Mary Elsa Musselman Whitmer (August 27, 1778 – January 1856) was a Book of Mormon witness and the wife of Peter Whitmer Sr.

Biography

She was born Mary Elsa Musselman in Germany to Jacob and Elizabeth Musselman. She immigrated to Pennsylvania in the late-18th century, where she met and married Peter Whitmer, a farmer, also of German descent. They moved to

Waterloo, New York Waterloo is a town in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 7,378 at the 2020 census. The town and its major community are named after Waterloo, Belgium, where Napoleon was defeated. There is also a village called Wate ...

, in the year of 1809, and later purchased a farm in

Fayette, New York Fayette is a town in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 3,617 at the 2020 census. The town is in the north-central part of the county and is southeast of Geneva, New York. A post office is located in the Town of Fayette ...

. They had eight children, Christian Whitmer, Jacob Whitmer, John Whitmer,

David Whitmer David Whitmer (January 7, 1805 – January 25, 1888) was an early leader of the Latter Day Saint Movement and one of the Three Witnesses to the gold plates of the Book of Mormon. Whitmer later distanced himself from Joseph Smith and was excommu ...

, Catherine Whitmer Page, Peter Whitmer Jr., Nancy Whitmer, and Elizabeth Whitmer Cowdery. Through her son David, she and her family became acquainted with

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 ...

around 1828. In 1829, she was caring for three boarders (Smith,

Emma Hale Smith Emma Hale Smith Bidamon (July 10, 1804 – April 30, 1879) was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement and a prominent member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church) as well as the first wife of Joseph ...

, and

Oliver Cowdery Oliver H. P. Cowdery (October 3, 1806 – March 3, 1850) was an American religious leader who, with Joseph Smith, was an important participant in the formative period of the Latter Day Saint movement between 1829 and 1836. He was the first bapt ...

) in addition to her large household while 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 ...

was being translated. She said that she was often overloaded with work to the extent she felt it quite a burden. During this time, the male boarders and members of her household were speaking of being shown the

golden plates According to Latter Day Saint belief, the golden plates (also called the gold plates or in some 19th-century literature, the golden bible) are the source from which Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, a sacred text of the faith. Some acc ...

. One evening, when she went to milk the cows, she said that a stranger with a knapsack spoke to her, explained what was going on in her house, comforted her, then produced a bundle of plates from his knapsack, turned the leaves for her, showed her the engravings, exhorted her to faith in bearing her burden a little longer, then suddenly vanished with the plates. Whitmer always called the stranger "Brother Nephi". Whitmer was baptized a member of the

Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * Christianity, the Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ * Christian Church, an ecclesiological term used by denominations to describe the true body of Christia ...

in Seneca Lake, April 18, 1830. She was excommunicated from the church with the entire Whitmer family in 1838, largely due to their dismay at the failure of the Kirtland Safety Society, as well as personal criticism from

. The family moved to

Richmond, Missouri Richmond is a city in Ray County, Missouri, and part of the Kansas City metropolitan area within the United States. The population was 6,013 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Ray County. History Richmond was platted in 1828. The com ...

, the same year, and she died there in January 1856, at the age of 77.

References

Sources

* * *Keith W. Perkins
"True to the Book of Mormon—The Whitmers"
''

Ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

'', February 1989.

External links

Mary Whitmer in the Joseph Smith Papers

Mary Elsa Musselman Whitmer Grave
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitmer, Mary 1778 births 1856 deaths American Latter Day Saints Angelic visionaries Book of Mormon witnesses Converts to Mormonism Doctrine and Covenants people German Latter Day Saints People excommunicated by the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) Whitmer family