Columbia College

Martin Harris meets Charles Anthon

One of the best-known stories about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon happened in New York City when Martin Harris (1783-1875), Joseph Smith’s scribe and benefactor, visited Charles Anthon (1797-1867), a professor at Columbia College.

Harris obtained a transcription and translation of characters from the golden plates and, in February 1828, took the two documents to at least three “learned men” in Utica, Albany, and New York City. They were examined by well-known scholars Samuel Latham Mitchill (1764-1831) and Charles Anthon. Harris hoped that the scholars’ comments would support Joseph Smith’s translation.

Harris and Anthon’s accounts of their meeting differ substantially, with Harris claiming that Anthon gave him a certificate verifying the authenticity of the characters, only to tear it up when he heard their origin.

Anthon claimed in written accounts from 1834 and 1841 that he told Harris he was the victim of a fraud, but contradicted himself in the accounts about whether or not he had given Harris a written opinion.

Given the state of knowledge of the Egyptian language in 1828, it is unlikely that Anthon’s views would be more than opinion.

In December 1844, the New York LDS newspaper The Prophet printed what it said was a copy of the characters Harris showed Anthon from a document now owned by the Community of Christ (RLDS Church).

Columbia University

Columbia founded in 1756 as King’s College, affiliated with Trinity Parrish. Alumni include:

• Alexander Hamilton
• John Jay
• J. Reuben Clark

Extent of New York City, 1828

• Street grid planned to upper Manhattan in 1811.
• City Hall completed 1812.
• City extends to 16th Street, Union Square. Fifth Avenue extends to 13th Street.
• First gas pipes laid in 1825.
• Erie Canal was completed in 1825, reducing travel time from Buffalo from three weeks to eight days. (Palmyra, New York is located on the Erie Canal.).

In New York and U.S. History

• 1810 – In U.S. Census, New York City passes Philadelphia as most populous U.S. city.
• 3 July 1824 – Castle Clinton opens as Castle Garden, an entertainment house.
• 4 July 1827 – Slavery abolished in New York. First black newspaper in U.S., Freedom’s Journal, established that year in New York City.
• 4 July 1828 – First passenger railroad, the Baltimore & Ohio, begins operation.

In LDS Church History

• June 1828 – Martin Harris borrows and loses 116 manuscript pages of Book of Mormon.
• 15 May1829 – Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery receive Aaronic Priesthood.
• May or June 1829 – Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery receive Melchizedek Priesthood.
• June 1829 – The three witnesses see the golden plates.

Further Reading

• Roberts, B. H. History of the Church (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1978).
• Roberts, B. H. Comprehensive History of the Church (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1978).
• Encyclopedia of Mormonism (New York: Macmillan, 1992).
• Kimball, Stanley B. “I Cannot Read a Sealed Book.” IE 60 (Feb. 1957):80-82, 104, 106.
• Kimball, Stanley B. “The Anthon Transcript: People, Primary Sources, and Problems.” BYU Studies 10 (Spring 1970):325-52.
• “Martin Harris’ Visit to Charles Anthon: Collected Documents on Short-hand Egyptian.” F.A.R.M.S. Provo, Utah, 1985.