Twenty-Four (1829)and Emma’s handwriting, Joseph had Oliver Cowdery recopy the entire manuscript at the
time he interpolated Moroni, chapters 2 through 6 into the finished record.
The First Draft of the Book of Mormon was Replaced
The first handwritten manuscript of the Book of Mormon (which included the Harris’
and Emma’s parts) was complete by mid-June 1829. After acknowledging that the “old
bottles”—those coming from the hard-core Christian background—could not handle Joseph’s
“new wine”^20 and the real truth in the Book of Mormon, Joseph had to give the people what
they wanted. In the actual first manuscript, there was no practical direction given on the
establishment of priesthood authority, the sacrament, church meetings, or beliefs essential to
the establishment of a traditional church at the time. When Oliver Cowdery copied what
historians acknowledge as the “first manuscript” into his own handwriting (actually making it
the second manuscript), he included what Joseph instructed him to include. Joseph blamed
the exclusion on his own weakness in translating the plates.
The actual first manuscript was given back to Joseph after being recopied, and then
Joseph burned it. The second (which throughout history would be viewed as the first, even
though it didn’t have Harris’ or Emma’s handwriting in it) was used as a “rough draft,” which
was recopied and further edited to prepare it for publication. The third manuscript was given to
the printer for publishing.^21 The second would eventually be placed in the cornerstone of the
Nauvoo House,^22 where, over time, it was largely destroyed by the weather.
Sensing Oliver’s doubts about the re-transcription of the manuscript, Joseph once
again arranged for a “revelation” to Oliver Cowdery in which “the Lord” told him not to
reveal Joseph’s weaknesses to others, for the sake of the Book of Mormon.^23 Oliver was
convinced of the fact that Joseph had not included Moroni 2 through 6 because of oversight
in being tired at the task of translating. He never understood (nor was he supposed to) that
Joseph was simply fulfilling his mandated role to give the people the desires of their hearts
so that they would stumble. (If one reads Moroni chapter 1 and then skips to chapter 7, they
can easily notice how it flows from one to the other without the interruption of what Joseph
interpolated during the second draft. (See Appendix 1 on the Priesthood for more details.)
Blatant Contradictions Encouraged Frustration
Throughout Joseph’s tenure as a “spokesman for God”^24 (Moses), his friends
encountered many blatant contradictions, which fanned the fire of their indignation towards
him. Although trained in giving the people what they wanted, he wasn’t always perfect in
doing it. Sometimes, one “revelation” would contradict another.^25 Oliver Cowdery saw his
first contradiction in the way that Joseph allowed the ex-followers of Jacob Cochran to join
the Church and not have to give up their practice of plural marriage.
Because plural marriage played a role of such great importance to the LDS/Mormon
faith—not only during the time it was practiced, but also in the lingering beliefs that
continue even today among its members—it requires a detailed accounting that exceeds the
purpose for this biography. Therefore, a full accounting of the subject of plural marriage is
given in precise detail as an appendix to this biography explaining its origins and abuses
(see Appendix 2). In short, though Brigham Young and the other alleged successors and
leaders went to great lengths giving the illusion of Joseph’s endorsement of this practice,
Joseph neither introduced it, nor did he endorse it, as the appendix details. Being no part of