Martin Harris
He mortgaged his farm to print the Book of Mormon, saw an angel, lost a manuscript — and never denied his witness
The Farmer from Palmyra
Martin Harris was a prosperous farmer in Palmyra, New York, respected in his community and known as an honest man. He was considerably older than Joseph Smith — fifty years old when the Book of Mormon was published — and his decision to become involved with the young prophet's work was neither impulsive nor uninformed. He investigated carefully, took what he could verify to outside experts, and ultimately staked his financial security on what he believed.
In early 1828, Joseph Smith copied some of the characters from the plates and Martin Harris carried them to New York City to consult with Professor Charles Anthon, a noted classical scholar at Columbia College. Anthon confirmed that the characters were authentic ancient writing and began to certify them in writing — then, when told the source was a sealed book received from an angel, tore up the paper. The encounter was later seen as a fulfillment of Isaiah 29:11: “And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed.”
The 116 Pages
Martin Harris served as Joseph's scribe in the spring of 1828, transcribing 116 pages of manuscript from the Book of Lehi. He then pressed Joseph persistently to be allowed to take the manuscript home to show his skeptical wife. Joseph inquired of the Lord twice and was told no. On the third inquiry, permission was granted with strict conditions. Martin took the pages to Palmyra and they were stolen — the people who had taken them intended to alter the text and use the alterations to discredit Joseph if he retranslated them.
Joseph's grief at the loss was profound. The Lord withdrew the gift of translation for a season. When the work resumed, it covered different plates — those of Nephi — which Mormon had preserved precisely because God foreknew what would happen to the first manuscript. The loss of the 116 pages is presented in revelation not as an irredeemable failure but as an occasion to demonstrate that God's work cannot be frustrated: “the works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught” (D&C 3:1).
Martin Harris bore the weight of what had happened. He had begged for the privilege that led to the loss. But he did not abandon the work.
The Witness and the Mortgage
In June 1829, Martin Harris was among the three men who accompanied Joseph into the woods to pray for a witness of the plates. Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer saw the angel and heard the voice of God with Joseph. Martin Harris, overwhelmed by a sense of his own unworthiness, withdrew and prayed separately. Then Joseph went to him, and together they prayed — and the vision opened. The same angel appeared, the same voice declared that the record was translated by the gift of God and commanded the witnesses to testify of it. Martin Harris cried out: “Tis enough; 'tis enough; mine eyes have beheld; mine eyes have beheld” (History of the Church, 1:55).
The Book of Mormon needed to be printed. E. B. Grandin of Palmyra agreed to print 5,000 copies for $3,000. No one connected with the work had that sum. Martin Harris mortgaged his farm — 151 acres — to secure the printing contract. When the book did not sell quickly enough to retire the debt, his farm was sold at auction. He paid the price of the Book of Mormon's first edition with his land.
Separation and Return
Martin Harris followed the Church to Kirtland and participated in its early growth, but in 1837, amid the financial collapse of the Kirtland Safety Society and the resulting apostasy of several prominent members, he fell away. He spent the next thirty-three years outside the Church — a longer exile than any of the other witnesses. During those years he affiliated with various splinter groups, moved through several religious associations, and lived in the shadow of the work he had helped to found.
Through all of it, he never denied that he had seen the angel and the plates. When pressed by skeptics, when challenged by enemies of the Church, when interviewed by those hoping to catch him in a retraction, Martin Harris consistently and firmly bore witness. He had not imagined it. He had not been deceived. He had seen what he had seen.
In 1870, at the age of eighty-seven, Martin Harris was rebaptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The following year, partly funded by donations from members in Utah who wanted to bring him home, he traveled to Salt Lake City. He was welcomed by Brigham Young and thousands of Saints who honored the man who had mortgaged his farm for a book most of them held in their hands. He spent his last years in Clarkston, Utah, and died there in 1875 at age ninety-two, bearing his testimony of the Book of Mormon to the end.
Testimony of Three Witnesses
“And we declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon; and we know that it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and bear record that these things are true.”
Key Scriptures
- D&C 3 — Revelation following loss of the 116 pages
- D&C 10 — God's design preserved despite the theft of the manuscript
- Isaiah 29:11–12 — The sealed book prophecy fulfilled at Professor Anthon's desk