Brodie v Bushman - Contrasting Flavors II

Bushman -
"To Harris's surprise, Joseph told him the angel had revealed that Harris was to assist in the translation. 'If it is the devil's work,' Harris answered, 'I will have nothing to do with it; but if it is the Lord's, you can have all the money necessary to bring it before the world.' 'You must not blame me for not taking your word,' he added. Harris hefted the box containing the plates and went home. He later said that he went to his bedroom, prayed, and was shown by God that 'it was his work, and that it was designed to bring in the fullness of his gospel to the gentiles....He showed this to me by the still small voice spoken in the soul.'

(Later)

Whitmer was plowing the field when Joseph and Cowdery came to say they were to seek a witness that day. Whitmer tied his team to the fence, and when Harris joined them, the four men entered the nearby woods. They had agreed to take turns praying, first Joseph, then the other three. The first attempt brought nothing, and they tried again. Again nothing. Before they made a third attempt, Harris offered to leave, saying he was the obstacle. The remaining three knelt again and before many minutes, according to their account, saw a light in the air over their heads. An angel appeared with the plates in his hands. David Whitmer said the breastplate, Lehi's Liahona, and the sword of Laban lay on the table. He heard the angel say, 'Blessed is he that keepeth His commandments.' That was all Whitmer could remember him saying. Then a voice out of the light said, 'These plates have been revealed by the power of God, and they have been translated by the power of God; the translation of them which you have seen is correct, and I command you to bear record of what you now see and hear.' Cowdery later said: 'I beheld with my eyes. And handled with my hands the gold plates from which it was translated. I also beheld the Interpreters'.

After the appearance to Cowdery and Whitmer, Joseph went searching for Harris, who had gone further into the woods. Harris asked Joseph to pray with him, and at length, they later reported, their desires were fulfilled. Joseph said he saw the same vision as before, and Harris cried out 'in ecstasy of Joy': 'Tis enough; 'tis enough; mine eyes have beheld.' At the close of the vision he jumped up, shouted 'Hosanna,' and blessed God."
Bushman, Richard L. Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. 1st ed., New York, NY, Vintage Books, 2007.

Brodie -
"One of the most plausible descriptions of the manner in which Joseph Smith obtained these eight signatures was written by Thomas Ford, Governor of Illinois, who knew intimately several of Joseph's key men after they became disaffected and left the church. They told Ford that the witnesses were 'set to continual prayer, and other spiritual exercises.' Then at last 'he assembled them in a room, and produced a box, which he said contained the precious treasure. The lid was opened; the witnesses peeped into it, but making no discovery, for the box was empty, they said, 'Brother Joseph, we do not see the plates.' The prophet answered them, 'O ye of little faith! how long will God bear with this wicked and perverse generation? Down on your knees brethren, every one of you, and pray God for the forgiveness of your sins, and for a holy and living faith which cometh down from heaven.' The disciples dropped to their knees, and began to pray in the fervency of their spirit, supplicating God for more than two hours with fanatical earnestness; at the end of which time, looking again into the box, they were now persuaded that they saw the plates."

Brodie, Fawn M. No Man Knows My History. 2nd ed., New York, NY, Vintage Books, 1973.

Notes of Interest:
Brodie is quoting and paraphrasing from History of Illinois (Chicago, 1854), p. 257

Whitmer would later recount his experience as being "in the spirit" and as an "impression the Quaker [receives] when the spirit moves."
Hamilton Newspaper, January 21, 1881; Kingston (Missouri) Times, December 16, 1887; "David Whitmer Interview with John Murphy, June 1880," Dan Vogel, ed., Early Morning Documents Signature Books, 2003, vol. 5, p. 63.
Letter of David Whitmer to Anthony Metcalf, March 1887, cit. Anthony Metcalf, Ten Years Before the Mast (Malad, Idaho, 1888) p. 74; cited in Richard Lloyd Anderson, Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, 1981) p. 86.

Brodie v Bushman - Contrasting Flavors I

Brodie -
"Jonathon Thompson says that prisoner (Smith) was requested to look for Yeomans for chest of money; did look, and pretended to know where it was, and that prisoner, Thompson, and Yeomans went in search of it; that Smith arrived at spot first (was in night); that Smith looked in hat while there, and when very dark, and told how the chest was situated. After digging several feet, struck upon something sounding like a board or plank. Prisoner would not look again, pretending that he was alarmed the last time that he looked, on account of the circumstances relating to the trunk being buried came all fresh to his mind; that the last time that he looked, he discovered distinctly the two Indians who buried the trunk; that a quarrel ensued between them, and that one of said Indians was killed by the other, and thrown into the hole beside of the trunk, to guard it, as he supposed. Thompson says that he believes in the prisoner's professed skill; that the board which he struck his spade upon as probably the chest, but, on account of an enchantment, the trunk kept settling away from under them while digging; that, notwithstanding they continued constantly moving the dirt, yet the trunk kept about the same distance from them. Says prisoner said that it appeared to him that salt might be found at Bainbridge; and that he is certain that prisoner can divine things by means of said stone and hat; that, as evidence of fact, prisoner looked into his hat to tell him about some money witness lost sixteen years ago, and that he described the man that witness supposed had taken it, and disposition of money.
And thereupon the Court finds the defendant guilty."
Brodie, Fawn M. No Man Knows My History. 2nd ed., New York, NY, Vintage Books, 1973.

Bushman -
"The Smiths' efforts to keep the plates secret were of no avail. The day after Joseph left for Macedon, his father learned that ten or twelve men working with Willard Chase were conspiring to find the plates, and had sent for a conjurer sixty miles away whom they believed could discover the hiding place. Brigham Young said the conjurer traveled the sixty miles three times that season. 'The man I refer to was a fortune-teller,' Young said, 'a necromancer, an astrologer, a soothsayer, and possessed as much talent as any man that walked on the American soil, and was one of the wickedest men I ever saw.' The next morning Joseph Sr. walked over the hill east of the Smith farm to the Lawrence place and found Willard Chase, Samuel Lawrence, the conjurer, and a group of others laying plans. Joseph Sr. heard enough to learn that the gang aimed at getting the 'gold bible,' as they called it. When he got back, Emma went off at once to fetch Joseph from Macedon. Joseph left the well, borrowed a horse, and hastily rode through Palmyra to the Smith farm. He reassured the family that the plates were safe but decided that now was the time to bring them home.
Joseph set out alone, still dressed in the linen frock he had been wearing to dig the well. Lucy Smith said he wrapped the plates in the frock and put them under his arm. Martin Harris later estimated that the plates weighed forty or fifty pounds, and Joseph carried them three miles. Wary of interference, Joseph thought it better to leave the road and travel in the woods. His caution proved useless. While he was scrambling over a tree that had fallen across the path, a man struck him with a gun. Joseph knocked the man down and ran off at full speed, still with the heavy plates under his arm. A half mile further he was assaulted again and again made his escape. Yet a third time someone tried to stop him before he finally reached home, speechless with fright and fatigue and suffering from a dislocated thumb. Joseph's brother Carlos ran off at once to get Hyrum, who came with a chest made of cherrywood. Once the plates were safely locked inside, Joseph told his father, Knight, and Stowell what had happened. A number of neighbors gathered to listen, for word of the plates had spread and curiosity ran high. All wanted to know 'something in regard to the strange circumstance which had taken place.' Offers of cash and property were made to be given a glimpse of the plates."
Bushman, Richard L. Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. 1st ed., New York, NY, Vintage Books, 2007.

Notes of Interest:
In the first study, which is a court transcript, an account is given of "slippery treasure." This was known in the 1800s as treasure that keeps sinking deeper into the ground due to enchantment/curse. It can also be found in the Book of Mormon. See Helaman 13, Mormon 1.

In the second study, Young is quoted and mentions a conjurer. After the plates have been secured in the barn of Joseph Sr, a different (female) conjurer/glass-looker appears to lead a group to attempt to find the plates. She leads the group to the barn, which they ransack, but are unsuccessful.