Solomon Spalding (February 20, 1761 – October 20, 1816) was an American author who wrote two related texts: an unfinished manuscript entitled ''Manuscript Story – Conneaut Creek'', and an unpublished historical romance about the lost civilization of the
mound builders
A number of pre-Columbian cultures are collectively termed "Mound Builders". The term does not refer to a specific people or archaeological culture, but refers to the characteristic mound earthworks erected for an extended period of more than 5 ...
of
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
called ''Manuscript Found''. Whether these texts are distinct is disputed. As none of his work was ever published, the titles are only
working title
A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...
s and thus not fixed. After Spalding's death, a number of individuals suggested that Spalding's work was used as a source by
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...
for the
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude date ...
, a
scripture
Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...
in the
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...
.
Biography
Spalding was born in
Ashford, Connecticut
Ashford is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. It is part of the Connecticut Quiet Corner. The population was 4,191 at the 2020 census. It was founded in 1714. Eastford was a part of Ashford until 1847, when the former split off ...
. He was a member of the
Continental Army
The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...
during the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. In 1782, he entered
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
in
Hanover, New Hampshire
Hanover is a town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of Eng ...
, graduating with the class of 1785.
In October 1787, he became an ordained
Congregationalist preacher in
Windham, Connecticut
Windham is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. It contains the former city of Willimantic as well as the boroughs of Windham Center, North Windham, and South Windham. Willimantic, an incorporated city since 1893, was consoli ...
.
In 1795, Spalding married Matilda Sabin and opened a store with her brother Josiah in
Cherry Valley, New York
Cherry Valley is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Otsego County, New York, Otsego County, New York (state), New York, United States. According to the 2020 US census, the village of Cherry Valley had a population of 487. Howeve ...
. In 1799, they moved the store to
Richfield, New York
Richfield is a town located in Otsego County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 2,388. The Town of Richfield is located at the northern border of the county.
History
Richfield Springs was called "Big ...
. Around this time, Spalding bought a tract of land in and relocated to
Conneaut, Ohio
Conneaut ( ) is a city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States, along Lake Erie at the mouth of Conneaut Creek northeast of Cleveland. The population was 12,841 at the 2010 Census. Conneaut is located at the far northeast ...
. While in Conneaut, Spalding began writing ''Manuscript, Found''. In 1812, due to the disruptions of the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
, Spalding moved to
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
. In 1814, he moved to
Amity, Pennsylvania, where he died two years later.
The Oberlin Manuscript
From 1809 to 1812, Spalding worked on a historical fiction about a Roman discovery of the Americas. An unfinished manuscript copy of this work exists, called "The Oberlin Manuscript" or "Honolulu Manuscript".
It is a historical romance "purporting to have been translated from the Latin, found on 24 rolls of parchment in a cave, on the banks of the Conneaut Creek". It tells of a Roman ship which discovers America.
The text of the Oberlin Manuscript was published by the
Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), is an American-based international church, and is the second-largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. The churc ...
(RLDS Church) in 1885, and by
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
(LDS Church) in 1886 and 1910 under the name ''Manuscript, Found.'' In
Eber D. Howe
Eber Dudley Howe (June 9, 1798 – November 10, 1885) was the founder and editor of the ''Painesville Telegraph'', a newspaper that published in Painesville, Ohio, starting in 1822. Howe was the author of one of the first books that was critical ...
's
anti-Mormon
Anti-Mormonism is discrimination, persecution, hostility or prejudice directed against the Latter Day Saint movement, particularly the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The term is often used to describe people or literat ...
book ''
Mormonism Unvailed
''Mormonism Unvailed'' is a book published in 1834 by Eber D. Howe. The title page proclaims the book to be a contemporary exposé of Mormonism, and makes the claim that the historical portion of the Book of Mormon text was based upon a manusc ...
,'' family members and other witnesses claimed that the true title of the Oberlin Manuscript is actually ''Manuscript Story – Conneaut Creek'', and that Spalding penned another manuscript titled ''Manuscript, Found'' which bore no resemblance to the Oberlin Manuscript.
Other Manuscript
Around 1812, Spalding allegedly completed a historical romance distinct from the Oberlin Manuscript which "purported to have been a record found buried in the earth".
Spalding moved to Pittsburgh and reportedly took this manuscript to the publisher Patterson & Lambdin, but Spalding died in 1816 before the manuscript could be published.
Unlike the Oberlin Manuscript, there is, to date, no physical evidence of this first manuscript, so the details of this other manuscript are based on testimonies originally published some twenty years later in ''
Mormonism Unvailed
''Mormonism Unvailed'' is a book published in 1834 by Eber D. Howe. The title page proclaims the book to be a contemporary exposé of Mormonism, and makes the claim that the historical portion of the Book of Mormon text was based upon a manusc ...
''.
Alleged contents of second manuscript
; Plot
According to John Spalding, Solomon's brother, the plot of ''Manuscript, Found'' told "of the first settlers of America, endeavoring to show that the American Indians are the descendants of the Jews, or the lost tribes. "Spaulding’s fiction is about a group of Romans blown off course on a journey to Britain who arrive instead in America. One of the Romans narrates the adventures of the group and the history and culture of the people they find in America." Cruel and bloody wars ensued, in which great multitudes were slain. They buried their dead in large heaps, which caused the mounds so common in this country." Spalding gave this as an affidavit to be published in
Eber D. Howe
Eber Dudley Howe (June 9, 1798 – November 10, 1885) was the founder and editor of the ''Painesville Telegraph'', a newspaper that published in Painesville, Ohio, starting in 1822. Howe was the author of one of the first books that was critical ...
's
anti-Mormon
Anti-Mormonism is discrimination, persecution, hostility or prejudice directed against the Latter Day Saint movement, particularly the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The term is often used to describe people or literat ...
book ''
Mormonism Unvailed
''Mormonism Unvailed'' is a book published in 1834 by Eber D. Howe. The title page proclaims the book to be a contemporary exposé of Mormonism, and makes the claim that the historical portion of the Book of Mormon text was based upon a manusc ...
''.
; Phraseology
Those who claim to have seen the second manuscript testified that it was written "in scripture style of writing" and recalled its repetitive usage of phrases like "and it came to pass" or "now it came to pass", as well as the repeated phrase "I Nephi".
Reliability of witness accounts of a second manuscript
Some modern scholars question the validity of the eyewitness accounts of this second manuscript.
Fawn Brodie
Fawn McKay Brodie (September 15, 1915 – January 10, 1981) was an American biographer and one of the first female professors of history at UCLA, who is best known for ''Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History'' (1974), a work of psychobiography, ...
, in ''
No Man Knows My History
''No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith'' is a 1945 book by Fawn M. Brodie that was one of the first significant non-hagiographic biographies of Joseph Smith, the progenitor of the Latter Day Saint movement. ''No Man Knows My History' ...
'', dismissed the witness statements on grounds of witness tampering and
false memory syndrome
In psychology, false memory syndrome (FMS) is a condition in which a person's identity and relationships are affected by false memories of psychological trauma, recollections that are factually incorrect yet strongly believed. Peter J. Freyd or ...
.
Theorized usage of Spalding's work in Book of Mormon
In 1832,
Latter Day Saint missionaries Samuel H. Smith and
Orson Hyde
Orson Hyde (January 8, 1805 – November 28, 1878) was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement and a member of the first Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He was the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus ...
visited Conneaut, Ohio, and preached from the
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude date ...
. Nehemiah King, a resident of Conneaut who knew Spalding when he lived there, said that the
Mormon
Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...
text resembled the story written by Spalding years before. In 1833, Spalding's brother John and seven other residents of Conneaut signed
affidavit
An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or '' deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such a statemen ...
s stating that Spalding had written a manuscript, portions of which were identical to the Book of Mormon. These statements were published in
E. D. Howe
Eber Dudley Howe (June 9, 1798 – November 10, 1885) was the founder and editor of the ''Painesville Telegraph'', a newspaper that published in Painesville, Ohio, starting in 1822. Howe was the author of one of the first books that was critical ...
's 1834 book ''
Mormonism Unvailed
''Mormonism Unvailed'' is a book published in 1834 by Eber D. Howe. The title page proclaims the book to be a contemporary exposé of Mormonism, and makes the claim that the historical portion of the Book of Mormon text was based upon a manusc ...
'', in which the
theory
A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be s ...
was presented that the Book of Mormon was
plagiarized
Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...
from this manuscript. Several years later, Spalding's widow and daughter, other residents of Conneaut, and residents of Amity, Pennsylvania, also signed statements indicating that Spalding had authored a manuscript that was similar to the Book of Mormon.
"I well remember that he wrote in the old style, and commenced about every sentence with 'and it came to pass,' or 'now it came to pass,' the same as in the Book of Mormon, and according to the best of my recollection and belief, it is the same as my brother Solomon wrote, with the exception of the religious matter."
In 1927, Professor Azariah S. Root, who had headed the library at
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...
, wrote a letter regarding the origins of the Spalding Manuscript and how it relates to the Book of Mormon. In it he states that the Spalding document to which he had access, The Oberlin Manuscript, "seems pretty clearly not to have been the manuscript from which the Book of Mormon was written". Since neither Root nor anybody else had possession of Spalding's alleged second manuscript, he stated that The Oberlin Manuscript "does not seem to throw very much light" on the question of whether the second manuscript was used as a basis for the Book of Mormon.
See also
*
View of the Hebrews
''View of the Hebrews'' is an 1823 book written by Ethan Smith (clergyman), Ethan Smith, a Congregationalist minister in Vermont, who argued that Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans were descended from the Ten Lost Tribes of I ...
Notes
References
*
*
* .
External links
Ask the Apologist : Solomon Spaulding and the Book of Mormon: website opposing Spalding authorship of the Book of Mormon
: website favoring Spalding authorship of the Book of Mormon
: website opposing Spalding authorship of the Book of Mormon
*
ttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~speccoll/chapman/chapman_page_39.shtml Spalding biography in 1867 Dartmouth Alumni publicationbr>
The FARMS Review of "Wayne Cowdrey, Howard Davis, and Arthur Vanick (2005). Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon?: The Spalding Enigma (Concordia Publishing House)"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spalding, Solomon
1761 births
1816 deaths
18th-century Congregationalist ministers
American Congregationalist ministers
American fiction writers
Book of Mormon studies
Congregationalist writers
Continental Army soldiers
Dartmouth College alumni
History of the Latter Day Saint movement
People from Ashford, Connecticut
People of colonial Connecticut
People of Connecticut in the American Revolution
People from Conneaut, Ohio
People from Richfield, New York
Writers from Ohio
Writers from Pittsburgh