Lucy Harris

Lucy Harris (née Harris) (1792–1836) was the wife of Martin Harris, one of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon's Golden Plates.

Life

Lucy Harris was born on May 1, 1792 at Smithfield, Providence, Rhode Island.[1] She was the daughter of Rufus Harris and Lucy Hill, who were affiliated with but not members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Lucy married Martin Harris on March 27, 1808, in Palmyra, New York. She had become partially deaf by the year 1827. She separated from her husband in June 1830, and died in Palmyra in 1836.[2]

Early on during the translation of the Book of Mormon Lucy became frustrated with Martin (and skeptical of Joseph Smith) because of how much her husband was helping Smith with the translation of the Book of Mormon. She questioned Joseph Smith personally about the plates and demanded to see them. He told her, “he was not permitted to exhibit them to any one except those whom the Lord should appoint to testify of them.” This did not resolve her concern and she persisted in demanding to see the plates.[3]

In order to convince Lucy that they were translating an ancient book of scripture, Martin Harris asked Joseph Smith to instead let him borrow the first 116 pages of the translation of the Book of Mormon. Smith said that these pages of the translation of the Book of Mormon were a translation from the Book of Lehi. At Harris' insistence (and despite Smith saying he was warned not to by the Lord) Smith reluctantly loaned the pages to Harris. The manuscript was subsequently lost, and a variety of theories as to its disappearance have arisen. Some Mormons believe that Lucy hid them from Joseph Smith after they had been altered,[4] or that they were given to friends, otherwise disposed of in some way, or that they were stolen from the Harris's house.

When Harris approached Smith and told him what happened, Smith became angry with himself for not heeding "the Lord's admonition" not to loan the manuscript to Harris and left to go and pray. Subsequently Joseph lost the ability to translate "for a season" while he went through "the repentance process." Ultimately he claimed to receive a revelation wherein he was instructed not to retranslate the portion of the Golden Plates the 116 pages were taken from "because wicked men had stolen the pages and altered them, hoping to discredit Joseph when he translated them again and the two manuscripts didn’t match because of their alterations."[4] Instead, the material would be replaced with Nephi's Abridgment of his father's record.[5][6]

In part due to their continued disagreement over the legitimacy of Joseph Smith and the golden plates, and because of the loss of his farm, which he had mortgaged to publish the Book of Mormon,[7] Harris and his wife separated. Lucy Harris was described by her detractors Lucy Mack Smith as a woman of "irascible temper," but Harris may also have abused her. Lucy Harris also suggested that her husband may have committed adultery with a neighboring "Mrs. Haggart."[8][9]

Further investigation into Lucy's health indicates she was suffering from progressive deafness and subsequent social and emotional dislocations. Lucy became increasingly insecure, despondent, suspicious, resentful and jealous. She died in 1836 just six years after her separation from Martin. She was only 44 at the time of her death.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Harris, Lucy. "Vital record of Rhode Island, 1636-1850 : a family register for the people, Arnold, Volume 3, Smithfield Births, page 100".
  2. ↑ "Reference: People (Biography)", JosephSmithPapers.org, Joseph Smith Papers Project, retrieved 2013-01-29
  3. ↑ https://www.lds.org/manual/church-history-in-the-fulness-of-times-student-manual/chapter-four-a-period-of-preparation-1823-29?lang=eng
  4. 1 2 Richter, Kimberly (September 2012), "The Book of Mormon: From Plates to Press", New Era
  5. ↑ Doctrine and Covenants 3
  6. ↑ Doctrine and Covenants 10
  7. ↑ In March 2007, Russell Martin Harris, great-great-grandson of Martin Harris, gave a leather wallet, said to have been the one that carried Harris's money to the printer, to the LDS Church so that the wallet could be displayed at the Museum of Church History and Art. (Dobner, Jennifer (March 23, 2007). "Family donates wallet of early Mormon scribe to LDS Church". The Salt Lake Tribune. (AP). Retrieved 2013-01-29.)
  8. ↑ Lucy Mack Smith, 1853, in EMD (Early Mormon Documents) 1: 367; "Lucy Harris statement," in EMD, 2: 34-36: "In one of his fits of rage he struck me with the butt end of a whip, which I think had been used for driving oxen, and was about the size of my thumb, and three or four feet long. He beat me on the head four or five times, and the next day turned me out of doors twice, and beat me in a shameful manner....Whether the Mormon religion be true or false, I leave the world to judge, for its effects upon Martin Harris have been to make him more cross, turbulent and abusive to me."
  9. ↑ In March 1830, a revelation from Smith warned Harris not to "covet thy neighbor's wife." (Doctrine and Covenents 19:25)
  10. ↑ Rhett Stephens James, “Lucy Harris: Toward a Compassionate Reinterpretation,” Nauvoo Journal 9/1 (1997): 49—58
  11. ↑ Parker, Trey (2003-11-19). "All About The Mormons Transcript". The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb). Fox/South Park Studios. Retrieved 2010-12-28.
  12. ↑ Hitchens, Christopher (April 27, 2007). "Exclusive excerpts from Christopher Hitchens' God Is Not Great". Slate.
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