1. Lucy Cowdery Young to Brigham H. Young, March 7, 1887, Archives Division, Historical Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City (hereafter cited as LDS Church Archives).

2. The earliest account of the Wood movement is in a newspaper article entitled “The Rodsmen,” published in Vermont American, May 7, 1828. This article summarizes the Wood Scrape but does not name any of the participants, nor does it mention a counterfeiter. This was followed by Barnes Frisbie, The History of Middletown, Vermont (Rutland, Vt.: Tuttle, 1867), 43–64. Recollections by Wells residents are recounted in Hiland Paul and Robert Parks, History of Wells, Vermont, for the First Century after Its Settlement (Rutland, Vt.: Tuttle, 1869; reprint, Wells, Vt.: Wells Historical Society, 1979), 79–82. For in-depth analyses of the Wood Scrape, see Richard Lloyd Anderson, “The Mature Joseph Smith and Treasure Searching,” BYU Studies 24, no. 4 (fall 1984): 489–560; David Persuitte, Joseph Smith and the Origins of the Book of Mormon (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1985), 56–59, 234–38; D. Michael Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, rev. and enl. (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1998), 35–36, 121–30; Dan Vogel, ed., Early Mormon Documents, 2 vols. (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1996), 1:599–621.

3. Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews was originally published in Poultney, Vermont, by Smith and Shute, the first edition in 1823 and the second in 1825. It was recently reprinted. See View of the Hebrews: 1825, 2d ed. complete text by Ethan Smith, edited with an introduction by Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, Utah: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1996). Linkage with the Book of Mormon was first suggested by psychologist I. Woodbridge Riley, The Founder of Mormonism (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1903), 124–25. B. H. Roberts discussed the question of whether View of the Hebrews could have influenced the writing of the Book of Mormon in his papers entitled “A Book of Mormon Study” and “A Parallel,” in Brigham D. Madsen, ed. B. H. Roberts: Studies of the Book of Mormon (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1985), reviewed by John W. Welch in Pacific Historical Review 55 (November 1986): 619–23. For various discussions on Ethan Smith’s possible influence on the Book of Mormon or lack thereof, see Fawn Brodie, No Man Knows My History, 2d. ed. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1971), 46–49; Richard L. Bushman, Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1984), 134–38; Robert N. Hullinger, Joseph Smith’s Response to Skepticism (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1992), 55–59, 183–89; Robert N. Hullinger, “Lost Tribes of Israel and the Book of Mormon,” Lutheran Quarterly 22 (August 1970): 319–29; Francis W. Kirkham, A New Witness for Christ in America: The Book of Mormon, 2 vols. (Independence, Mo.: Zion’s Printing and Publishing, 1951), 2:391–96; Stan Larson, Quest for the Gold Plates: Thomas Stuart Ferguson’s Archaeological Search for the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: Free Thinker Press, 1996), 144–49; Spencer J. Palmer and William L. Knecht, “View of the Hebrews: Substitute for Inspiration?” BYU Studies 5, no. 2 (1964): 105–13; Persuitte, Origins of the Book of Mormon, reviewed by L. Ara Norwood in Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 2 (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1990), 187–204; Richard S. Van Wagoner, Sidney Rigdon: A Portrait of Religious Excess (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1994), 463–67, reviewed by David J. Whittaker in Journal of Mormon History 23 (spring 1997): 189–95; Dan Vogel, Indian Origins and the Book of Mormon: Religious Solutions from Columbus to Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1986), 18–69, reviewed by Kevin Christensen in Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 2 (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1990), 214–57; John W. Welch, “View of the Hebrews: ‘An Unparallel,’” in Reexploring the Book of Mormon, ed. John W. Welch (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1992), 83–87. For specific discussions of B. H. Roberts’s writings, see Brigham D. Madsen, “Reflections on LDS Disbelief in the Book of Mormon as History,” Dialogue 30 (fall 1997): 87–97; Truman G. Madsen, “B. H. Roberts and the Book of Mormon,” BYU Studies 19, no.4 (summer 1979): 427–45; Truman G. Madsen and John W. Welch, “Did B. H. Roberts Lose Faith in the Book of Mormon?” (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1985).

4. Mary Bryant Alverson Mehling, Cowdrey-Cowdery-Cowdray Genealogy (Frank Allaben Genealogical, 1911), 79. Mehling compiled parts of her book in the 1880s and obtained information from Oliver Cowdery’s daughter, Marie Louise Cowdery Johnson. See also William Hyslop Fuller, Genealogy of Some Descendants of Edward Fuller of the Mayflower (Palmer, Mass.: C. B. Fiske, 1908), 199; Grace E. Pember Wood, A History of the Town of Wells, Vermont (Wells, Vt.: By the author, 1955), 87.

5. Three biographies of Oliver Cowdery have been published: Stanley R. Gunn, Oliver Cowdery: Second Elder and Scribe (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1962); Phillip R. Legg, Oliver Cowdery: The Elusive Second Elder of the Restoration (Independence, Mo.: Herald Publishing House, 1989); and Joseph Hyrum Greenhalgh, Oliver Cowdery: The Man Outstanding (n.p., [1964]). In addition, Andrew Jenson published a key biographical essay of Oliver Cowdery in Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 4 vols. (Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History, 1901–36), 1:246–51. None of these publications refers to original Vermont documents and none mentions the Cowdery family’s stay in Middletown.

6. All Wells documents except the census report are from the Wells Town Record, an unpublished document located in the Wells, Vermont, town clerk’s office. Much of the Wells record is available at the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Russell R. Rich conducted on-site research in Wells in 1974 and discovered several references to William Cowdery in the Vermont records for this period. William Cowdery’s name is variously spelled Cowdry, Cowdrey, and Cowdre.

7. Mormon historians have generally accepted Mehling’s claim that Warren was born in Poultney, Vermont. Mehling, Cowdrey-Cowdery-Cowdray Genealogy, 170. However, the Wells Town Record states that Warren was born in Wells. Wells Town Record, Record of Births, 146. While another section of the Wells record clouds the picture by stating Warren was born in Reding (probably referring to Reading, Vermont), the secondary sources state he was born in Wells. See Wells Town Record, Record of Births, 229–30.

8. Wells Town Record, List of the Free Men in Wells, September 1789, 105.

9. Wells Town Record, Record of Births, 229–30.

10. Wells Town Record, Land Records, April 12, 1791 (238), April 20, 1791 (236), April 22, 1791 (224), November 22, 1792 (414), February 28, 1793 (423).

11. Wells Town Record, Minutes of Town Meeting, February 20, 1792, 292.

12. Wells Town Record, Record of Ear Marks for Livestock, July 1793, 102.

13. Wells Town Record, Record of Births, 150–51.

14. Wells Town Record, Record of Births, 152–53.

15. Wells Town Record, Affidavit from William Cowdery, December 19, 1797, 159.

16. Wells Town Record, Record of Births, 154–55.

17. Bureau of the Census, “Population Schedules of the Second Census of the United States, 1800,” Wells, Vermont, prepared by the National Archives and Records Service (Washington, D.C., 1960), 264.

18. Wells Town Record, Record of Births, 156–57.

19. Wells Town Record, Minutes of Town Meeting, March [?] 1803, 185. Apparently, William Cowdery was also elected tithingman in Wells on one or two occasions. Thanks to Richard L. Anderson for this information.

20. Wells Town Record, Record of Births, 158–59.

21. Wells Town Record, Record of Births, 158–59.

22. Wells Town Record, Land Records, January 8, 1807 (99), January 9, 1807 (376–77), December 24, 1807 (72), December 24, 1807 (441), November 9, 1808 (16).

23. Paul and Parks, History of Wells, 81; Fuller, Some Descendants of Edward Fuller, 199.

24. Mehling, Cowdrey-Cowdery-Cowdray Genealogy, 95.

25. The original marriage record for William Cowdery and Keziah Pearce Austin was found in the Middletown Springs town clerk’s office by Deborah Morris in August 1998. It is also available on microfilm at the LDS Family History Library. See Middletown Springs (Vt.) Town Record, Births, Marriages, and Deaths, vol. 2, 34 (March 18, 1810).

26. Carl A. Curtis, “Cowdery Genealogical Material,” 1970, 1, Special Collections and Manuscripts, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah (hereafter cited as BYU Special Collections). Curtis was the son of Caroline Eleanor Cowdery Curtis, the daughter of Warren A. Cowdery (and niece of Oliver Cowdery).

27. Bureau of the Census, “Population Schedules of the Third Census of the United States, 1810,” Ontario, New York, prepared by the National Archives and Records Service (Washington, D.C., 1958), 786. Richard L. Anderson informed me that William Cowdery was included in this census.

28. Mehling, Cowdrey-Cowdery-Cowdray Genealogy, 186.

29. Curtis, “Cowdery Genealogical Material,” 1.

30. Mehling, Cowdrey-Cowdery-Cowdray Genealogy, 187.

31. Middletown Springs Land Records, 1814–21, 391. This record indicates that William Cowdery lived in Middletown in 1815 and sold thirty acres of land situated in the northern part of Middletown to Moses Copeland.

32. Mehling, Cowdrey-Cowdery-Cowdray Genealogy, 188.

33. “Historical and Genealogical Material, Poultney, Vermont, Part I, Historical,” 1052, typescript, Poultney town clerk’s office, Poultney, Vermont.

34. Bureau of the Census, “Population Schedules of the Fourth Census of the United States, 1820,” Poultney, Vermont, prepared by the National Archives and Records Service (Washington, D.C., 1959), 250.

35. Wood, History of the Town of Wells, 29.

36. Wood, History of the Town of Wells, 7–8.

37. Wood, History of the Town of Wells, 8.

38. Karl P. Stofko, Vital Statistics Records from the Records of the First Church of Christ, Congregational in East Haddam, Connecticut, 1704–1850, 37; Second Congregational Church and Ecclesiastical Society (East Haddam Connecticut), Church Records, 1733–1931, 22.

39. Mehling, Cowdrey-Cowdery-Cowdray Genealogy, 79.

40. For the death of Rebecca, see Paul and Parks, History of Wells, 81. Scott H. Faulring has concluded that Oliver Cowdery was suffering from chronic pulmonary tuberculosis when he died. See Scott H. Faulring, “The Return of Oliver Cowdery,” FARMS Preliminary Report (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1997), 40 n. 99, forthcoming in Stephen D. Ricks, Donald W. Parry, and Andrew H. Hedges, eds., The Disciple as Witness: Essays on Latter-day Saint History and Doctrine in Honor of Richard Lloyd Anderson (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2000), 172 n. 106.

41. Elmer J. Culp, “Early Vermont Roots of Mormonism,” 1980, 5, photocopy in BYU Special Collections. In a talk given to the Pawlett Historical Society on February 6, 1980, Culp argued that “there is evidence that Oliver went to live with them [the Glass family]” (5), but he does not say what that evidence is.

42. Bureau of the Census, “Population Schedules of the Third Census of the United States, 1810,” Wells, Vermont, prepared by the National Archives and Records Service (Washington, D.C., 1960), 26; Bureau of the Census, “Population Schedules of the Third Census of the United States, 1810,” Ontario, New York, 786.

43. Keziah Pearce was born in Canaan, Litchfield County, Connecticut, on July 1, 1773. Mehling, Cowdrey-Cowdery-Cowdray Genealogy, 95–96. Her father, Phineas Pearce, moved to Poultney, Vermont, “soon after the surrender of Burgoyne.” Joseph Joslin, Barnes Frisbie, and Frederick Ruggles, A History of the Town of Poultney, Vermont (Poultney, Vt.: Journal Printing Office, 1875), 319. The Phineas Pearce family (spelled Pierce) is listed in the 1790 U.S. Census for Poultney (Bureau of the Census, “Population Schedules of the First Census of the United States, 1790,” Poultney, Vermont, prepared by the National Archives and Records Service [Washington, D.C., 1965], 245.) Keziah married Harrington Austin sometime in the 1790s; they lived in Poultney for a time, but by the time of the 1800 census, they were residents of Middletown (with Harrington listed in the 1800 Middletown census as “Horrington”). For the birth of Silas Austin, son of Harrington and Keziah, see Helen McGauphy and Pauline Austin, professional researcher files, correspondence in possession of the author; Edith Austin Moore, Unplaced Austin Records, 3 vols. (n.p.: By the author), 3:149. Harrington died between 1800 and 1810. The marriage record lists Keziah as a resident of Middletown, so it is possible that she resided in Middletown from 1800 to 1810.

44. Charles T. Morrissey, Vermont, a Bicentennial History (New York: W. W. Norton, 1981), 109. According to Cowdery tradition, the family left Middletown in the summer of 1810, returned in 1813 or 1814, traveling by ox team. See Curtis, “Cowdery Genealogical Material.”

45. Fuller, Some Descendants of Edward Fuller, 199; Margaret R. Jenks, Wells Cemetery Inscriptions, Rutland County Vermont (Kirkland, Wash.: By the author, 1980), 19.

46. See Lucy Mack Smith, Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and His Progenitors for Many Generations (London: published for Orson Pratt by S. W. Richards, 1853), 59–66; Bushman, Beginnings of Mormonism, 32; LeRoy S. Wirthlin, “Nathan Smith (1762–1828) Surgical Consultant to Joseph Smith,” BYU Studies 17, no. 3 (spring 1977): 319–37. Charles T. Morrissey discusses an 1813 epidemic of spotted fever, or cerebrospinal meningitis; see Morrissey, Vermont, 109.

47. According to Richard L. Bushman, the cold weather during the summer of 1816 “is generally attributed to the volcanic explosion of Tambora on Sumbawa in 1815, which blew fifteen cubic kilometers of volcanic ash.” See Bushman, Beginnings of Mormonism, 200. For more about the “poverty year” of 1816, see Smith, Biographical Sketches, 66; Paul and Parks, History of Wells, 20; Morrissey, Vermont, 109 n. 99.

48. On Warren’s marriage, see Mehling, Cowdrey-Cowdery-Cowdray Genealogy, 170.

49. Stephen Cowdery’s whereabouts during this period are unknown. He is not mentioned in Warren’s records nor is he included in the 1820 census for either William or Warren. See Curtis, “Cowdery Genealogical Material,” Warren Cowdery Ledger, 1.

50. Leonard J. Arrington, “Oliver Cowdery’s Kirtland, Ohio, ‘Sketch Book,’” BYU Studies 12:4 (1972): 414. Silas Austin was born in Poultney in 1799 to Harrington Austin and Keziah Pearce. He married Emily Buckland in Licking County, Ohio, in 1819 and spent most of his life there. He worked as a blacksmith and served in the Mexican-American War. He and Emily had four children. Emily died in 1875 and Silas in 1886. They are buried in Harrison, Licking County, Ohio. See Helen McGauphy and Pauline Austin, professional researcher files; Licking County History and Court Records, Newark, Ohio; Moore, Unplaced Austin Records, 3:149.

51. “Members, The Congregational Church, Poultney, Vermont, 1782 to 1898, copied from Mr. Edward C. Ripley’s Papers,” typescript, 1067, Poultney town clerk’s office, Poultney, Vermont.

52. Paul and Parks, History of Wells, 79.

53. Bushman, Beginnings of Mormonism, 21.

54. In 1826, Lyman Stevens of Wells was authorized by “the overseers of the poor” to assist Arunah Glass, but Arunah was to pay his own doctor’s bill (indicating the family suffered health problems that compounded their financial difficulties).

55. Bureau of the Census, “Population Schedules of the Fourth Census of the United States, 1820,” Wells, Vermont, prepared by the National Archives and Records Service (Washington, D.C., 1959), 259.

56. Wells town record, Land Records, 380. For 1823, see Land Records, 383. There is no district record for 1824, and Arunah is not listed in the record for 1825, but for 1826 and 1827, two students are listed with the Glass household. This could not have been Oliver because he was over eighteen—and also because he was apparently in New York at the time. See Wells Town Record, Land Records, 604, 651. Arunah Glass reportedly lived in Wells until 1855, when he moved to Illinois, dying there in 1860 at the age of 64. See Wood, History of the Town of Wells, 55.

57. Wood, History of the Town of Wells, 20–21.

58. Young to Young, March 7, 1887.

59. Frisbie, History of Middletown, 47.

60. Frisbie, History of Middletown, 54. Frisbie gives the year as 1801, but as Dan Vogel argues, “The year 1801 is probably an error since the earliest account of the Wood movement cites the date as January 14, 1802 (Vermont American, May 7, 1828).” See Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 1:609 n. 15.

61. Frisbie, History of Middletown, 62. Frisbie adds, though, that the fact that Joseph Sr. “was a rods-man under the tuition of this counterfeiter after he went to Palmyra has been proven to my satisfaction, at least” (62).

62. Frisbie, History of Middletown, 62.

63. Frisbie, History of Middletown, 46–47.

64. Frisbie, History of Middletown, 42–63.

65. Quinn, Magic World View, 37.

66. Quinn, Magic World View, 318.

67. Frisbie, History of Middletown, 62.

68. Paul and Parks, History of Wells, 81, 82.

69. Anderson, “Mature Joseph Smith,” 522.

70. “The Rodsmen,” Vermont American.

71. Frisbie, History of Middletown, 93.

72. Quinn, Magic World View, 38.

73. Book of Commandments 7:3. The Book of Commandments is a collection of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s early revelations, published in 1833. These revelations were incorporated in the Doctrine and Covenants in 1835. The verse concerning Oliver and the rod now reads: “Now this is not all thy gift; for you have another gift, which is the gift of Aaron; behold, it has told you many things; Behold, there is no other power, save the power of God, that can cause this gift of Aaron to be with you” (D&C 8:6–7).

74. Anderson, “Mature Joseph Smith,” 528.

75. Anderson, “Mature Joseph Smith,” 524–25.

76. Bushman, Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism, 98.

77. Quinn, Magic World View, 125.

78. Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 1:635, 638.

79. Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 1:639.

80. Lucy Smith, “Preliminary Manuscript,” 1845, 25, LDS Church Archives. In her published work, Lucy dates the move to Randolf in 1802. However, the published account offers no support for a temporary residence in Poultney because Lucy’s account has the family renting the Tunbridge farm and moving directly from there to Randolf. See Smith, Biographical Sketches, 45.

81. “Historical and Genealogical Material,” 165–84.

82. Quinn fails to account for the obvious anti-Mormon bias of Frisbie, who at one point refers to “this monster—Mormonism” (Frisbie, History of Middletown, 64), which makes his theories about Mormon origins suspect. Quinn also fails to explore the implications of his own claim that in 1800 Joseph Smith was “the most common name in America” (Magic World View, 125). The 1800 census lists eleven Joseph Smiths in Vermont and well over a hundred combined total in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New York. According to Vogel, none of these census records is an exact match for the makeup of the Joseph Sr. family. See Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 1:640. This makes locating the family solely on the basis of census records impossible.

83. Quinn, Magic World View, 125, 132.

84. Quinn, Magic World View, 124–26.

85. Quinn, Magic World View, 126–27.

86. Quinn attempts unsuccessfully to link Winchell with Luman Walters, named by Pomeroy Tucker as a money-digging associate of Joseph Smith. Stating that the family of Philastus Hurlbut “may have been related” to the family of Walters and that Hurlbut “may have been related” to Winchell, Quinn suddenly invents the phrase “Walter(s)-Winchell” as if the two are interchangeable. See Quinn, Magic World View, 122–23; italics added. However, he offers no documents associating the two men; nor does he acknowledge that even if Hurlbut was related to both of them (which itself is purely speculative), it would not necessarily mean they were related to each other. Quinn does not consider the possibility that Frisbie confused Winchell with Walters. Persuitte suggests that “it seems to be a reasonable conclusion that Walters was Wingate/Winchell” (Origins of the Book of Mormon, 238). For information on the affidavits collected by Hurlbut, Thorne, and Deming, see Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 2:13–77, 167–81, 185–214.

87. Frisbie, History of Middletown, 61–62.

88. David M. Ludlum, Social Ferment in Vermont, 1791–1850 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1939; New York: AMS, 1966), 242, cited in Quinn, Magic World View, 386.

89. Richard C. Roberts, “View of the Hebrews,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, ed. Daniel H. Ludlow, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 4:1509.

90. See note 3 above.

91. Thomas Stuart Ferguson to Ron Barney, January 10, 1983, cited in Stan Larson, “The Odyssey of Thomas Stuart Ferguson,” Dialogue 23 (spring 1990): 83.

92. “Historical and Genealogical Material, Poultney,” 1052.

93. Persuitte, Origins of the Book of Mormon, 8.

94. Persuitte, Origins of the Book of Mormon, 235. Persuitte correctly notes that the Cowderys lived in Middletown before moving to Poultney but mistakenly believes the family arrived in Poultney in 1810. Brigham Madsen makes a much more serious error when he writes that Oliver Cowdery “had lived in Poultney for twenty-two years until 1825” (Roberts, Studies of the Book of Mormon, 27). This calculation misses Oliver’s birth date by three years (he was born in 1806, not 1803) and has Oliver in Poultney fifteen years longer than he actually was.

95. Persuitte, Origins of the Book of Mormon, 270. Persuitte reports that in 1977 he took photos of Poultney Congregational Church records and that they included information about the letter of recommendation and also state that William and Keziah’s three daughters were baptized in 1818 “on the faith of the mother” (Origins of the Book of Mormon, 270, 7). Persuitte obtained these records from the Poultney Historical Society but reports that they were stolen in the winter of that year. I could not find them when I searched the Historical Society’s holdings and the town clerk’s office in 1999.

96. Persuitte, Origins of the Book of Mormon, 8, 57.

97. Records of the First Church of Christ, Congregational in East Haddam, 37.

98. “Members, The Congregational Church,” 1067.

99. Joslin, Frisbie, and Ruggles, History of the Town of Poultney, 104.

100. Bureau of the Census, “Population Schedules of the Second Census of the United States, 1800,” Middletown, Vermont, prepared by the National Archives and Records Service (Washington, D.C., 1960), 110; marriage record for William Cowdery and Keziah Austin, March 18, 1810, Middletown Town Record, Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 2:34.

101. Curtis, “Cowdery Genealogical Material,” 1.

102. “Members, The Congregational Church,” 1065–71.

103. Persuitte, Origins of the Book of Mormon, 8.

104. Emily A. Ross to William Powell, April 22, 1976, LDS Church Archives. Asked to research whether Oliver Cowdery was a member of Ethan Smith’s congregation, Poultney resident Emily Ross was unable to locate any connection in the documentary record.

105. Persuitte, Origins of the Book of Mormon, 254.

106. Persuitte, Origins of the Book of Mormon, 254. The original manuscript of the Book of Mormon offers strong evidence that Oliver acted simply as scribe, not co-author. See Royal Skousen, “Translating the Book of Mormon: Evidence from the Original Manuscript,” in Noel B. Reynolds, ed., Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1997), 61–93.

107. Cleveland Herald, November 25, 1830, clipping in Milton V. Backman Jr. and others, comps., Contemporary Accounts of the Latter-day Saints and Their Leaders Appearing in Early Ohio Newspapers, 2 vols., vol. 2, BYU Special Collections.

108. Van Wagoner, Sidney Rigdon, 465–66. Apparently following Brigham Madsen’s lead, Van Wagoner erroneously claims Oliver Cowdery resided in Poultney from 1803 to 1825. Of course, Oliver was not actually born until 1806. Since Van Wagoner is discussing the possibility that Oliver was a traveling agent for Smith & Shute, this three-year mistake is crucial. It seems unlikely for Oliver to have had such a job at age sixteen, his actual age in 1823.

109. Scott H. Faulring to Larry E. Morris, October 29, 1998. The information on Benjamin Franklin Cowdery comes from Milton W. Hamilton, The Country Printer, New York State, 1785–1830, 2d ed. (Port Washington, N.Y.: Ira J. Friedman, 1964), 265–66, 92.

110. Oliver Cowdery to Joseph Smith, December 28, 1829, Joseph Smith Letterbook, 1:5, microfilm, Joseph Smith Papers, LDS Church Archives.

111. Joslin, Frisbie, and Ruggles, History of the Town of Poultney, 89–94.

112. Curtis, “Cowdery Genealogical Material,” Warren Cowdery Ledger, 2; Bureau of the Census, “Population Schedules of the Fourth Census of the United States, 1820,” LeRoy, New York, prepared by the National Archives and Records Service (Washington, D.C., 1959), 150.

113. Smith, Biographical Sketches, 128.

114. Smith, Biographical Sketches, 130.

115. “Oliver Cowdery to W. W. Phelps,” September 7, 1834, [Letter I], Messenger and Advocate 1 (October 1834): 14.