Journal of History - Volume 6 (1913)

511 Pages·2011·29.33 MB·English

Volume Six Number One
JOURNAL OF HISTORY
JANUARY, 1913
"Obtain a knowledge of history, and of countries, and of kingdoms, of
laws of God and man, and all this for the salvation of Zion."
HEMAN C. SMITH, EDITOR.
CONTENTS
Prehistoric America and the Book of Mormon-Biography of Alexander
H. Smith-AutobiogTaphy of Charles Derl'Y-Biography of Joseph F.
Burton-Zion's Camp or the Expedition to Missouri-Local Historians
and Their Work-Current Events-Necrology. '
Published quarterly. Subscription $1 per year in advance.
Entered at the post office, Lamoni, Iowa, as second-class mail-matter.
PUBLISHED BY BOARD OF PUBLICATION
OF THE
REORGANIZED CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS
LAMONI, IOWA
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(The author of following article, Elder Henry A. Steb-
bins, is one of the early defenders of the faith of the Reorgan
ized Church,and very early in his ministry became especially
interested in the history Of the Book of Mormon and a com
parison of its history with facts revealed by modern research.
He has accumulated much valuable data, and though his style
is somewhat argumentative, the historical value of his deduc
tions justifies, we think, the insertion of his article in the
JOURNAL OF HISTORY.
Henry A. Stebbins was born January 28; 1844, at Toledo,
Ohio. In 1863 he united with the Reorganized Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at Newark, Wisconsin. He
was ordained an elder in 1865, and an high priest in 1879,
served as counselor to Bishop Israel L. from 1875 to
1882. He was chosen temporary Church Secretary in 1874,
and in 1875 was elected permanent Secretary, which position
he held nntil 1896;· he was Church Recorder from 1874 until
1906.
In 1901 he was made a member of the Lamoni Stake High
Council, which position he held several years. Though retired
from active missionary work, he still does considerable preach-
ing as health and circumstances C. S.)
PREHISTORIC AMERICA AND THE BOOK OF MORl\fON.
What is the Book of l\l[ormon, and why should anybody be
lieve in it as a book of truth? These are important questions
when one proceeds to examine the faith and teachings of the
Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
And writer of this article desires to give some strong
historical reasons and substantial proofs as to why he has
had, for over forty years, so much confidence in that book as
being a true history, and worthy of acceptance as containing
divine inspiration' and heavenly truth.
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4 JOURNAL OF HISTORY
It has often been asked, What necessity can be alleged for
the existence of such a book when we already have the Bible?
and what additional benefit is gained by its introduction into
the world and by belief in it? In reply one may ask, What
benefit is there in accepting and believing the Bible? Even
in Christian lands untold millions either make light of the
Bible or have no use for it. But all who believe in the Bible
as a sacred book answer that it is .of great value. Because it
not only contains a history of the Lord's dealings with the
nations which dwelt' upon the Eastern Continent in ancient
times, but also it relates how and in what manner and by
what methods God instructed the people and tried to guide all
who would listen to him and endeavor to walk in his appointed
, ways.
The Bible contains only a history of the Lord's work among
those who lived in parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe; even
brief accounts of a few nations to whom he sent prophets and
teachers thousands of years ago; but it does not give any
history of other lands which we now know were inhabited.
However, the Bible does contain prophecies and references to
colonies and far lands as existing somewhere on the earth
outside of Palestine, Babylonia, Assyria, Egypt, and the other
lands which the Bible speaks of.
lt has been demonstrated by a multitude of modern dis
coveries that civilized nations dwelt during many centuries
upon the Western Continent, and that they wrought great
things in the lands we now call South America, Central Amer
ica, and North America, and that some of these peoples must
have had their origin in colonies of Hebrews who came from
Palestine. This is according to the findings made by learned
men, who have studied the traditional history, and the man
ners, customs, languages, and relics that have been discovered
among the native tribes whose progenitors no doubt came to
America a long time ago, For one thing'," the native tradi-
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PREHISTORIC AMERICA 5
tion of their origin contains plainly such noted personages as
Moses, the great leader; Solomon, the wise king; and other
historical characters found in the Bible. Many of the same
circumstances and facts of history are found in one book as
in the other.
The claim of the book that Hebrew colonies came to America
is in agreement with the word of God to Ezekiel, 34: 6, whe-re
it reads as follows: "My flock was scattered upon all the face
of the earth," and it agrees with the promise in Jacob's bless
ing to his son Joseph (Genesis 49: 22-26) which reads that
Joseph's "fruitful bough" should run over the wall (boundary)
and have place even at the "utmost bounds .of the everlast
ing hills."
Honorable Hubert H. Bancroft, author of five octavo vol
umes entitled Native R,aces of the Pacific States,· gives many
evidences for the Hebrew origin ·of these races. He also
quotes Ezekiel 34: 6 and speaks of the scattering of the
Hebrews there predicted by the prophet, and then he exclaims,
"Must not Mexico be included in the direct declaration of God
that he would scatter the Jews over all the earth 1"
The Book of Mormpn is in agreement with the prophecy
of Moses in Deuteronomy 33: 13-16, wherein he declared that
"Joseph's land" should be especially blessed of God and exalted
as a notable and glorious country in the excellence and abun
dance of the great and "precious things" of the earth.
All the world acknowledges that the productiveness, the
variety, and the superiority of the fruits, grains, minerals,
and other natural wealth of North and South America, and
the islands of the sea, exceed those of most other lands and
dominions of the earth. In very recent time this has been
proven by the opening up and development of the agricultural
and mineral wealth of Canada, of Mexico, and of the South
American and Central American republics.
To be thus singled out through the inspired leader and
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6 JOURNAL OF HISTORY
prophet, Moses, shows the value of the prophecy, also the
greatness of the possession to be given to Joseph the son of
Jacob, no doubt as a compensation for the bad usage he re
ceived from his own brothers and as a reward for his humilia
tion and suffering.
Moses said, "Let the blessing come upon the head of J os
eph, and upon the top of the head of him that waS separated
from his brethren." Although Ephraim and Manasseh had
allotments in Oanaan, yet when the time came for the cap
tivity of the Jews, the Lo,rd took away two colonies from
Jerusalem and planted them in "Joseph's land," even in far
America. Neither the Bible nor history makes mention of
such honor or exaltation ,as Moses prophesied of, having ever
been enjoyed by Joseph or by his posterity in any country
belonging to them, either in Asia, Africa, or Europe. No land
in any of them is named or referred to as "Joseph's land."
So. we must look elsewhere, we must indeed come "unto the
utmost bounds of the everlasting hills" in order to look upon
the country called in prophecy, "Joseph's 1and," as the Lord
prepared it and foreordained it to be.
As such good proofs of ancient civilization in America have
been discovered, and these discoveries were made in the very
same years that the ruins of Babylon and Nineveh were
brought to light, and in every instance bearing witness of the
wonderful cities which were built and inhabited on both con
tinents, the~'efore it seems as important that we should seek
to learn about one as about the other. Discoveries on both
lands have brought great proofs of God manifest in the history
and destiny· of nations, and all have sustained the Bible as
being a divine book, and have tended to prove the truth of
the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
From 1840 up to the present time such eminent explorers
as Layard, Botta, Rich, Hincks, 'and the two RawIinsons, have
dug and delved at both Nineveh and Babylon, and in Egypt
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PREHISTORIC AMERICA 7
to discover all they could find ,about the history and the lives
of the ancients in those lands, and also since 1840 up to now
such learned students, and historians as Prescott, Bancroft,
Stephens, Baldwin, Charnay, Kingsborough, Foster, Le Plon
geon, and others, have sought in Mexico, Central America,
Peru, and Ecuador for the facts about the ancient cities of
those lands, and to gain as complete a knowledge of their
ancient inhabitants as can be obtained. This work is still
going on. There has been a great desire to learn everything
possible about the origin of all ancient nations, and of their
various stages of civilization, as also about their intellectual
attainments and their religious cults, creeds, and ceremonies.
Therefore leading scientists, men having great knowledge
about the history of the ancient nations and their origin, have
'made extensive studies of the ruined cities of the Central
American States, and of those in Yucatan and Chiapas in
Mexico, and these men claim that there is conclusive proof
that thousands of years ago there dwelt in those regions
various cultured nations, even as far back as the time when
Nineveh and Babylon began to flourish. But the most ancient
ones were not Hebrews. The call to Abraham, the father of
the Hebrew race, did not come until over three hundred years
after the scattering from Babel.
In his valuable book called Ancient America, Professor J.
D. Baldwin makes an important statement concerning the
antiquity of the North American civilization in Central
, America,as evidenced by the character of the ruined cities.
He says:
Some investigators, who have given much study to the antiquities,
traditions, old books, and profitable geological history of Mexico and
Central America, believe that the first civilization the world ever saw
appeared on this part of ancient America, or was immediately connected
with it. They hold that the human race first rose to civilized life in
America, which is geologically the oldest of the continents.-Aneient
America, pp. 159, 160.
The Honorable Hubert H. Bancroft, affirms that his-
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torians have found among the native peoples of America
such distinct flood myths, such striking agreement with
bible history in their legends of the N oachan deluge, as well
as their traditional history about their fathers having come
to America from lands beyond the seas, that they believe that
the first colony to this land came from the tower of Babel,
and that here they established a civilization which equaled
Babylon, Nineveh, and Egypt, both in age ,and in grandeur.
This idea agrees with the statement by the historian, Moses,
concerning Babel and the world-wide scattering therefl'om.
He wrote as follows:
So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all
the earth.-Genesis 11: 8.
At Babel the centralization of rebellion and of strength
against him displeased the Lord, because the plans and pur
poses of men were contrary to God's evident will and purpose,
namely, that the whole earth was for man's habitation, not
parts of it only. Therefore, without doubt, the work of dis
persion included the going to aU lands and continents in order
to make complete what Moses said in the text quoted was God's
will ,and purpose.
Paul, the apostle, makes a like claim in almost the indenti
cal language of Moses, where he says, in Acts 17: 26, that
God created mankind "to dwell on aU the :Dace of the earth."
It should, therefore, be no surprise to anyone that evidences
have been found in Mexioo and Central America which prove
that a civilized nation was established there as early as the
founding of Babylon, which according to Ussher's' Chronology,
was about 2245 B. C., and Nineveh was begun about 2218 B. C.
The dispersion from Babel is said to' have been 2247 B. C.
Josephus, the eminent Jewish historian, bears like witness
in his statement in book T, chapter V, about the scattering
from Babel. He wrote that the people were "dispersed abroad
on account of their language," and that they "went out by
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PREHISTORIC AMERICA 9
colonies ev'erywlwre," the colonies taking possession of the
lands they lighted upon, "and unto which God led them." He
further said, "Some also passed over the sea in ships."
The Book of Mormon declares that "God led them," that
he instructed and guided a colony on the journey by l,and
and sea from Babel to America. The book states that this
was done "at the time the Lord confounded the language of
the people." And that book contains an abridged history of
their developing into a great nation in what we now call
Mexico and Central America, and the nation continued about
sixteen hundred years.
Now, from what has been written by wise men, it seems
reasonable to believe that the wide and strong foundations,
and at least some of the walls of the extensive cities, whose
palaces and temples have been discovered since 1840, were
laid and built by a very ancient people, those as far back as
the time of Babel. I have already quoted Professor Baldwin's
statement as t.o the views of some explorers about their great
antiquity. Mr. John L. Stephens, of New York City, who
began his researches in November, 1840, had the dense forests
cutaway by the Indians, and thus he uncovered the ruins of
massive buildings in forty cities of great antiquity. Of Mr.
Stephens' thorough work among these ancient cities the his
torian Bancroft states, "Their very existence had been pre
viously unknown, even to the residents of the larger cities
of the very state in whose territory they lie."
But now we have the descriptions and the illustrations in
the volumes written by Mr. Stephens, Professor Baldwin,
Honorable Hubert H. Bancroft, M. Charnay, and other schol
ars who have either visited the scenes in person or who have
compiled the facts from the records of the actual explorers.
One important item observed by these men is that two dis
tinct times of occupancy lare plainly apparent, the later peo
ple having rebuilt in quite a different style of architecture and
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not in such an excellent manner. Of these facts Professor
Baldwin attests more than once. On page 76 of Ancient
America he states that some of the oldest ruins "seem to indi
cate the highest development," and on page 156 he writes about
the ruined cities in Yucatan that "At Palenq ue as at lVIitla
the oldest work is the most artistic and admirable."
This idea is in harmony with the Book of Mormon in its
histOl"y of the ancient peoples. For the great and wealthy
nation, the J aredites, inhabited Central America and Mexico
about sixteen hundred years, and evidently they built and
occupied magnificently. But after they perished there came
up from South America a more migratory people, those having
less constructive skill, who were still retrograding in wisdom
and ability. Though they dwelt there a long time, yet they
were not like the others, and they finally declined into bar
barism.
These second inhabitants ·of Central America were the pos
terity of the united two colonies which came from Jerusalem,
as stated at the beginning of the article. A part, and per
haps all of one colony, were the descendants of Manasseh, the
son of Joseph, who died in Egypt in 1630 B. C. Both the
Hebrew colonies left J·erusalem at the time of the Babylonish
captivity, the Manassehites in the year 600 B. C., just before
the second siege by Nebuchadnezzar, and the other left in
588 B. C., just prior to the third and final siege which com
pleted the capture of Jerus,alem. The Lord led these emigrat
ing colonies and took them away from the disobedient and
rebellious J·ewish nation, planting them in America.
The first colony landed on the coast of what is now called
Peru, and the second landed in Central America, but later
went into South America. The Nephite portion of the first
colony originated the civilization the remains of which, in the
form of aqueducts, paved roads, stone bridges, and great
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