Kinderhook Plates
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The Kinderhook plates are a set of six small, bell-shaped pieces of
brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...
with unusual engravings, created as a
hoax A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible. S ...
in 1843, surreptitiously buried and then dug up at a Native American mound near Kinderhook,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
, United States. The plates were
forged Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compression (physics), compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die (manufacturing), die. Forging is often classif ...
by three men from Kinderhook as part of a plan to discredit Latter Day Saint movement founder
Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious and political leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith attracted tens of thou ...
. According to
Mormonism Mormonism is the theology and religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationism, Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to va ...
, the
Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith as ''The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi''. The book is one of ...
is a record of the ancient Judeo-Semitic inhabitants of the Americas, originally translated by Smith from golden plates engraved in the language of reformed Egyptian. Latter Day Saint residents of Kinderhook sent the plates to Smith in Nauvoo for translation, where Smith said they were of ancient origin and translated a portion of them.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...
(LDS Church) defended the plates until 1981. In 1980, scientific testing confirmed the hoax, and that the plates were a modern creation. Within the Latter Day Saint movement, Smith's translation was never accepted in the canon of scripture, but was generally considered authentic.


Background

In the late 1830s, followers of the nascent
Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by ...
had been expelled from Missouri and were settling in and around modern-day Nauvoo,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
. By 1842, there was a congregation of around one hundred Latter Day Saints located several miles south of the village of Kinderhook. Two residents of Kinderhook, a farmer named Wilburn Fugate and a merchant named Robert Wiley, were proselytized by missionaries using the Parley Pratt tract ''A Voice of Warning'', which used the phrase, "Truth would spring up out of the earth." Fugate and Wiley decided to "prove the prophecy by way of a joke" and enlisted the help of Bridge Whitton, the village's
postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...
and
blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...
, to create a set of six small plates of
brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...
. In an 1879 letter to James T. Cobb, Fugate wrote of their creation: The purpose in creating the hoax has been debated. It is frequently presented as being a trap for
Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious and political leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith attracted tens of thou ...
, to expose his translating abilities or lack thereof. Local recollections indicate that the creators of the hoax never intended for the plates to be delivered to Smith for translation, but as more of a community prank. Fugate himself stated the purpose was "simply for a joke" on the Latter Day Saint congregants, and one of his sons said that rather than being an elaborate trap for Smith it was "a little plan by which to startle the natives."


Purported discovery

On April 16, 1843, Wiley began to dig a deep shaft in the center of an Indian mound near Kinderhook. It was reported in the '' Quincy Whig'' that the reason for his sudden interest in
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
was that he had dreamed on three consecutive nights that there was treasure buried beneath the mound. At first, Wiley undertook the excavation alone, and reached a depth of about before he abandoned the work, finding it too laborious an undertaking. On April 23, Wiley returned with a group of ten or twelve companions to assist him. They soon reached a bed of
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
, apparently charred by fire. Another down, they discovered human bones, also charred, and "six plates of brass of a bell shape, each having a hole near the small end, and a ring through them all, and clasped with two clasps". A member of the excavation team, W. P. Harris, took the plates home, washed them, and treated them with sulphuric acid. Once they were clean, they were found to be covered in strange characters resembling hieroglyphics. The plates were briefly exhibited in Kinderhook before they were sent on to Smith, who had said he had translated the
Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith as ''The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi''. The book is one of ...
from a similar set of buried golden plates in 1830. The finders of the Kinderhook plates, and the general public, were keen to know if Smith would be able to decipher the symbols on these new plates as well. The '' Times and Seasons'', a Latter Day Saint publication, stated that the existence of the Kinderhook plates lent further credibility to the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. Pratt wrote that the plates contained Egyptian engravings and "the genealogy of one of the ancient Jaredites back to Ham the son of Noah."


Smith's response

Several sources suggest Smith made an attempt to translate the plates. William Clayton, Smith's private secretary, recorded that upon receiving the Kinderhook plates Smith sent for his "Hebrew Bible & Lexicon". On May 1, Clayton wrote in his journal: Apostles John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff, editors of the ''Nauvoo Neighbor'', implied Smith had started and would complete a translation and promised in a June 1843 article that said, "The contents of the plates, together with a Fac-simile of the same, will be published in the 'Times and Seasons,' as soon as the translation is completed." The '' History of the Church'' also states Smith said the following: Stanley B. Kimball says the statement found in ''History of the Church'' could have been an altered version of Clayton's statement, placing Smith in the first person.


Connection with the Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language

A number of translation documents were created in 1835 in connection with the translation of the Book of Abraham, one of which is called the Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language (GAEL). One anonymous contemporary news correspondent spoke highly of Smith and said in their presence Smith had compared the characters on the plates to "his Egyptian alphabet" and they appeared to be the same. In a May 7, 1843, letter to a friend, Pratt wrote, "A large number of Citizens have seen them and compared the characters with those on the Egyptian
papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can a ...
which is now in this city." A sympathetic letter, also dated May 7, 1843, and published in the '' New York Herald'' for May 30, 1843, presents further evidence: A prominent character from one of the plates matches well with a character in the GAEL, and the translation of that character in the GAEL compares with the description given by Clayton.


Rediscovery, analysis, and classification as a hoax

The Kinderhook plates were presumed lost, but for decades
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...
(LDS Church) published facsimiles of them in its official ''History of the Church''. In 1920, one of the plates came into the possession of the Chicago Historical Society (now the Chicago History Museum). In 1966, this remaining plate was tested at
Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...
. The inscriptions matched facsimiles of the plate published contemporaneously, but the question remained whether this was an original Kinderhook plate or a later copy. Though there was little evidence of whether the Kinderhook plates were ancient or a contemporary fabrication, some within the LDS Church believed them to be genuine. The September 1962 '' Improvement Era'', an official magazine of the church, ran an article by Welby W. Ricks stating that the plates were genuine. In 1979, apostle Mark E. Petersen wrote a book called ''Those Gold Plates!''. In the first chapter, Peterson describes various ancient cultures that have written records on metal plates, claiming: "There are the Kinderhook plates, too, found in America and now in the possession of the Chicago Historical Society. Controversy has surrounded these plates and their engravings, but most experts agree they are of ancient vintage." In 1980, Professor D. Lynn Johnson of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at
Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
examined the remaining plate. Using
microscopy Microscopy is the technical field of using microscopes to view subjects too small to be seen with the naked eye (objects that are not within the resolution range of the normal eye). There are three well-known branches of microscopy: optical mic ...
and various scanning devices, he determined that the tolerances and composition of its metal proved entirely consistent with the facilities available in a 19th-century blacksmith's shop and, more importantly, found traces of
nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...
in what were clearly
nitric acid Nitric acid is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The compound is colorless, but samples tend to acquire a yellow cast over time due to decomposition into nitrogen oxide, oxides of nitrogen. Most com ...
-etched grooves. In addition, he discovered evidence that this particular plate was among those examined by early Mormons, including Smith, and not a later copy. One of the features of the plate was the presence of small dents in the surface caused by a
hexagon In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexagon A regular hexagon is de ...
ally-shaped tool. Johnson noticed that one of these dents had inadvertently been interpreted in the facsimile as a stroke in one of the characters. If the plate owned by the Chicago Historical Society had been a copy made from the facsimiles in ''History of the Church'', that stroke in that character would have been etched, like the rest of the characters. He concluded that this plate was one that Smith examined, that it was not of ancient origin, and that it was in fact etched with acid, not engraved, confirming Fugate's 1879 description. In 1981, the official magazine of the LDS Church ran an article stating that the plates were a hoax, and asserted that there was no proof that Smith made any attempt to translate the plates under the direction of God, in the way he had with the Book of Mormon: "There is no evidence that the Prophet Joseph Smith ever took up the matter with the Lord, as he did when working with the Book of Mormon and the Book of Abraham".


See also

* The Greek Psalter Incident * List of plates (Latter Day Saint movement) *
Mark Hofmann Mark William Hofmann (born December 7, 1954) is an American counterfeiting, counterfeiter, forgery, forger, and convicted murderer. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished forgers in history, Hofmann is especially noted for his creation ...
* Voree plates * Zelph


References


Further reading

* eld in the library collections of Brigham Young University and the University of Utah.* * *{{cite journal , author1-first = J. Michael , author1-last = Hunter , title = The Kinderhook Plates, the Tucson Artifacts, and Mormon Archeological Zeal , journal =
Journal of Mormon History The Mormon History Association (MHA) is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the study and understanding of all aspects of Mormon history to promote understanding, scholarly research, and publication in the field. MHA was founded in ...
, date = Spring 2005 , volume = 31 , issue = 1 , pages = 31–70 , url = http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mormonhistory/vol31/iss1/1/ Joseph Smith 1843 archaeological discoveries 1843 works 1843 in Christianity 1843 in Illinois 19th-century hoaxes 19th-century inscriptions Archaeological forgeries History of the Latter Day Saint movement Hoaxes in the United States Latter Day Saint movement in Illinois Mormonism-related controversies Religious hoaxes Brass sculptures Mormonism and Native Americans Ham (son of Noah)