York City. Son of George Christian Anthon and Genevieve Judot. Attended Columbia College, 1811–1815, in New York City. Studied law; admitted to bar, 1819. Adjunct professor of Greek and Latin...
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of
New York
Dutch founded New Netherland colony, 1625. Incorporated under British control and renamed New York, 1664. Harbor contributed to economic and population growth of city; became largest city in American colonies. British troops defeated Continental Army under...
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, by

Martin Harris
18 May 1783–10 July 1875. Farmer. Born at Easton, Albany Co., New York. Son of Nathan Harris and Rhoda Lapham. Moved with parents to area of Swift’s landing (later in Palmyra), Ontario Co., New York, 1793. Married first his first cousin Lucy Harris, 27 Mar...
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, in the year 1827 in fulfilment of Isaiah 29.11, 12.
2
For accounts of Harris’s visit to Anthon, see JS History, ca. Summer 1832, 5; JS History, vol. A-1, 9; and Tucker, Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism, 42; see also Kimball, “Anthon Transcript,” 325–352.
Tucker, Pomeroy. Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism: Biography of Its Founders and History of Its Church. New York: D. Appleton, 1867.
Kimball, Stanley B. “The Anthon Transcript: People, Primary Sources, and Problems.” BYU Studies 10, no. 3 (Spring 1970): 325–352.

“The vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith; I cannot for it is sealed: And the Book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.”

3
It is unknown what document the characters were copied from, though they are nearly identical to the first three lines of John Whitmer’s copy. The editors of the Prophet did not have access to Whitmer’s copy, since he had been excommunicated in 1838. (See Characters Copied by John Whitmer, ca. 1829–1831.)
[one line of characters]

“Truth shall spring out of the earth.”—Psalms 85—11.


“I have written to Ephraim the great things of my law.”—Hosea 8—12.


“Thus saith the Lord God, Behold I will take the Stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.—Ezekiel 37;19.

“Our fathers once had ‘Sacred Book’ like the white man have, but it was hid in the ground, since then Indian no more prevail against his enemies.”—An aged Indian of the Stockbridge tribe.
4
See “From Priest’s American Antiquities,” Times and Seasons, 1 June 1842, 3:814, which quotes Priest, American Antiquities and Discoveries, 68–70, which in turn reproduced the text of Smith, View of the Hebrews, 223. Josiah Priest argued that there was a lost race in the ancient Americas, possibly of Israelite descent. (See Priest, American Antiquities and Discoveries, 59–84.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Priest, Josiah. American Antiquities and Discoveries in the West. . . . 5th ed. Albany: Hoffman and White, 1838.
Smith, Ethan. View of the Hebrews; or, The Tribes of Israel in America. . . . 2nd ed. Poultney, VT: Smith and Shute, 1825.
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Document Information
Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Appendix 2, Document 3. Stick of Joseph, 1844
ID #
7595
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D1:365–367
Handwriting on This Page
Footnotes
[1]
See Ezekiel 37:16, 19; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 96, 248 [2 Nephi 19:21; Alma 10:3].
[2]
For accounts of Harris’s visit to Anthon, see JS History, ca. Summer 1832, 5; JS History, vol. A-1, 9; and Tucker, Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism, 42; see also Kimball, “Anthon Transcript,” 325–352.
Tucker, Pomeroy. Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism: Biography of Its Founders and History of Its Church. New York: D. Appleton, 1867.
Kimball, Stanley B. “The Anthon Transcript: People, Primary Sources, and Problems.” BYU Studies 10, no. 3 (Spring 1970): 325–352.
[3]
It is unknown what document the characters were copied from, though they are nearly identical to the first three lines of John Whitmer’s copy. The editors of the Prophet did not have access to Whitmer’s copy, since he had been excommunicated in 1838. (See Characters Copied by John Whitmer, ca. 1829–1831.)
[4]
See “From Priest’s American Antiquities,” Times and Seasons, 1 June 1842, 3:814, which quotes Priest, American Antiquities and Discoveries, 68–70, which in turn reproduced the text of Smith, View of the Hebrews, 223. Josiah Priest argued that there was a lost race in the ancient Americas, possibly of Israelite descent. (See Priest, American Antiquities and Discoveries, 59–84.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Priest, Josiah. American Antiquities and Discoveries in the West. . . . 5th ed. Albany: Hoffman and White, 1838.
Smith, Ethan. View of the Hebrews; or, The Tribes of Israel in America. . . . 2nd ed. Poultney, VT: Smith and Shute, 1825.