Pioneer history of Ingham County, compiled and arranged by Mrs. Franc L. Adams, secretary of the Ingham County pioneer and historical society.

VEVAY TOWNSHIPI AND ITS HISTORY

795

locate in the county seat, and he continued his practice here until
his death, which occurred in 1911. He was very public-spirited
and took great interest in everything which would work for the
betterment of the city.
His boyhood home was near Palmyra, N. Y., and during the
visits the family made to this place at various times, Mrs. VanDeusen became quite familiar with the Mormon history so closely
connected with that vicinity. She always visited Mormon Hill,
where Joseph Smith claimed to have found the records on which
was founded the Mormon Church. This hill lies near the main
road which runs from Palmyra to Manchester, and the place on
the west side where the golden plates were said to be hidden is now
enclosed and is visited by many people each year. Iistory, or
tradition, says that "The angel of the Lord, on Scpt. 2, 1827,
placed in Smith's hands the wonderful records, engraved on plates
nearly eight inches long by seven wide, a little thinner than ordinary tin, and bound together by three rings running through the
whole. The volume was about six inches in thickness, a part of it
sealed. The letters were beautifully engraved and represented
an unknown language. With the records was found a curious
instrument, consisting of two transparent stones, set in the rim
of a bow fastened to a breastplate.
"By means of these stone-spectacles, God enabled him to
understand and translate these ancient records, written in an unknown tongue, into such humble English as the 'prophet' (who
was said to be a grossly ignorant and depraved specimen of manhood) was able to understand. The records contained the primitive history of America, etc., etc." Mrs. VanDeusen had a personal acquaintance with Maj. John Gilbert, of Palmyra, who set
the type and corrected proof for the first Mormon Bible. He was
born in 1803 and died in 1896, and he told Mrs. VanDeusen that
he was twenty-seven years old when he printed that Bible. The
first edition of the Bible was 5,000 copies, costing $3,000. Joseph
Smith would bring the copy, a few pages at a time, as fast as he
translated it, usually in the morning and take away the printed
pages at night. There was not a punctuation mark in the whole
thing, and it took Maj. Gilbert seven months to complete the first
copy. This old man knew all of the Smith family, and told much