Certificate from Michael Chandler, 6 July 1835
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Source Note
, Certificate, , Geauga Co., OH, to JS, , Geauga Co., OH, 6 July 1835. Featured version copied [ca. 22 Dec. 1835] in Oliver Cowdery, Letterbook, 72; handwriting of James M. Carrel; Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA. For more complete source information on Oliver Cowdery, Letterbook, see the source note for Letter to J. G. Fosdick, 3 Feb. 1834.
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Historical Introduction
In summer 1835, an Irish immigrant named traveled to , Ohio, to possibly sell a collection of mummies and papyri to JS and the . In early 1833, Chandler had acquired eleven Egyptian mummies and a number of papyri that had been excavated sometime between 1817 and 1821 at an unknown site on the west bank of the Nile River by a team led by antiquities dealer Antonio Lebolo. Chandler claimed to be the nephew of Lebolo, who supposedly bequeathed the mummies to him. However, there does not appear to be a familial link between Chandler and Lebolo, and Chandler does not appear in Lebolo’s will. This discrepancy casts doubt upon the details Chandler provided to JS and concerning the items’ provenance. According to Chandler’s account, as explained later by Cowdery, Lebolo authorized the sale of the mummies before his death in 1830, after which they were shipped to Chandler in via Dublin, Ireland. Chandler subsequently sold seven of the mummies, along with papyri interred with them. With the four mummies he retained, Chandler discovered additional papyri inscribed with Egyptian characters. While displaying the mummies and papyri in and elsewhere, he was informed that JS claimed to possess “some kind of power or gifts by which he had previously translated similar characters.” Chandler then traveled to Kirtland, perhaps for the primary purpose of selling the remaining artifacts to JS.and JS met around the first of July 1835. An 1884 history of a witness to the meeting claims that Chandler allowed JS to take the papyri overnight. According to the report, JS returned them the next morning with a sample translation. Chandler then produced a sample translation by Professor and, after comparing the two, expressed himself pleased with JS’s translation. Chandler does not appear to have had any academic training or qualifications by which to judge the quality of JS’s translation, but he had been able to converse intelligently about the mummies when exhibiting them in , , and other locations. Chandler presented JS with the certificate featured here, endorsing JS’s skill as a translator. declared that Chandler gave the certificate “unsolicited” and interpreted it as a reflection of Chandler’s genuine belief in JS’s abilities. However, it is also possible that Chandler supplied the certificate to JS in an attempt to curry his favor so that he would purchase the mummies and papyri. Chandler was publicly listing the collection for sale at exhibitions in the months directly preceding his trip to . He may have believed the certificate would help motivate JS or investors to make the purchase.The featured copy of the certificate comes from a December 1835 letter that wrote to William Frye, a member of the church and clerk of the county commissioner’s court in Calhoun County, Illinois. Little is known of Frye, but Cowdery indicated that on 8 October 1835, Frye wrote to , a church member living in . Frye apparently inquired concerning a number of matters, including the mummies and papyri acquired in summer 1835, though the details of Frye’s inquiries are unclear since the letter he sent to Groves is not extant. Cowdery replied on behalf of Groves and others. In his response, Cowdery included a transcript of the certificate and related details of the acquisition and custodial history of the mummies. Cowdery emphasized the legality of their excavation and transport to the , the proper payment of fees and duties, and the written statements of authenticity that had secured from scholars. Cowdery’s information came from Chandler, but it is difficult to ascertain its veracity.Most of ’s letter to Frye was published in the December 1835 issue of the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. This public statement of the provenance of the mummies and the papyri suggests that Cowdery believed the information provided by and felt its publication would facilitate public acceptance of JS as a translator of ancient records. The letter and published article, headlined “Egyptian Mummies—Ancient Records,” note that the certificate was written “under the hand of Mr. Chandler” and was “verbatim as given by Mr. C. excepting the addition of punctuation, and speaks sufficiently plain without requiring comment from me.” While the two versions of the letter are not identical, the text of the certificate itself is the same.James M. Carrel recorded “a true copy from the original” letter, including the text of the certificate, in ’s letterbook sometime in late December 1835 and signed the copy as “Rec[order].”
Footnotes
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1
Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to William Frye, Lebanon, IL, 22 Dec. 1835, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 69–70; Peterson, Story of the Book of Abraham, 47.
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
Peterson, H. Donl. The Story of the Book of Abraham: Mummies, Manuscripts, and Mormonism. Springville, UT: Cedar Fort, 2008.
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2
Peterson, Story of the Book of Abraham, 72–73. For Lebolo’s will, including an English translation, see Notarial Records of Antonio Lebolo, in H. Donl Peterson, Research Collection on the Book of Abraham Papyri, BYU.
Peterson, H. Donl. The Story of the Book of Abraham: Mummies, Manuscripts, and Mormonism. Springville, UT: Cedar Fort, 2008.
Peterson, H. Donl. Research Collection on the Book of Abraham Papyri, 1964–1994. BYU.
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3
Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to William Frye, Lebanon, IL, 22 Dec. 1835, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 70; Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to William Frye, Lebanon, IL, 25 Dec. 1835, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 74–75.
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
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4
Cowdery estimated that Chandler arrived on “the last of June, or first of July.” William W. Phelps stated that the mummies and records were brought to Kirtland on 30 June 1835, but he did not specify the exact date of the exchange during which Chandler produced the certificate. A later history compiled under the direction of JS indicates they met on 3 July 1835. (Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to William Frye, Lebanon, IL, 22 Dec. 1835, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 72; William W. Phelps, Kirtland, OH, to Sally Waterman Phelps, Liberty, MO, 20 July 1835, in Historical Department, Journal History of the Church, 20 July 1835; JS History, vol. B-1, 595.)
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
Historical Department. Journal History of the Church, 1896–. CHL. CR 100 137.
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
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5
This report comes from John Riggs, the twenty-three-year-old son of the proprietor of the Riggs Hotel where Chandler was staying, who was present at the exchanges between JS and Chandler. The Charles Anthon mentioned here is the same Charles Anthon, Professor of Classics at Columbia University, to whom Martin Harris presented a sample of characters copied from the Book of Mormon in 1828, but no confirmation has been found of Chandler’s purported visit to him. (Tullidge, “History of Provo City,” 283; see also JS History, vol. A-1, 9; and Copies of Book of Mormon Characters.)
Tullidge, Edward W. “History of Provo City.” Tullidge’s Quarterly Magazine 3, no. 3 (July 1884): 233–285.
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
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6
Peterson, Story of the Book of Abraham, 111.
Peterson, H. Donl. The Story of the Book of Abraham: Mummies, Manuscripts, and Mormonism. Springville, UT: Cedar Fort, 2008.
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7
Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to William Frye, Lebanon, IL, 22 Dec. 1835, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 72. There is no explicit record indicating who was at the meeting with Chandler, but Cowdery and William W. Phelps both provided accounts of the meeting. Given their proximity to JS and the details they included in their reports, it is likely that these were firsthand accounts. In the account Phelps wrote to his wife, he added JS’s announcement that the rolls of papyrus contained “a sacred record kept by Joseph in Pharoah’s court in Egypt and the teachings of Father Abraham.” (William W. Phelps, Kirtland, OH, to Sally Waterman Phelps, Liberty, MO, 20 July 1835, in Historical Department, Journal History of the Church, 20 July 1835; see also “A Translation,” Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1842, 3:704; and Oliver Cowdery, “Egyptian Mummies—Ancient Records,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Dec. 1835, 2:233–236.)
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
Historical Department. Journal History of the Church, 1896–. CHL. CR 100 137.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
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8
Some of Chandler’s other actions suggest his eagerness to sell the mummies. When Oliver Cowdery was copying a few sentences from the papyri, Chandler told him that “unless he found someone who could give him a translation soon; he would carry them [the mummies and papyri] to London.” Because Chandler knew of JS’s interest in ancient records, this statement may have been an effort to get JS to purchase the artifacts quickly. (Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to William Frye, Lebanon, IL, 22 Dec. 1835, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 71, underlining in original.)
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
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9
Peterson, Story of the Book of Abraham, 111. For a broader sampling of newspaper reports of Chandler’s exhibits, see Peterson, Story of the Book of Abraham, 86–118. In the end, JS, Simeon Andrews, Joseph Coe, and possibly others paid Chandler $2,400 for the four remaining mummies and, more importantly, the related manuscripts. The version of Cowdery’s letter to William Frye that was published in the Messenger and Advocate simply states that “certain gentlemen” purchased the antiquities. Coe later indicated that he and Andrews raised $800 each. A later report claimed that non-Mormon residents of Kirtland purchased the mummies and records and gave them to JS as a gift. While it is possible that some non-Mormons were involved in the purchase, all other reports refute the notion that they bought the items “united together.” Today, only fragments remain of the papyri JS acquired from Chandler. After being acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City as early as 1918, they were given to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1967 and are now housed in the Church History Library in Salt Lake City. (Lund, “Letter Regarding the Acquisition of the Book of Abraham,” 403; Oliver Cowdery, “Egyptian Mummies—Ancient Records,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Dec. 1835, 2:233; Joseph Coe, Kirtland, OH, to JS, Nauvoo, IL, 1 Jan. 1844, JS Collection, CHL; “Editorial Remarks,” LDS Millennial Star, July 1842, 3:47; see also Gee, “New Light on the Joseph Smith Papyri,” 245–259.)
Peterson, H. Donl. The Story of the Book of Abraham: Mummies, Manuscripts, and Mormonism. Springville, UT: Cedar Fort, 2008.
Lund, Christopher C. “A Letter Regarding the Acquisition of the Book of Abraham.” BYU Studies 20 (Spring 1980): 402–403
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155.
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
Gee, John. “New Light on the Joseph Smith Papyri.” FARMS Review 19, no. 2 (2007): 245–259.
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10
In 1844, Joseph Coe claimed that Chandler was acting as an agent for men in Philadelphia and was later sued by them for the profit he made in selling the mummies. It is possible that these men were investors and that the exhibitions were used to generate interest in buyers for the mummies. (Joseph Coe, Kirtland, OH, to JS, Nauvoo, IL, 1 Jan. 1844, JS Collection, CHL.)
Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155.
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11
Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to William Frye, Lebanon, IL, 22 Dec. 1835, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 68.
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
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12
Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to William Frye, Lebanon, IL, 22 Dec. 1835, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 71.
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
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13
For a sampling of inconsistencies, errors, or misleading statements in Chandler’s story, see Peterson, Story of the Book of Abraham, 57–58, 72–73, 254–257.
Peterson, H. Donl. The Story of the Book of Abraham: Mummies, Manuscripts, and Mormonism. Springville, UT: Cedar Fort, 2008.
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14
Oliver Cowdery, “Egyptian Mummies—Ancient Records,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Dec. 1835, 2:235; Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to William Frye, Lebanon, IL, 22 Dec. 1835, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 72.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
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15
The most significant deviation was the inclusion of a full postscript in the version published in the Messenger and Advocate, whereas Oliver Cowdery’s letterbook lists the postscript as a separately sent letter. The published letter also changed Frye’s residence from Lebanon to Gilead, Illinois. (Oliver Cowdery, “Egyptian Mummies—Ancient Records,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Dec. 1835, 2:236–237; Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to William Frye, Lebanon, IL, 25 Dec. 1835, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 74–75.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
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16
Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to William Frye, Lebanon, IL, 22 Dec. 1835, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 74.
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
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