Why Was William W. Phelps Such a Strong Advocate for the Book of Mormon?

The Know

By the time William W. Phelps came to Kirtland, Ohio, and joined the fledging Church on June 14, 1831, he had been both spiritually and intellectually prepared to receive the restored gospel. According to Bruce A. Van Orden, “No one was better educated and more articulate than he in the early days of the Church.”1 Van Orden described Phelps’s wide-ranging studies thus: “He knew Greek, Latin, and Hebrew and the classics. He also demonstrated considerable knowledge world history and geography and had a working knowledge of the law.”2 Next to Sidney Rigdon, Phelps was one of the most prominent educated men to join the early Church while it was still in its infancy.3

As he would later remember, before he had heard of the Book of Mormon, he had heard something of “a sacred record, or, as I had it, another bible, written or engraved upon thin gold leaves, containing more plainness than the [Bible] we had, [while still] agreeing with it,” having “been found near Canandaigua, NY,” in 1823. He could not recall exactly how he had heard about such a thing and supposed it was through a dream or an angel that he had learned of “such strange tidings.” After being ridiculed for asking others if they had heard about this sacred record, Phelps decided to keep it private for several years.4

In the meantime, Phelps established himself as a prominent and influential newspaper editor in upstate New York. He first began editing the Western Courier from Homer, New York, in the early 1820s.5 Then in September or October of 1827, he began editing an anti-Masonic newspaper called Lake Light in Trumansburgh, New York. A few months later in January 1828, he relocated to Canandaigua, where he launched the Ontario Pheonix, a paper he edited until his departure for Kirtland in 1831. His publishing activities at this time established him as a leading voice in upstate New York’s anti-Masonic movement.6

Phelps kept close tabs on what other upstate newspapers were printing, and so he took immediate notice of the Book of Mormon’s publication in late March 1830. He purchased copies about two weeks after the book became available. As Van Orden explained, Phelps “sat up that first night comparing it with the Bible. Soon he had read the entire volume and was convinced that it contained the word of God.”7 Concerned about how his anti-Masonic friends and supporters would react to him openly associating with the Latter-day Saints, however, he did not join the Church at that time. He did offer the Book of Mormon for sale in his print shop and had occasion to meet Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon in December 1830.8

Phelps’s role in the anti-Masonic movement also connected him to Martin Harris, who also supported the anti-Masons in upstate New York. E. D. Howe, an early critic of the Church, was also editor of another anti-Mason newspaper in Ohio. As the Saints began to gather in Kirtland, Howe wrote to Phelps, a trusted ally in anti-Mason sentiments, for more information on the origins of the Book of Mormon. This gave Phelps an opportunity to defend the Book of Mormon from misinformation as an outsider. He responded with a factual but neutral tone:

To be sure, I am acquainted with a number of the persons concerned in the publication, called the “Book of Mormon.”—Joseph Smith is a person of very limited abilities in common learning—but his knowledge of divine things, since the appearance of his book, has astonished many. Mr. Harris, whose name is in the book, is a wealthy farmer, but of small literary acquirements; he is honest, and sincerely declares upon his soul's salvation that the book is true, and was interpreted by Joseph Smith, through a pair of silver spectacles, found with the plates. The places where they dug for the plates, in Manchester, are to be seen. When the plates were said to have been found, a copy of one or two lines of the characters, were taken by Mr. Harris to Utica, Albany and New York; at New York, they were shown to Dr. Mitchell, and he referred to professor Anthon who translated and declared them to be the ancient shorthand Egyptian. So much is true. The family of Smiths is poor, and generally ignorant in common learning.9

Phelps then noted, “I have read the book, and many others have, but we have nothing by which we can positively detect it as an imposition, nor have we any thing more than what I have stated and the book itself, to show its genuineness. We doubt—supposing, if it is false, it will fall, and if of God, God will sustain it.”10

A few months later, in the early spring 1831, Phelps’s anti-Masonic supporters were growing wary of his interest in the Book of Mormon. Using the pretense of unpaid debts, some of the anti-Masons had Phelps thrown in jail with the intent of preventing him from joining with the Latter-day Saints. This “taught him where his true friends would be found—among the Mormons.”11 Upon release from jail, Phelps resigned as editor of the Phoenix, testifying of the work the Lord was about to do in his farewell editorial: “We live in an eventful time. According to the Psalmist, truth springs out of the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven, and as twin-angels they will sweep through the world like a mighty torrent, till mankind, untrammelled by secret bondage, sing as the sons of glory, ‘we are one—peace on earth—virtue endures forever.’”12

The Why

The challenging experiences in his life not only prepared Phelps spiritually and intellectually to receive the Book of Mormon and the restored gospel but enabled him to develop the skills he needed to contribute to building God’s kingdom in the early days of the Restoration. Upon his arrival in Kirtland in mid-June 1831, the Lord, through His prophet Joseph Smith, revealed that Phelps was “called and chosen” and, upon being baptized, should be made an elder in the Church and “ordained to assist my servant Oliver Cowdery to do the work of printing, and of selecting and writing books” (Doctrine and Covenants 55:1, 4). That same revelation instructed Phelps to join the leading brethren on a trip to Missouri, “that you may be planted in the land of your inheritance to do this work.”13

Phelps would quickly become one of Joseph Smith’s most trusted friends and confidants. Throughout his life, he wrote many hymns for the Latter-day Saints, many of which are still sung today. In Missouri, Phelps endured numerous hostilities and repeated acts of violence for his faith.14 At one stressful point in 1839, he had a falling out with Joseph Smith and was excommunicated.15 Yet Phelps maintained his testimony of the Book of Mormon and his faith in the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Humbled and penitent, Phelps returned to the Church in 1840, asking forgiveness from Joseph Smith for his actions. The Prophet famously responded, “Come on, dear brother, since the war is past, for friends at first, are friends again at last.”16

Phelps cherished the Book of Mormon and his membership in the Church throughout his life, and his early role as an expert printer of Church materials ensured that he “played no small role in promulgating the teachings of the Book of Mormon and the latter-day revelations to both the Saints and the world.” Van Orden explained, “W. W. Phelps became one of the staunchest advocates of the Book of Mormon and all other revelations subsequently given through the Prophet Joseph Smith.”17 Reflecting later on the impact the Book of Mormon had on his life, Phelps wrote:

Whenever I have meditated upon the book of Mormon, and looked ahead at the glory which will be brought to pass by that, and the servants of God, I have been filled with hope; filled with light; filled with joy, and filled with satisfaction. What a wonderful volume! what a glorious treasure! By that book I learned the right way to God; by that book I received the fulness of the everlasting gospel; by that book I found the new covenant; . . . by that book I saw that the Lord had set his hand the second time to gather his people, and place them in their own land; . . . and by that book [I] began to unfold the mysteries of God and I was made glad. Who can tell his goodness or estimate the worth of such a book? . . . I think the saints—all honest men, who read the book of Mormon for the truth’s sake, will agree with me in saying, that it is one of the best books in the world.18

Phelps would go on to declare, “The book of Mormon, is just what it was when it first came forth—a revelation from the Lord. The knowledge it contains is desirable; the doctrine it teaches is from the blessed Savior; its precepts are good; its principles righteous; its judgments just.”19