[Edward Stevenson interview of David Whitmer]
"Well as I know that the Sun Shines So do I know that I was Plowing one fore=noon & I he[a]rd a voice & Saw a personage Who Said [`]Blessed is the Lord & he that keepeth his Commandments['] & the very next Round Bro. Joseph & Oliver Came along & Said [`]Come David & be one of [p. 11] the witnesses of the Book of Mormon['] Wee walked through A clearing & all Sat on a log it was about 11 A.M. When A Light appeared & it Grew Brighter until an Angle Stood before us and on the appearance of A table Was laid the Plates[,] Urim & Thumin[,] Ball or Director[,] Sword of Laban &c & A voice Declared & Bore record of the truth of the Translation turning the Leaves over & thus the vision ended.["] ... <David Said that the Prophet translated first by the uirm & thumim & afterwards by A Seer Stone--E[dward] Stevenson.> ... Sunday [December] 23d [1877] ... Paid our Last visit to David W[hitmer]. ... <saw one of the Nephites> I wish to mention an Item of conversation with David Whitmer in regard to Seeing one of the Nephites. Zina Young, Desired me to ask about it. David Said. ["]Oliver [Cowdery], & the Prophet, & I were riding in a wagon, & an aged man about 5 feet 10 [inches] [tall], heavey Set & on his back an old fashioned Armey knapsack Strap[p]ed over his Shoulders & Something Square in it, & he walked alongside of the Wagon & Wiped the Sweat off his face, Smileing very Pleasant["] David asked him to ride and he replied ["]I am going across to the hill Comorah.["] Soon after they passed they felt Strangely & Stop[p]ed, but could See nothing of him all arround was clear & they asked the Lord about it[.] he Said that the Prophet Looked as White as a Sheet & Said that it was one of the Nephites & that he had the Plates. on arriveing at home they were impressed that the Same Person was under the Shed & again they were informed that it was So. they Saw whare <<he>> had been & the next Morning Davids Mother [Mary Musselman Whitmer] Saw the Person at the Shed and he took the Plates from A Box & Showed them to her[.] She Said that they Were fastened with Rings thus: D he turned the leaves over this was a Satisf[ac]t[io]n to her. ... It was likewise stated to me by David Whitmer in the year 1877 that Oliver Cowdery told him that the Prophet Joseph and himself had seen this room [in the Hill Cumorah] and that it was filled with treasure, and on a table therein were the breastplate and the sword of Laban, as well as the portion of gold plates not yet translated, and that these plates were bound by three small gold rings, and would also be translated, as was the first portion in the days of Joseph. When they are translated much useful information will be brought to light. But till that day arrives, no Rochester adventurers shall ever see them or the treasures, although science and mineral rods testify that they are there. ...
[Edward Stevenson, Journal, 14:10-18, entry of 22-23 December 1877, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah.; Edward Stevenson to Orson Pratt, 23 December 1877, "Journal History," LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah.; Edward Stevenson to John Taylor, 7 January 1878, "Journal History," LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah.; Edward Stevenson to Salt Lake Herald, 21 January 1878, Salt Lake Herald, 2 February 1878, 3. 5.; Edward Stevenson, Reminiscences of Joseph, the Prophet and the Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: Edward Stevenson, 1893), 15., as cited in Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents: David Whitmer Interview With Edward Stevenson]
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