-- September 23, 1899
…The next morning (Sept. 23, 1899) Brother Carleton came out of his room with a coin in his hand and told me that he had plowed it up in his field on the banks of the St. Mary's River. He also told me that he had felt impressed during the night to give the coin to me although he had refused the Elder who had baptized him. "I looked at the coin as he handed it to me and I thought that I knew what it was, as I had seen a picture of Nephite coins on the fly leaf of the old edition of the Book of Mormon. The coin bore a striking resemblance to those coins."…I told him I had made up my mind to take it to the First Presidency of the Church…On the way home between Pueblo, Colorado and Salt Lake City, the first morning out, there was on the train an historian and writer from England by the name of Willis…He then said to me, "…I will place seven thousand dollars ($7000) in the bank to your credit…I thanked him for his interest but repeated that the coin was not for sale…In the office of the First Presidency there were President Lorenzo Snow, President Joseph F. Smith, President Francis M. Lyman and _________. After reporting my mission, I took the coin out and showed it to them. President Lyman went and got the old edition (probably the first edition) of the Book of Mormon in which pictures of nephite coins were printed, and found the same coin immediately.
Description of the Nephite Coin
The Egyptian characters were identically the same as those on one of the pictures in the Book of Mormon. The coin had not tarnished and the characters looked as if they had been stamped. The coin was about the size of a five-dollar gold piece, eight cornered and about as thick again as common tin, it was stamped on both sides, the characters running around the outside. The characters were small, somewhat like script or cursive writing, more like the hieratic than the hieroglyphic form. As I have said before, they were identical with the characters pictured on the Nephite coin in the old edition of the Book of Mormon.
I was asked what I intended doing with the coin and I turned to President Snow and told him that I was making him a present of the coin; that President Rich had told me that that was the proper thing to do and that I was following his instructions.
President Snow put his arm around my shoulder and said, "brother Robinson, you have been faithful and have kept the pledge."
He then went and got the money purse or leather bag that President Brigham Young had brought to the Rocky Mountains with him, also the Seer Stone and said, "This is the Seer Stone that the Prophet Joseph Smith used. There are very few worthy to view this, but you are." HE handed the Seer Stone to me and I couldn't express the joy that came to me as I took that stone in my hands. Words are not equal to the task of expressing such a sublime joy." He then told me to hand the seers stone to my wife and I handed it to her. He then blessed us with the greatest blessing I have ever heard fall from the mouth of man."
Description of the Seer Stone
"The Seer Stone was the shape of an egg though not quite so large, of a gray cast something like granite but with white stripes running around it. It was transparent but had no holes, neither in the end or in the sides. I looked into the stone, but could see nothing, as I had not the gift and power of God that must accompany such a manifestation." (1)
-- Sep 23, 1899; Saturday
The First Presidency were at the office. At 11 A.M. they met with the presidents of the five canal companies owning the waters of the Jordan river in this county, and it was decided to take such steps as would prevent the man Lambson from acquiring rights in the waters of that stream and of Utah lake.
Bishop [William B.] Preston called in the afternoon and met Presidents [Lorenzo] Snow and [George Q.] Cannon. His business was in relation to a note given to him, in trust for the Church, by Thomas Taylor, which note was past due and would outlaw in about sixty days. It was secured by a mortgage on the iron properties at Cedar City [Utah], and the question was whether Bishop Preston should foreclose the mortgage, or dispose of the note for $6,000, which sum had been offered for it. It was decided to foreclose the mortgage.
President Snow and family moved into the Beehive house today. (2)
Endnotes:
1 - Richard M. Robinson, "The History of a Nephite Coin," 4-5, signed by Robinson and his wife Maria, 30 Dec. 1934, LDS Archives, MS 5147
2 - First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve minutes
LDS History Chronology: Lorenzo Snow
Mormon History Timeline: the life of Lorenzo Snow
http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/
--
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "LDS Church History" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to LDS-church-history+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
