Harrison Burgess's Vision of the Angel Moroni and the Gold Plates (May 1833)
Contributed by
Research Agent
Harrison Burgess (b. 1814), who had been baptized in July 1832 by Simeon Carter and confirmed by Orson Pratt, publicly declared on the third Sabbath in May 1833 that he knew the Book of Mormon to be true. The next day while at work he was assailed by doubt — a whisper asked, “Do you know the Book of Mormon is true?” — and his mind became darkened and tormented. He left his work and retired into the woods in great misery and distress for about two hours, until the example of faith shown by the Brother of Jared came to his mind and he resolved to seek a personal testimony. He prayed to the God of Heaven, and, as Burgess recorded, “all at once the vision of my mind was opened,” and a glorious personage clothed in white (identified as the angel Moroni) stood before him and exhibited to his view the plates from which the Book of Mormon was taken.
In Their Own Words
“"On the third Sabbath of May while speaking to a congregation I declared that I knew the Book of Mormon to be true and the work of God. The next day while I was laboring in the community something seemed to whisper to me, 'Do you know the Book of Mormon is true?' My mind became perplexed and darkened and I was so tormented in Spirit that I left my work and retired into the woods. The misery and distress that I there experienced cannot be described. The tempter all the while seemed to say, 'Do you know the Book of Mormon is True?' I remained in this situation about two hours. At last it came into my mind the Faith that the Brother of Jared had in obtaining a knowledge of God for himself and others also. I resolved to know whether I had proclaimed the truth or not, and commenced praying to the God of Heaven for a testimony of these things. When all at once the vision of my mind opened and a glorious personage clothed in white stood before me and exhibited to my view the plates from which the Book of Mormon was proclaimed and taken."”
— Harrison Burgess, in his autobiography, recounting the vision he received in the woods of New York in May 1833, after which he proclaimed the Book of Mormon in great boldness
Sources & References
Harrison Burgess, 'Sketch of a Well-Spent Life,' in Labors in the Vineyard; cited in Dennis B. Horne, 'Additional Witnesses of the Coming Forth and Content of the Book of Mormon,' FairLatterDaySaints (2016); BYU Studies, Opening the Heavens: Documented Visions of Joseph Smith. Harrison Burgess, Autobiography (1814-1848) in Kenneth Glyn Hales, ed., Windows: A Mormon Family (1985) Harrison Burgess, Autobiography (1814-1848) in Kenneth Glyn Hales, ed., 'Windows: A Mormon Family' (Tucson: Skyline Printing, 1985) Autobiography of Harrison Burgess (1814-1883), in Kenneth Glyn Hales, ed. and comp., Windows: A Mormon Family (Skyline Printing, 1985) ; Harrison Burgess, 'A Short Sketch of the Life of Harrison Burgess,' Autobiography (1814-1848), in Kenneth Glyn Hales, ed., Windows: A Mormon Family (Tucson: Skyline Printing, 1985); also published as 'Sketch of a Well-Spent Life,' in Labors in the Vineyard (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1884), 65-66, https://www.ldsscriptureteachings.org/2017/01/harrison-burgess-witness-of-the-book-of-mormon/