American Antiquities: Corroborative of the Book of Mormon (10 March 1860)

AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES,

CORROBORATIVE OF THE BOOK OF MORMON.

(Continued from page 127.)

(From the Huntsville (Alabama) Advocate of November 12, 1857.)

“We learn that an old silver mine has been discovered in Hancock County, in this State, near the Morgan and Walker line. It is on the lands of a man named Blake, and a party of Georgians are now at work at it. It was walled up with solid masonry, which had to be broken up with powder, and then the mine was opened again. It must have been worked hundreds of years ago, as trees are now growing over and around it. The ore is said to be rich.”

(From Lyell’s ‘‘Travels in North America,” published in London, in 1845.)

“Five miles below Wheeling, on the left bank of the Ohio, is a terrace of stratified sand and gravel, having its surface about 75 feet above the Ohio. On this terrace is seen a large Indian mound. On our arriving at Marietta, I learnt from Dr. Hildreth that skeletons had been found in it at various depths, together with pipe-heads and other ornaments. Their workmanship implies a more advanced state of the arts than that attained by the rude Indians who inhabited this fertile valley when it was first discovered by the white man. There are many other similar mounds in the valleys of the Ohio and its tributaries, but no tradition concerning their origin. One of these near Marietta, in which human bones were dug up, must be more than eight centuries old, for Dr. Hildreth counted 800 rings of annual growth in a tree which grew upon it. … As no difference could be detected in the mixture of trees upon and near the mounds from the state of the surrounding forest, General Harrison [in his Essay on the Aborigines of the Ohio Valley,—see Trans. of Hist. and Phil. Soc. of Ohio, vol. i., 1839,] concludes that several generations of trees had succeeded each other before the present trees began to grow, and that the mounds were probably as ancient at least as the Christian era.”

(From Mr. Fitzpatrick's Correspondence on the Indian Tribes, written in 1848, and extracted in Schoolcraft’s “Ethnological Researches,” &c., vol.i., published in 1851.)

“In regard to the manners, customs, habits, &c., of the wild tribes of the Western territory, a true and more correct type than any I have ever seen may be found in the ancient history of the Jews or Israelites after their liberation from Egyptian bondage. The “Medicine Lodge” of the Indian may be compared to the place of worship or tabernacle of the Jews; and the sacrifices, offerings, purifications, ablutions, and anointings may be all found amongst and practised by those people. The customs of Indian women at certain periods and after childbearing are almost those of the Jewish women. They have to undergo a probation of a certain number of days on all such occasions, besides ablutions and purifications, before they are considered fit to enter on their domestic duties. During this probation they are considered unclean, and altogether unfit to enter the lodge or join with the family; which, indeed, they never attempt, but erect a hut for themselves, where they remain the whole time, having their food brought to them. The manner of mourning for a deceased relative is very similar to that of the Israelites. … There could be very numerous and similar analogies made between the manners and customs of those people and those of the Jews.”

(From Rev. D. Lowry’s Reply to Official Inquiries respecting the Aborigines of America, written in 1848, and given in Schoolcraft’s “Ethnological Researches,” &c., vol. iii., published in 1853.)

“In view of the best light and information which I have been able to collect on the subject, my opinion is that the earliest inhabitants of America were the descendants of Ham,1 the youngest son of Noah; and that the first settlement was made shortly after the confusion of tongues at the building of the tower of Babel. Moses tells us that about that period ‘the Lord scattered the people abroad upon the face of the whole earth.’ (Gen. ii., 8, 9.) America, then, according to this portion of sacred history, was at that time re-occupied by man; for the writer could not have meant by ‘all the earth' only about one-half of it. It may be thought that the mechanic arts and maritime skill were, at that age of the world, too much in their infancy to admit of the emigration supposed. I see no difficulty on this ground. The ark had recently been built, which outlived a storm of forty days. In view of such a pattern, there was certainly mechanical genius enough to construct a ship that would be able to contend with the waves of a summer sea for a few weeks or months. The Hamites were a seafaring people, and, it is believed, understood the use of the compass in traversing the pathless deep. The remains of cities and various other monuments, evidently the work of the primitive race of the country, show no want of intellect or mechanical skill.”