Joseph Smith's 1826 trial

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Articles about Joseph Smith

Life and Character	Status in Latter-day Saint belief Joseph's trustworthiness Money digging Folk magic or the occult The Word of Wisdom Alleged narcissism
Youth	Joseph Smith's family as trustworthy and hard-working Education Use of seer stones as a youth The Hurlbut affidavits Joseph Smith's 1826 trial
Revelations and the Church	Witness of Jesus Christ First Vision Book of Mormon Joseph Smith's inspired revision of the Bible (JST) The restoration of the priesthood Personages who appeared to Joseph Smith Production of the Book of Abraham Kinderhook Plates
Prophetic Statements	The U.S. Civil War Rocky Mountain prophecy The White Horse prophecy Alleged false prophecies of Joseph Smith Joseph Smith and Old Testament practices
Society	Legal issues 1826 trial Creation of the Kirtland Safety Society Failure of the Kirtland Safety Society Campaign for President of the United States
Plural marriage (polygamy)	Plural marriage or polygamy Polygamy navigator Plural wives of Joseph Smith
Death	The Nauvoo Expositor Events surrounding the death of Joseph Smith Firing a gun at Carthage Jail Qualification as a martyr 1844 Succession to Joseph Smith

Highlights in the Prophet’s Life 20 Mar. 1826: Tried and acquitted on fanciful charge of being a “disorderly person,” South Bainbridge, Chenango County, New York. New York law defined a disorderly person as, among other things, a vagrant or a seeker of “lost goods.” The Prophet had been accused of both: the first charge was false and was made simply to cause trouble; Joseph’s use of a seer stone to see things that others could not see with the naked eye brought the second charge. Those who brought the charges were apparently concerned that Joseph might bilk his employer, Josiah Stowell, out of some money. Mr. Stowell’s testimony clearly said this was not so and that he trusted Joseph Smith.

—Anonymous, "Highlights in the Prophet’s Life," Ensign (Jun 1994): 24. off-site

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• Question: What is Joseph Smith's 1826 Bainbridge "trial" for "glasslooking"?
• Question: What events resulted in Joseph Smith's 1826 court appearance in Bainbridge?
• Question: Why was Joseph fined if he wasn't guilty?
• Source:Highlights in the Prophet's Life:Ensign:June 1994:Tried and acquitted on fanciful charge of being a "disorderly person"
• Question: Didn't Hugh Nibley claim that a record of this trial would be "the most damning evidence in existence" against Joseph Smith?
• Question: What did critics of the Church during Joseph Smith's lifetime think of the 1826 court hearing?
• Question: What are the details of Joseph Smith's 1826 "trial" for "glasslooking"
• Question: What happened to Josiah Stowell? Did he conclude he had been defrauded after the court hearing?
• Question: Was Joseph Smith found guilty of being a "con man" in 1826?

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Jump to details:

• Question: What is Joseph Smith's 1826 Bainbridge "trial" for "glasslooking"?
• Question: What events resulted in Joseph Smith's 1826 court appearance in Bainbridge?
• Question: Why was Joseph fined if he wasn't guilty?
• Source:Highlights in the Prophet's Life:Ensign:June 1994:Tried and acquitted on fanciful charge of being a "disorderly person"
• Question: Didn't Hugh Nibley claim that a record of this trial would be "the most damning evidence in existence" against Joseph Smith?
• Question: What did critics of the Church during Joseph Smith's lifetime think of the 1826 court hearing?
• Question: What are the details of Joseph Smith's 1826 "trial" for "glasslooking"
• Question: What happened to Josiah Stowell? Did he conclude he had been defrauded after the court hearing?
• Question: Was Joseph Smith found guilty of being a "con man" in 1826?

Display_page_name

Jump to details:

• Question: What is Joseph Smith's 1826 Bainbridge "trial" for "glasslooking"?
• Question: What events resulted in Joseph Smith's 1826 court appearance in Bainbridge?
• Question: Why was Joseph fined if he wasn't guilty?
• Source:Highlights in the Prophet's Life:Ensign:June 1994:Tried and acquitted on fanciful charge of being a "disorderly person"
• Question: Didn't Hugh Nibley claim that a record of this trial would be "the most damning evidence in existence" against Joseph Smith?
• Question: What did critics of the Church during Joseph Smith's lifetime think of the 1826 court hearing?
• Question: What are the details of Joseph Smith's 1826 "trial" for "glasslooking"
• Question: What happened to Josiah Stowell? Did he conclude he had been defrauded after the court hearing?
• Question: Was Joseph Smith found guilty of being a "con man" in 1826?

Display_page_name

Jump to details:

• Question: What is Joseph Smith's 1826 Bainbridge "trial" for "glasslooking"?
• Question: What events resulted in Joseph Smith's 1826 court appearance in Bainbridge?
• Question: Why was Joseph fined if he wasn't guilty?
• Source:Highlights in the Prophet's Life:Ensign:June 1994:Tried and acquitted on fanciful charge of being a "disorderly person"
• Question: Didn't Hugh Nibley claim that a record of this trial would be "the most damning evidence in existence" against Joseph Smith?
• Question: What did critics of the Church during Joseph Smith's lifetime think of the 1826 court hearing?
• Question: What are the details of Joseph Smith's 1826 "trial" for "glasslooking"
• Question: What happened to Josiah Stowell? Did he conclude he had been defrauded after the court hearing?
• Question: Was Joseph Smith found guilty of being a "con man" in 1826?

Display_page_name

Jump to details:

• Question: What is Joseph Smith's 1826 Bainbridge "trial" for "glasslooking"?
• Question: What events resulted in Joseph Smith's 1826 court appearance in Bainbridge?
• Question: Why was Joseph fined if he wasn't guilty?
• Source:Highlights in the Prophet's Life:Ensign:June 1994:Tried and acquitted on fanciful charge of being a "disorderly person"
• Question: Didn't Hugh Nibley claim that a record of this trial would be "the most damning evidence in existence" against Joseph Smith?
• Question: What did critics of the Church during Joseph Smith's lifetime think of the 1826 court hearing?
• Question: What are the details of Joseph Smith's 1826 "trial" for "glasslooking"
• Question: What happened to Josiah Stowell? Did he conclude he had been defrauded after the court hearing?
• Question: Was Joseph Smith found guilty of being a "con man" in 1826?

Display_page_name

Jump to details:

• Question: What is Joseph Smith's 1826 Bainbridge "trial" for "glasslooking"?
• Question: What events resulted in Joseph Smith's 1826 court appearance in Bainbridge?
• Question: Why was Joseph fined if he wasn't guilty?
• Source:Highlights in the Prophet's Life:Ensign:June 1994:Tried and acquitted on fanciful charge of being a "disorderly person"
• Question: Didn't Hugh Nibley claim that a record of this trial would be "the most damning evidence in existence" against Joseph Smith?
• Question: What did critics of the Church during Joseph Smith's lifetime think of the 1826 court hearing?
• Question: What are the details of Joseph Smith's 1826 "trial" for "glasslooking"
• Question: What happened to Josiah Stowell? Did he conclude he had been defrauded after the court hearing?
• Question: Was Joseph Smith found guilty of being a "con man" in 1826?

Display_page_name

Jump to details:

• Question: What is Joseph Smith's 1826 Bainbridge "trial" for "glasslooking"?
• Question: What events resulted in Joseph Smith's 1826 court appearance in Bainbridge?
• Question: Why was Joseph fined if he wasn't guilty?
• Source:Highlights in the Prophet's Life:Ensign:June 1994:Tried and acquitted on fanciful charge of being a "disorderly person"
• Question: Didn't Hugh Nibley claim that a record of this trial would be "the most damning evidence in existence" against Joseph Smith?
• Question: What did critics of the Church during Joseph Smith's lifetime think of the 1826 court hearing?
• Question: What are the details of Joseph Smith's 1826 "trial" for "glasslooking"
• Question: What happened to Josiah Stowell? Did he conclude he had been defrauded after the court hearing?
• Question: Was Joseph Smith found guilty of being a "con man" in 1826?

Display_page_name

Jump to details:

• Question: What is Joseph Smith's 1826 Bainbridge "trial" for "glasslooking"?
• Question: What events resulted in Joseph Smith's 1826 court appearance in Bainbridge?
• Question: Why was Joseph fined if he wasn't guilty?
• Source:Highlights in the Prophet's Life:Ensign:June 1994:Tried and acquitted on fanciful charge of being a "disorderly person"
• Question: Didn't Hugh Nibley claim that a record of this trial would be "the most damning evidence in existence" against Joseph Smith?
• Question: What did critics of the Church during Joseph Smith's lifetime think of the 1826 court hearing?
• Question: What are the details of Joseph Smith's 1826 "trial" for "glasslooking"
• Question: What happened to Josiah Stowell? Did he conclude he had been defrauded after the court hearing?
• Question: Was Joseph Smith found guilty of being a "con man" in 1826?

Display_page_name

Jump to details:

• Question: What is Joseph Smith's 1826 Bainbridge "trial" for "glasslooking"?
• Question: What events resulted in Joseph Smith's 1826 court appearance in Bainbridge?
• Question: Why was Joseph fined if he wasn't guilty?
• Source:Highlights in the Prophet's Life:Ensign:June 1994:Tried and acquitted on fanciful charge of being a "disorderly person"
• Question: Didn't Hugh Nibley claim that a record of this trial would be "the most damning evidence in existence" against Joseph Smith?
• Question: What did critics of the Church during Joseph Smith's lifetime think of the 1826 court hearing?
• Question: What are the details of Joseph Smith's 1826 "trial" for "glasslooking"
• Question: What happened to Josiah Stowell? Did he conclude he had been defrauded after the court hearing?
• Question: Was Joseph Smith found guilty of being a "con man" in 1826?

Display_page_name

Jump to details:

• Question: What is Joseph Smith's 1826 Bainbridge "trial" for "glasslooking"?
• Question: What events resulted in Joseph Smith's 1826 court appearance in Bainbridge?
• Question: Why was Joseph fined if he wasn't guilty?
• Source:Highlights in the Prophet's Life:Ensign:June 1994:Tried and acquitted on fanciful charge of being a "disorderly person"
• Question: Didn't Hugh Nibley claim that a record of this trial would be "the most damning evidence in existence" against Joseph Smith?
• Question: What did critics of the Church during Joseph Smith's lifetime think of the 1826 court hearing?
• Question: What are the details of Joseph Smith's 1826 "trial" for "glasslooking"
• Question: What happened to Josiah Stowell? Did he conclude he had been defrauded after the court hearing?
• Question: Was Joseph Smith found guilty of being a "con man" in 1826?

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Source(s) of the criticism—Joseph's 1826 trial

Critical sources

“Complaints of a Mormonite,” Evangelical Magazine and Gospel Advocate (Utica, New York) ( 5 September 1835): 285. off-site “Mormonism,” Morning Star (Limerick, Maine) 7, no. 20 (16 November 1832). Reprinted from the Christian Herald (Boston), circa November 1832. off-site A.W.B., “Mormonites,” Evangelical Magazine and Gospel Advocate (Utica, New York) 2, no. 15 (9 April 1831): 120. off-site Richard Abanes, One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church (New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2003), 44-46 ( Index of claims ) Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945), 30. ( Index of claims ) John Dehlin, "Why People Leave the LDS Church," (2008). Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults (Revised) (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1997), 184. ( Index of claims ) MormonThink.com website (as of 28 April 2012). Page: http://mormonthink.com/transbomweb.htm Richard N. and Joan K. Ostling, Mormon America: The Power and the Promise, (New York:HarperCollins Publishers, 2000), 25. ( Index of claims ) Jerald and Sandra Tanner, The Changing World of Mormonism (Moody Press, 1979), 67-70.( Index of claims ) Wikipedia article "Joseph Smith, Jr."–Primary editor: COgden, with additional contributions by multiple editors. ( FAIR's Analysis of this Wikipedia article)

Notes