Kinderhook, Line, and Sinker

I never knew Joseph Smith was deceived into translating bogus metal plates.




On April 23 1843, a group of six small bell-shaped brass plates with unknown engravings were reportedly discovered near Kinderhook, Illinois (about 70 miles south of Nauvoo). A Mormon was among those who discovered the plates while “excavating” so word traveled quickly among the LDS community and created a stir in the Church press, with hope that these metal plates corroborated the story of the gold plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated. These brass plates came to be known as the Kinderhook Plates.

It was reported in Times and Seasons May 1, 1843 that Joseph Smith had translated a portion of the plates:

I insert fac-similes of the six brass plates found near Kinderhook, in Pike county, Illinois, on April 23, by Mr. Robert Wiley and others, while excavating a large mound. They found a skeleton about six feet from the surface of the earth, which must have stood nine feet high. The plates were found on the breast of the skeleton and were covered on both sides with ancient characters.

I have translated a portion of them and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth.
(History of the Church, Vol. 5, p. 372)

Several other accounts support this statement in Times and Seasons, including those by William Clayton and Parley Pratt. It is clear that these trusted contemporaries were at the very least under the impression that Smith accepted the plates as authentic and had begun translating.

However, unknown to Smith and others, the plates were actually part of a conspiracy to trick Joseph Smith and expose him as a fraud. The plates had been forged by local men and buried with the intent of deceiving the Latter-day Saints. The plates were not exposed as a hoax until 1879 when one of the counterfeiters signed an affidavit describing the forgeries. Apologist Richard Bushman speculates in Rough Stone Rolling (p 490) that this delay was possibly because Smith did not fall for the trap completely and did not translate the plates before his death a year later.

In spite of the confession, LDS held the belief of the authenticity of the Kinderhook Plates and its witness of the truth of the Book of Mormon for until 1980 when a BYU professor, Stanley B. Kimball, was given permission to perform a series of tests on one of the plates. The analysis verified that the plates had been produced with the etching of acid and were in fact a fraud. The results were reported in the August 1981 Ensign magazine (p 66) including:

As a result of these tests, we concluded that the plate owned by the Chicago Historical Society is not of ancient origin. We concluded that the plate was etched with acid; and as Paul Cheesman and other scholars have pointed out, ancient inhabitants would probably have engraved the plates rather than etched them with acid. Secondly, we concluded that the plate was made from a true brass alloy (copper and zinc) typical of the mid-nineteenth century; whereas the “brass” of ancient times was actually bronze, an alloy of copper and tin. Furthermore, one would expect an ancient alloy to contain larger amounts of impurities and inclusions than did the alloy tested.

Apologists such as Jeff Lindsay claim Joseph Smith never actually bought in to the fraud. The claim is that the account in Times and Seasons was actually taken from William Clayton’s journal and was a second hand account rather than from Joseph Smith himself. (This was a perfectly acceptable practice in other cases, such as recording of several sections of Doctrine and Covenants, but allegedly does not reflect the true words of Smith in this case.)

Apologists also claim Joseph Smith wasn’t truly interested in the plates and that it is a “non-issue”. However, the coverage by the local press and the 7-page treatment in the History of the Church appear to paint the issue as important to the community at the time. Even Kimball in his Ensign article acknowledges there was considerable talk on the issue in the community, claiming this led to “as much misinformation and hearsay was current among people as there was fact.”

Apologists from FAIR point to conflicting versions of the discovery and translation of the plates to discredit the possible deception. (It is worth noting that conflicting accounts do not invalidate evidence for FAIR in some cases, such as the First Vision, Book of Mormon, or the visit of Angel Nephi/Moroni)

If Smith was not deceived and did not attempt to translate the plates, would he not have made attempts to clarify the public statements made by close confidantes and the local media? Would he not have shared the inspiration that these plates were counterfeit with the LDS community who were spreading the “faith promoting rumors”? His silence in the matter could just show indifference to the subject, that is wasn’t a big deal to him and he had more important things to worry about. It could be he appreciated that it increased member’s faith, even if it wasn’t true. Or it could be, as I believe, that he did not know of the hoax any more than the next person.

The methodology of the apologists in this matter is questionable at best. After physical evidence was shown to overturn previous belief, great effort was taken to explain away the inconsistencies. Would the apologist have been just as critical of validity of the Times and Seasons editorial had the plates been shown to be authentic? It is another example of holding the conclusion you want to achieve and twisting the evidence to point to that result.

For a more thorough discussion of Kinderhook Plate issues from the apologist viewpoint, see “Ask the Apologist”. For a more comprehensive critical view, see MormonThink.