The Book of Mormon Witnesses Part Three — Martin Harris

The last of the Three Witnesses to have received a manifestation of the plates was Martin Harris, a man who had been with Joseph Smith from the very beginning of the translation.

MARTIN HARRIS:

"'TIS ENOUGH, 'TIS ENOUGH, MINE EYES HAVE BEHELD!"

Martin Harris's contributions to the translation effort first started very early, on, even before Joseph Smith had received the plates. Old enough to be Joseph's father, he hired the young man on his farm for a short season, and Joseph grew to consider him a friend. Martin harbored doubts initially about the young prophet, but wanted to do the work of the Lord nonetheless.

After Joseph received the plates, Martin donated fifty dollars to the young Prophet, who insisted that it be a loan. Martin refused, freely giving the money to Joseph. Joseph was able to use those fifty dollars to pay off remaining debts in New York and move to Harmony with his wife's parents, where he was hoping that he could translate the record in peace.

In Harmony, Joseph and Emma received a surprise visit from Martin Harris. He told the Prophet that he prayed for a witness of the work, and Joseph recorded the following in his 1832 History about that moment:

because of his faith and this rightheous [sic] deed [the donation of the fifty dollars and his prayer to know the will of the Lord] the Lord appeared unto him in a vision and shewed unto him his marvilous [sic] work which he was about to do and <​h[e]​> imediately [sic] came to Suquehannah [sic] and said the Lord had shown him that he must go to new York City <​with​> some of the characters so we proceeded to coppy [sic] some of them and he took his Journy [sic] to the Eastern Cittys [sic].₁

Martin spoke with many scholars about the characters that Joseph had copied, mostly those who had an interest in American antiquities. The most famous is his exchange with Charles Anthon, a professor who was learned in many ancient languages. Others have written extensively on the topic, and so I will only refer you to their work in Note 2. Whatever can be said about that exchange, it is clear that Martin returned to Harmony determined to be a scribe for the young prophet.

We do get an interesting account of the translation from Martin. At a time when Joseph was using his own personal seer stone in place of the Nephite interpreters, Martin found a similar stone and swapped the two. He told this story to Elder Edward Stevenson years later, from whose account I will quote:

He [Martin Harris] said that the Prophet possessed a seer stone, by which he was enabled to translate as well as from the Urim and Thummim, and for convenience he then used the seer stone... [After replacing the seer stone with the regular stone Martin had found] he said that the Prophet remained silent unusually long and intently gaining in darkness, no trace of the usual sentence appearing. Much surprised Joseph exclaimed: “Martin! What is the matter? All is as dark as Egypt.” Martin’s countenance betrayed him, and the Prophet asked Martin why he had done so. Martin said, to stop the mouths of fools, who had told him that the Prophet had learned those sentences and was merely repeating them, etc.” ₃

While Martin  grew to love the work, his wife Lucy grew to despise it. In an effort to please her, Martin convinced Joseph to let him borrow the manuscript to show her and a few other friends and family members. Unfortunately, those manuscript pages were stolen and altered as attested to in D&C 10, and some have theorized that after the publication of the Book of Mormon, Lucy Harris burned the pages when it became clear that their alterations could not deter people from purchasing the Book of Mormon.₄  Lucy also tried (unsuccessfully) to sue Joseph and Martin, and eventually she left Martin over the issue of the translation.

Martin was distraught over what he had done. He spent months anguishing over the lost pages, and was likely more than surprised to receive an invitation to come to the Whitmer’s farm. Joseph welcomed him again, and while there, Martin felt prompted to become one of the prophesied Three Witnesses.

As they prayed for a witness, Martin still felt guilt over what he had done and withdrew from the others. Eventually Joseph joined him in prayer, and the vision of the angel and the plates was opened to their view. Ecstatic with joy, Martin cried out, “’Tis enough, ’tis enough; mine eyes have beheld, mine eyes have beheld!”₅

Eventually, however, these good times would not last. In 1837, Martin became disaffected with the Church over the failing of the Kirtland Safety Society; however, no records of official excommunication exist. He spent the next thirty years going from one group of Latter-day Saints to the next, and most notably served a mission for James Strang’s church. He aso helped tour the Kirtland Temple for many years before he felt the desire to go to Utah and reconcile with the main body of the Church.

Martin left for Utah with Elder Edward Stevenson in 1870. While he had never been excommunicated, he was rebaptized (which was a common practice among the Latter-day Saints beginning, from what I can find, in the Nauvoo era of the Church under the direction of Joseph Smith) as a testimony of his recommitment to his Savior.

Being the only of the Three Witnesses to arrive in Utah, saints flocked to hear his testimony. Martin Harris, who was known to always carry a copy of The Book of Mormon under his arm, was invited to ward meetings and firesides left and right. After having given up all he had had for the Book of Mormon — after he had lost his fortune, his family, and friends in New York, he found himself among friends who wanted to hear his testimony. Even on his deathbed, Martin’s last words were a solemn declaration that he knew the Book of Mormon was true.

NOTES

1. "History, circa Summer 1832," p. 5, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed March 18, 2020, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-circa-summer-1832/5

2. “Why Did Martin Harris Consult with Scholars like Charles Anthon?” Book of Mormon Central, March 2, 2020. https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/knowhy/why-did-martin-harris-consult-with-scholars-like-charles-anthon. This article will be a great starting off point, as it has links to much more resources for any who are interested.

3. Edward Stevenson to Deseret News Editor, November 20, 1881, published as “One of the Three Witnesses. Incidents in the Life of Martin Harris,” Deseret Evening News, December 13, 1881

4. Orsamus Turner, History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham’s Purchase and Morris’ Reserve (1852) 215.

5. "History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834]," p. 25, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed March 18, 2020, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-a-1-23-december-1805-30-august-1834/31