180 years ago today - mid Sep 1833

At this time D. P. Hurlbut was "employed to look up testimony" by the self-constituted committee of anti-Mormons which met at Mentor. According to the Jan. 31, 1834 "To the Public" notice in the Painesville Telegraph, "the Committee employed D. P. Hurlbut to ascertain the real origin of the Book of Mormon, and to examine the validity of Joseph Smith's claims to the character of a Prophet." According to the Dec. 20, 1833 "Mormon mystery developed" article published in the Wayne Sentinel, Hurlbut gathered evidence in "in different parts" of New York state "on behalf of his fellow-townsmen, in the pursuit "of facts and information concerning the origin and design of the Book of Mormon..." D. P.'s widow supplied this account: "He was employed by leading citizens of Mentor and Geauga Co. to investigate the character of the Mormon Smith Family and the origin of the Book of Mormon. He went to Palmyra, N.Y. by stage..." Thus it seems that while Hurlbut's primary mission was to bring back evidence of "the real origin of the Book of Mormon," he was also employed to "examine the validity" of Mormon claims that Joseph Smith and his family were persons of good character.

[Source: Broadhurst, Dale R., Mormon Chronology, http://olivercowdery.com/history/morchrn2.htm]

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