First part of the Book of Mormon produced upstairs at Peter Whitmer home

The first part of the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi through the Words of Mormon) was very likely produced in an upstairs room of the Peter Whitmer home.

The BYU Journeys video Peter Whitmer Home and Farm, Fayette, New York at 1:06 states:

During the Summer of 1829 the Whitmer’s provided one of their upstairs bedrooms for the prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to stay and translate the Book of Mormon plates. A short time later Emma Smith also came to stay with the Whitmers. It’s most likely that the translation of First Nephi through the end of the Words of Mormon took place in one of these upstairs bedrooms.

See Appendix: scholarly evidence for additional examples and discussion.

The upstairs room was likely private

The Peter Whitmer home (aka “farmhouse”) has been reconstructed. As described in Larry Porter’s article, its original dimensions are based on discovery of the original foundation, and its construction patterned after a similar cabin from that time period.

There is probably no way to know with absolute certainty how much privacy was afforded, but based on the reconstruction it seems reasonable to conclude that considerable privacy was very likely.1 Images from the reconstruction show that the upstairs was completely hidden from view from the downstairs (i.e., it was not merely a loft that could be viewed from downstairs).

Appendix: scholarly evidence

Based on solid data and arguments,2 the overwhelming scholarly consensus3 is that the first part of the Book of Mormon was translated last. Historical documents and all the circumstantial evidence surrounding the translation place Joseph and Oliver Cowdery at the Whitmer Farm during that time. These accounts also place Joseph and Oliver upstairs during the translation. For example, John Welch, in The Miraculous Timing of the Translation of the Book of Mormon, writes:

June 5–end of June 1829. The translation of the Book of Mormon recommenced the day after their arrival (document 87) and was finished in the upstairs room of Peter Whitmer’s home by July 1, “about one month” later (document 86). Some of the Whitmers helped as scribes (document 82): “They continued so, boarded and lodged us according to arrangements; and John Whitmer, in particular, assisted us very much in writing during the remainder of the work” (document 25, see also 81, 82).[85] Christian Whitmer is also mentioned as a scribe (documents 80, 88). Oliver B. Huntington records in his ­journal a conversation in 1897 with Sarah (Sally) Heller Conrad, who may have been a cousin of the Whitmers and who was at the Whitmer home during these days. She recalled seeing the men “come down from translating room several times when they looked so exceedingly white and strange that she inquired of Mrs. Whitmer the cause of their unusual appearance” (document 114). She soon embraced the gospel.[86] An affidavit of Elizabeth Ann Whitmer Cowdery also pertains to this period: “I often sat by and saw and heard them translate and write for hours together. Joseph never had a curtain drawn between him and his scribe while he was translating”[87] (document 115). Concerning the translation in Fayette, David Whitmer reported a time when Joseph was “put out about … something that Emma, his wife, had done.” As a result, “he could not translate a single syllable. He went downstairs, out into the orchard and made supplication to the Lord; was gone about an hour—came back to the house, and asked Emma’s forgiveness and then came upstairs where we were and the translation went on all right”[88] (document 89, also 96, 98). Sometime probably during June 1829, Mary Musselman Whitmer, wife of Peter Whitmer Sr., who had taken on extra work because of the guests, was met by an “old man” who showed her the gold plates.[89]

  1. See the youtube video “BYU Journeys: Peter Whitmer Home and Farm, Fayette, New York” at around 4:05 for an image showing a stairwell leading upstairs. Other images of the room itself (e.g., at 1:08 and 1:12) also suggest substantial privacy. ↩

  2. A few of the compelling arguments for the Mosiah Priority (that the first part of the book was translated last) are:

    • Scribes for the first part of the manuscript (i.e., 1 Nephi) correspond in time/place with time at the Whitmer home (e.g., some of the handwriting from the original manuscript in this section is from John Whitmer, who lived at the Whitmer house. The rest is from Oliver Cowdery, more importantly, not in Emma’s handwriting.
    • A revelation from Spring of 1829 (corresponding to modern day D&C 10:41) instructed Joseph to translate “the engravings which are on the plates of Nephi” corresponding to the time period from the lost pages.
    • Textual analysis demonstrates a shift in word usage consistent with the Mosiah Priority (i.e., that the first part of the Book of Mormon was translated last).

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  3. The Wikipedia article on the Mosiah Priority as of 2023-09-22 lists these scholars as agreeing with the Mosiah Priority:

    • Brent Metcalfe
    • Hyrum L. Andrus
    • Edward Ashment
    • Richard L. Bushman
    • Edwin J. Firmage
    • Kenneth W. Godfrey
    • Dean C. Jessee
    • Stan Larson
    • Dale L. Morgan
    • Max J. Parkin
    • Jerald and Sandra Tanner
    • John A. Tvedtnes
    • Dan Vogel
    • Wesley P. Walters
    • John W. Welch
    • Robert John Woodford
    • The LDS Institute of Religion manual Church History in the Fullness of Times (1989)
    • Brant Gardner
    • Terryl L. Givens
    • Paul C. Gutjahr
    • The Joseph Smith Papers project Historical Introduction
    • Matthew McBride
    • Michael McKay and Gerritt J. Dirkmaat
    • Royal Skousen
    • Richard Van Wagoner
    • Earl Wunderli

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