CULTURES ARE LIKE STREAMS, flowing from countless trickles and springs. There are sources everywhere. Tracing these origins is slow work. The way is often hard and slippery, but the rewards are amazing.

For a quarter-century and more, I have pursued Mormon parallels in the most unexpected places, and have exclaimed aloud in frequent surprise. MORMON PARALLELS: A Bibliographic Source was announced January 24, 2008 and made available in February. It is sold by my sole distributor, below.

 

Each copy is personally hand-made by the author, tagged and numbered in the digital text, and tested individually through a process requiring several days for each batch . . .

 

THE FIRST EDITION IS CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK 
PLEASE CLICK BELOW to see the
SECOND EDITION, MORMON PARALLELS 2014

 

When I look up to heaven/ And there my Jesus view,
And faith to me is given/ Those wonders to pursue.
I cry out, O amazing!/ Astonish'd at the sight,
And ever would be gazing/ In raptures of delight.
There on a throne most glorious,/ With sweet delight I see,
Exalted and victorious,/ The Lamb that died for me.

–  From a revival hymn book published in rural
New York State, 1816. Mormon Parallels entry 111.

 

From proverbial attics, dusty old bookshops, book fairs and catalogs – through auctions, telephone calls, and pleasant drives to small New England towns – a seemingly endless variety of Mormon parallels continues to appear. If these books and papers were conscious beings, they might huddle nervously upon their shelves, rustling their leaves, wondering when the Mormons would come to read what they have to say. Here, then, is a sampling in five hundred entries, a mere introduction to this fascinating material which has awaited our attention for two centuries. As time goes on, we will see more, and understand better. Whatever be the conclusions of coming years, we must at least sound increasingly naïve to exclaim, "Whoever thought such things before?"

— from the Introduction, p. 45

 

MORMON PARALLELS:  A BIBLIOGRAPHIC SOURCE

BY  RICK GRUNDER

Lafayette, New York: RICK GRUNDER – BOOKS, 2008

 

More than twenty-five years in the making;  2,088 pages, 500 entries, 293 illustrations (76 in color), nearly 900,000 words  – and things which you have never seen before.  The first edition, published in digital form only (.pdf), on a single CD-ROM.*

Limited to three hundred copies, each signed and numbered on the disc, on the folding container, and numbered in the digital text of the first page of the work itself.

––   CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK    ––      $200

An additional one hundred SCHOLAR COPIES, signed and lettered.  A – VVVV, are not for sale, but will be given to students, private researchers, institutions which have provided assistance for this project, and other friends.

 

CLICK HERE to download free sample entries from the First Edition.
This is a PDF file of approximately 5½ megabytes.

 

CLICK HERE to preview or download the free INDEX TO MORMON PARALLELS.
This is a new PDF file of less than 2 megabytes, which automatically comes as part of
the 2014 edition (final 219 pages), but will also work with the 2008 edition.

 

Click Below to download other free entries from the First Edition . . .:

 

• MP 73 (Richard Brothers' prophecies, containing Anglo-Israel ideas of tribes of Israel and other interesting early Mormon concepts).
  

  
  
• MP 158 (Chronicon Ephratense, containing Melchizedek Priesthood and baptism for the dead parallels in the Ephrata community in Pennsylvania, 1700s).
  
  
  

• MP 178 (Harper's Weekly, April 25, 1857, containing anti-polygamy arguments strongly paralleling modern arguments against same-sex marriage).
  
  

• MP 181 (Hawley's Millennium, the scriptural revelations of Daniel Hawley, 1818).
  
  

• MP 448 (The Unitarian, January 1834, containing Bernard Whitman's review of the Book of Mormon).
  
  

• MP 453 (John Walker's Key to . . . Scripture Proper Names, containing examples and homonyms of Book of Mormon names).
  

• MP 481 (Noah Worcester's 1809 letter announcing his doctrine of deity. Includes my STATEMENT ON DEITY, with an essay, "Deity in the Book of Mormon.")

 

 

___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

THE FIRST EDITION IS CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK 
PLEASE CLICK BELOW to see the
SECOND EDITION, MORMON PARALLELS 2014

 

All inquiries regarding the FIRST EDITION
(currently out of stock) should be addressed to . . .

SOLE DISTRIBUTOR:  Dr. Hugh McKell, Salt Lake City

hugh@bearhollowbooks.com

 

___________________________________________________________
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© 2008 Rick Grunder   —   ISBN 978-0-9814708-0-1

 

* 389 MB.  No installation required.  Can be used directly on the disc, or copied to your hard-drive for fastest operation.  Uses ADOBE READER ™ software (5.0 or higher), available free of charge online:

   http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html 

 

 

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THE FOLLOWING ABBREVIATED ENTRIES were listed on this page several years ago, and generally appear in the book with further detail, some with illustrations.  FOR EXAMPLES OF ACTUAL ENTRIES AND PRESENTATION IN THE BOOK, however, see the link just above.

 

"AFRICA." [map]; at bottom: "A. Bowen Sc[ulpt.]." No place, no date [ca. 1820?].

11 X 11 cm. + margins. Verso blank. A relatively primitive plate probably taken from a simple family or children's atlas; a previous owner has penciled"1820" in the lower margin.

Includes Jerusalem and much of the Near East. Although this is a small map for such a vast region, with relatively few place names designated, the engraver has identified Comoro, a chain of French-owned volcanic islands (Archipel des Comores) northwest of Madagascar. The Encyclopedia Britannica (11th ed.) records volcanic eruptions beginning in 1830 on the island of the Great Comoro where Maroni, the capitol of this territory, is located (not shown here). These islands were a stopping place for Captain Kidd, who figured prominently in the treasure-hunting lore of Joseph Smith's world.

 

 

Beloved ! If we are not to think it strang[e] . . . Anonymous manuscript spiritual autobiography by a man of New England born ca. 1802, relating his revival/conversion experiences, including visions during solitary prayer in the fields in 1823-4. No place, written 17 May 1859, "part from memory, & part from a sketch written at the time."

24 X 19 cm. [16] unnumbered pages on four lined sheets loosely stitched together but never bound. Untitled; text begins as above. Approx. 5,000 words.

An excellent original narrative manuscript of revival-inspired struggles of a young man in Connecticut in 1823-4 and earlier. Almost certainly unpublished, this record contains a number of interesting elements reminiscent of Joseph Smith's experiences at the same time.

When about sixteen years of age, the writer felt "a little hardend" and began to reflect on the goodness of God. Suddenly, he reports, while alone one day, ". . . in an instant an uncommon degree of heavnly light beam'd forth upon my soul . . . something similar to that which surrounded Saul of Tarsus . . ." p.3. He was tempted, however, to delay repenting until he was twenty-one.

In late 1823, the writer moved "to the upper part of Conn[ecticut]—to a place where they were blest with a revival of religion." p.5. He then experienced something on the order of what Joseph Smith explains had happened to him only three months earlier :

Still feeling that he did not know the Lord, however, our writer thought that God directed his steps to a nearby town "among a praying people call'd Methodist . . ." p.7. In January, 1824, he attended most of their meetings, but went through spiritual agony which ". . . can never be described. . . . the pains of Hell had got hold of me . . . I was cut off from hope & sunk in despair . . . the quicker I could know my doom & yield to my fate the better . . . being . . . without rest or sleep . . . with the pains of Hell hold of me What could I do?" pp. 8-9. The answer, of course, was to believe in Christ, and to believe that there would be hope, following this painful chastisement. But hope did not come before Satan tried to interfere:

The brother hurried the young man into the house, but could not prevent the devil, "in visible form," from troubling him twice again that night and once more in the morning: ". . . I saw that horrid form.== I tell the truth. I lie not.- " p.10. Like the writer of the present manuscript, Joseph Smith writes:

Additional statements of interest in the manuscript include the writer's memories of how, early in his struggles, ". . . [I] warded off Gods claims upon me . . . Yet. . . Gods claims were upon me & I could not rid myself of them . . ." (p.3; compare to Alma 42). ". . . I had a practice of retiring . . . to the fields for meditation contemplation & prayer . . . & sometimes I would have views of God & Christ . . ." p.14.

 

 

DOW, Lorenzo. THE OPINION OF DOW; Or, LORENZO'S THOUGHTS, On Different Subjects, in an Address to the People of New-England. Windham: Printed by J. Byrne, 1804.

15 cm. 164 pp. Only edition thus; one of Dow's earliest books. The Library of Congress owns a 38-page extract printed at Richmond, Virginia, in May, 1804.

In the course of arguing against doctrines of predestination, Dow here reveals early nineteenth-century beliefs in the pre-mortal creation of human spirits. Dow questions such ideas, but records that they were accepted by people with whom he came in contact:

Additional Mormon parallels abound in this small volume, and are presented below in the order in which they appear:

Iowa (State). Constitution. 1846. CONSTITUTION FOR THE STATE OF IOWA, Adopted in convention, May 18, 1846; June 10, 1846. Referred to the Committee on Territories, and ordered to be printed. The Constitution. . . . [Washington, 1846] (29th Congress, 1st Session; Senate Document 384).

22½ cm. 14 pp.

The document from which the majority of the first Deseret Constitution was copied. See Peter Crawley, The Constitution of the State of Deseret (Friends of the BYU Library Newsletter, Vol 19, 1982; Two-Millionth Volume Keepsake), pp. 12-13, 25, stating that "Fifty-seven of the sixty-seven sections are taken from the Iowa constitution, in most cases word for word." p.13. This is understandable, since the Saints were trudging through Iowa when this Iowa constitution was adopted. Indeed, Brigham Young first arrived at Mount Pisgah on that precise day, May 18; see Preston Nibley, Exodus to Greatness ; the Story of the Mormon Migration, (Salt Lake City, 1947), pp. 167, 169.

 

 

LOWE, Abraham T. THE COLUMBIAN CLASS BOOK, Consisting of Geographical, Historical and Biographical Extracts, Compiled from Authentic Sources, and Arranged on a Plan Different From Any Thing Before Offered the Publick. Particularly Designed for the Use of Schools. Worcester [MA]: Published by Dorr & Howland, 1824.

17½ cm. 355 pp. + woodcut frontispiece & 3 plates. First edition of four in NUC: 1824, '25, '27, '29.

Text book of geography and history, sporting recommendations by four theologians or ministers. The final section, entitled, "Conclusion, Including a Brief View of the Universe. —Goldsmith." (pp. 348-55), includes observations relevant to Mormon interest:

Lowe quotes from Christopher Smart's 1750 work "On the Eternity of the Supreme Being," p.289: "Before 'the Morning Stars together sang,'/ And hailed Thee, Architect of countless worlds/ Thou art— . . . / . . . Thou reign'd, and with a mighty hand compos'd/ Systems innumerable, matchless all . . ."

 

 

NORTHAMPTON COURIER (Northampton, MA) for August 5, 1835 [VI:33].

Folio, [4] pp.

"Negro Insurrection," an article on p.[3], taken from the New York Commercial Advertiser and the Nashville Banner "of the 15th," reports plots between slaves and whites to rampage the countryside, "murdering all the white men and aguly (not handsome) women—" Several culprits were hanged; "They were allowed but one hour to prepare for death." One white leader of the plot, a Dr. Cotton, is described as "'. . . an old confederate of . . . [John] Murrell, who is now in the Nashville Penitentiary.'" The Mormon declaration on governments and laws drafted by Oliver Cowdery a few weeks later contains a relevant verse at the end warning against preaching to slaves against the wishes of their masters, "nor to meddle with or influence them in the least to cause them to be dissatisfied with the situations in this life, thereby jeopardizing the lives of men; such interference we believe to be unlawful and unjust, and dangerous to the peace of every government allowing human beings to be held in servitude." D&C 134:12 (August 17, 1835).

 

 

ORIGINAL AND SERIOUS REFLECTIONS, CONCERNING OUR IDEA OF THE SUPREME BEING; of the Importance of Matter or Substance, and its Immortality, of Death, and of a Future Ameliorated Existence of Mankind. By Immortalicus. I had rather believe all the fables of all the heathen gods, and become pagan, than that this universal frame is without a mind.—Bacon. New-York: Printed and sold by Elliot and Crissy, 1811.

23 cm. [1]f., 26 pp. Not in the National Union Catalog; Shaw & Shoemaker 23604 locates only the copy at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts. Copyrighted by Elliot and Crissy, who state in an Advertisement on the back of the title leaf that "The Manuscript . . . was left by its Author in this unfinished state, on account of his departure for Europe, to the care of a Friend, who has presumed to publish it . . ."

The "Mormon" concept of the eternal nature of matter was widely published long before it appeared in Parley P. Pratt's "A Treatise on the Regeneration and Eternal Duration of Matter" (ca. 1839), Doctrine and Covenants 93:33 (1833), or any other Latter-day Saint context, as may be seen by several entries in this bibliography. The present example is particularly dramatic and to the point. According to this remarkable (if overly precious) text, matter is the "great, magnificent, and only visible Being, called Matter, or Substance—the indispensible, and all-important instrument of the eternal and all-perfect Mind . . ." p.7. In essence, the anonymous writer contends that:

The following excerpts contain ideas which I would once have thought to be too "modern" to have been propounded at such an early date:

The existence of mind, independent of what we call Matter, may be inferred from the existence of the Supreme, or Eternal Mind; but, what mind is, whether any kind of highly refined substance, more subtle and docile than the matter of light, or heat, or not . . . cannot be determined by us in our present state of comparative ignorance . . . [p.23]

 

 

[PORTER, Henry H.] THE CATECHISM OF HEALTH: Or, Plain and Simple Rules For the Preservation of the Health and Vigour of the Constitution From Infancy to Old Age. Philadelphia: Published at the Office of the Journal of Health and Journal of Law, 1831.

13½ cm. [3]ff.; [v]-x, [7]-195 pp.; errata cancel slip inserted following p. vi. Several editions were printed this first year of issue, 1831. American Imprints notes a "Ladies edition" and the 5th & 7th editions that year. The National Union Catalog lists an edition "For the Use of Schools," 1831, and I have had another school edition of that year but with different pagination.

Dedicated "to the youth of both sexes throughout the United States . . . " Parallels to the Word of Wisdom permeated the temperance literature of Joseph Smith's day, and the Journal of Health contained the entire essence of the health - and most other - aspects of that Mormon doctrine. The Catechism of Health (by the Journal of Health's original editor) shows these same principles being taught to American children shortly before Doctrine and Covenants 89 was recorded:

Using meat sparingly:

 

Word of Wisdom (l833)

Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly;
And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine. [D&C 89:12-13]

 

Catechism of Health (1831)

Q. 246. Ought [food] to consist of vegetables or of the flesh of animals?
A. Of a proper mixture of both.

Q. 247. Of which should it consist principally?
A. Of vegetables; particularly in summer and in warm climates. [p.66]

 

Tobacco:

"Section IX.—Of Tobacco" (pp. 85-7) makes it clear that tobacco is always harmful to man.

Even the use of snuff for cleansing the teeth ". . . has occasioned in . . . the most delicate and polished females a desire for its habitual use." (p.87)

Adequate sleep:

The importance of sleep, and of retiring and rising early, is treated on pages 59-65, 125-6, and 178-9. Compare to Doctrine and Covenants 88:124.

Coffee and Tea:

The use of coffee and tea is discouraged on pages 72, 110, 130, and 168-70. Particular emphasis is placed on the detrimental effects of strong coffee and tea on the stomach. The temperature of these drinks should not be too hot, (pages 110 and 169); compare such advice to Doctrine and Covenants 89:9, "And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly."

Alcohol:

In no instance must one take hard liquor. Even beer, ale, and wine should be used with great care if at all. See pages 78-85 and 162-7.

Other points of interest:

Walking is the best exercise, p.5l; Dancing is good exercise, pp. 56; 174; Girls require as much exercise as boys, p.50; "Moderation" (p.76) and temperance always advised. See pp. 7-15 as an example.

Many of the principles in this book would still be accepted today, although the author seems perhaps overly concerned with problems of digestion. The answer to Question 385 on page 99 tends to summarize the guiding theory of this work: ". . . temperance in eating and drinking, regular bodily exercise, a due amount of repose, pure air, proper clothing, and the most scrupulous attention to personal cleanliness." While these concepts may seem obvious today, I believe that most scholars familiar with habits and conditions of Joseph Smith's day will agree that there was indeed a great need in 1831 for these words of wisdom.

 

 

PORTER, J[ames]. T. Masonic apron. Hand-colored blue engraving on white leather. At base of design in minuscule letters: "J.T. Porter. Sc[ulpt]. Middletown. Con[necticut]." No date, but ca. 1820.

15 X 14¾ inches. The printed image is identical to an example preserved at St. John's Lodge No. 1, Free and Accepted Masons, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, illustrated in Bespangled, Painted & Embroidered; Decorated Masonic Aprons in America, 1790-1850 (Lexington, Massachusetts: Scottish Rite Masonic Museum of Our National Heritage, [c.1980]), item 54 (p.92). The dating is based on other known work by this engraver while in Middletown, 1815 and 1823; Porter is listed there in the 1820 census only (ibid., p.93). The apron examined retains its bright gilt highlights and hand coloring in green, red, yellow and brown, and is surrounded except along the top edge by a pleated scarlet silk border. It is in fine condition, with some minor restoration.

Displaying numerous familiar "Mormon" symbols, and resembling the apron worn by a certain "evil" figure in a ceremony presented live in the older LDS temples. Covering the apron flap at the top is a large all-seeing eye, beneath which is engraved, "holiness to the lord." Below the flap appear the sun, moon and stars, and below them the Masonic arch supported by the two pillars between which may be seen a large gold triangle and an altar (on a checkered floor) upon which lies a compass and square. Resting on the ground are the Ark of the Covenant and the triangular plate of gold engraved with the name of God which in Masonic lore was buried underground behind a stone door by Enoch. In the foreground are the rough and smooth ashlars (stones) to which Joseph Smith once compared himself. This apron is made of lambskin or similar white leather, referred to as being worn by the Gadianton Robbers in the Book of Mormon (3 Nephi 4:7).

 

 

QUINCY, Josiah, 1802-82. AN ORATION, Delivered July 4, 1832, Before the City Council and Inhabitants of Boston. By Josiah Quincy, Jr. Boston: John H. Eastburn, City Printer, 1832.

24½ cm. 21 pp. Printed white wrappers with ornamental border, reading, "Mr. Quincy's Oration. July 4, 1832." Only edition in the National Union Catalog; American Imprints 14434. There were several Josiah Quincys; this is the one who wrote Figures of the Past (1883; Flake 6787), famous for the description and prophecy about Joseph Smith based on the author's personal visit to Nauvoo. The following interesting news blurb appeared in the Albany agricultural weekly, The Plough Boy, for August 4, 1821 (III:10), p.78: "Havard [sic] University.—The Bowdoin prizes for this year, have been awarded to the following young gentlemen:—To Josiah Quincey , Jr. of Boston, Senior Class, a First Prize; to Ralph Emerson, of Boston, Senior Class, a Second Prize . . ."

An eloquent speech, pleading for the preservation of the Constitution and the Union. Half a year before Joseph Smith dictated the prophecy on war (D&C 87, December 25, 1832), Josiah Quincy issued these warnings:

Royalton, Vermont. Church of Baptised Bretheren. THE CHURCH OF BAPTISED BRETHERIN, ROYALTON, VERMONT; A Record of its Meetings, Conferences and Councils for the Years 1790 to 1806; From the Original Manuscript. Woodstock, Vermont: The Elm Tree Press, 1919.

23 cm. [l]f.; 71 pp. The first appearance of this manuscript in print; only edition in the National Union Catalog.

Are Latter-day Saints unusual when they teach that people cannot take the sacrament until they are baptized? Or that baptism must absolutely be performed by immersion? Was the Book of Mormon original in recounting that Satan taught antichrists that all men could sin a little and still be saved? The answer, of course, is that these issues were current among various religious groups of Joseph Smith's time. The record at hand displays them in Joseph Smith's home town, just before he was born. The "Baptised Bretherin" were a group of essentially Closed-Communion Baptists who met alternately in Sharon and Royalton, Vermont, before and throughout the time when the Smith Family lived on the borderline between these towns. Through endless disputes, their church minutes record - in deliciously quaint language - several future "Mormon" doctrines which were insisted upon by the neighbors of young Joseph Smith:

Baptism by Immersion:

Taking the Sacrament (of the Lord's Supper) only if one has been baptized: A serious dispute threatened to break up this little church group, over whether or not unbaptized persons could commune. It was eventually resolved that they could not:

Anti-Universalism: The doctrine of universal salvation, espoused by Asael Smith and his son Joseph, Sr., was despised by most Protestants as a deception by Satan, designed to lull mankind into apathy (see Jacob 7:18, Alma 30:53). That same simplistic reaction also appeared in Joseph Smith's birthplace, as we see here:

 

On September 22, 1806, the generally-patient Brethren excommunicated "Sister Abagil Denison" for - among other things - having "imbibed the Doctrin of universal Salvation to all men Shewing no Differance betwene the holy and profane nor the unclean and clean see Ezekeil 22-26- Such Doctrin we Cannot fellowship being not agreeable with the eternal word of truth . . ." (p.71). It is interesting that the infant Joseph Smith, Jr., had apparently been delivered here only ten months earlier by Dr. Joseph Adam Denison of nearby Bethel, Vermont. -See Larry C. Porter, A Study of the Origins of the Church . . .1816-1831 (BYU Thesis, 1971), pp. 19-20, n.23. Other subjects of interest in this record include voting on church doctrine and leaders by both men and women (passim); reference to ". . . the hands of Error and that limb of Rome: infant Baptism" (p.50); evils of drinking, pp. 46 and 69; serious disputes over support of ministers, pp. 24-30 & elsewhere; and letters of recommendation given to traveling members of the church, pp. 31 and 68 (compare to D&C 20:84).

 

 

SPALDING [or SPAULDING], Solomon, 1761-1816. THE "MANUSCRIPT FOUND." Or, "MANUSCRIPT STORY," of the Late Rev. Solomon Spaulding; From a Verbatim Copy of the Original Now in the Care of Pres. James H. Fairchild, of Oberlin College, Ohio. Including Correspondence Touching the Manuscript, Its Preservation and Transmission Until it Came into the Hands of the Publishers. Lamoni, Iowa: Printed and Published by the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1885.

17 cm. 144 pp. First edition. Flake 8309. Second edition published the following year by the LDS (Utah) Church, then published again by the RLDS Church in 1903 and in 1908, followed by another LDS Church edition in 1910.

The first appearance in print of the manuscript which (until it was finally located in Hawaii) had presented for half a century the most serious threat of being the "source" of the Book of Mormon according to many writers. It is to James Harris Fairchild, president of Oberlin College 1866-89, that we owe the discovery and exposition of the Solomon Spaulding manuscript. Fairchild concluded that it could not have been the source of the Book of Mormon. See his "Manuscript of Solomon Spaulding and the Book of Mormon" in Magazine of Western History 4 (May-October 1886), pp. 30-39; also published separately as Tract vol. 3, no.77 of the Northern Ohio and Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, before which he read that paper on March 23, 1886, with the original Spaulding manuscript at his side. Spaulding's text was printed by the RLDS Church in order to demonstrate how little it resembles the Book of Mormon.

The Spaulding narrative is an example of an attempt by an American of the early nineteenth century to produce a piece of literature based on the aboriginal inhabitants of this continent. The original manuscript was written in what is now Conneaut, in the extreme northeast corner of Ohio, ca. 1810-12, when the Western Reserve was still quite primitive. Indian mounds and a large ancient burying ground existed in the village, supplying ample inspiration for an indigent local novelist in quest of both entertainment and money:

Before moving to Conneaut in 1809, Spaulding lived in Otsego County, New York, for some fourteen years. A Dartmouth graduate, he died in 1816 without ever seeing his cherished manuscript published. During the 1985 Hofmann forgery investigations, I was rather hastily accused by a Salt Lake County investigator of having conspired to forge Solomon Spaulding's signature on a document dated years after Spaulding's death! This common tendency to look for conspiracies to explain uncommonly perplexing events or books may help explain why the Spaulding theory of the Book of Mormon has persisted so long in some quarters, even after the discovery of Spaulding's manuscript in 1884.

It is only fair, however, to concede that some parallels do exist between Spaulding's manuscript and the Book of Mormon. In Book of Mormon Authorship: A Closer Look (Ogden, Utah: Zenos Publications, [1983], 45 pp.), Vernal Holley presents rather extensive examples of similarities shared to one degree or another by the two works. According to Holley:

Spaulding's first cousin once removed, of the same name (Solomon Spalding [1797-1862] md. Arvilla-Ann Harris), apparently wrote an unrelated but equally fascinating work entitled "The Romance of Celes, or the Florentine Heroes and the Three Female Knights of the Chasm." In an undated letter to me (ca. September, 1984), Anthony A. Hutchinson reports this manuscript at the Library of Congress, including "a boring trip through the solar system, visiting the various inhabitants of the spheres. . . . and . . . ref[erence]s to T[homas]. Dick, the Rocky Mountains, the priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek, etc."

 

 

THOMPSON, D[aniel]. P[ierce]. MAY MARTIN: Or The Money Diggers. A Green Mountain Tale. Montpelier [VT]: E.P. Walton and Son, 1835.

14 cm. 231 pp. First edition in book form; first printed as a prize-winning entry in the New England Galaxy. For historical background and analysis, see John E. Flitcroft, The Novelist of Vermont; A Biographical and Critical Study of Daniel Pierce Thompson (Cambridge, MA, 1929), pp.79-90. Cited three times (1852 edition) by Ronald W. Walker in "The Persisting Idea of American Treasure Hunting," BYU Studies 24 (Fall "1984"), pp. 442, 447, 451 + notes 78, 108, and 133, noting that some fifty editions were published.

Thompson, future author of The Green Mountain Boys, practiced law in his native state and often went fishing with local oldsters, learning the folklore and traditions of the region. This highly engaging novel, which won the writer a $50 prize, contains the basic elements of money digging, complete with occult divinations, a seer stone, a "slippery" treasure (p.98; compare to Mormon 1:18), and a threatening spirit - in this case a confederate who helps the villain take advantage of local farmers (particularly one Martin), some of whom even mortgage their farms to raise the required capital. The following extract typifies the intrigue:

In the end, the charlatan who once could be seen "with his face protruded into his hat which he held in his lap" (p.45) turned to better ways as a "preacher of the gospel, laboring in the far west." (p.229).

 

 

WORSLEY, Israel. A VIEW OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS, Their General Character, Customs, Language, Public Festivals, Religious Rites, and Traditions: Shewing Them to be the Descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. The Language of Prophecy Concerning Them, and the Course by Which They Travelled from Media into America. London: For the Author by R. Hunter, June, 1828.

18 cm. [l]f.; xii, 185 pp. Only edition.

Worsley (1768-1836), a British Unitarian minister, begins here by referring to the writings of Elias Boudinot and Ethan Smith. He then cites a host of other writers and launches into a highly detailed rehearsal of similarities between ancient Israelites and the American Indians. The arguments are at times gratuitous, but always insistent and surprising in number and scope. "In the book of Ezekiel 37. 16.," writes Worsley, "we have this striking passage, 'Moreover, thou son of man, take thee a stick and write upon it, "for Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions." And then another stick and write upon it, "For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel, his companions."' And the fact has been as the prophet intimated." p.l9; for a modern explanation of this scripture in the context of Mormon studies, see Brian E. Keck, "Ezekiel 37, Sticks, and Babylonian Writing Boards: A Critical Reappraisal," Dialogue 23 (Spring 1990), pp. 126-38.

Worsley quotes generously from Isaiah, and speaks of ". . . promises which have not yet been fulfilled, a restoration in the latter days. They are called Ephraim . . ." p.21. The God of the Jews, he contends, "has still taken care of his chosen but rebellious people . . . still keeps them as the apple of his eye." p.13. Other Mormon parallel references of interest include "a land where no man dwelt," (p.180; compare to Ether 2:5); Urim & Thummim, pp. 49, 80-81; ". . . their knowledge of the blazing stones of the urim and thummim . . ." p.81; "a transparent stone of supposed great power," (p.81; cf. Ether 3:1-4, 6:2-3); Indian equivalents to the Ark of the Covenant carried into battle, pp. 50-51 & elsewhere. ". . . They had once a holy book," Worsley concludes, "which while they kept, things went well with them; they lost it, and in consequence of the loss fell under the displeasure of the Great Spirit; but they believe they shall one day regain it - they are looking for and expecting some one to come and teach them the right way." p.182; one year later the Book of Mormon went to press.

 

 

[WELLS, Seth Youngs, compiler] MILLENNIAL PRAISES, Containing A Collection of Gospel Hymns, in Four Parts; Adapted to the Day of Christs's Second Appearing. Composed for the Use of His People. Hancock [MA]: Printed by Josiah Tallcott, Junior., 1813.

17 cm. viii, 288, [4 (index)] pp. Words only. Second Edition, Richmond 1416 (". . . generally attributed to Seth Y. Wells. This first Shaker hymn book was published for circulation and use among Believers exclusively."); Shaw & Shoemaker 30511. First published 1812 (same publisher and pagination). The Mormon parallels which this Shaker book contains are primarily linguistic rather than doctrinal, but they are often surprising and refreshing to read.

Now Zion's foundation forever shall stand,
Upheld by our Father's Omnipotent hand;
And our blessed Mother shall certainly bear
All souls that shall find an inheritance there:
[p.42: Hymn I:XVIII, "Ye are God's building."]

In this last great dispensation,
O, what glory does appear!
We have found a just relation
To our blessed Parents here:
[p.188: Hymn III:XX, "Mother's Children."]

Children of the heavenly Queen,
Bright and lovely, pure and clean,
Sent from the celestial band,
Welcome to this western land!
Here we see the heavens bend,
And the elder saints descend,
Down to souls in nature's gloom,
Gospel infants in the womb.
[p.198: Hymn III:XXV, "The Bread of Life."]

Establish'd in the latter days,
On mountains of eternal praise,
Shall be the house which God will raise,
By Judah's holy Lion;
And many nations there shall come,
The lame and blind, the deaf and dumb,
Shall find an everlasting home,
And praise the Lord in Zion.
[p.265: Hymn IV:XXV, "Micah's Prophesy."]

 

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The introduction to my Catalogue Six, LIKE A FIRE; An Offering of Early Mormon Background and Parallels (Bloomington, Indiana, 1984) . . .

ANALOGIES based on fire appeared frequently in the religious literature of the early nineteenth century. The phenomena [encountered in the study of Mormon parallels] spread according to the fuel and the receptacles presented - either kindling, illuminating or consuming - in a variety of hues and patterns as diverse and unpredictable as the most capricious flames.

"The Spirit of God like a fire is burning!" resounded against walls of the Kirtland Temple ablaze with fine porcelain crushed into the mortar in quiet acts of sacrifice typical of that deliberate righteousness Tocqueville is said to have seen as the font of the greatness of America. The Mormon Pentecost did not ignite in a vacuum, and if angels were "coming to visit the earth," the channels had been opened by a thousand religious, political, fraternal and missionary adepts of different persuasions who had already blazed their way into that spiritual wilderness that ever burns but is never consumed.

"It is a conviction I cannot resist, " declared Richard Price after the Revolution, "that the independence of the English colonies in America is one of the steps ordained by Providence to introduce these times." A spark was in the air, and the atmosphere was charged with a transcending vision of the workings of God leading toward some millennial effulgence worthy of the glorious beginnings of the Western Eden and of its future enlightened citizens, both white and red. "Speed, speed, ye sons of truth!" cried Timothy Dwight to Columbus' little crew,

let Heaven befriend,
Let angels waft you, and let peace attend!
. . . See verdant fields the changing waste unfold;
See sudden harvests dress the plains in gold:
In lofty walls the moving rocks ascend,
And dancing woods to spires and temples bend!

Ormond, the Mormon-like catalyst of Sarah Hale's Genius of Oblivion (1823), roamed the temporal wilderness of America, wondering where volumes describing his ancestors lay forgotten, and learned in a forest vision - complete with beings in flashing light - that the first Americans came from the Holy Land some 585 years before the birth of Christ. Publishing the same year, Ethan Smith reasoned that "it would be strange if so great a section of Christendom as our United States, could claim no appropriate space in the prophetic writings," and saw the promises of Isaiah fulfilling in the remnants of a once-noble race now fleeing the very forests his generation was striving to tame.

To refuse the concepts of such works for fear they might detract from some uniqueness of the Mormon faiths is to deny Joseph Smith his right to adhere to anything he found "virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy." Even essays written by Emerson within weeks before or after certain revelations recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants contain strong parallels to concepts cherished as tenets of the Faith today. Such resemblances between Mormon thought and its precursors and early contemporaries go only so far as one will see them - hopefully never beyond limits of judicious research and comparison. Like the myriad colors that spring from unexpected sources at the base of a flame, the light of Mormonism is only richer for the countless beginnings from which it may be seen to partake.

 

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Picture at the top of this page:  The broad rock base of the main creek turns into a short slide at the lowest corner of my property. A bit difficult to reach, and quite a surprise the first time I saw it after buying the house & land.

Picture further below:  Mennonite children play at the site where some of the earliest Mormon services were held in "Whitmer's School House," 1830-31 (corner of Miller and County House Roads, Fayette, New York). Photograph by Rick Grunder, 1980s;  detail of the wrap-around CD folder illustration for Mormon Parallels: A Bibliographic Source).