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Solomon Spalding

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Solomon Spalding (1761 – 1816) was the author of Manuscript Story,^[1] a work of fiction about the lost civilization of the mound builders of North America. After Spalding's death, a number of individuals suggested that Manuscript Story was identical or similar to portions of the Book of Mormon, a scripture in the Latter Day Saint movement.

1 Biography
2 Spalding manuscript
3 See also
4 Notes
5 References
6 External links

Biography

Spalding was born in Ashford, Connecticut. He was a member of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. In 1782, he entered Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Spalding with the Darmouth class of 1785. In October 1787, he became an ordained Congregationalist preacher in Windham, Connecticut. In 1795, Spalding married Matilda Sabin and opened a store with his brother Josiah in Cherry Valley, New York. In 1799, they moved the store to Richfield, New York. Around this time, Spalding bought a tract of land in and relocated to Conneaut, Ohio. While in Conneaut, Spalding began writing Manuscript Found. In 1812, due to the disruptions of the War of 1812, Spalding moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1814, he moved to Amity, Washington County, Pennsylvania, where he died two years later.

Spalding manuscript

In 1832, Latter Day Saint missionaries Samuel H. Smith and Orson Hyde visited Conneaut, Ohio, and preached from the Book of Mormon. Nehemiah King, a resident of Conneaut who knew Spalding when he lived there, felt that the Mormon text resembled the story written by Spalding years before. In 1833, King, Spalding's widow, his brother Josiah, and a number of other residents of Conneaut signed affidavits stating that Spalding had written a manuscript, portions of which were identical to the Book of Mormon. Several years later, residents of Amity, Pennsylvania also signed statements that Spalding had read to them from a manuscript that was similar to the Book of Mormon. These statements were published in E. D. Howe's 1834 book Mormonism Unvailed, in which the theory was presented that the Book of Mormon was plagiarized from this manuscript. In 1884, a manuscript written by Spalding was recovered in Honolulu, Hawaii and taken to the Oberlin College Library in Ohio. This unfinished story bears some resemblance to the Book of Mormon text. It is disputed whether or not it formed the basis for the Latter Day Saint scripture. The text of the Spalding manucript was published by the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1885, and by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1886 and 1910. Some of the parallels between Spalding's manuscript and the Book of Mormon are:

The discoverers of both books claim to have discovered the records by using a lever to remove a rock under which the records were deposited
Both books depict the goings-on of ancient settlers to the New World
While making their initial oceanic crossing, the settlers in both books are blown by a fierce storm which makes them fear being capsized
The civilized segments of the societies in both books are given strict charges to avoid intermarriage with the less civilized segments
Both books mention horses
Both books discuss the division of the people into two major civilizations
Forts in both books are identical in their manner of construction
The narrators of both books explain that the earth revolves around the sun
Both books describe a messiah-like figure who appears suddenly, teaches the people, and ushers in an era of great peace
Both books describe the settlers as having all goods in common at one point
Both books show two major civilizations entering into a war of mutual destruction
Both books describe the populace as making use of elephants