Show historical LANDMARKS iber leather interesting correspondence irom from elders jenson ste ivenson and blacka black A visit to IT Richmond rhe irlie Whit mers and manuscript of the ibosh bholi of mormon resti testimonies monies bof jot the divine authenticity ol of cie work woric where the Pr pronh et land and others were imprisoned RICHMOND ray bay county mo sept 13 10 1888 tor r deseret news e elders stevenson black and BOD D left kansas city taking 7 the Cai caicado cago la aa fe and Cali california tornia railway railway I 1 to lexington junction 41 42 is we arrived about 1130 there being beningno no tram train guing going to imond odd until late lafe in the afternoon afternoon included to walk the distance cli siance only about five miles in passing pasing pass pas ing engh gh the country on toot foot we stop to converse with a number of the bimanis and learned from them y things of interest in regard fegard to sou this iti is truly a dell delightful haf ui near the missouri it is ia quite ily ly timbered butas we recede irom river iver the openings and clearings ime e more extensive extensive and binai annall ll 11 d prairies enhance tuc landscape landa cape ie various sorts sores of timber growing the e north sae of trio the river we ed d the oak elm ash walnut more ore locust tamarind and others ltv the pawpaw and numerous sot underwood and vines some ie farms are kept in a in while others are seemingly nog neg ill so that most healthy grow growths thi reeds ds have got the beat of the led d crops small grain dom does ty well but the he soil seems to be adapted for raising indian which in some instances yields it bushels to the acre e also saw some of the finest B ye we have ever beheld in our sabe pas here K second to none in the united s having arrived at Ric richmond timond went ent directly to t we residence of ate te david whitmer tiner and received cool reception recep tieu from his thier ter mrs schweich who keeps te for her brother david at the homestead om estead E elder ider stevenson re ked ed that ne he found altogether a dif dt t influence in n abo th house bouse to that he on ms lits david was alive and tae place rno no longer any attractions we teci d the new cemetery situated a rt distance diri tance west of town where ortal mortal remains of the last witness tie e bok boob of mormon now slum in the dust dual we also visited ald id cemetery about naif half a mile eu of rid centre where rest remalda of et the senior peter whitt in whose boust the church was ined and his wite wife together with lr sois BOB jacob one of the eight wit bess asand and oliver cowdery A fine able le tomb stone designates the ting dg place of jacob whitmer but grave rave of 0 oliver was entirely in bid log g and overgrown with weeds tue e we found the die new cemetery in a class condition we found the old i latt lattrell rely neglected and marble Su ments head ead stone sand fences i alered promiscuously ra viscously on the ground the 0 cyclone left it ten years ago adang ing over the graves of oliver and 01 we instinctively uncovered our la 18 uttered a silent t prayer and bed on with heavy eavy hearts how flow we old d have appreciated a short inter v with him who was s blessed with ministration ni of angels the savior aes elijah the prophet and other beings ings ward award evening dewent we went on foot soot tone one tind and a kalt balf miles south of echmond ond to the house of john C atner mer the only living aen of jacob wooer mer he is the presiding elder we e so called and is a stable table farmer fifty three years of e hi he received us kindly and gave some e information that is bighley ted in regard to the E eight ight nesses es of the book of mormon and era his uncles christian and peter r both died as faithful fattlis ua elders hurch in clay county mo 1 l first named nov 27 1835 5 abathe aaa the ter r sept 21 1836 both bore faith md unflinching ing testimonies to the bt the divine authenticity of the sy of mormon 11 jacob whitmer wd in richmond Bich mond april 21 1856 aged 2 months and 26 days john atmer r died in far west caldwell aty no mo in 1878 and hiram page on a farm about fourteen fourte ev miles wot richmond near dear the boundary 0 of clay county aug 12 1852 01 COAY johnc oba 0 hit r testified as follows aming 1 the witnesses 41 i was c closely osel connected with hiram ya la III business transactions and w er matters he being married to my va I 1 knew him at all times and un V vui all circumstances to be true to his emony lony concerning the divinity of labok of mormon I 1 was also at S deathbed of oliver cowdery in t lad I 1 beard b ard him speak to my david whitmer and say faithful ul to our ato to the book of mormon lor for we I 1 that it is of f god and that it is S true 1 he then closed bis ais eyes in waa my father jacob whitmer eways ays faithful ul and true to 08 ony to the book of mormon and bed ed it on his deathbed oi of my we whitmer I 1 will say that with him a short time before Sat at par west missouri when 1 conformed tome to me what he had bad done dene ny times previously that he knew kew the book of morar mormon n was true I 1 was also with uncle david Whitmer who died here in january last and heard him bear his last testimony in the presence cresence of may mavy witti witnesses esses whom he had gad called together lor for the occasion he solemnly declared that the record of the Nep bites hites as he always called the book of moamoa was of god and his testimony concerning it true john 0 whitmer then gave us an substance the following particulars in regard to the church over which he pres presides des ile he was baptized by his uncle david whitmer sept 15 1875 and by him also ordained an elder january 28 1876 receiving instructions to go forth and preach the gospel as it had been taught by joseph the prophet and organize a new church according to the original pattern in which lie he JO johnf MY 0 was to be the first elder in obedi i ence to this lie he immediately commenced his bis labors and succeeded in the first three individuals on the following feb 17 1876 others followed aid soon the new church commenced to hold meetings and cam completed thir organization as far as their numbers would permit them they now claim to have about one hundred members all told some of these reside in and around ILch mond others in independence Jack jackson tion county while the remainder rider live in FA a more scattered condition in iowa kansas illinois tennessee california and other statts states the few around richmond and as many of the others who can conveniently come toa ther hold metai eawy third alunday in a small school libuse situated about a mile and a half south of richmond in the school district where jotin john C whitmer their president resides ine Whit merites or us as they call themselves the church of christ be delve only a part of tiie the revelations kiven given through joseph smith the prophet but they take lake the book of mormon and the new testament as their standard and rule of faith anything that agrees with the deachin teachings I 1 of j these two books they accept and everything that conflicts therewith they reject they have no high P priests tests la in their church as they do not noc believe tn in that order of the priesthood but they have a few elders priests and teachers they have no deacons but believe in the order and would also ordain apostles and seventies if the number of their members would allow it but there being so few of them they could not possibly find element enough say nothing about seventy men wherewith to make a quorum of seventies elder stevenson suggested that the and Hendric kites unite so asto as to make a qt stronger roager body where upon mr whitmer said he expected to visit independence in a few weeks when he be hoped to be able to baptizes all the Hendric kites into his churco this morning we visited a number of old settlers trying to gather information in regard to circumstances circum trans fifty years ago we visited the site of the old jail where parley pratt morris phelps and others were i imprisoned from november 1838 to may 1839 an old resident told us that he be remembered many years afterwards seeing the name of P P pratt on the telling ceiling of the jail which was finally torn down aown and ana tue site is now occupied ty cy a large wagon repairing and blacksmith shop owned by powell sons on the identical spot where the jail stood is a well from which we drew and ana drank water in memory of the past the jail site is a little more than halt half a block east cast of the north northeast bast corner of the court house square on the north side of the street we made several inquiries about the old log house bouse where joseph the prophet and his hia fellow prisoners were guarded during judge austin A kings king s mock trial la in november 1888 and where joseph rebuked the guard but we were unable to find any uy who could give us the necessary information ane old settler mr B H who acted as county clerk of jay bay county in 1838 told us that there were a number of old log houses on the north side of the court house bouse square at that time and it was no doubt into one of these that the prophet and i his brethren were ushered on that afia t memorable occasion this afternoon we visited arf bisbee a daughter of the late jacob Whit merand er and philander page son of the late hiram page and from them and documents in theft possession we gained all the th information formation desired in regard to the eight witnesses of the book of mormon this evening we examined the manuscript ot of the book oi of mormon in the possession of david J whitmer Whit eon bon of ef the late david wittmer we satisfied ourselves beyond a doubt that it was the copy from which the book was printed copy cop of the original manuscript afterwards was deposited by joseph in the foundation f on ll 11 of the nauvoo house we we discerned between at least three different handwritings the most of M it however being written by oliver cow dea handwriting 0 g is a well known it la a supposed sed that emma m m a smith mith and u perhaps christian and peter whitmer wrote the balance the signatures of the witnesses were all written by the same scribe which is another proof that this is not the original manuscript on which each witness signed his bis own name there was closely written pages each sheet being written on sages oth both sides we have also learned that general john B dark clark the notorious died as a dunkard Hrunka rd in fayette oward howard county about the year 1880 forsaken by lie bis political friends at least the notorious austin A king also died years ago he was hakea sick very suddenly at st louis and died almost immediately his remains were brought to ray bay conkity for burial richmond is a flue fine town of nearly three thousand inhabitants abitanta inh the court house around which the principal stores and business houses are clustered is beautifully situated on ris ins ing ground while on another gently sloping loping bill hill a little southward stands the richmond college said t to b be e 11 r t c lass class institution of learning gog wo weekly newspapers t the e ishee and the are pu published b bout seven hundred men a are r e engaged a coal mining around ric richmond h umber of profitable mines having b been I 1 n opened recently during the me arese prese season about one hundred bundred new rest residences ances have been erected we start for the crooked river bat tle ground tomorrow morning ANDREW JENSON EDWARD STEVENSON S BLACK |